Amp and sub install and general stereo questions

[Zad]

We are wanting to give our 24ve stereo a bit of an upgrade. Our goal is clean, clear sound, doesn't have to be booming. Currently it has the CDM4 head unit, two factory kicker speakers in the bow and two in the cockpit area, and two Samson Focal2 tower speakers. My brother-in-law has access to an exile 12" sub (in a non-ported 1.14 cu ft box) and a 750w Clarion Marine amp for the sub (will have to tone down the power a bit) and a 1000w Clarion Marine sub for the tower and kicker speakers. He can get the sub and both amps for $530 USD.

Two questions: First, is this a reasonable set up for the clean and clear, non booming sound we are hoping to get on a budget?

Second, we have maxed our budget (blown actually) and are hoping to do the installation ourselves. I am handy but have never installed a stereo before and we are thinking of doing the install ourselves and then taking it to the local audio shop and paying them to tune it for us. I don't have the first clue as to how to size the power cables for the amps or how to lay out the install. Is this doable or are we biting off more than we can chew?

We have retrofitted the rear lockers and are about to put in our new customs sacs from Mike and Mikes Liquid Audio, just received our FAE, and the boat is coming together...just need to add some power to the stereo.

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[chpthril]

If possible, can you post the actual amp models. Those wattage number are for marketing numbers and dont tell us enough to offer much assistance. Also, that particular sub is offered in 2 versions of voice coil configurations. This will have a huge impact on how the sub is wired and the power it will receive from the sub amp.

With only a single pair of 6.5" in-boats in the main cabin, that 12" sub is going to dominate if unleashed. When the budget recovers, I would suggest adding a 2nd pair of speakers to the main cabin. I think i know where you can get another matching pair even. Ill Email you that contact.

In regards to cabling size, etc, the requested info above, is why thats needed. You are looking at about 22-24 feet of amp cabling between the battery and amps, and that distance as well as potential current draw, will determine the cable gauge.

If you are going to enlist the help of a local shop for the tuning, I would consider purchasing the install gear through them and begin building a relationship with them.

[Zad]

Thanks Mike, will post the details today. We have a solid relationship with the tuning shop, it is where we bought the amps and sub. They are good personal friends and we would use them for install if we weren't so far over the budget edge. Thanks for the lead on the two other kickers.

[Zad]

Also Mike, we haven't got a bill from you for the two kicker speakers. Thanks for sending them so fast, your customer service and knowledge are top drawer.

[Zad]

Clarion amps are Xc6620 and Xc6120. Will get voice coil sub info later.

[Zad]

Sub is dual voice coil.

[chpthril]

Lets presume the xi12 is the 4 ohm DVC. Wired in parallel, the clarion xc6120 will deliver 650W rms. Thats good power for that woofer

The clarion xc6620 is a 6 chnl amp. You've got 2 tower speakers and 4 in-boat speakers. So that means each speaker will have its own chnl.

I would run the head-units purple non-fade RCA outputs to the xc6120 and then use the amps remote level control

Wire the tower speakers to chnls 5 and 6 and use the head-units black rear RCA to the chnl 5/6 inputs

wire the 4 in-boats to chnls 1-4 and run the head-unit white front RCA outputs to the chnl 1/2 inputs on the amp.

This would give fade between the tower and in-boats and sub level control. The xc6620 would allow for a 2nd main cabin pair to be wired to chnls 3/4 later.

[Zad]

Thank you very much Mike...appreciate your generous advice. I think we will tackle this one as a result.

[Zad]

What gauge wire would you use from battery to amp? One set of wires to each amp or one set for both amps? Can you bridge power from one amp to the other?

[dj2]

I personally would run 1/0 to a distirbution block near the amps and 4ga to each amp. It's a better idea to "overbuild" your power distribution than starve your amps for current, or not have headroom to upgrade in the future. Please expand on what you mean by "bridge" power from one amp to the other, are you talking about "jumping" 12v+ and 12v- from the connections on one amp to the other(you physically can but this is a bad idea) or "combining" speaker output power between the amps(cannot be done with these amps and unnecessary for your setup).

Trying to use lay-persons terms because some 12v audio jargon is often misunderstood or misused.

I have (2) sets of 1/0 12v+ and 12v- running from my batteries to where my amps are mounted under the glove box in my 08 RZ4. I run 1 set directly into a RF BD1500.1 that runs my 10w7 and the other set runs to distribution blocks and splits to 2 sets of 4 ga that each run a RF P450.4, 1 runs my 6 in-boat 6 1/2 RF Coax speakers and the other runs my tower, 1 channel bridged to my REV410 and the other channel running my REV10's. When I bought the boat it had a single set of 4ga running to the p450's and those 2 amps ran the in-boats, and a RF P3 12 sub on one and the other ran a set of Fusion T6.5 3-ways on the tower. I wish whoever did the original install had "overbuilt" because upgrading would have been easier and honestly a single 4ga was not enough for what was in there.

[chpthril]

Given the distance, I would go with 1/0ga for the trunk line and then 4ga for the branch cables to the amps. A 150A breaker would be my choice for circuit protection on the trunk line at the battery/switch.

[Zad]

Does that mean 1/0 ga for both power from battery to the block and ground from block back to the battery? Or, can we get away with a larger ga on the ground from block back to battery?

[chpthril]

1/0 for both the positive and negative. No need for larger.

[Zad]

Oops, meant to say SMALLER on the "ground" back to the battery. For, could we use a 4ga as trunk line ground? Or, two runs of 4 ga?

[chpthril]

Yes, you could run a single 4ga ground for each amp, but not a single 4ga service both.