Advice on Head Unit and SUB
 

Sup guys...I am currently looking to upgrade my stock clarion deck and sub in my 01 mastercraft...Right now i have polk db6501 inboat speakers with a 10" clarion sub, just ordered a sny2 amp and 2 pro 60's for the tower...i was wondering if i should get a 12" sub to get a better sounding bass and was wondering what I should get for a head unit i was looking at the apline IDA x100M and for a sub i was thinking the alpine type r SWR 100 M 10"...is that decent?

Syn 2 and Pro 60's - that is a great combination and you will love it.

I would stay with Alpine for the head-unit. Good choice you mentioned. I personally think it is key to have 3 sets of Pre Outs for your amps.

What amp do you have for the subwoofer?

CDA-9886M for the head unit, just in case you're ipod craps out. That way you don't totally depend on it and have CD's for back up.

For subs, check out the Wet Sounds XS-12. I've installed a few of those and they all sounded really good. Ported or sealed.

I had that same sub and could never get it to sound decent as a free air sub. And the recommended enclosure size was something like 4.1 cubic feet!! I just didn't want to give up that much space for a sub.

I ended up going to a 12" XS12 Wetsound sub and it has worked out really well. I put it in a ported box made to their specs.

If you have the room and can get it in the right box the Alpine sub will sound OK but I wouldn't recommend it. I spent way too much time playing with locations and boxes trying to get it to sound good.

If you plan on reusing an amp you currently have for the sub, this will narrow your sub choices. If looking for a new sub/amp package, then the field it pretty wide open.

Also, are the in-boats on an amp? If not, consider this, especially if you are increasing the output of the sub setup.

I know i am right stoked on hookin that bad boy up...i have the clarion 580 amp which runs my sub and inboat speakers now...I will be running the sub and 60's with the sny2..i also got the eq420 to control the tower speakers...im hopin to get pro 80's next christmas..

I plan on putting the new sub in the stock position on the kick plate infront of the driver...

I hate to break it you...but that syn 2 is not going to run your sub and tower's together. And frankly if ti could, you would not want to. Sorry to ruin your "right stoked" feeling.

Syn 2 configurations:

Tower Speakers:
- (1) pair of PRO 60’s or (1) pair of PRO 80’s. Power: 200 x 2.
- (2) pairs of PRO 60’s or (2) pairs of PRO 80’s. Power: 350 x 2
- DOUBLE UP tower system: Power: 350 x 2.

Subwoofers:
- (1) XS-XXX at 4 ohms. Power: 700 x 1.
- (2) XS-10FA subwoofers at 4 ohms or (2) XS-12 subwoofers at 4 ohms. Power 700 x 1

damn....well i really dont wanna run another amp...i have my 580 watt clarion that runs my inboat speakers right now...i could run a lower power 10" sub or something i guess

The correct 10" in an enclosure will be an improvemnt over the infinite-baffle setup you currently have.

So if budget and/or space for amps is a concern, then look for another 10" sub that will match the power currently available from your amp, and build an enclosure for it.

If you have the space available then go with a bass-reflex enclosure which is automatically more efficient. If you are dead set on maintaining your existing amplifier then you might look into the JL Audio 'X' or 'O' series of 10-inch or 12-inch subwoofers. These are low mass subs that are easily driven with modest power and can sound amazing with as little as 150 (honest) watts. In this case the larger sub does not require more power but will have more output.

David
Earmark Marine

Well that Syn 2 could run the towers and the sub in tri-mode with passive crossovers but I wouldn't do it. Behind a WS420 it won't do it, you will need to do something else. Clarion 580??? I assume you mean a 480, nice little amp but you are moving beyond it at this point.

For subs my suggestion would be to build a nice 2 cubic foot ported box firing against the side of the passengers storage space with a XS-12 or SPG555.

The boat speakers are pretty nice and not a bad match with that Clarion amp.

For the deck and power it really depends on your budget and desired features. You have the same problem as me with the deck in the glove box so you are probably stuck with a deck using a wired remote. There might be a bluetooth option to control the whole system off an iphone combined with the WS-420 direct in for ipods you might be OK. If money is tight for now you might just leave whatever you have in place and just use the direct in to the WS 420.

If you don't think you'll add any more tower speakers then exchange the Syn 2 for a Syn 4, run the sub off 2 channels, the tower off 2 channels and your in boats off the existing amp.

Your boat is the same as my next door neighbors. He has a hodge-podge of gear in it but is actually sounds OK. He has my old home-brew pro-audio tower speakers, factory clarion speakers, and 4 12" subs in small boxes in various locations throughout the boat. my boat actually has much more bass coming from one well powered subwoofer in a ported box (SPG555). Even my sealed XS12 had almost as much bass as his underpowered phase cancelling setup.

Eventually I would guess that you will want a dedicated 500+watt class D mono amp for your sub, a Syn 2 for the tower, your Clarion is probably fine running the in boats.

Just put the Ida-305s. In my truck and if is awesome. Especially since it's pandora friendly with the Iphone

Deck: I wanted to comment that i did an entire new system last year, with the Alpine deck you mention. I play my ipod through the deck. I also have the ws420 that you can hook your ipod too. Connecting your ipod directly to the 420 makes the deck useless. So, if all you do is listen to the ipod or similar, there is no need for the deck. IMO.

Maybe you're dislexic, but the 12 asks for 1.4cu ft ported.

Nope, not dyslexic. But, it is even worse than I remember. The recommended gross internal sealed enclosure size is 4.93 ft^3, net is 4.85 ft^3.


http://support.alpine-usa.com/produc...M_SWR-M100.PDF