pontoon sound system thoughts

[shaeleblanc]

well guys i am going to be upgrading my pontoon sound system and wanted to see what other pontoon guys think. i love the speakers i got in my boat now they are clarion 6.5inch in the bottom of the seats. but when i get a few people they get drowned out cause they are so low in the boat so i was looking at adding an amp. well now i am going to be replacing my clarion deck cause it got water in some how. so i am looking at going with a upper end pyle deck and enclosure, 2 more small tower speakers or 2 more 6.5s and looking at still doing about a 600watt amp for everything. i am sure in the distant future i am going to add a self powered sub. but for now i am looking at amps and wondering if you guys think a regular 600 car amp will hold up to the enviroment under my steering console and will a 600 watt amp put to much strain on my single deep cycle battery. if i add some subwoofers then i will add another battery to the system. thanks guys. also i will run my amp remote line to a switch on my dash so i control it on and off.

 

[pushnwood]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

I have had many boats and all of them I have installed car audio product.My thoughts are, they sound better & cost less than the marine products. Keep the 6.5's they sound better than a 6x9, but you have to install a sub to get a great sound. You will also need two amps from the sound of your set up.

 

[imported_John o]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

www.pontoonforums.com. Find a user by the name of BassFrequency. He is a sound aficionado and can supply you with all the pontoon related sound advice you'd ever want.

 

[shaeleblanc]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

i wont need two amps i will be running 6 6.5 speakers if i add subs later on then i will add and amp for the subs then. the speakers in the little boxes i am considering are 6.5 also. so one amp will run all 6 speakers and i want to run them on 2 channels just left and right no front and rear so i will go with 3 speakers per channel. yea i am deff not going to 6x9s. in a boat i find they sound like crap. so i would be safe with a car amp under my steering console instead of a marine amp?

also considering running a self powered 10inch bazooka under one of my seats in the back.

and yes i love the sound of nature but this is not my fishing boat this is my party boat. the reason for the amp is cause with a full load of people it doesnt have enough power to really hear it. the amp and a couple more speakers will fix that problem for me. also

 

[shaeleblanc]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

well ok i think i have finished my shopping list and have a plan. dual deck with surround, pyle marine amp 1000watts and bazooka 10inch bass tube. the amp is designed to run highs and mids on 2 channels and then a sub on the other 2 bridged if wanted or i can run the sub on a separate amp. might take me a while to get it together but i think this would make me happy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220585397710&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400110913220&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400113079009&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT

i really dont want the 2 more 6.5 speakers but i will find a place to mount them i guess.

 

[BuckyBadger]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

I've been looking at upgrading our sound system as well. For the exact same reasons. The receiver and two speakers it came with sounds fine but it just gets drowned out pretty quick with wind, engine, and a few people on board.

From the research I've done so far I am finding that the watts rating is essentially useless. With the speakers and amplifiers you really do get what you pay for. I don't intend on spending thousands of dollars on my system so I've been looking at the pyle but have had some concerns. Being that much cheaper just really makes me suspect. I have also heard cheap high powered amps before and compared to a lower power, higher quality amp, I tend to lean toward the higher quality route. I've read a couple reviews where people are happy with the pyles and think are a great value, but I've also read some that they are worst amp out there.

Please keep us posted on what you decide and how it turns out. I'll be interested to hear.

 

[75TowerOfPower]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

well ok i think i have finished my shopping list and have a plan. dual deck with surround, pyle marine amp 1000watts and bazooka 10inch bass tube. the amp is designed to run highs and mids on 2 channels and then a sub on the other 2 bridged if wanted or i can run the sub on a separate amp. might take me a while to get it together but i think this would make me happy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220585397710&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400110913220&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400113079009&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT

i really dont want the 2 more 6.5 speakers but i will find a place to mount them i guess.

I don't know if you noticed or not but the RMS on those speakers in the combo are only 20 watts. You will need something higher than that to make some noise. You will want something that does over 50 watts RMS if not there is no need for an amp since the deck can put out 40ish watts per channel. Shoot for over 200 watts peak for the pair.

 

[shaeleblanc]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

most of the time i am a high end audio person also. but for the conditions i stay in around here i just can not justify the money they want for some things. i have be researching this amp and know that it is not a true 1000 watt amp but i have 4 clarion speakers in my boat now that need a good 75 watts each and 150 watts max. so if this amp is only pushing 500 watts then it will get my speakers to there running power. i have also had some lower end amps that put out better than my higher end amp as well. i have also read a few goods and bads about the pyle 6.5 speakers so i am trying to find 2-4 more clarion 6.5s to match the ones i already have in the boat.

