To power interior speakers or not to power interior speakers

[TC_2006_VLX]

So i picked up a gorgeous 2007 Malibu VLX over the winter which was "turn key". Turns out the Stereo was a sh!t show to the max. They had either done a p!ss poor install or did the ol gut out when they sold it. It came with a pioneer mono to power the sub and the most ghetto 2 channel amp to power the interior and towers. Turns out one of those channels is also blown... So i am ripping that amp out altogether. I am powering my Rev8s with a 4 channel rockford which should be bumping. That said is the juice worth the squeeze to throw another amp to power interiors or should i just run them off the back of the stereo?

[minnmarker]

5 minutes ago, TC_2006_VLX said:

So i picked up a gorgeous 2007 Malibu VLX over the winter which was "turn key". Turns out the Stereo was a sh!t show to the max. They had either done a p!ss poor install or did the ol gut out when they sold it. It came with a pioneer mono to power the sub and the most ghetto 2 channel amp to power the interior and towers. Turns out one of those channels is also blown... So i am ripping that amp out altogether. I am powering my Rev8s with a 4 channel rockford which should be bumping. That said is the juice worth the squeeze to throw another amp to power interiors or should i just run them off the back of the stereo?

What model Rockford, Pioneer?  There is a huge range.  And yes, it is worth the juice if you want good sound.  Sounds (ha!) like they gutted the amps prior to sale.  Is there any evidence like extra RCA cables or screw holes where amps would have been?  I would probably take out my sound system if I sold the boat since I would never recoup the cost in the sales price.

Pictures of the boat??

[solorex]

Never power anything off the stereo in a boat.  Enough said.  This question seems to be asked again and again.  Boat stereos are a much different environment for sound than in a car or truck.  You need amp power to make anything sound decent, and more importantly not overdrive your speakers with crappy power or the incorrect frequency range.

[TC_2006_VLX]

Yep- Definitely an extra set of RCA running over to where the Amp bay is situated. In addition, they ghetto wired the interior spearkers like have have never seen before. They spliced both front and back together into one wire which was ran to amp. They then stuck both of these into one channel... definitely not right.

Any recommendations for running 4 rockford 6.5 speakers? I have the tower and sub covered for now. Just a night mare of wiring ahead

[MLA]

50W rms is a good starting point for just about any 6.5 in-boat. I like a 4 chnl because it allows for the addition of a 3rd pair later. The rockford p400.4, Kicker KXM400/4, Arc XDi450.4, JL m400/4 are all solid options in that power range. A step up power wise would be an amp like the Wet Sounds HTX-4, RF 600/4, Arc XDi600.4 and others.  

[minnmarker]

45 minutes ago, TC_2006_VLX said:

 Just a night mare of wiring ahead

Cabin speakers are pretty easy to wire up.  Just be careful of the driver side dash speaker and try to do any rewiring using the existing wires which run down into the area under the dash by the display computer.  I think they are green and black.  It is VERY hard to get at the back of that speaker.

[David]

Given the conditions in an open environment and with a little speed, exhaust noise, and hull noise, in-boat speakers can certainly use the extra power of an external amplifier. But when you introduce a subwoofer into the system, external power for the in-boats really becomes less of a luxury and more of a necessity.  

[TC_2006_VLX]

Does anyone know if the wiring for the interior were originally ran over to underneath the rear facing seat or back over to the head unit?

[TC_2006_VLX]

So all of my interior speakers are daisy chained behind the head unit... The right front and rear are tied and the left front and rear are tied. From there 2 sets of wires are ran over to the ghetto amp which has one channel fried ha.

[minnmarker]

58 minutes ago, TC_2006_VLX said:

So all of my interior speakers are daisy chained behind the head unit... The right front and rear are tied and the left front and rear are tied. From there 2 sets of wires are ran over to the ghetto amp which has one channel fried ha.

Not sure what you mean.  Just run new wires. Only one to reuse is the one from the driver side dash speaker to the under helm area.  Back of that speaker is not easy to access.  Back of passenger side dash should be accessible through the glove box.

Maybe look online for a tutorial on speaker wiring or general low voltage wiring.  Things like: series; parallel; watts, ohms, volts.

Best to get educated before wrenching instead of after