Most Efficient Way to Upgrade from what I have...

I just pulled home a 2009 Outback V. This is our first v drive boat as we always had i/o's with only 2 or 4 cabin speakers and no amps. So the setup as is actually sounds good compared to what we are used to. However, upon all of the reading I have done on here, it sounds like my current setup is just... 'eh'. OEM Kicker cabins x6 with a Kicker zx200.4 amp. Also, 2 Boss tower 6x9's with a JBL MA 6004 or 6002 amp. I have no idea about any of this, but I do have a buddy that is good with hooking them up. So I am looking at the question of if I am going to upgrade this, what is the most efficient way to do it? Can I use any of what I currently have and make it worth spending the money? Or just leave as is? Thanks so much in advance. It seems like my tower speakers are about one tenth the cost of the high end ones that are discussed.

Brace yourself. The replies will fly! :p

Are you an audiophile? Looking to be 'that guy' on the lake?

Budget?

Piece by piece or all at once? (sometimes dictated by budget)

Looking for in-cabin only/mostly or sound at wakeboard distance?

My first question would be, what area of system is lacking in your opinion? Prioritize the upgrades, decide on the gear thats going to need to be replaced and whats going to be reused. Then decide how much can be done within the current budget.

One area I see that might be lacking is theres no sub-woofer listed. IMO, this is a huge missing piece for those that put any emphasis in a full-range in-boat system with any sound quality.

introduction thread with pics of said boat or this is a troll thread :)

berg hit the nail on the head with budget and what do you want. if you are happy with the sound now, leave alone for a while and see what's missing. if you know what you want, then list budget and let the answers fly.
personally, you have a basic system and you either have an idea or you are just reading threads and want some different stuff. I'd leave it alone for a few trips and really see what's missing.

edit-mla beat me to it :) sub would the first on the list but again, wait to see what you're total system will look like then decide..

Ha - yes. I like SandM's advice about going on a few trips and looking around. And a sub definitely warms it up.

It's easy to spend $$ on this first setup. Then a year or 2 later $$$ on this upgraded setup. Then a while later $$$$ on this slightly better setup. Then...... $$$$$ you see how it goes. This section of the forum has cost many of us several thousand.

I am mostly wanting to surf and hydrofoil behind the boat. I know that is a big difference in distance so I am not really worried about wanting to spend the few g's that it would take to hear it 70' back with the clarity. So to answer that question I am looking for really good in cabin sound as well as nice sound when anchored up and hanging out. I also have young children, so being that guy on the lake is probably not up my alley right now. Budget is not a super big issue, but I am extremely value and efficiency oriented. If it is worth it and I can justify it, I'm in. I am not opposed to waiting to take it out, but we do have ice over our lakes in Indiana, so right now is time to upgrade. Based on what I am saying, is a sub first? Under driver's feet? Can I utilize current amps or will I need yet another?

Pic
https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...34043657_n.jpg

Sky - this question comes up often in the boat audio world. Firstly, If your sound system sounds good to you, the simple answer is, "Your done!". It entirely depends upon where you want to be in the food chain of low to high end sound systems. Only you can decide that. With the gear you've listed, I'd agree its in the "eh" category. But honestly , some people might be perfectly happy with that performance. My advice to you would be to start looking at your sound setup as three separate setups - TOWER / CABIN / SUB. As each of these area's of your stereo work together they ultimately create the dynamic range -- the wow factor. When your out on the water and you hear a very nice stereo, its because all these zones are working very efficiently together. So where do you begin?

Start with what you have, and ask yourself, Is there enough performance here. You mentioned your tower speakers being a tenth the cost. Thats true.. but bounce the question back to you and ask, is that good enough? It's easy for us high and nightly people to suggest kick butt high dollar solutions from the arm chair.

Ask yourself, how you want to prioritize upgrades. If you have a tower and cabin setup and no sub setup.. .maybe there is the answer. Ping some of these people on the forum privately and ask what they did and why they did it. People are much more likely to talk candidly in a private setting. Publicly you are going to hear bigger is better. Many folks have been down your exact road already.

