10 Speaker Set Up

[Caravelle1995]

I just bought a 1995 19ft Caravelle. This is my first boat purchase and I bought it so that I could wakeboard behind it. I am currently in the process of adding a wake tower and speakers on the tower.

I plan on adding TWO dual kicker speaker pods, a total of 4 speakers to the tower. Also I was going to replace the stereo and speakers inside the boat since they are the originals and need updating. I will have my kickers up pretty load so I can hear them while I wake board and I didn't want the sound to be distorted severely from my 6.5" speakers (x4) in the boat.

Last night while going through my boat I realized that I have another pair of 4" speakers right next to the driver and passenger seat totaling 6 speakers inside the boat.

My question is it possible to run my 10 speakers off of my stereo or will I need to utilize an amp? Below are the specs to what I plan on buying.

Stereo:
Kenwood KMR-D368BT
200W (50W x 4 Channels)
4-8 Ohms

Speakers:
Kicker 43KM654LCW (x4)
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]6.5"
Peak: 195W
Continuous: 65W
4 ohms

Kenwood [/FONT]KFC1633MRW (x4)
6.5"
Peak: 100W
Continuous: 20W
4 Ohms

West Marine [FONT=&quot]WM-4000 (x2)
4"[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Peak: 60W[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]4 Ohms[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I was thinking about possibly not wiring up the 4" speakers since it would have been much easier with 8 speakers before I found out that I actually have 10. I was thinking that Ill have plenty of power among the 6.5" speakers (x8). I really do not want to spend $200 on an amp if I don't have to and my stereo will work. Any feed back will be great, thanks.[/FONT]

 

[shrew]

You are going to be a pleasure to be around on the water. Everyone will envy you and appreciate you sharing your personal taste in music as it imposes on their tranquility.

 

[jkust]

You will notice that people on this forum tend to like the tranquility of the boating experience and so your posting of your first boat with ten speakers doesn't jive with many folks. I disdain when a wake board boat comes onto the bay where my house is located. There is a certain tone deafness with your post but you don't realize it yet. That said, you will absolutely need an amp or two to drive what you are proposing. I'm a huge audiophile just not in my boats.

 

[khoonie]

I'm pretty sure you will need a an additional amplifier if you are going to run that many speakers with a 50 watt RMS per channel stereo. Most likely your stereo has output for 4, 4 ohm speakers and to run even 8 from those four channels you would have to run them in series/parallel. Two sets of 4 four ohm speakers in series/parallel would give you a four ohm load, but your power would be very low, underpowering the speakers.

 

[spoilsofwar]

The internal amp from the head unit is not sufficient to power tower speakers that you intend to hear while wake boarding, without considerable disappointment in the sound quality. So, the question of 8 speakers vs. 10 speakers aside, you need an external amp, period.

Personally I would run the four tower speakers (perhaps easier then using four speakers up there would be using two 8" coax or component sets, but I digress) off an external 4 channel amp, and the internal cockpit speakers off the head unit. I would not bother with the 4" speakers unless you consider their placement key to good sound quality.

 

[Sprig]

I agree with shrew it's always such a pleasure being around loud blaring music from other boats on the water. Its kind of like being a non smoker and having someone blow cigarette smoke in your face. It's offensive and impolite. I'm not trying to be harsh but please use a little common sense and show a little respect before blasting the music and think about your fellow boaters and other people using the lake.

 

[southkogs]

Moved ya' into the electronics section. We'll see if we can generate any more ideas for you.

Now that we've set the tone for "don't bother the other boaters with the loud music" and "stay off my lawn" ... :mmph: ... we'll assume for the remainder of this topic that the OP is way out in the water, botherin' nobody as he's cranked to 11 and jamming along :rockon:

Welcome aboard.

 

[briangcc]

Attempting to run that many speakers off the head unit alone will more than likely fry the internal amp.

You're probably going to want to rewire the audio for the entire boat using at least a 4 channel amp, probably a couple. You'll want to turn the gains way down for the speakers in the cockpit as they aren't rated nearly as high as the proposed tower speakers. And you'll want to feed those with appropriate wiring direct from the battery to the amps. Probably 8G wiring for the power minimum, and fused appropriately. And make sure your alternator is up to the task to drive the amps. I'm not sure what comes with your engine however IF you upgrade the alternator remember to get a marine unit - car units are not meant for the marine environment.

Does your head unit have an amp power output? Usually a single blue wire. This turns the amps on for you when you turn on the head unit. How about amp pre-outs? RCA's that connect to your amp to provide the audio signal.

Audio gets expensive when you start adding all the components up. Just something to consider...

 

[jkust]

Attempting to run that many speakers off the head unit alone will more than likely fry the internal amp.

...

And when you turn it up with just a head unit you will damage the speakers. The good thing is that you can find relatively cheap marine amps shopping on the internet.

 

[Brandon5778]

I would agree that you need at least 1 four channel amp for your tower speakers. You can run your 4 speakers in the boat off the head unit, but just remember it only puts out probably 14w RMS x 4 channels. Not very loud. I would have an amp powering the boat speakers too. And just ditch the 2 four inch speakers.

 

[sam am I]

Head phones are always best in these cases, it not only preserves the fidelity, it saves money too!!.........I also hear tale that the prettiest girls really dig guys who save those extra monies for like going out to nice dinners, college and such.

 

[REN3G8]

I'm more of a car stereo guy... my advise... use the deck power for the fronts and mid speakers, then use an amp for all rear speakers.

Amps can be found cheap now, just check your local Craigslist and see what you find for cheap. I have so many amps collected overtime that I probably need to start selling them out, lol