Stereo Guru's help please

Hey Guys
I am looking at putting an Amp and a Sub into our X2 so that I can actually hear the speakers in the boat when we are at boarding speed.

I have been to two stereo shops and so far its a choice of

Cerwin Vega 12" Vmag Sub
and Rockford Fosgate Channel Amp (Punch series I think)

or

Soundstream XTA480.4 Amp
and JBL GT4 12" Sub

At this stage I will have the amp running both the speakers in the boat and the sub (at this stage)

Any thoughts on this?
which would be better?

In Fact I think the CV sub is Vmax not Vmag

See if you can find the Xmax rating of the subs, you should get a long excursion sub, it needs to move a considerable amount of air. The Quatro subs sold at partsexpress.com are about the cheapest long throw subs that I know. Think of the woofer as a piston. As the motorheads say, there is no substitution for displacement. You can get more displacement from the long throw woofers. They should have a minimum Xmax rating of 10mm.

I had gone through three sets of 8" subs (that's all that would fit) in my old boat until I ended up with the long throw Quatro's from partsexpress. I could hear them at all speeds but they were under the bow firing rearward directly at the driver. I think location and installation play as big of a part as the actual components.

seperate power supplies for the speakers are better..more is better almost to the point where your alt/battery system cant produce the amps the system is drawing..

as far as the rider hearing the speakers inside the boat...dont think it can happen ( am i correct on this setup- no tower speakers?)

would suggest getting a class d for the sub amp ( jl(high end)or mmats(mid fi price with high end performance)

subs(jl or image dynamics - i prefer image dynamics0 they have a budget, mid, and high end series. the mid idq level is very good, easy to drive, hits, small enclosure)

amps- jl & zapco(best), and crossfire(good)

soundstream used to be very, very, very good in the 80's and 90's.

rockford is good but prefer jl&zapco for the same price.

(Message edited by clubmyke on February 20, 2005)

Whoa sorry guys That info I posted is more than what I know about stereos... I just got the models the stereo shops recommended and posted em here to see if they were okay.

Sorry Mike I see how you read what I said I meant that sitting in the drivers seat I want to hear the stereo loud and clear when we are at boarding speed.
I'm not worried about the rider this time around (maybe in phase 2)

Most (infact probably all) of what you guys said went way over my head.
I guess I should say that I have the
Clarion XMD1 head unit that came with the boat and four JL audio speakers with tweeters.
The problem I have is that once the volume goes past 22 on the head unit it starts to distort.
and as it is now theres not much point in having it on even for the people in the boat when someone is boarding. I basically have astereo sitting there doing nothing.
At this stage I just want good clear loud sound inside the boat.
Tower speakers might come later but at this stage it (the sounds) are just for the people in the boat
The Amp is going in the storage compartment behind the observers seat and the sub at the drivers feet.
I was going to get a sub box or enclosure of some kind put at the back of the sub cause I heard it would sound better
am I on the right track
is there anywhere I can go to find out more about this stuff???


(Message edited by powdrhound on February 21, 2005)

And What is a long throw excursion sub and what does it do sound wise???

okay gotcha.. i understand what you are trying to do..

the clarion head unit ....... well you get the idea. if you are powering the seperates with the head unit, then the internal amp doesnt have enough power.

when you add aa external amp then the preamp voltage signal needs a bump up from 2 volts... would suggest a audio control line driver or crossover..it will bump the 2 volts to 9 volts.

if you need to power all 6 speakers, then you can run a 2 channel & a 4 channel, 3 2 channel amps or a big a$$ 4 channel amp ( like a jl 450/4) run the 4 cabin speakers (series or parallel) and the 2 bow speakers off the other 2 channels.

to find out ......figure out hyour system design the best you can (take into account future) and just talk to people here and local stereo shop

btw, boat speakers need at least 75-150 watts of very clean amp power (jl, zapco)

(Message edited by clubmyke on February 21, 2005)

Daaaammmmn my system just doubled in price
looks like we're getting a hi end 10" pioneer sub that dosen't require much space to run effectively, a remote control for the head unit by the driver and a five channel amp
its costing me for that and the install
1800 NZD which is about 1200USD does that sound right or am I getting dicked

seems about right..

clarion remote control $200
sub & box $300 ( buy usa made subs - image dynamic or jl..they are much better than the sony / pioneer/ clarion stuff)
5 channel amp....$300-$500
install $200