Thinking about a stereo upgrade
 

Ok, I am thinking about upgrading the stereo in my boat- not going to go freekin' crazy - just add a sub, an amp and maybe upgrade the stock Clarions.

I have a 2001 Tige with the Clarions (4) and the Clarion unit. It has the remote on the driver's side- which I want to keep. So questions:

Does this unit have outputs to an amp that I can just plug into? If so, what amp would be recommended to handle a sub and the 4 speakers? Would probably add another battery as well-

Any insight is appreciated- and PLEASE - I am not adding a set of tower speakers, multiple amps, etc- just want a better quality sound without dupming thousands into this boat. I do plan to upgrade the boat at some point, so this is just a way to suffice until I have the coin to step way up.

Thanks, Will

A nice JL audio, Alpine, or other good brand 5 Channel amp would probably serve your needs. The clarion head unit will have pre-amp outputs that you can run to your amplifier. If you didn't go the 5 channel amp, any 4 channel amp paired with a monoblock sub amp would be decent as well. A 5 channel amp generally doesn't have much power output on the sub channel, but still better than nothing and can sound great if paired with the right sub.

I am not positive what model you do have but if you do not have pre-outs for your stereo (mine did not) you can use one of PAC's units to do it for you....wire in your speaker outputs from your head unit and it outputs the audio signal into two pre-outs that can be used for an amp. Got mine for $19.

As for amp.....depends on the speakers you intent to use. For cost I love the initial amp installed if setup the way I have it now (originally the shop did it differently)...

ARC audio XDI 805 -each of the 4 channels run to an individual speaker and the 5th channel bridged will do 400 watts at 2ohms or 240 watts at 4 ohms. Good bang for the buck and you may find like I did that replacing the stock speakers is not necessary. If you pop one of your speakers out on the boat we can track down the wattage recommendations for them.....a ping a speaker really brings them alive!

You can pretty much run any decent power 4 channel amp. Run the 4 speakers off channels 1/2 and run the sub bridged off 3/4. The ppi 900.4 is a very good amp for the money.

Will,

The stock stereo does have pre-amp hook ups. But I believe there is only one if I remember correctly. So you ability to fade between the different channels won't be as good. If it is two pre amps, then you can atleast fade between the sub and in boats. Its easy to tell by looking at the RCA hook ups on the back of the head unit.

For simplicity, just run a free air sub mounted under the helm. It does the job, and it is a simple solution.

With the 5 channel alpine. You can power 4 in boats at 75 watts rms, and 300 watts rms to your sub. One amp... simple.

If you choose to upgrade the stock clarion, your current wired remotes will not work. The din connector is different on them. Otherwise, (like I did) you can disassemble the plug and jimmy rig the new head unit to work with the old remotes. OR, someone had some adapters made and was selling them in e bay. Not sure if they are still available.

@Brad - wont that multiple the ohms if you run 4 speakers off of 2 channels?

hey Bryce- thanks- add this project to the list of things you're gonna help with with on the boat! LOL! How did you run the wiring for the sub from the glove box where the unit it to the sub under the driver's side? I assumed I put it there and have that little cabinet enclosure in front of the driver's side, as the sub box and possibly the amp storage mounting area- thoughts? If I can run a pair of RCA cables to that side ( maybe around the front of the boat under the front seats into that compartment) that should work i think?

I have an 04 tige 21i. I ran the speaker wire from the observer compartment up around the bow and into under the helm. Do u not have a built in amp rack in the observer compartment on the walkway wall? Mine has a board glassed in there specifically for mounting the amps from the factory. It's under the carpet of course, but you can see where it's built up. If you have the XMD3 radio, you should have 2 RCA outputs I believe.

The Wet Sounds HT6 would be perfect for what you have, and also be good if you upgrade the speakers or sub in the future.

huh- Bryce- I don't know! Never really paid attention to that. I will check it out.

^^^^This. Yes the amp would run at 2 ohms but that's totally fine. Be sure and run the sub at 4ohm though so either a 2ohm DVC sub in series or simply a single 4ohm. The other amps mentioned above are great choices too but at hundreds more.

Will, There is a "built up" section on that wall that works perfect for mounting an amp I noticed it when I installed my new kicker amp for the tower speakers and actually temporarily peeled back the carpet to get a good look at it.

Would a 4 channel run 2 ohms wired like that? I always thought the ohms were increased when ran in that configuration? Maybe I am thinking of it backwards.

Wiring 2 4ohm inboat speakers together will create a 2 ohm load at the amp. So you would connect 2 speakers to channel 1 and 2 to channel 2. Like hate n pain said you would want a 4 ohm subwoofer for channels 3/4.

Ok - anyone have a wiring diagram to hook up a second battery? I know NOTHING about this stuff

Are you putting in a perko switch so you can isolate each battery? If your just adding a battery, wire it in parallel to the other battery and it'll act as one big battery

I was thinking parallel - what's the benefit of this over a switch ?

nothing IMO. The benefit of getting a 50 dollar switch on the other hand is rather good. With the switch, you can isolate a deep cycle battery if you were docked up listening to music. If that battery dies, you flip the switch over to the starting battery and your not stranded. With just one "big" battery, if you play too long, your dead in the water.

Just depends on how you use your boat and how many accessories you plan on running. I have a switch, 4 interstate 29 battery's as the house bank, and 1 starting battery. I have a rather big sound system, and we anchor out for 5+ hours at a time when the water gets trashed. If your just listening to music in between sets, I'd say you wouldnt necessarily need a switch.

Got it- how's the charging system work with a battery in the off position ?

By the way Bryce- saw your sub upgrade post- that looks really good!

On the switch, a positive wire from one battery would go to post 1, and the 2nd battery would go to post 2. All the accessories and starter wires would go to the common post, except your bilge pump. When you select 1 or 2, it cuts off the other battery. If you have it on 1+2, the alternator will charge both, and they'll both deplete. But if you have the switch in the off position, both batteries are isolated, and your boat will have no power, except the bilge. Chpthril had to kind of explain this to me last night too. My perko is arcing across internally, so he suggested replacing it with a blue sea battery switch. It was like 48 bucks shipped.

Thanks a lot :D