Wiring 12 speakers in a Malibu boat

[subboxmaker 10+ year member]

Allright my boss just got a new Malibu boat. actually he got 7 of them but the one he's keeping is the one i have to wire now. It has 8 kicker 6.5" speakers inside the boat and a 10" L7 sub. Everything is wired to a kicker kx700.5 i think. Not sure how its wired but it works. Now my boss wants to add 4 more tower speakers on top and wants me to figure out the best way to do this. I told him to just buy a 2 or 4 channel amp but i dont know if he wants to do that. Is there any reasonable way to wire in 12 speakers to four channels or would it be a lot easier and make more sense to just buy another 2 or 4 channel amp? I'm trying to talk him into sending the 5 channel amp back and actually getting a nice class D amp for the sub that would send it more than 210 watts rms (420 if its bridged but i havent figured out what ohm sub is) and then getting a nice big 4 channel to run all the 12 speakers or maybe 2 4 channel amps. Only problem is i dont know what kind of electrical system these boats have in them. Anyone have any suggestions.

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[Blunt 10+ year member]

well 12 speakers might make the ohm load on the amp too low and it prolly won't run them all

 

[sanmarcosZfreak 10+ year member]

3 4 channels and a mono block

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

The boat has 120VAC onboard, correct?

Just use home audio rack amplifiers...the cabin boats I've been on have regular AC power for appliances, TV's, whatever.

 

[subboxmaker 10+ year member]

the only thing im worried about is the electrical system of the boat i dont know if i could run 4 different amps. And home rack amps is outta the question. i dunno if it has 120V but id rather just mess with 12v.

 

[sanmarcosZfreak 10+ year member]

the only thing im worried about is the electrical system of the boat i dont know if i could run 4 different amps. And home rack amps is outta the question. i dunno if it has 120V but id rather just mess with 12v.

wat size motor is in it? if anything get another alt, make sure they are both HO and make sure u ahve enough batteries and 4 amps should be fine, at least to my knowledge

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Find out what kind of electrical system it has. If it's 120VAC onboard, it would be silly to mess around with 12VDC when there are pro audio solutions to the problem.

But finding out what the situation is needs to be the first thing you do...

 

[subboxmaker 10+ year member]

yeah ill have to check and see what kind of electrical system it all has. one of his boats has a V-8 340 and his is somewhere around that size.

 

[subboxmaker 10+ year member]

ok just thinking about it and i really doubt it has 120v. It is a wakeboard/ski boat. I think im going to talk him into getting 2 4 channel amps and a mono block. And for another boat just add a 2 channel amp for the extra 2 speakers he wants to add.

 

[theCybe 5,000+ posts]

Don't need 16 speakers for a boat that size. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[bjfish11 5,000+ posts]

Don't need 16 speakers for a boat that size. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

thats why hes only putting 12 in there //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[dbhittin 5,000+ posts]

there 12volt... run the tower speakers off its own amp cause u want those to be louder so u can hear them behind the boat.... its not a house boat, so why home audio? they run just like cars

 

[dbhittin 5,000+ posts]

and kicker makes tower speakers that just bolt on.. usally there is already wires up there for them too

 

[bjfish11 5,000+ posts]

yea they do, do you happen to know the cost of those puppies?

 

[theCybe 5,000+ posts]

I don't see the problem.