-Brian / Exile

sub and more power to the incabins will be a nice upgrade to start, you wont be "that guys" with more power to the cabins I think they will just sound richer. my.02

sky,
Looking over your objectives, I see that you want good sound while on the hook. Keep in mind that a great in-boat system is essentially for 'in the boat' and even a fairly powerful in-boat system will have difficulty providing clean sound from within the bath tub so to speak, over the gunnel, and down at water level where you, family and friends might be relaxing 20 feet away from the boat. At minimum it can't accomplish the task efficiently. So for that purpose you will be heavily dependent on directional tower speakers. Then you can mostly fade away from the in-boat zone and save a lot of precious battery current. As compared to projecting at wake range in the face of a loud engine exhaust, this is easily done with speakers like what you presently have. This doesn't require much more than tower speakers with decent surface area/size, up high and unobstructed, supplied with decent power.
For the in-boat zone, a subwoofer is an important addition even if you are not a basshead. Without a sub, you are missing important music information and foundation. To add a subwoofer you will need more amplification and at minimum one dedicated sub channel. But it's also an opportunity to correctly power all six in-boat speakers. So you can begin with a sub plus a 3-channel amplifier to drive the sub and so that all six in-boat speakers are driven by a dedicated channel. Or, you can replace the existing Kicker amplifier with a multi-channel amplifier (like a 5-channel model) that does an upgraded job powering the entire in-boat zone including subwoofer in a single chassis.
You will still want a separate amplifier to drive the tower speakers. In the open air, you need more power to the tower speakers than is required per speaker in the boat.
So there is an basic prescription to achieve your initial objectives using much of what you have presently.
Past that you have to begin by taking a really good inventory of what you have and the condition it's in. You won't be able to take the next step without some supporting upgrades like wire and cable. And you want to know more about the quality of the aftermarket work.

Absolutely awesome input. I thought that I needed more juice to the in-cabins than what the stock kicker could do. Basically what I am hearing is leave the JBL hooked up to the tower speakers and get a new amp that can run a sub plus throw more to the cabins. Basically that allows me to only get rid of 1 piece of my current inventory. I am sure I can find plenty of threads on sub installs, and I can get a buddy of mine that is familiar to help with wiring and setup. What are some of these options of amps that will do this? Sounds like an awesome one to be able to run a sub and all cabins.

I still have my stock cabin speakers. The first improvement I made was running them on high pass after adding a sub. The sub does a much better job down in its range and allows the cabins to just do their job. Way better. Then I upgraded my lousy tower speakers to the Exile SXT's. Pretty happy overall now.

Kane...what does your amp situation look like?

I think I have the stock Kicker 200.4 running the 6 cabins. I have the 250.2 that came with my tower speakers bridged to run my subwoofer. I have an old school Exile 600.2 running 4 SXT's on the tower. I did add a second battery. I rarely run the system for more than an hour sitting without the engine running so my 2 batteries are plenty.

Here's a recommendation for an in-boat multi-channel amplifier to fit your usage.
The JL Audio XD700/5.
All the power you'll need.
2-year warranty.
Cleanest Class D amplifier available. Note: It's engineered in the US. And, you definitely want the higher efficiency of Class D (60% more efficient, draws less current, battery lasts longer, runs cooler).
This unit is fully equipped and not stripped. The JL Audio XD700/5 has a fully configurable input section plus a remote port that allows control of all five channels or just the sub section. Nice for zone controls at your fingertips.
Package this with a JL Audio W1 10" or 12" subwoofer and your in-boat system will rock.
For a package savings deal visit Odin with Earmark Marine. Service and technical support is great plus he ships promptly.

Sky - with permission, I'll post your pm msg here so the group has the benefit of the answer. You ask a good question.

PM Msg: So is that [Javelin] amp the only one you have/need for all cabin+sub+towers? How many towers do you have? Forgive me as I am new to audio lingo and upgrades when dealing with differnt channels and watts and such.
Thanks!

The Javelin is a high performance 5 channel amplifier. Typically speaking, any given 5 ch amp will be utilized for the cabin zone and the sub zone of the audio setup. Look at a 5 ch amp like this 4 x ??? power + 1 x ??? power. The 4x power will be directed to your cabin speakers on chan 1-4 and the 5th channel directed to your sub. So to answer your Q about the Javelin; the amp will power your cabin and sub. You'll need a dedicated amp for whatever tower speakers you choose.

The Version 2 Javelin amp just started shipping and specs 4x150 + 1x800 CEA power rated. For its Class D size...It's more than capable of powering a high end 12" woofer as well. You'd probably want to marry it to the XM30.2 tower amplifier and presto, system complete.

-Brian

That actually helps alot as far as my understanding goes. Thanks!

A good 5 ch. amp is a great way to go to take care of everything in boat. I had one I used to run but it was a little to wimpy for the job. I am thinking about doing something different this year. I'm not thrilled with running my sub off the Kicker 250.2 bridged. I think it could use some more power.