Originally Posted by Griff (Post 3176539)

He doesn't need a capacitor to run 2 PDX amps. Both my PDX's run off 1 battery and never have an issue with power delivery.

Originally Posted by stopdropanroll (Post 3176516)

A capacitor is a waste of time in a boat, even in cars, most people that are building big systems are playing heavy bass i.e. rock, rap, pop, etc. The cap never gets a chance to build up enough power to be helpful. Caps may help light dimming issues and other CAR related power issues but in a boat most playing gets done with the engines off and tied up or on the sand. And not having a cap is not going to destroy any equipment. Stick to making the fundamentals rock solid, same size ground as power, upgraded charging wire, good batteries, and not playing after a battery cuts out the system. I find that grouping batteries together lessens the play time and drops the summed voltage. I use 200amp or bigger relays instead of "switchers" to isolate each battery. When one goes low, I flip a switch on the dash and turn to a fresh battery then turn off the low battery. I have been doing car/marine audio for 12+ years and have always had the longest playing boats around. I do not sell caps to people, I sell better wire/altenators/and factory wire upgrades and that makes a HUGE difference. If people want to throw money at a cap thats fine but I feel they are old technology and are not effective enough for the money they cost.

Originally Posted by MILD THUNDER (Post 3179029)

Curious how you like the alpine marine speakers??? How do they sound???

Originally Posted by capt2130 (Post 3177362)

How many batteries do you run? Do you have a inboard charger? What do you mean by using 200 amp relays and not switches?

Originally Posted by stopdropanroll (Post 3179903)

I have 2 SRM-29 Interstate batteries for the stereo only, and 1 SRM-24 for cranking and boat acc. The 200amp relays are basically similar to a starter relay, it allows you to use a rocker switch on the dash instead of opening the hatch or seat cushion to manually flip a switcher, much more convenient then the switcher and I think they flow more current (never tested that theory). I can email you a photo of a setup like that in a customers MasterCraft.

Originally Posted by capt2130 (Post 3180338)

Yes if you could send a picture that would be great.

I currently have 2 batteries and planned on adding 2 SRM-29 Interstate batteries.

Do you have a on board charger or do you rely on the alternator to charge them?

Originally Posted by stopdropanroll (Post 3180845)

On board 3-bank 40amp charger, but I will be getting my altenator re-spun for some more juice in the off season.

If you want to see that relay setup I forgot there is a photo on my website in the gallery under the Master Craft XSTAR.
www.styleonecustommotoring.com

Originally Posted by capt2130 (Post 3348918)

I finally got my system hooked up today. Everything came on when I powered it up. But I have a problem. I have to turn the volume all the way up to hear it. I did flip the switch on the bottom of the stereo for the amps (ext ap) Not sure what is wrong. Any help is appreciated.

This is my system:

Head unit - iDA-X100M
Speakers 4 pr - SPR-M700 7"
Subs 2 - SWR-M100 10"
1 amp for subs -PDX-1.600M
2 amps for speakers - PDX-4.100M

Originally Posted by sleev-les (Post 3348944)

May be a dumb question, but you set the gain??

What is the voltage of the preouts coming off the head unit?? 2v, 4v, or 5v? It will make a difference when you have more amps. Does the stereo have zones? If so, make sure you are on the right one.. Make sure the stereo is not on ATT mode. All these can come into play..

Originally Posted by capt2130 (Post 3348965)

First of all... no question is dumb. This is my first ever install.:eek: I adjusted the gain. But it didnt make much difference.

I wasnt able to check the the volts. Ill do that tomorrow or Monday. Phone isnt hooked up to stereo so I dont think the ATT mode on.

Originally Posted by sleev-les (Post 3349114)

ATT is like a mute function. Its just a button on the radio that will drop the sound.

Your Alpine head unit is only a 2v preamp output. You didn't, by chance, put a Y adapter on your RCA's did you, to support all 3 amps? That can cause enough signal drop on a low voltage RCA to make it sound quite. Since you are using 2 - 4 channel amps, you'd have to put splitters in since the Alpine headunit supports only 6.

How did you wire the speakers to the amps if you are using 8 channels for 4? You really only need one of those alpine 4 channels for those 4 speakers. THey are 150w peak and each of those amps are producing 100w rms, which is plenty for each speaker. I would take 1 of the 4 channels out and just use 2 amps. 1 for subs, 1 for speakers.

Originally Posted by Audiofn (Post 3349398)

Did you try and remove the speaker wires from the amp and see if you still get the FAULT light? If you do not get a fault light that way try removing the speaker and leaving the wires hooked up. Ussually a bad speaker is what causes that or a speaker that is wired incorrectly or a wire that is shorted out.

Did you set your crossovers for the mids and highs and the subs? If not and you want a starting point I would start with the mids/highs at 120 and the subs at about 80 or lower. If your amp has a slope switch on it then set it up as high as it will go (24db per octave for example). These are just starting points but they should keep your equipment protected tell you can get it all set up perfect.

Originally Posted by srl520 (Post 3175794)

I am running:
2 JL 12 w7s

20 JL 770s

I have 14 currently installed and just trying to get time to install the other 6.

The JL 770s are awesome.

Here is a pic of speakers located behind the bolster. I am currently working to get the other side done this next week.

Unfortunately this has become a sick addition.

Originally Posted by srdrago (Post 3349515)

That is just Ugly and wast of money. You can have great sound with the right system. Friend of mine has a 38 Formula and has just 2 amps, regular sub, and regular 4 speakers in the cockpit. All seem stock (kenwood from formula, might be just a upgraded package) and u can hear the music while driving. Perfectly too. Your addiction isnt a good one.

