Marine Audio

[Seth]

Has anybody here installed an amplified stereo system in there boat? Right now I have some 5.5" and 6x9's in the boat and they sound decent on the head unit power, but have been thinking about amping them. Would this drain my battery pretty quickly? I have a 2008 115hp Etec on the boat and it has a 133 amp alternator on the engine I believe.

 

[russ010]

you'll definitely need an Optima 31 series or similar battery - depending on what type of amp you are looking at putting in.

Are you looking at adding subs, or just an amp for your mid range speakers?

If it's just the mid range speakers, you will do fine with just a 40-50w amp... you're not gonna get mega bass out of them anyways. The alternator you have supplies enough current

 

[Seth]

I was just wanting to amp the mid-range speakers so they will play louder. They are only rated to handle 60w anyways so I would probably try and find a 40-50w x 4 channel amp to power them.

 

[russ010]

You would be fine with one of those push button power boosts like you can get at walmart - I think they are like $30 (of course, that was 15 years ago - and I think they were made by Roadmaster).

But remember, a 50 watt amp is only going to put out 25w to each speaker... but that will be plenty enough for what you are looking for - and it won't draw down your battery.

This is what I would get - it will run 6x9s with ease and it won't over power them. It says 500 watts at 2 ohms, but your speakers are 4ohm, so you'll get just the right amount - I don't know if it has an attenuator built into it, but it should have something that controls the output - https://www.walmart.com/ip/DP-Audio-250-Watts-x-2-Car-Amplifier-DA500.2/12347332

 

[Seth]

How do you ground an amp in a boat? Do you just do like everything else and hook it to the battery negative or do I have to do something else? On a vehicle you use the chassis as the ground, but using a hull for the ground is a big no-no right?

 

[Brine]

Here's what I did with mine. :---)

Sorry, it was just too excessive not to post. :LOL2:

 

[Quackrstackr]

How do you ground an amp in a boat? Do you just do like everything else and hook it to the battery negative or do I have to do something else? On a vehicle you use the chassis as the ground, but using a hull for the ground is a big no-no right?

Yes.. back to the neg. post on the battery.

You can hook to the chassis on a vehicle because the battery ground is hooked directly to it anyway (and it's not made of aluminum and sitting in the water). :wink:

 

[Seth]

Here's what I did with mine. :---)

Sorry, it was just too excessive not to post. :LOL2:

This is what I'm hoping to achieve one day as well. Probably have to add a few more batteries to the boat though. :mrgreen: