about subs, speaker, amps

[5LEEPERISAH23I]

well ive been looking into getting a radio, amp, and speakers for a BOAT not my evo...

so everything is labeled in WATTS from what i see... do i add up the amp + radio + each speaker to get total WATTS?

what would be enough WATTS to hear on a boat?

what makes speakers able to get super load... not like a sub... what makes it super loud to play music the amp?

[assault187]

Originally Posted by 5LEEPERISAH23I

well ive been looking into getting a radio, amp, and speakers for a BOAT not my evo...

so everything is labeled in WATTS from what i see... do i add up the amp + radio + each speaker to get total WATTS?

what would be enough WATTS to hear on a boat?

what makes speakers able to get super load... not like a sub... what makes it super loud to play music the amp?

Watts is power output from each individual unit.
Power (watts) make things loud.

Choose your radio 1st. You can choose a marine radio or a basic radio with a marine enclosure to keep things dry. If your going to run a 4 channel amp to power the speakers, for stereo sound, pick up a radio capable of doing so. This means you want the radio to have Front and rear RCA outputs on the rear of the radio. You will find some with 6 outputs on the back which would be for Front, Rear, and subwoofer. It wouldn't hurt to go full scale here...you may want to add a sub later down the line. You will also notice that the radios will offer voltage specs on their outputs I.E. 2 volt, 3 volt, 4 volt, 5 volt.... this does matter when adding an amplifier. The higher the voltage, the cleaner and signal, the better the sound.

If your building a sound system for a boat, a 4 channel or greater amp is pretty much a necessity. Most aftermarket radios have outputs of only 22 watts RMS. On a boat with alot of free air, this isnt loud at all. You have to ask yourself how much you want to spend on the project. There is a science behind building a sound system and everything should be paired together accordingly....and price DOES matter. In the electronics world, you really do get what you pay for. I would say 60-75 watts is where you wanna be for a boat. At this power, it would be as loud as you want it to be. Lets just assume that were shooting for 65 watts, when looking for speakers, search for a decent set(s) that list the power rating at 65 watts RMS (not max). You will have a choice of getting component sets (Mid-driver and tweeter are seperate and include a crossover to isolate frequencies between the two for good sound) or Coaxial sets which house the tweeter and mid-driver on the same unit. Components typically have better power handling and better sound. After your speakers are picked out, you want to pair it with a decent amp. Assuming were using 4 speakers, we would choose a 4 channel class AB amp. You would want it to produce 60-70 watts x 4 RMS not max (60-70 watts per each channel). Marine speakers are available also if this is for salt water. They sound just as good as the car audio stuff.

Note: MAX and RMS are 2 different things....dont pay attention to the MAX rating of anything, those values will never be achieved in real world conditions.

Distortion is your enemy.

You will blow a speaker quicker and easier under-powering it then you would over- powering it.

Speakers are NOT designed to handle bass, only mid-bass and highs...they are not subwoofers so dont expect them to be. If you want more bass response add a sub. If you have the money for the addition, go for it! you will thank yourself later. The same power rules apply with subs. To power a sub, a class D amp will be used unless you turn to a 5 channel amp that has outputs for 4 speakers and a dedicated subwoofer output.

[DPancoast]

moved this the Exterior, Interior, and Electrical because it has good info and could spark some good convo

[jpalamar]

This is basic info that you can just google...