Help Wiring Sound System
 

I have never been into sound systems in any of my cars, so when it comes to setting them up I would be considered a newbie.

I purchased my boat and it has an older system in it, however it really was wired in very poorly. The amps are mounted in the bilge which my surveyor told me was a no-no, so I would like to move them. Everything else is hard-wired to the battery so I have to remove my faceplate when I am done with the boat otherwise it will drain the battery... stupid.

I would like to move the amps, clean up the speakers to make them visually more appealing, and re-wire everything so it functions as it should, won't drain my battery, and maybe get a little more punch out of the system depending on how it is currently wired.

Here is the set-up:

(2) Rockford Fosgate Amplifiers (P2002, [E11]021752
(4) Larger component speakers under the rear seat.
(1) Single 10" Punch Sub mounted between the component speakers under rear seat.
(2) Smaller component speakers up front down by the front seats


Any help is appreciated it. Annoys me how it will drain the battery so I want to rewire it all and clean it all up. I would also like some more Punch out of this not so "Punch" set-up, therefore maybe get a better amplifier or something? Any input appreciated, I don't like what I'm working with! Thanks


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There should be a terminal on your amp labeled 'remote', and there should be a matching blue wire on the back of your head unit. That blue wire needs to be connected between the two so that the amps will turn off when the H/U does.

Is there an enclosure around the sub? Enclosures make all the difference with speakers. If you're really handy, you could pull the two closest speakers to the sub and use those holes as ports for your sub's box. That will net you a lot more sound.

Post the model numbers of the amps as well, so we know what you're working with and how to wire everything to optimize the load.

Awesome thanks for the info. The Amps are P2002's. I will check for an enclosure, never looked!

If you were close I'd help you out. I've been doing Car audio for some 20 years now. You have some REALLY nice equipment there.

The issues with boats are always ......space. It looks like whoever installed your system installed the amps in the easiest place. You have to use some imagination and ingenuity on an install sometimes, then you can make things more invisible and stealthy.

As for your battery draw, if your amps are poorly wired, they can still creat a draw, even though they aren't on. I've seen this in the past, especially on older amps. If you're worried about the amps drawing on the batteries, install a high current circuit breaker on the amp wire, then when you shut off your batteries, you can flip the breaker and stop your draw. Plus the breaker makes it easier to work on things in the future too.

Thanks Jonesy,
My biggest concern is how it is all hard-wired. I am unsure if a lot of marine stereo's are this way or not, however key on power would be much nicer!

you should have a battery switch. I ran the power for my zues off the battery switch

true to a point, though 32 speakers makes that amp unstable. depending on the amp, most decent amps are stable to 1 or 2 ohms. decreasing the ohm load does increase power to the speaker, but it also creats more distortion and heat.

the key to driving those amps is to load them with ohms by wiring the speakers differently or adding more.
drive the ohm load down and the power will dramatically rise.
Back in the day my buddy had 32 speakers running on a punch 45 watt amp. You would not believe the power

I do have a battery switch, however with it in the off form the sound system still runs as it is hard wired directly to the battery. I have to pull the face plate to kill power or else it will stay on forever.

Then hard wire + to the battery switch, not the battery. The only thing that should be fused and hard wired to the battery is the automatic side of the bilge pump circuit,

Running the draw that those amps require, you should probably have a house battery and a starting battery. That way when your listening to the stereo at dock, beach or rafted off you can run off the house battery with the starting battery isolated, Thar way you dont run the starting battery down and get stuck,

When I ran a local audio shop, twenty years ago, Punch Amps were AMAZING!! They were nearly bullet proof. I've seen them run to a 1/4 ohm and take it, but boy did they get hot!!

I agree, whoever wired that system probably ran two speakers together off a four channel amp. But I've definitely try to move them and isolate the wiring. When I install a radio in a boat, I put it in a switch, but keep the memory wire hooked up so we don't have to re set the stations.

Also remember amps pull power from ground not positive. So keep your ground as short as possible.

Yikes .this is where that buddy of yours with a fluke 87 or 88 moves up to good buddy status .heat and humidity of bildge is tough on amp wiring ,at least pull clean and dielectric grease all speaker and power connectors, ohm channel outputs while wires off see what you have .those fosgate amps are never going to do the .5 ohm old school dream .that's ok .no less than 2 ,no more than 4 .wet people climbing on speaker enclosures usually lead to high resistance connectors at under seat speaks . Fix and add dielectric .seal front of speaker from back .get that sub sealed off somehow ,,maybe plywood compartment sections get it off those ema other speakers ,nobody ever threw a sub on the table ,hooked it up and impressed you . Seal it up .

Take a 1.5 v batt make sure polarity is correct .explore poss of bridging sub to 2 ohms .wire your head unit to key on term of key switch . And enjoy .won't wake the dead , but should sound respectable once dialed in ,if the bench seat speaks aren't waterlogged from wet butts

Yes sir, I love old school amps. My old zues feels like it is going to blow the speakers out of there mounts, and clean too. But I also had to run some seriously heavy wire to make it happy. I think my amp + and - are bigger than the battery cables. The two 10" free air subs are under the back seat, not completely air right, but they kick pretty hard and sound clean none the less.

Btw i have 3 of those old school fosgate cheater amps in my wellcraft ,with computer fans cooling them ,and a 150 amp alternator shoehorned under the power steering pump struggles to keep up with the current draw and the double pulley belt set up was a pita to retrofit but it jams .love those old school fosgates .unregulated ,and gloriously inefficient ,way out of warranty .and doubles as a George foreman grill when running those low ohm load speaker deals

Forget all this old school BS.. First ditch the head unit.. You dont need it now days.. Are you really going to bring your old Metalica CD boating? I use a Samsung tablet for GPS and to play the tunes. You can run a long patch cord from the tablet that plugs into the earphone jack and converts to rca jacks at the amp. I actually have a bluetooth module that is next to the amp and powers on with the amp so i dont even need the cable.. 1 less wire. You will need to run a wire to the dash for key on power to the amps or put it on a switch. All + power except for the amp on switch,should be run through a perco switch. This way Key off and switch off equals no drain. I have tons of music loaded on the tablet. If I want to hear something not on the tablet, then I wifi hot spot off my phone to the tablet and play Youtube videos on it.

Chris

By the pics you need a lot of work done. Where are you located.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...rams&FORM=IGRE

Crutchfeild has wiring diagram's for almost every application you can think of, That link you get you in you just have to learn how to navigate from there.