Whats needed for my sound system upgrade....

I'm looking to start planning an upgrade from my basic 4 speaker cd player sound system and adding a sub, some tower speakers (2-4 depending on what I find), and perhaps adding some speakers in the bow as well.

Heres my question. Whats needed to properly do this? I'm not looking to drop 6k on sound, but I want a decent setup that sounds good.

The answers to that are endless and the budget range with that. You are going to need speakers plus atleast 2 amps, second battery if your boat only has one. Wire, breaker, ditro blocks, amp wall if you don't have one, etc. Battery cable, speaker wire, RCA's.

Search is your friend. Your question is so general ppl could go on for days where everyone has a different opinion. We have all asked these questions myself included so no worries. You'll find more info quicker by searching and could read for days.

Everything starts with a budget and you need to define your goal. Are you looking to upgrade just to get a better sound when you're cruising? Do you surf/wakeboard? Is getting music to the rider important? Do you hang out at a party cove and blast your music?

Answering those questions will determine your budget.

OK let me narrow this down as I do see after reading I was beyond vague haha

I want to set up some tower speakers and need to know what specific components I need additional to my head unit to do this. Id like to be able to spend as little as possible as Im not trying to be heard across the lake. I already have 2 batteries set up. Not counting tower speakers I would like to spend $500 or less if thats realistic to do it properly. What I mean by that is I dont want to blow fuses from under/over powering and have tons of distortion. Where do I start ? Is this more helpful?

First you will need the tower speakers and an amp to run them. You will need 12 gauge speaker wire from the amp to the speakers. You will need RCA cables from the head unit to the amps and to wire the remote turn on. You will need a 1/0 trunk line to a distro block from the battery to the amp wall for both positive and negative cables. The B+ line will need a 200+ amp breaker or fuse. I say the distro block route because you mentioned a sub and this will allow power to more than 1 amp without running additional cabling from the battery. You can also get a fused distro block, instead of an inline fuse or breaker. Then you will need 4 gauge wire from the distro block to the amp itself.

That will cover just the tower speakers.

Thanks Boardman thats helpful. I may skip doing a sub all together (dont really need all the base) but the amp will still be needed for the tower speakers so thats good to know. I'm familiar with basic wiring needed for an amp but had read about lots of people getting equalizers and wasnt sure if that was mandatory or not.

The equalizer gives you independent zone control is why many are installing them. They let you turn down just in boats or just the towers. I simple line control can do that also.

I was recommended the Kicker ZXMRLC(control 2 zones) by TigeMike and really liked it. I had Rev8's with 300 watts apiece and they can get loud. Sometimes we didn't want them screaming and it was nice to be able to turn them down but not totally off.

Call Brian with Exile Audio. With that budget, youll be rocking man

i would also look into fresh air exhaust. it was the best stereo upgrade i did. all i hear is the motor itself no exhaust noise really. that and i dont smell the exhaust well surfing anymore.

Thanks for the tips fellas this is the info I was looking for!

You might consider waiting on the tower speakers and update the in boat speakers and get a sub installed. Unless you are riding behind the boat or on a beach behind the boat the tower speakers don't seem that important.