Boat Audio

[craig1989]

I'm looking to get some new sound for my boat. I don't own a wakeboarding boat (and no tower ), well its my parents, so tower speakers are out of the question. I've been looking at getting an amp, 2 regular speakers and one sub.. I've checked our stereo and everything is compatible. Unfortunatly I'm trying to stay on a relatively low budget. I have two questions for you..

1) What about using car audio, is this ok as long as it isn't going to get soaked or is this simply just a bad idea.

2) What is everyone's opinion on these products/manufactuer.
- amp: http://www.xtremedeal4u.zoovy.com/product/PLMRA420
- speakers: http://www.xtremedeal4u.zoovy.com/product/PLMR692
- sub: http://www.xtremedeal4u.zoovy.com/product/PLMRW12

cheers guys.

 

[deejaycee_2000]

Re: Boat Audio

Normal car audio is fine ..... as long as the setup don't get wet .... otherwise it works fine ........

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Boat Audio

Craig, If you boat in fresh water, the car audio should survive, if you keep it dry. Make sure it has some ventilation. If you are in saltwater, all (marine and auto) audio equipment has a limited life.

Have you considered the "Boombox" route? They are much cheaper than built in, have pretty good sound, are removable, and if you buy one that works on 12V, you can wire it to the boat electrical system. I used a 12V boombox with removeable speakers in my speedboat. I mounted the speakers up under the bow for protection. it works well.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Boat Audio

they make back covers for speakers, to keep the water out. and to keep gear from damaging them.

 

[82RAYSONCRAFT]

Re: Boat Audio

Heres what I just installed.
Cost me a little under $400 for everything and I did the install.

 

[NealLauderman]

Re: Boat Audio

I know this is a stupid question but how do you charge the battery? I know them amps and subs will do a number on a battery. Well when your sitting out there cranking the tunes, how are you keeping your battery from dying?

I know on cars, the alternator charges it while the car is on.

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Boat Audio

Leave the audio at home so I can have some peace and quiet. I just don't need ta-boomboom, ta-boomboom, ta-boomboom on the lake.

 

[salty87]

Re: Boat Audio

i agree that car audio is sufficient. my rockford amps are going on 5 or 6 years with zero issues. my cd player would have if i didn't let it get rained on with a cd half-ejected all night.

i haven't heard any of those products but i'd be afraid of pyle. you generally get what you pay for with those bargain basement speakers and amps. i'd be suspect of their marine ratings too. the prices really just seem too low to get much quality and i doubt you'll hear the watts they quote. if you put 600 real watts into the sub, i doubt it would hold up but like i said, i haven't heard these.

what kind of boat?...closed bow? if not, i'd skip the sub because you'd really need more power to hear the low frequencies in a boat with all the wind and engine noise. i'd probably go with 4 speakers instead. you'll get more volume for your dollars that way. you won't hear much of an under-powered sub anyway.

i'd hate to see you blow cash on equipment that doesn't perform. i've bought speakers like that before for my car and was totally disappointed and also out my cash.

can you buy a few pieces at a time and build up?

 

[QC]

Re: Boat Audio

My current boat I bought used. The previous owner had put a ton of money into a system with a total of 14 separate speakers. It has 4 6 x 9s, 4 individual 5 1/4 Coax, 4 little separate tweeters, 2 12" Subs and a 1000 watt power amp. It is an open bow, I have thru the transom exhaust and because I can crank it all of the way up with no distortion, I can hear it very well at 50 MPH although I never use it that way. Too much going on.

But . . . although I would've never spent that kind of money myself, nor had a desire to, I will always have a big system in my boats from now on. Despite BoatBouy's opinion, which I previously held, the value of a great system at the right time, cannot be understood until you have one. Most people when commenting on my boat mention the stereo as it's best feature. I don't mention this because I care about about them talking, but it is an example of how memorable it is to have a good system at the right time.

Oh, and if you go this way, you must add at least a second battery and a switch. It will eat up a battery, and you need to have a fresh one isolated to get home on . . .