This past fall I bought a 2001 X-Star from a guy who had bought it repoed. Whoever had it first stripped the amp and some other stuff off of it before it was taken. I don't know anything about sound systems so I need advice on what kind of amp to get. The boat still has all the factory speakers and a subwoofer. If I add a couple of tower speakers to this how big of an amp with how many channels do I need to power it all. Any advice on this would really help me out.

Not sure, what are the factory speakers and sub-how much power can they handle? If it were me, I would find a reputable aftermarket guy and get it done right. They'll make it sing for ya...

How loud do you want it to be and how much money do you want to spend? Answer these questions and help will be by shortly. Volume cost money so dont be cheap and youll be happy. I have 4 6X9's and an 800 watt soundstream amp.

I dont have a lot of money right now but I might go ahead and get an amp now and some speakers later. In the long run im not too worried about money though because im planning on keeping this boat for a while so I want a good system in it

Oh i forgot to ask if you want a custom box that you or someone else builds or an off the shelf setup you buy? The supposed hot ticket is a set of "NVS" speakers. Do a search on these and a search for 6 X 9 or 6X9 , youll get a bunch of stuff, just go back a ways. Like I said , ive got 800 going to the tower with the gain turned down a bit so I know ive got good clean power otherwise the speakers wont last long. You have to pull alot of the bass out of the towers for extreme volume settings but if your just beach jamming you can bring a little bit more back in.