Installing Polk DB651s finally

[drewkaree]

So I'm finally getting around to attempting to swap out the stock speakers with the Polk's, but one of the spade terminals on them is skinny as heck, and the female connector keeps falling off the second I move the speaker back into the hole.

Is it as simple as just mashing the female connector flat on the male end once I have it connected, or what?

Also, there's some additional wiring on the Polk's that doesn't allow the spade terminals to fully seat, but I've got at least half of the female end pushed onto the male end. Is this okay? Seems like it should be seated more fully.

I'll try to snap a pic shortly to show just how skinny the male terminal is, and the wiring that seems to be in the way, and add it here for some visual aid of what I'm referring to.

 

[drewkaree]

The red female spade terminal is the smallest I have, and the smallest I can find, and it's perfect for the "big" male terminal. The smaller terminal is half the size, MAYBE an eighth of an inch wide, and that red terminal is super loose and easily falls off. The female terminals for the stock speakers are even larger, so even more of a problem.

 

[GTBRMC]

I went through the same learning curve when I swapped out the garbage OEM speakers for those same Polks. There are different size crimp terminals. KnuKonceptz has a one-stop shop page that lays out the different sizes. I bought from them, I am sure there are other options out there. I had exactly zero troubles with anything i ever bought from them and their pricing was competitive, FWIW.

Crimp Terminals

www.knukonceptz.com

Edit: PS - you are likely better off using crimp + solder method. When I installed them, I was out of daylight and very tired. I decided to go crimp-only w full expectation that one or more would eventually wiggle off and I would have to return, recrimp, then solder. As it turns out, every crimp held and I never had to revisit.

 

[212s]

Found the same size issue when I re-wired my stock Polk speakers for the JL amp to pump up the sound. I couldn't find smaller spade connectors locally so I had to improvise a bit and just used needle nose pliers to gently crimp down the spade connectors to make sure they were very snug without crushing the connector (didn't have the extra wire through the spade lug on my 652's but it shouldn't be an issue if it's tight). After 20 hours of use, no issues so far. If they come loose I'll go back and solder all of the spade connections. Quite happy with the stock speakers driven with a good amp.

 

[drewkaree]

These posts help tremendously. I've got all the common sizes in a kit, and I've done some work on several cars over the years, but never stumbled across these super skinny terminals before.

I didn't want to solder them due to the bouncing around of the boat, and eventually having stress issues with the solder joints. I think I'll be going the same route you guys did, crimp a better-sized terminal on, and revisit as needed.

My plan was to add an amp and a sub, and reuse two of the OEM speakers for midship sound, and replace the reused OEM pair as funding allows. At this point, the sub and amp will be done later as well, but those Polk's have been sitting in their boxes just taunting and laughing at me.

Thanks for the confirmation guys

 

[212s]

These posts help tremendously. I've got all the common sizes in a kit, and I've done some work on several cars over the years, but never stumbled across these super skinny terminals before.

Same here, done lots of upgrades years ago but newer vehicles have good sound systems so no need lately. Years ago speakers had the same size lugs with +/- markings...but I guess dummies have been wiring things backwards and complaining about poor sound (for those who don't know, wiring speakers backwards doesn't hurt the speakers, just puts the woofers out of phase so cancels lower freqs and sounds thin).

I didn't want to solder them due to the bouncing around of the boat, and eventually having stress issues with the solder joints. I think I'll be going the same route you guys did, crimp a better-sized terminal on, and revisit as needed.

Same here again, I only solder if I really need to as soldering requires you heat up the two ends to get the solder to flow smoothly. I think a good spade works just fine and should last. Careful when pushing on the female connector, you might need to hold the lug with some needle nose pliers if you have them - I was afraid of them bending when putting on the connectors so held them with the pliers to get a snug fit.

those Polk's have been sitting in their boxes just taunting and laughing at me.

Don't let them taunt you! Get those suckers in there ASAP and the taunting will be drowned out by the music!
??

 

[drewkaree]

I worked on a few other things on the boat this past weekend instead of the install of the speakers. I had ordered some disconnects for these that I was waiting for, and they finally came in. These are much closer in size (a hair narrower, actually, according to their measurements), so my plan is to snip off the old disconnects from the OEM wiring. I've already got the right size for the larger spade terminal on the new speaker, so I'll stick that on there, add a little dielectric grease and some heat shrink tubing, and finish it off with some liquid electrical tape, and connect them up to the speakers. If these new spade terminal disconnects will work, I'll do the same after testing them out, and I should be able to complete the swap out next weekend if all goes well. From the looks of these, it won't be much to open them up a touch if they're too tight, but I think it's just .1 smaller than the skinny spade terminal on the Polks. If not, I'm out $6 for a hundred of these things.

