Stereo Makeover Help!!!!

[08LSV]

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Ok Razzman and Newty and everyone else I think I need your help.. I am trying to make over my stock sound system and have several questions.I am pretty mechanically inclined and have done quite a bit of stereo work but in auto's only. I have not started the install yet and just do not want or have any money/time to waste. So after reading all of your posts I thought you guy's would be a great place to start. First things first I will list what I currently have from the factory.

2008 LSV
Head Unit: Kenwood KDC-MP2035 (Which I would like to still use)
Speakers: 6 kicker 6.5's in the cabin (Unknown model number)
Amp: ZX200.4 (Running the kickers)

What I have purchased so far for the upgrade.

Cabin speakers: 6 - 6.5" Polk MM651 (I wanted the same model as Razzman but could not find enough of them and the 6X9's at a good price.)

Tower speakers: 4 - 6X9" Polk MM691 (No enclosure yet)

Amp: MX700.5 w/Bass control knob.

Ipod controller (already installed)

My plan was to keep the Kenwood head unit and for the Polk 6.5's to replace the kicker's in the cabin. The 6X9's will go on the tower in a fiberglass enclosure. I also plan to buy a Polk 12" DVC sub from their MM line. Not sure where the best place for it is yet. I will be waiting a bit for the sub due to my budget. I was going to use the ZX200.4 amp to still power the cabin speakers and use the new MX700.5 to run the four 6X9's on the tower, one channel each and the sub channel to power the 12DVC when purchased. I have not yet purchased a tower enclosure either and would like advice on that as well. My questions are:

Do you think this will be a good combination (have good sound)?

I want to be able to use the empty ACC switch on the dash to turn the tower speakers ON/OFF separate from the cabin speakers and sub. If I use the remote wire from the MX700.5 on the ACC switch it will then not run power to the sub. I want the sub to be on any time the cabin speakers are on. How should I do this?

Should I use the MX700.5 to run the cabin speakers and sub, then use the ZX200.4 to run the 6X9's on the tower?

Will the ZX200.4 provide anywhere near enough power to hear the towers while wakeboarding (I have my doubts)?

Do I need to chunk the ZX200.4 and look for a bigger four channel to power the 6X9's? If so what would you recommend (Preferably Kicker my spouse would like for everything to match….)?

I do not think either of my amps have a pass through to just connect another amp with RCA's. How will I be able to run two amps?

What type of tower enclosure should I get? Wet sounds, Tidal audio, etc.?

How much should I expect to pay for it?

I know this was one Hella long thread, but I am just getting more and more confused on what I need to do and can not afford to drop $3,000 at Tidal Audio or Wet sounds. And that is just for tower speaker and an amp…I have spent about $1,000 so far and still need to get a tower enclosure, wiring, sub (and enclosure) and maybe a new amp depending on what you guys think. My max total budget is $2,000 but I would like to stay under $1,700.

Thank you guys all in advance for your help with this!

[tazz3069]

08
I some what have the same set up as you. A little different. The speakers that you had purchased are good speakers. I have the came 700.5 amp. Now for the hook up

1. I would use the 700.5 amp for the cabin speakers. Wire the two rear speakera in series and the two front or bow speakers in parallel.

2. Not sure about the 200.4 amp for the tower. I have the MX350.4 for my tower. If you do not want to blast people off the lake then it should be alright for your listening pleasure.

3. For the speaker boxes. I went to www.audioformz.com and ordered a set of speaker enclosures unloaded. Unloaded is without the speakers. They also have a sub box wich I ordered from them. You can look at my photos that I have in my profile.

4. You said that you want to use the same head unit. I would make sure on how many RCA output you have. On my old HU, I only had two and it did not have a sub output. My new head unit has 3. Front, Rear, and Sub. The 700.5 utilizes two of the inputs and your 200.4 will utilize the third. Now if you only have two RCA outputs, then you can use a pair of Y RCA adapters. This way you can utilize the one RCA output. Unfortunately you are going to limit yourself on the function of the amp. I just check the owners manual on your HU, it only has tow RCA outputs. Now since you only have two, you really do not have a choice. A set of RCA to the sub input on the 700.5 and a pair of Y connectors for the other two amps. Now if you want to turn off the tower amp, I would use a toggle or a push button switch. The switches on the dash turn on and off power from the battery to operate and accessory. In this case you just want to kill the signal from the HU to the amp.

I know you said that you are on a budget. But start off with this set up and see how you like it. If you want to upgrade, then upgrade the HU to 3 RCA outputs. Of course, you need to use a HU that is compatible with your wire remotes. I really hope this helps you out. But do look at my pictures in my profile so you can see the set up. By the way, I ran all new speaker wire to all the nes speakers. I did not use the stock wire. I just wanted to make sure that everything was wired correctly.