 

[shaeleblanc]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

most decks dont push true to what they say. right now my clarion is a 200watt deck but it is only pushing 25watts a speaker.

 

[shaeleblanc]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

well i founf 4 more clarion/marine audio 6.5s at a really good price so i will get them. here is the link these are clarion speakers tagged Marine Audio
http://greatlakesskipper.com/produc...0-watt-coaxial-boat-speakers-pair-ma-cx1.html

so the plan right now is
4 6.5s to match the 4 i have already
the pyle 1000watt amp
bazooka sub
and the new deck.

 

[sfy]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

not much selection for the speakers there. if you have not ordered yet, check some of the stuff here

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarA...eNum=1&SortField=1&ShowAll=False&SortOrder=0&

i got some MB Quart 6.5's from them for a VERY good price

 

[shaeleblanc]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

i am going to get the ones i showed cause they match my other speakers in the boat.

but now i am questioning my amp power. the amp is tri hookup capable so i can run my 8 6.5s on 2 channels and then on the other 2 bridge them up to one channel and run my bazooka 10inch sub at 4 ohms

then my 8 6.5s will be sharing 500 watts.

i think i am going to need another amp in the mix now. it would be ok if i was only going to run the 4 6.5s but with 8 i am going to need all the power from that amp.

aww heck i dont know what i want anymore. the start will first be running at 8 6.5s and and amp with no sub. the sub will come at a later date i guess.

 

[shaeleblanc]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

ok so after looking at this setup some more and how would like to lay it out... i am thinking of going with that pyle 1000watt amp in tri configuration mode. i could run the 6 6.5 clarions giving them 80 watts each, then putting 2 sony 10inch subs that rms at 200 each on the bridged side of the amp that will deliver 500watts rms x1 so it would give me 250 each speaker. also found a sony deck that i like alot more than the pyle one. so what you guys think.

 

[steelespike]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

I'm way beyond the age of the typical 1000 watt boater.I just can't imagine a relaxing day on the water with a few 1,000 watt boaters nearby.
When you consider 2 people at speed in a boat can be clearly be heard on shore conversing over the motor noise.

 

[shaeleblanc]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

yea i am not about being as loud as possible i just need it to carry over my motor noise wind and the feet of 20 people. the deck really doesnt have the power to carry though all that. i am going to just put the one bazooka 10 on a 4 or 6 channel 800-1000 amp the 2 amps i am looking at can both run highs/mids and a sub at the same time. so i think i got my stuff figured out now i was getting crazy earlier with adding all kinda stuf

 

[180shabah]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

Multiple speakers on a single channel can destroy an amp if it is not designed for the load. You will also lose some clarity.

 

[shaeleblanc]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

yea i checked all the loads it would all match up but i think i found a better amp that has 6 channels 4 for speakers and 2 for subs that can bridge to 1 for a single subwoofer. so thats the route i will go

 

[mikegj]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

for loud speakers I went with ROCKFORD FOSGATE 8" marine speakers designed for malibu boats. These are the loudest speakers I've heard without an amp everything on the boat vibrates (especially the aluminum fence paneling), about 250.00 on ebay. For head unit I went with car audio JVC ARSENAL KD-AR7500 no need to carry CDs it uses 512 mb SD card's kick ***** system, about 200.00 on ebay

 

[shaeleblanc]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

i was actually just looking at that head unit we never bring cds anymore either the ipod or i can bring my dj hard drive 30k songs on that. i really like the bazooka 10in bass tube subwoofer. its only 200 watts but i think will just help re enforce the 6.5 clarions. so my plan right now is a mb quart 6channel marine amp with the 4 clarion 6.5s in my boat and a 10inch bazooka tube sub. and i am still undecided on the head unit but i got to replace my clarion cause its junk now.

 

[sfy]

Re: pontoon sound system thoughts

good choice in sub-woof's, but where will you be placing it? bazookas are designed to be corner loaded to help them use the boundary effect for achieving higher DB levels and a little stronger bass response. on my toon, i dont have a corner that could take a 10" bazooka beating it all the time without losing a lot of energy to panel flex.