Best Boat Amplifier and Why?!?! JL Audio, Skar Audio, Kicker, and DS18. 

Thank you! Yeah, I left out hundreds of brands LOL. This is the most common debate among the community so that is the reason I chose to review these for them. I like Rockford and Kicker as well, but right now they are not what the community are arguing about. I try to make the best videos I can for the masses. In no way do I acknowledge that these are the only brand speakers that are an option, but they are the ones the community are wanting answers on. I ran the Rockford marine compact on my Harley Davidson and I loved it.

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you, I try to make it as well as explained as possible. I kept it short and sweet, I definitely could have gone into deeper detail but I felt that I would have lost the majority of my subscribers.

@@THEFSHDUDE I have a 20ft Wellcraft with 1 battery…I am about to purchase 2, 6.5 skar speakers to replace the stock ones…so I have to worry about power draw with the skar amp?

@@jeffwien6460 With only one battery you will have to worry about power draw no matter what. I recommend if you are going to do an amplified stereo system to add a secondary deep cycle marine battery like the amzn.to/3eMGjJD. Also, if you do the Kicker KMC5 head unit it has a low voltage warning setting to keep you safe if you stay with just one battery. If you are worried you can always get this amzn.to/3w99Gvx to keep you safe.

Glad I could help! To run this setup I would go with this amp by Kicker amzn.to/3GUSEYz This will allow you to use amp 1&2 for the 6.5s and amp 3 for the sub. They have a better one but it is a little pricier if you can afford it. This is that one amzn.to/3Q0zEw7 I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

The 1000x4 will work great for that. I am using the same amp now with 4 6.5s and 2 8s.

I have an exact same style video on speakers on my channel. Go check it out.

Thank you for the support. I am happy you are pleased with your setup. So when tuning, I always recommend having it professionally done. If you are worried about the way it sounds now then pay someone to tune it properly. As for settings, I generally start setting the source unit at 75% volume and then using specialty tools (oscilloscope, SMD DD1 and a SMD CC1) start tuning for distortion, crossover, staging, and specific audio fidelity. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a general setting as every setup is different. You have to either use specialty tools or have a professional ear. Tuning without the ability can lead to damaged equipment and early failure to components.

I am having no issues and I am running four Skar 6.5s (at 2 ohms) and two Skar 8s (at 4 ohms). The 1000.4 also has a cooling fan. Did you space the bottom of the amp off of whatever surface you mounted it to? It has to be able to "breathe". Other than that I would say it could be the head unit you're using making the amp work harder or you may be using too small of a gauge of wiring causing resistance. There could be many factors. But, most of the time users mount the amp directly to something choking off the cooling fan and the ventilation. If you have done that start with adding bushings/spacers under the mount feet on the amp. I hope this helps. Mine doesn't even get warm.

You can go multiple ways. It all depends on what you want out of it. Sound quality = Class A/B amplifier for mids and highs and class D for subs. Efficiency = class D for both or an all-in-one class D amplifier. Go with the best brand in your budget. Don't settle for anything cheap. Make sure the RMS on the amplifier is at least the RMS of the speakers. Make sure you invest in good wiring, I use Stinger Marine, and that you have the appropriate gauge for the amps being drawn by the system. I recommend Skar, JL Audio, and Kicker for the amplifier/s. Again, your choice will all depend on how you want to setup your system and your budget. I also recommend the Kicker or JL Audio headunits. I recommend the Skar Audio for the 6.5s and the 8s. I hope this helps and if you have not done so, please consider subscribing.

For subwoofers I recommend this amp amzn.to/3NbUx7Z

I always recommend amplifying speakers as source units put out very little power to speakers. Anything over 25watts rms should be amplified. The Def Techs are actually made for home audio source units and run at 8 ohms. This could cause damage to a marine 12v source unit as they are typically only rated for 2-4ohm loads. That means the resistance is double to quadruple that of your marine 12v source unit. What you really need to do is wire those those four speakers in parallel to reach a 4 ohm load and then put them on an amplifier. To simplify that, you should put two speakers on one channel and the other 2 speakers on another channel. I hope this helps.

Thank you 🙏🏼

Thanks for the support! What model 6x9s are you running? Need more info because you could need 1,000 watts or 4,000 watts, it all depends on the model of the speakers and their specifications.