Originally Posted by Fountain4402 (Post 3350717)

I have a question and maybe some help needed. I set up a few systems in the past and kind of know whats going on. Either way I got a 91 fountain with a tape deck in it and regular 4 speakers. My plan is obviously a cd player/MP3 head unit. For now I am going to stick to two subs and two tweeters maybe get 4 of them.

Questions are as follows.

1. I plan on getting two 10's or 12's whatever Looking at getting 500watt ones maybe 1000. Now Should Hook the tweeters into the head unit which is probably going to be a 4x50watt channels in it. Or should I get a 4 channel amp thats 1000 watts and run subs at half way and run the tweeters into the amp. Really just wondering what kind of amp I need. AlsoI have a Zune and plan on running that I dont want a head unit that you have to plug in the headphone jack into it and still find power for the zune. I want one that has a USB so I dont have to have two wires.

Originally Posted by Fountain4402 (Post 3350717)

I have a question and maybe some help needed. I set up a few systems in the past and kind of know whats going on. Either way I got a 91 fountain with a tape deck in it and regular 4 speakers. My plan is obviously a cd player/MP3 head unit. For now I am going to stick to two subs and two tweeters maybe get 4 of them.

Questions are as follows.

1. I plan on getting two 10's or 12's whatever Looking at getting 500watt ones maybe 1000. Now Should Hook the tweeters into the head unit which is probably going to be a 4x50watt channels in it. Or should I get a 4 channel amp thats 1000 watts and run subs at half way and run the tweeters into the amp. Really just wondering what kind of amp I need. AlsoI have a Zune and plan on running that I dont want a head unit that you have to plug in the headphone jack into it and still find power for the zune. I want one that has a USB so I dont have to have two wires.

Originally Posted by capt2130 (Post 3350931)

I am no expert by no means. But I would go with 2 amps. One for the mids and one for the subs. I have a alpine ida x100m head unit. I just got it hooked up over the weekend and havent got to play with it much. But so far I like it. Works very good with a ipod. Not sure about a zune. There is a usb port on the back side of the hu.

Originally Posted by sleev-les (Post 3350958)

Why don't you just buy the full component set? You get the woofer and tweeter with crossover. Run that setup from the amp and it will sound a lot better than running just tweeters from a head unit. Then you can run your subs on either a separate amp, or even buy a 5/6 channel amp and use just one. Im running a 5 channel on my boat, but Im sticking to 4 speakers and 1 sub. Its loud as is.

Originally Posted by Fountain4402 (Post 3351102)

couldnt I do a 4 channel 2000w amp. Two channels for subs and two for the tweeters.

Originally Posted by capt2130 (Post 3351139)

Yes you could do that. I just like my subs dedicated to one amp. But that's just me. It also depend how my sound your looking for. :grinser010:

Originally Posted by Fountain4402 (Post 3351107)

what do you mean by full component set and cross over.

Originally Posted by Fountain4402 (Post 3350717)

I have a question and maybe some help needed. I set up a few systems in the past and kind of know whats going on. Either way I got a 91 fountain with a tape deck in it and regular 4 speakers. My plan is obviously a cd player/MP3 head unit. For now I am going to stick to two subs and two tweeters maybe get 4 of them.

Questions are as follows.

1. I plan on getting two 10's or 12's whatever Looking at getting 500watt ones maybe 1000. Now Should Hook the tweeters into the head unit which is probably going to be a 4x50watt channels in it. Or should I get a 4 channel amp thats 1000 watts and run subs at half way and run the tweeters into the amp. Really just wondering what kind of amp I need. AlsoI have a Zune and plan on running that I dont want a head unit that you have to plug in the headphone jack into it and still find power for the zune. I want one that has a USB so I dont have to have two wires.

Originally Posted by Thunderstruck27 (Post 3351533)

I just finished putting a new system in my boat. Its a 27 Fever so there isn't a lot of spare room. My experience level is about the same as yours so I kept it simple (KISS). I started with a Kenwood KTS-MP400MR Stereo + KTS-RC100MR Remote and connected it to an Alpine PDX-5M 5-Channel Class-D Marine Digital PDX Amplifier and it's pushing 2 10" Kickers on the mono channel and 4 Infinity KAPAs (2 6X9s and 2 6 1/2s) on the other 4 channels. I know the Infinity's aren't marine rated, but I expect them to be blown-out before the weather gets to them. I plan on replacing them with some Polks. I built a pod to mount the remote on the dash next to my compass since there's no room otherwise. And the sound...it's absolutely KICK_AZZ...way more than I ever expected and the subs aren't even broke-in...I admit the subs are low-end, but they'll do for now. This isn't a super-power system, but it works for me...I hope what ever you end up with does the same for you.:drink:

Originally Posted by sleev-les (Post 3351176)

They are called components because they are a woofer (6 1/2", 7" etc) and the tweeter (1", 1 1/2"). The crossover filters the correct frequencies to the correct speaker and the two act as 1 channel, or 1 speaker. Its a better way to filter highs and mids than the normal speaker you see with a tweeter built in.

Originally Posted by Fountain4402 (Post 3351802)

Did some looking arond and is this what they consider a 2 way speaker? Also does this replace the need for subs or is it just a better option than a regular tweeter speaker.

Originally Posted by sleev-les (Post 3351814)

No, a 2 way speaker is a coaxial speaker (tweeter is built in, mounted to center of the woofer cone.

Here is an example of a component set

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB65...mponent+System

Components are nice because they give a clearer mid bass and high range frequency. They don't eliminate the need or want for a sub though because you will never get that type of base out of a midrange speaker system. Components just give more clarity and frequency separation.