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To appease my 13-year old, I am considering installing an amp and a sub in my boat (2005 Horizon 210) and have a few questions. Let me qualify my questions by saying that I am not interested in having something that will rock the lake nor do I want to invest a small fortune. Because of other commitments an activities, we don't use the boat as much as we would like so I don't want to have a lot of money tied up in something I don't use that often (as if that isn't already happening just by me owning the boat). I just want something we can hear a little more clearly as we are cruising around.

First, do I have to use a marine amp? I am looking at the Polk DA D000.5 and the Alpine PDX5M and there is a pretty large price difference between the two. Where I would install it (behind and beneath the radio where the now removed SIRIUS receiver was located and accessible from the flip-up back rest in the bow), I don't anticipate any water getting splashed on the amp. I don't think the SIRIUS receiver that was in the location where the amp would be installed was "marine-grade". Also we only boat in fresh water if that matters. When installing an amp, do you power it directly from the battery? If you have 2 batteries, do you hook it up to the battery (Perko) switch instead of a single battery so it doesn't drain just one battery? If it is hooked up to the battery switch, I assume that it would only draw from the battery that was switched "on"? Whether hooked to the battery or to a battery switch, does it still draw current if the radio is off (radio does not work if the ignition key is off). Any advice on a sub? I'm thinking it will be installed right behind the front passenger seat if the depth will clear the cooler located in that compartment. I'll try to post some pictures later if you think that would help. Thanks in advance for the feedback and advice.

I went with the Alpine pdx and I love it. You should be fine with an automotive amp, just make sure it's class D. I am an audiophile so I went with the better amp, also I knew the Alpine would be the most efficient amp for battery draw. I ran the amp straight off my main battery, and just keep the second battery as a back up. I had bought some power distribution blocks to tap the wire after the switch, however using ring terminals off the battery was more accessible. Of course if I switch to battery 2, my amp still draws from battery 1. This means if I run on battery 2, I need to make sure that I run on battery 1 before the end of the day to charge it back up. I usually just run both when I am looking to charge the second battery. By being hooked up to the battery directly it still won't draw any power while the switch is turned off since all amps have a "remote" wire which you wire to the ignition wire on your head unit. When this wire gets power, it allows turns on the amp and lets it take power from the battery. When the batteries or radio is switched off, the remote wire does not get power and your amp will not draw power from the battery. As for where to mount the sub or amp I would need some pictures to comment. I have a cuddy that I mounted the amp inside on the wall facing the driver. I cut a hole in the rear U-wrap seat for my sub and it looks factory.

Hope this helps.

I'd say the marine v. auto question depends on how you use your boat. If it is stored outdoors or is docked for a significant time, I'd go marine. If you're a trailer boater who stores inside, auto should be fine. I'm the latter and went with auto and have had ZERO corrosion issues.

You can wire the power cable directly to the "out" on the battery switch and it will do just what you asked-only draw off the battery selected by the switch. If you use the power on/off connection that the amp will provide and hook it up to your radio head unit correctly, it will not draw any power if the radio is not turned on. In short, it only turns on when the radio turns on if correctly connected.

Best tip I can give you is to run the ground directly to a battery if possible with large gauge wire. If not possible, get an alternative to just tapping into the radio's ground. If you don't do this right you'll get interference/noise in the speakers.

Have you considered mounting the sub next to either the driver or passenger seat? That is where I did mine (and where the factory location is) and it worked out great.

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

Which reminds me to remind you, make sure you use a high quality amp kit. It needs to be OFC (Oxygen Free Copper) wire which will resist corrosion. The best bang for the buck was the KnuKonceptz kits I found on Amazon and eBay.

I'm with Paul on his auto vs marine example. But I would encourage you to go with marine grade wire. Mainly because it's supposed to be tinned along the whole length. Marine environments are notorious for causing corrosion, and not always just at the ends. Anywhere there's a nick or a clamp pulled too tight and you run the risk of corrosion. The downside there is it take freakin' FOREVER to debug where the wire has problems.

And be sure to secure ALL of the wiring and DO NOT SOLDER any of the connections. You want to use clamped connectors and secured zip ties. Otherwise the constant motion of wave action will cause the wiring to flex and, again, be a real pain to troubleshoot later. Solder makes too rigid of a connection, again boat motion tends to cause it to crack. Good crimped on connections, ring-style when possible, heat shrink over all transitions and secured wiring will help keep it stay in working order.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista