Boat audio system

[supermiguel]

So i want to upgrade the stock audio on my boat.. Basically a 28 footer, with 4 speakers on the back of the boat...

I have a friend that has this system:

Head Unit: Sony CDX-M20

Speakers: Sony XS-MP1611 (2 Pairs)

Amp: Sony XM-604M

it sounds loud (could be louder) when i put it 100% volume on the HU, and leave the gain stock. It starts to distortion the sound.. so i have to put it on like 90%, for it to be loud and clear...

The reason im making this post, is because he spent $460 (he got it at bestbuy), and i want to see if for the same money i could get something better... I dont really like the speaker quality (look cheap to be marine), nor i like tha i only have 1 RCA pair outputs on the back of my HU, this is not a big deal, since all 4 speakers are on the back of my boat and are full range...

So i went to sonic Electronix and made this exact setup and came up to $369..

I also did this setup

Head Unit: Kenwood KMR-350U

Speakers: JBL Marine MS6200 (2 pairs)

Amp: JBL Marine MA6004

This came up to $419 which a bit more expensive but not sure if worth it

Now my budged pushing it is $500...

What do you guys recommend??

Click to read more...

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

man..I know you have salt to deal with..you could do so much more with the money if you could buy a regular amp...but what you have listed is pretty much what you are going to find for the $. If you could swing another $150, you could get a class d 400watt 4ch marine from RF and blow your buddy away...but anyways, I did find the equipment you listed for a few bucks less:

$388.96...but with shipping, you might be just as well off with Sonic.

JBL MS6200 6" Coaxial Marine Speaker 180 Watts Pair*-*JBL*MS6200 - JBL Audio - Marine Audio/Video - Boatersland Marine

JBL 4 Channel Amplifier*-*JBL*MA6004 - JBL Audio - Marine Audio/Video - Boatersland Marine

Kenwood KMR-350U AM/FM/CD Sirius Ready Stereo*-*Kenwood*KMR-350U - Kenwood Audio - Marine Audio/Video - Boatersland Marine

 

[supermiguel]

So the JBL/Kenwood combo is better than the sony one??

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Look into Poly Planar, they make real good marine speakers. I always used to push those when I used to work at Boaters World. They make an 8inch woofer that gets real loud and sounded great.

 

[chevydriver37]

Hi, new to the forum, but saw your post. I just upgraded my boat as well. I stuck with my old HU, Clarion's M475, but installed MB Quart's Nautic 660 amp, along with 4 of their marine 6x9's, and their RLP254 10" sub. I needed a low profile sub, and this did the trick wonderfully. It can be very loud, which is what I need to hear over the engines while crusing. While on the hook or at the dock, it sounds very very nice at low to mid volumes. The only disappointment is that the old M475 uses 2V outs, which caused my amp to overheat just once - and that was 3 hours after blasting the hell outta it. Also, I'd of went with 6.5" rounds, but the holes were already cut in the boat for 6x9, so I just kept it that way. The amp is pretty big, being 18" long and was a little tight installing. I think I have less than 600 bucks into the whole system. Boats are even harder than cars to achieve good sound quality. I would imagine (and there's probly a zillion other opinions from more experienced folks) that depending on the kind of boat you have, you could use any quality HU. Mine's inside a cabin, mounted in a cabinet, so it's protected. If that's your scenario, then any good quality HU should suffice.

 

[DBBOOM 10+ year member]

View attachment 26536042View attachment 26536043 I have (4) Poly-Planer 8" Tri-Axials in mine. They sound great. Have a few Kickers on the tower and L7 subs under the dash, gets loud //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif