System Wiring Diagram

[bhowell]

Guys,

I have been doing alot of reading here. There is a treasure of information and I have learned a ton. Based on what I have learned, I have created a diagram detailing how I feel that the stereo system I am considering should be installed. Please take a look at the wiring diagram and wire sizes and let me know how it looks.

Any help is appreciated.

Wire Sizes:
Cabin / Bow Speakers - Factory Wiring (Not Sure of Gauge)
Tower Speakers (16 Gauge Through the Tower but could use to Feed Larger Wire)
Battery to Distribution Block - 0/1 Gauge
Distribution Block to Amps - 4 Gauge
Amp Ground to Distribution Block - 4 Gauge
Distribution Block to Battery - 0/1 Gauge

Stereo Items:
3 Pairs SX65
2 Pairs of either XM7 or SXT65
800.4
Harpoon
JL 10W3
RF Punch 201s

[KG's Supra24]

It looks like you have a ground distro and a power distro? They make distribution blocks that do both of these task if you want to save the space.

I can't comment on the Exile tower setup but I ran mine the same way i did the cabins (in parallel). But that may be right for the exile setup because i know they use a different amp.

When Dusty and I did our install, it was recommend we use 12 awg to HLCD's.

[bbuhtz]

looks expensive :D

[bhowell]

It looks like you have a ground distro and a power distro? They make distribution blocks that do both of these task if you want to save the space.


The boat already has these separate so I will continue to use these.


I can't comment on the Exile tower setup but I ran mine the same way i did the cabins (in parallel). But that may be right for the exile setup because i know they use a different amp.

I believe (could be wrong) that this tower wiring configuration will allow me to only run half the wires up the tower.



When Dusty and I did our install, it was recommend we use 12 awg to HLCD's.

I thought that this wire was too small.


looks expensive :D

Trying to decide if its worth it or not. Current mentality is based of my home stereo; buy nice stuff once and keep it for a long time.

[KG's Supra24]

12 awg is larger than 16 awg.

I get what you mean on running half the wires up the tower. I jumped from one speaker to the other (in parallel instead of series). Connecting the + to + of other speaker and from - to -.

I could be giving out wrong advice here though because i am not familar with the Exile setup (harpoon?). I will let someone else comment on the tower wiring.

[bhowell]

12 awg is larger than 16 awg.

I got that.


harpoon?

Basically a 1000 Watt two channel amp.

[bbuhtz]

buy nice stuff once and keep it for a long time.

i hear ya, good rule of thumb in my book

[cab13367]

Guys,

I have been doing alot of reading here. There is a treasure of information and I have learned a ton. Based on what I have learned, I have created a diagram detailing how I feel that the stereo system I am considering should be installed. Please take a look at the wiring diagram and wire sizes and let me know how it looks.

Any help is appreciated.

Wire Sizes:
Cabin / Bow Speakers - Factory Wiring (Not Sure of Gauge)
Tower Speakers (16 Gauge Through the Tower but could use to Feed Larger Wire)
Battery to Distribution Block - 0/1 Gauge
Distribution Block to Amps - 4 Gauge
Amp Ground to Distribution Block - 4 Gauge
Distribution Block to Battery - 0/1 Gauge

Stereo Items:
3 Pairs SX65
2 Pairs of either XM7 or SXT65
800.4
Harpoon
JL 10W3
RF Punch 201s

As shown, you've got the tower speakers wired in series, presenting an 8 ohm load to the amp and consequently, delivering significantly less power to the speakers than if wired in parallel. To wire them in parallel, you need to connect the negative terminals together, and the positive terminals together. Then connect the negative from the amp to the negative of one speaker, and the positive from the amp to the positive of the other speaker. This way, your speakers are wired in parallel and each speaker will get 250W rms from the harpoon.

See the link below for an in depth explanation on series vs parallel speaker wiring:

http://www.termpro.com/articles/spkrz.html

Al

[EarmarkMarine]

bhowell,
Yes, four conductors of 12-gauge up the tower will facilitate any four (two pair) of tower speakers that you intend to run. As mentioned above, you will jumper or parallel the speakers at the top when you are using a two-channel amplifier.

David
Earmark Marine

[KG's Supra24]

I got that.



Basically a 1000 Watt two channel amp.


my fault bhowell, i thought you were meaning you thought the 12 awg was too small.

Cab and David covered what I was trying to say about wiring in parallel, and they did it with much more confidence. Ha!

[bhowell]

Ok. Thanks for the info. I revised the diagram to wire the towers in parallel.

Any other issues?
Is the stock speaker wire going to be an issue?
Is the gauge of the power wires sufficient?

It seems like it will be difficult to with the speakers in parallel through the tower.

Thanks again for all the help.

[bhowell]

Added Diagram

[cab13367]

Ok. Thanks for the info. I revised the diagram to wire the towers in parallel.

Any other issues?
Is the stock speaker wire going to be an issue?
Is the gauge of the power wires sufficient?

It seems like it will be difficult to with the speakers in parallel through the tower.

Thanks again for all the help.

Revised diagram looks good. You could also just connect the pos and neg from the amp to the first speaker, then jumper over to the second speaker (as shown for your cabin speakers). Not "textbook" but I doubt there's any noticeable difference. This will make it a little easier to run the wires inside the tower.

I would run high quality 12 gauge to the towers since you are potentially pushing 500W RMS thru each pair of wires. Also, be sure to solder all splices for the best possible electrical connection.

Consider replacing all the stock speaker wire with quality 16 gauge - I did. I think the stock is cheap 18 gauge.

Power wire gauges look good. Make sure your power distribution block fuse is at least equal to the combined amp rating of your three amps.

If you have not bought the sub and sub amp yet, why not go all Exile for a fully integrated look? Exile makes very nice subs and amps to drive them.

If you have the patience and are willing to do a little extra work, consider a completely stealth install where ALL the wiring past the tower pivot point is inside the tower, i.e., no exposed wires. The resulting clean look is worth the effort. See my post below:

https://forum.moomba.com/showthread.php?t=12976

Consider running two stereo batteries and using some sort of ACR set up such as the Blue See Add A Battery. This will require it's own wiring diagram :)

Al

[bhowell]

Make sure your power distribution block fuse is at least equal to the combined amp rating of your three amps.


The distribution block has an inline fuse for each of the four connections. These should be at the amp rating for each correct?




If you have not bought the sub and sub amp yet, why not go all Exile for a fully integrated look? Exile makes very nice subs and amps to drive them.

Consider running two stereo batteries and using some sort of ACR set up such as the Blue See Add A Battery. This will require it's own wiring diagram :)


Sub and amp are already in the boat from the previous owner. A second battery and a perco switch have also already been installed. I am removing the tower speakers and amp from the previous owner's stereo to put this in.

Thanks for the help!

[cab13367]

The distribution block has an inline fuse for each of the four connections. These should be at the amp rating for each correct?

Correct. Just make sure each fuse is at least equal to or a little larger than the amp's fuse rating.