inexpensive amp
 

I am looking for an inexpensive amp to power 4 polk db651 speakers in the cabin of our 18' boat. The radio powers the speakers just fine but I want to be able to control the volume when running the tower speakers. Don't need to blast everyone out. I would also prefer it to be smaller in size since I have limited room because the amp powering my tower speakers is large.

New or used?

If you are looking new, try hifonics on Ebay or any other internet audio shop. They are awesome for the price and insanely powerful!

I would personally say just the opposite, stay away from eBay and any internet site you are not familiar with. They sell mostly grey/black market knockoff junk that appears to look like the actual product. But it's not! If you haven't bought stuff anywhere online with success then you could try those again.

I buy my boat audio from earmark marine, (soon to be ordering more!)They have great quality stuff and Davids very helpfull. If your looking for budget stuff, I've bought some accessory stuff from onlinecarstereo.com with success as well.

Bottom line with electronics is you get what you pay for.

there are some good grey market ( not authorized to sell from factory) ebay dealers out there. hifonics is a good bang for yor buck. IMo kicker is farily inexpenisve for what u get...and they are sold everywhere.

I have 4 polk db651 in my boat powered off a kicker ix500.4. I got it from sonicelectronix.com for about $250. It's a full range class D amp that is fairly small. I also have one of those powering a pair of wetsounds pro 80's.

Here's a link.

http://http://www.sonicelectronix.co...10IX500.4.html

Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying these are the best amps out there. They lack protection systems, and may not be the best sounding amps.

It's just that if you are looking for cheap power, Hifonics are unbeatable, and actually meet their ratings, opposed to some companies who are not even close to their claims!

Can I get by with a good 2 channel amp powering the 4 speakers? I already have exile 2ch harpoon amp powering the tower speakers. I am going to get an lc1 to control the volume. I figure just get a 2 channel amp and wire the cabin speakers in parralel. That way I don't need to split outputs from radio. I kind of regret adding two more cabin speakers. I want to keep this setup simple. My end goal is to be able to control the tower speakers and cabin speakers independantly.

Won't this amp do the trick?

http://www.amazon.com/MB-Quart-NAU26...853331&sr=8-20

Rated at 90 RMS @ 2ohms.

The 4 speakers should get 45rms watts, correct?

Yep, as long as it's 2 ohm stereo stable. You may end up with the same issue I have though. My bow speakers are up in the cushions while my rear cabin speakers are down in the seat bases. So, from the perspective of a passenger in the bow vs. the rear it's a lot louder in the bow at a given volume level. And I have no fade to correct for that since both lefts and both rights are on the same channel. So, I may put in some resistors for the front speakers to tone them down but then I'm just wasting power. I will likely add another amp in a season or two so I can have more granular control.

How do I know for sure?

I've bought a lot of car audio over the years off of e-bay...never once gotten anything that wasn't a legit product. Eclipse, Memphis, Pioneer, Alpine, Infinity, Kicker...all brands I have purchased off of E-bay, both new and used, and the legit item showed up every single time, zero issues. Online is the only way to go for mobile audio - these shops charge an arm and a leg for the exact same items.

can I split 2 channels from the head unit to 4 channel amp using Y splitters?

I have an Exile xi800.4 I'll sell you. I used one for part of one season (maybe 5-6 outtings)

Yes you can, i have four amps (so 8 inputs) in the boat and only 4 exits on the HU, and it works.

In most cases you don't need to. A lot of 4 channel amps have a switch to toggle between 2 and 4 channel inputs. So, you'd put it in the 2 channel position and connect your pair of RCAs to the appropriate pair of inputs. It will use that signal for the front and rear channels. This will likely be covered in the amp's manual.

I buy just about all of my electronic stuff from ebay and have never had a problem. Especially car/marine audio. I figure even if every third or fourth item I buy is junk, the seller doesn't take it back, and the manufacturer doesn't honor the warranty, I can just throw the item away and I still come out ahead.

Here is another thought. I just cannot make up my mind and I don't want to throw money away. I will control the volume between the amps using the radio fader. Little more of a pain but simple. I will run the tower speakers off the front channels and the cabin speakers off the rear.

Our boat is small I am not concerned about all speakers running off an amp so I will get a 4 channel amp and run the speakers in the middle of the boat off the amp and run the speakers located at the feet of the driver and paasenger off the rear channel on the HU. I will then add a sub under the drivers console. I think the bass will be really nice.

Thoughts? I really don't want to run 3 amps.

I have a virtually new Wet Sounds Syn2 that I would sell for $350 shipped if you are still looking. I'm not sure if it is overkill for what you want to do though. I also have a Syn6 and JL HD750/1 that I have been too lazy to put up for sale.

I put a switch on my remote cables, so I can choose which amp is powered and which is not.
I figured it's less of a pain this way, but with the fader might work good too.

Thinking a pretty reasonable setup is this amp.
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...0ZXM350.4.html

Run 2 polk db651 on two channel and polk 8" sub bridged. The sub is rms rated at 180.

Sonic electronic offers a similar package with infinity speakers and cerwin vega sub.

You can run all 4 polks on 2 channels of that amp, then a sub bridged on the other 2

I'd sell you the Exile xi800.4 cheaper than that.

Dude buy the Exile!

Personally I'd much rather have this one than the kicker. The kicker will get very hot if you are running it at 2ohms on two channels and bridged on the other two.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...%5BIgnore%5D=1

Sent you a PM. I pulled the trigger on the kicker amp but still have time to cancel. I got the amp for $175 on amazon.

Kicker what model???