 

[drewkaree]

The disconnects above are perfect! We've got company visiting, but hopefully I'll tackle this project tomorrow. I wanted to test the fit before I jumped in the boat, in case I needed to open these up slightly. Slight push needed for initial slide on, but that's all it needs. I'm calling this a win!

 

[212s]

The disconnects above are perfect! We've got company visiting, but hopefully I'll tackle this project tomorrow. I wanted to test the fit before I jumped in the boat, in case I needed to open these up slightly. Slight push needed for initial slide on, but that's all it needs. I'm calling this a win!

That's good to hear, mine are working fine as is but if I have issues, this is a possible solution.

But...why are you waiting...to heck with company, the boat is obviously more important!

 

[OCMD]

I hope you have better luck with your Db651s than I did. Pieces of crap stopped working after two seasons of very little use.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/boat-audio-question.29010/#post-473521

 

[drewkaree]

I hope you have better luck with your Db651s than I did. Pieces of crap stopped working after two seasons of very little use.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/boat-audio-question.29010/#post-473521

I'm under no illusions that I have the solution any more, I bought these almost a year ago, thinking I could/would improve the sound in my boat.

It's been a quick and painful/expensive lesson for me, and some self reflection, that my efforts to save money has been a slap upside the head, to just save up and spend the money on "better", or what I saw to be a solution, to a problem of my own making.

I should have long ago bought the proper miter saw (3 saws ago), I should have paid someone to do some work for me (instead of wasting a year of my time), I should have bought Wet Sounds instead of these, etc, etc, ad nauseum for many things... hindsight and experience shows me my errors, but I have already purchased these. If they last me 2 seasons, I may call them a win, because I know better now, and I should have saved for better products. That's the purpose of posting stuff like this - if my installation methods get me more time, then that's worth the effort and a longER term solution, or an aid to better install methods for higher quality speakers.

I will live with my choices, like you had to, and hope my methods get me more use from them, but in the long run, I was always just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best, which was gonna be better than what I started with. I can always revert to what was sufficient - this includes going straight to Wet Sounds, since the OEM stuff works just fine, we're all simply hoping to get better, to snag that brass ring.

I wish I had heard your experience last year, it might have given me pause and caused me to step up (or wait), and that's why this forum is SO valuable, and why I'm giving my experience - someone can learn from me, or take hope from my experience, or help ME improve my "solution" before I even begin.

I thank you for your comments, and I hope to help someone considering the same idea, maybe we can help YOU with an improvement to what you already attempted, but didn't consider or implement.

 

[drewkaree]

That's good to hear, mine are working fine as is but if I have issues, this is a possible solution.

But...why are you waiting...to heck with company, the boat is obviously more important!

At least we drove alongside the water today!

 

[OCMD]

The DB651s should be an easy in out swap. My SX230 cutouts were the exact same size as the DBs, so it was an easy in and out, and connect. They fit the factory cut holes perfectly. The sound quality was superb while it lasted. A nice upgrade without all the extra work. Perfect for someone like me who only likes occasional music when anchored in the river and engines are off. A great upgrade. To have sound while underway? Just not worth the extra work and expense to me, as the engine roar will not be overcome enough, no matter the expense, to make it enjoyable. Actually, most times I prefer the silence of the river. In any event, they do have some Sony's available on crutchfield for a reasonable price. I will wait unitl the off season sales, and pick up another 4. At the sale price if I get 2 more years, I will take it. Although I'd rather just sell my boat but the boss will not allow it. Yep, I have become a curmudgeon.

 

[212s]

Ok if you're on a bike, that's an acceptable excuse.

 

[212s]

Although I'd rather just sell my boat but the boss will not allow it.

Ok, talk like that could get you banned!

 

[2kwik4u]

I recently moved to DB651s's in my Ar190. Replaced the junk "Marine Audio" stock speakers. No amp, just running the stock head unit to power them. Used a pair of pliers to "tighten" the spade connection and it's been working fine so far.

I'm quite impressed with the sound difference over the stock speakers. At 32/50 on the volume scale we can hear the music crystal clear over the engines at full throttle. It's not philharmonic quality, but it's loud enough and clear enough for us to sing along to. Combined with the soundbar, it had enough volume and clarity to overpower a group of about 20 people behind the boat yesterday, and I was asked to turn it down.

Would like to add a sub, maybe, but otherwise I'm quite pleased with this setup for a family boat!

 

[drewkaree]

Ok if you're on a bike, that's an acceptable excuse.

I'm about to invite hate - they're scooters. We've got 3 Ruckuseses (Ruckusii?) and a Metropolitan. It's a cool way to enjoy the countryside around our lake house. The wife's cousin and his wife were visiting, and instead of it being 85 and sunny, the day started out rainy, crappy, 65 and overcast, and a slight bit of wind. By the time we were done bar hopping and headed back to our first stop for a prime rib dinner, the sun was out and the night was about to get much better! I got 'em done today, so it was a worthy tradeoff.

