I just bought an '89 311 Sr 1. The original sale order reflects that the dealer installed an amplifier on the boat. Currently, the boat has a jank CD player that is running a pair of 6.5's- the cuddy has a pair of Babb 6.5's that are not running. . . where would the amplifier be? Did Formula have a trick location? The circuit breaker panel has a separate switch for "amp" . . . but I can't find it and it is obviously not working if it is there. Thanks.

"Outlaw" is an 89' 311 SR-1 also. I have the same breaker panel but never found a seperate power amp. My sound system was updated about a year before I bought the boat (Nov. 01). Love mine. GREAT rough water boat. Good luck. Outlaw

i had an 88 311, when i purchased the boat the cuddy speakers were not working either. i found the speaker wires had shaken loose from the terminal connectors on the back of each speaker. sometimes its the simple things that get you.

Recently sold my 1989 311. The amps were originally mounted by the dealer in the storage area above the refrigerator. They overheated and shutdown repeatedly, finally cooked one amp. I mounted a new amp for the cabin speakers in the bow behind the removable trim panel but that, too, was eventually cooked by water coming through the bow docking lights and anchor locker drain after an impressive stuff in a freighter wake. I mounted two big amps on marine plywood in the port-side coaming storage area. It was dry and well-ventilated and worked out well. Just thought I'd throw out a few ideas where to (and where not to) locate your amps. Your system may also be set up on an internal amp in the head unit itself. Good luck figuring out your problem ... let us know what you discover!

Thanks for the info everyone- I would have never looked behind the fridge . . . seems like a bad place to get ventilation to an electrical device. Did any of you run a "new" amp off of the switch on the circuit breaker? If so, did you get enough voltage? I am probably not going to put a super butch amp in- just a little 4 channel to run some 6.5's, so maybe it doesn't matter(?)

SeaWeasel, RedDog didn't say behind the fridge, rather above the fridge. This is the space a microwave would have been installed if ordered. Mine also has a breaker for an amp but no amp. I believe they all came through with the breaker but the amps were optional.

I'm considering mounting my amp on the bulkhead up tight under the dash. Decent ventilation, weather protection and you won't see it. Plus, easy to mount and connect. Don't know about the rating of the breaker but it should be able to handle it.

I ran heavy guage feeds from the power distribution post by the battery up to the circuit breaker, then to the amps. You definately want to be able to turn the amps off manually so they don't draw power when not in use. I also ran a relay from the head unit to shut them on/off when the stereo is turned on/off. Never tripped the breaker even with three amps drawing off it. You do need to pull the fridge to access the back of the electrical panel.