Tazz

[08LSV]

Thanks Tazz. I was afraid I might have to upgrade the head unit. Do you know what companies are compatible with the stock wired remote? Thanks again. I am going to check out your pics now.

[tazz3069]

My head unit is a Kenwood. I do know that they do not make that model anymore. I did find a couple of used ones on ebay.
I just got your post about the color of your boat. I do have that bimini for sale if interested. The custom top was made by a company call www.towerbiminis.com Right now it is just taking up room in the garage. If interested, I will let it go for $100.00 plus shipping UPS. Let me know if you are interested.
I need to know what type of wire remote you have so that I can try to find a head unit that will work.

Does it look like this?
http://www.lafayetteradio.com/html/d....asp?search=95

Head unit
http://www.lafayetteradio.com/html/d...sp?search=1873

This is were I got my new head unit.

[mmandley]

08 and Tazz, only thing i have to add to this which is a good point.

I have the 700.5 amp also. You only need 1 set of RCAs to that amp. 1 set to Channel 1 and it will provide signal to the 4 stereo channels and the Sub channel by its self. The only thing is you cant use the High Pass X over. You have to leave it turned off or it will High Pass the Sub also.

I have a Kenwood and it has 2 sets of RCAs and i ran 1 set to each amp. If i upgrade to a 3 amp system then i would need to get another HU as i wouldn't have a 3 RCA, I have tried the Y connectors but along with splitting the signal for that set of RCAs they split the power being sent to the amp as a signal.

08 As fare as your amps - 700.5 you wont be disappointed i love it. The 200.4 i also have that amp and its going in my truck later for that upgrade. I really don't see the point in using it for your towers, 50 watts for a 6x9 is pretty weak. I would just spend the 200 for a 350.4 or a 450.2 amp and use that for the towers. I have a similar setup and if you don't use the 700.5 for the cabin your towers will blow your cabins away. Make sure to use the 700.5 in the boat and get something else for your towers.

I was on the lake yesterday and forgot my new Surf rope in the truck and ran the boat to the dock, jumped out and had the crew float it in the no wake zone, i got to the top of the dam which is about 100ft away, area was quite, but i could hear my towers up there. I was like dam thats by boat LOL. In the water wake boarding you can hear them really well too but you also have wind, and exhaust noise. Surfing the towers will blow ya away LOL.

Point is think of do you want the towers to play for Surfing, tubing, wake boarding, or just swimming? Swimming that 200.4 will do the job, anything while the boat is under power and you wont hear the 200.4

[tazz3069]

mmandley
You are right. I forgot about that. Then if his HU has two RCA, it will work. Then the only advice is to get a bigger amp for the tower speakers.

http://www.kicker.com/sites/default/...0f01%20WEB.pdf

According to the owners manual, you can use a set of Y-connectors to untilize both functions. Channel 1 for the cabin speakers and the sub output for the sub. I wonder if the gain control for the sub will still work?

[mmandley]

mmandley
You are right. I forgot about that. Then if his HU has two RCA, it will work. Then the only advice is to get a bigger amp for the tower speakers.

http://www.kicker.com/sites/default/...0f01%20WEB.pdf

According to the owners manual, you can use a set of Y-connectors to untilize both functions. Channel 1 for the cabin speakers and the sub output for the sub. I wonder if the gain control for the sub will still work?

True true on the Y connectors but i think it makes it all Mono then. Not a big deal on the sub but will flatten the stereo.

[tazz3069]

didn't think about that. I still think that a new head unit is the key.

[mmandley]

I have to agree if its in the budget. I have the same unit as 08 and its ok but im not impressed by it. I am not a big fan of Kenwood. Never have been, plus the unit in the boat is so hard to control, and if anything bumps the volume knob in the glove boat then it goes to eq settings and the volume wont work on the remote till you reset it back to volume.

I want to get more info on the new Alpline Jester just got, and look into some other HUs also. Not planning on buying till winter though.

[08LSV]

[QUOTE=tazz3069;69177]My head unit is a Kenwood. I do know that they do not make that model anymore. I did find a couple of used ones on ebay.
I just got your post about the color of your boat. I do have that bimini for sale if interested. The custom top was made by a company call www.towerbiminis.com Right now it is just taking up room in the garage. If interested, I will let it go for $100.00 plus shipping UPS. Let me know if you are interested.
I need to know what type of wire remote you have so that I can try to find a head unit that will work.

Does it look like this?
http://www.lafayetteradio.com/html/d....asp?search=95

This link above is exactly like mine (White).

Thanks for the offer on the bimini but i got the dealer to through in the Z5.