I recently moved to DB651s's in my Ar190. Replaced the junk "Marine Audio" stock speakers. No amp, just running the stock head unit to power them. Used a pair of pliers to "tighten" the spade connection and it's been working fine so far.

I'm quite impressed with the sound difference over the stock speakers. At 32/50 on the volume scale we can hear the music crystal clear over the engines at full throttle. It's not philharmonic quality, but it's loud enough and clear enough for us to sing along to. Combined with the soundbar, it had enough volume and clarity to overpower a group of about 20 people behind the boat yesterday, and I was asked to turn it down.

Would like to add a sub, maybe, but otherwise I'm quite pleased with this setup for a family boat!

Most of this mirrors my experience today. My volume only goes to 45, and the Marine Audio's would start to clip and distort anywhere between 30 and 40, depending on the song. 45 was never attempted after the first time, because it was unlistenable. After removal, I have an idea why - whoever installed these at Yamaha wasn't concerned with making sure it was done carefully and without messing up the speakers, as seen in this pic below. 3 out of 4 were like this. 1 of the 3 is at least useable again, so I have a pair of those to reuse, but I may live with these for a while to see if they're satisfactory for my needs. The other 2 of the 3 were in the same condition as the pic, they simply weren't even fully attached, and I can clearly see why everything sounded like crap when I'd try to go above 30 on the volume scale. The Polks can be taken to full volume with no issues, good clarity, and a noticeable improvement over the OEM speakers (kinda hard not to be better than 3 out of 4 speakers having installation damage).

The DB651s should be an easy in out swap. My SX230 cutouts were the exact same size as the DBs, so it was an easy in and out, and connect. They fit the factory cut holes perfectly. The sound quality was superb while it lasted. A nice upgrade without all the extra work.

Similar experience as yours, except for the last and final speaker. For some reason, the rear port speaker was a bear to get screwed back in. Right now, there's only 2 screws holding it in place. I have to get some longer screws for the cleanout tray panel, so I'm just going to get two new screws of the same type, but a half inch longer. That should solve the problem - the panel they screw into is flexing so much, I can't get the screws to take hold. I wasn't able to use the hardware packet that Polk threw in (some generic speed nuts and thinner screws), but the OEM screws worked perfectly for all but the last speaker, so I didn't worry about it, but now I need something to match what was used for all the other speakers.

I'm somewhere in the middle, not quite music free, but I don't mind not having music when at speed. When we're stopped though, it's time to break out the tunes. The wife noticed the improvement, so I think I made a definite improvement, but in my case, it was like shooting fish in a barrel with the careless install from the factory.

 

[drewkaree]

Here's what I ended up having on hand to install these. The yellow pieces are body panel removal tools. The horizontal one is all I really needed. The angled end was run upwards from the 6 o'clock position, then pried outward, and that was all that was needed to remove the grills and access the screws for removal.






Once the speakers were unscrewed from the boat, I marked the wires with the corresponding color of the spade connector I was using. I've learned my lesson from past installs, and I mark the wires prior to removal, if possible. They simply colored the solder spot of the spade connector on the OEM speaker with a red dot - using a sharpie to highlight the + or - on the circuit board was helpful to my old eyes, because the red dot was useless. Since my spade connectors were different sizes and colors, this made it easy for me to color code the wires, and ensure that I could clip off both of the old spade connectors after marking the wires. The wires themselves were marked, but having to hunt around the wire for the marking would have been more frustrating than simply looking at the colors, and it only took me a second or two with a sharpie.






Once I had crimped on the new spade connectors, then attached them to the proper terminals, they went back in the holes. As others have said, these are direct replacements. The hole pattern matches up perfectly. I had the gasket on the backside, then the speaker, then the grill (the screws hold the grill to the speaker, and run all the way through, holding the gasket to the surrounding fiberglass around the speaker hole). It was a bit of a fiddly process with the gasket and grill, but once I got one screw started, the rest fell easily into place, other than the absolute last two screws. The boat was covered shortly after, and I'll finish installing two new (longer) screws the next time we take the cover off the boat.

This pic was taken, and I was so satisfied with myself, but it was the point that I realized that the grills had to go on WITH the speakers, and the mounting screws would hold everything in place!



Quickly remedied, and I went about replacing the other 3. Only issue was the rear port side speaker, and I'm convinced it's because the panel that the speaker is mounted to was flexing like crazy when I was trying to get the screws to catch/bite back in the installation holes. I may get 4 new screws, because I'm not convinced the two that are currently holding the speaker in place will suffice, should they need to be removed in the future. In any case, all 4 are now in the boat!