I'M basically starting from scratch although there's a few things in the boat now (4 x 6.5" Clarion 2 ways and one Clarion 12'" marine, all older vintages early 2000s).

It sounds decent, but not what I'm looking for. Am interested in multiple subs and loud, clear music.
Possibly something to compete with my buddy who is running 4 12" JL in his 29 Outlaw! lol

There are so many opinions out there...I dont have a super tight budget, but if I can get Kicker subs that are just as good as JL, I will do that for sure!

I read that Polk Audio MM are the best for mids/tweets.
What about AMPS? Concensus on subs?

The best sound will come from subs in a box, ported works best for boats, but sealed can work too if you are tight on space. Start with a place for a box and see how much room you have to pick subs.

Second would be the highest quality amp(s) you can afford. Look for RMS wattage and matched them to your speakers, if anything you want more power from your amp than your speakers are rated for, not the other way around.

Get the mids and highs as high up as you can for best sound, the higher the better. Again you are limited on choices based on your boat design, you sometimes have to be creative.

The last few years I have used kicker solobarics L7 12's DVC in ported boxes on a few systems I did. Both systems run of huge amps at 1 ohm. They pound and never quit, you will not find a stronger sub IMO. Bass that is tight for rock, but pounds and carries for dance music.

Lastly most high quality stuff is already up to marine standards, don't be afraid to think outside the box and use standard 12v stuff.

4Bus, I was hoping you'd chime in .
This is the kind of advice I'm looking for !

So Kicker L7 Solobaric? Dual (4ohm) or single voice coil?
What would be a good amp to run a pair of these with

I need a head unit too, the one in my boat is a casette deck! lol
Really, all I need is something to plug in USB/IPOD or Sirius.
What about a pre-amp?

I would have to agree with 4bus. I run kicker speakers and subs, and there stuff sounds great. I just have 4 6.5's and a 10 in a sealed box running 800watts rms and the subs sounds great. Of course, JL does make great equipment, but you can find some great deals on kicker and other brands. I like to use crutchfield.com, they always have good deals, and their tech support is second to none.

4 ohm dvc bridged to 1 ohm. You will need an extremely good 1 ohm stable mono class d amp to run these the right way. The two set up I did one has an old school Orion hcca amp ( they don't make any more) the other set up has a 5 ft long hifonics mono amp. Both pound with just two subs, from feel and sound you would think they had 4 or 6 subs.

At home I have a link to a web site that rates all amps, I can't find it on my phone. I will post it later with a few examples of good buys. Your sub amp, subs and wiring will be the most expensive thing if you want the baddest

How much room do you have for sub boxes? I also have some pics at home of creative use of space with subs I have installed. You will need 2.5 cu ft for each solobaric 12 ported, 1.25 sealed

Check out the Fusion MS-IP600 or MS-IP700 head units. They dock I-pods internally.

I have this one, and have installed 4 of them for friends. 6 pre amp outs, iPod iPhone controller, and the remotes and relatively inexpensive. Great head unit for the money

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001S2...9881783&sr=8-2

I agree on the kicker woofers however I would stay clear of the L 7 & L5s because they require a lot of power to drive and they are pretty expensive too. you may want to look into the kicker comp line as they are real efficient with power and are very durable.
you said you were on a tight budget so I think I can help you out
on your amplifiers you need to stay with a Class D amp because they have a regulated power supply and do not pull a lot of amperage from your alternator / batteries. planet audio has a D class 5000 watt amp that will beat the hell out of 4 12's and do it all day long without overheating and like I said they're very easy on your batteries and alternators.... for about $165 bucks
I have for Kicker Comp 12's , 8 rockford fosgate marine 8s ,and 4 6 1/2s , and 4 soft dome tweeters on a planet audio 5000 and 2 planet audio 4 channel 2400 watt.... and my setup is about as nasty as it gets.

as far as sealed or ported enclosure on the water I stay with sealed.. I'm just not a fan of a ported enclosure that is tuned to drop a bunch of low bass in an open area. I would much rather a sealed enclosure that hits all the notes.... Just my thoughts.

I was thinking about that head unit too!

OK, what about this for Amps?
Kicker
http://ottawa.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehic...AdIdZ420298172

Or a JL1000/1
http://ottawa.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehic...AdIdZ409600206