I’ll start this by apologizing - I know an embarrassingly small amount about audio systems so sorry, but this is going to be pretty noobish I think:

I have an ‘04 LSV, this will be my second summer with it. I haven’t done anything to the audio system yet, but I’ve looked around enough to know it was not exactly... professional. So this summer I’m wanting to upgrade a little.

A little about my “boating style” and current setup so you can understand what I’m looking for. I’m not a huge stereo guy, I don’t need to be able to make out every single word from across the state. Once or twice a week I get out with a couple buddies and wakeboard for as long as the sun stays up after work. And once a weekend I go out with a bigger group and hang out in a cove and do (“try” is more accurate) some surfing. Right now, I can’t hear the music very well while I’m wakeboarding so a lot of nights I don’t even turn it on (I’d like to change that). On the weekends it’s always on, but it’s usually too busy for wakeboarding and it doesn’t need to be real loud for sitting in a cove or surfing.
Right now I’ve got the stock cabin speakers along with 4 JL tower speakers and a wetsounds EQ. No sub currently and no current plans to add one. I have a dual battery system on a perko with one battery for starting and the other driving everything else

First thing is first, the amps in there are definitely car audio, not marine, which I know isn’t a dealbreaker, but good lord they’re big and take up a lot of space. On top of that, they’re showing signs of corrosion, so I’m replacing those for sure. I also suspect that’s some of the reason I can’t hear music very well while I’m wakeboarding, either I don’t have the power to push the towers or they’re just not set up right. Any recommendations on decent options?

Next, comparing my wiring to the pictures I see, A - mines just plain ugly, and B - I don’t have ANY circuit protection except for the master breaker, seems like I see almost all systems having breakers and fuses in line with the amps. Any wiring tips?

I’m definitely budget conscious, I don’t need the biggest baddest system on the lake, but I sure would like to clean up the sound and be able to push it back to boarders from time to time. I know there’s a lot of information missing here, like what my current amps are. Unfortunately I don’t live close to the boat so I don’t have the information off hand. I would definitely prefer to be overpowered than under though, that way I have room to upgrade down the road if I want to. Hopefully that helps. If there are specific questions that you fine ladies and gentlemen need answered to help me out, let me know and I’ll take a field trip to visit my baby.

Thanks for reading this novel and thanks in advance for any help!