Yes, I run the 1,000 watt 150.4 for all 6 speakers. This one amzn.to/3stJL2E

If you are wanting quality audio at a budget price I would definitely go with Skar Audio. I would need more specs like how many speakers you are planning and where, if you want zones, and what the budget looks like for more specifics. Do you want the inside and outside from the same source unit or are you doing two separate units to allow for different audio on the outside and inside if the clients wanted to do so? Give me as much information as possible and I will do my best to set you up from that.

Thank you 🙏🏼

The 4 6.5s wired in parallel on channels 1&2 and the 2 8s on 3&4.

As long as you run the (4) 6.5s on one amp and the (2) tower speakers bridged on the other amp you should be fine.

I would recommend the Kicker KMC5 head unit. I have that one in my boat and it is the BEST head unit on the market in my opinion. You can get it on Amazon here: amzn.to/3hgSq3e As for the amplifier, I just checked stock at Skar, Kicker, and JL Audio and they are all unavailable. Those are the only 3 I highly recommend, but if you find something else feel free to post it here and I will let you know if it is worth it and if it is able to push your setup. Unfortunately we are coming into the peak boating season and everyone orders everything to get the boat ready so everything is sold out at the moment. I did speak with Skar Audio the other day and they expect to get some in soon, so keep checking their site or Amazon for the RP-150.4ABM and buy it as soon as it hits the shelf. I hope this helps and best of luck with your audio. Thanks for watching.

yup.. im having the same problem shit!

They're stocked up, just bought a 4 channel 1000w.

That would be correct, it's not the size of the speakers it is the amount of power the speakers require. You are overloading the amp. Also, the quality of your head unit is the first and most important part of a good system. An amplifier just amplifies what the source is putting out, so garbage out is just garbage amplified. Also, a poor source unit will make your amplifier work harder and struggle. I do not recommend Fusion or Rockville. I recommend Kicker or JL series source units. Thank you for watching.

I'd recommend the Skar Marine 75.4, you can bridge them down to 2 ohms or run them at 4 ohms. Whichever is best for your setup.

The amplifier only amplifies the sound from a source unit. If you do not have some sort of audio source then this doesn't do anything. So you either need to hook it up to the source unit you already have in the boat or you need to add some other type of source unit to get audio to the amplifier. If the Klipsh speakers are home audio then they are probably 8 ohm speakers which would not work with this amplifier as it is for 2-4 ohm loads. You need speakers that are able to run at 2 or 4 ohms. This can be altered by the type of wiring you do (series or parallel). These types of ohm loads apply to car and marine audio speakers. I hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions. - THEFSHDUDE

No, I am running 4 Skar Audio 6.5" (Channels 1&3 wired in parallel) and 2 Skar Audio 8" (Channels 2&4) off the Skar Audio 1,000 watt RMS 150.4 amplifier. I am running the Kicker KMC5 Media Center and Stinger Marine power, ground, remote, and RCA,s with 14 gauge marine OFC speaker wire to all speakers.

Stick with kicker to keep matching and yes the 1000/4 skar will be fine.

I would go with this one on a jet ski amzn.to/41Xisgo

Skar only makes a 500.4 and 1000.4 marine amplifier. The Skar 1500 is not made for the marine environment and yes that’s way too much power for that subwoofer. You can always decrease the gain but you’d be using the wrong type of amplifier for your boat and be wasting power. If it’s all you have and don’t want to spend the money on a proper marine amplifier you can run it and tune the gain to the subwoofer.

Thank you for the support! I don’t recommend four 8s, I did the two 8s and four 6.5s on the 1000 and it works great. One 8 per channel on 3&4. Then wire two 6.5s in parallel on channel one and two 6.5s in parallel on channel 2. As for the subwoofer I recommend this amplifier amzn.to/3RMFaDZ I hope this helps 🤙🏼

@@THEFSHDUDE Thank you for you're anwser, You're videos are very usefull. If i want to use my battery as long as possible, is the skar 1500 watt better so i can use him on 2 ohm? Or it makes no difference, excuse me im really a noob on this topic. I also don't want to much speakers on my 20 ft boat. Are 4 x 6,5s enough on the 1k marine skar amp with the sub separately on the 1500? Or do i really need the 2 8's also? I only have 1 battery :) as a side note. Can you please help me out. I already watched you're videos 20 times 😅 to find the right setting for my boat...doubting to much i guess

@@elis7803 If you want to run the 1500 you won't be able to run four speakers at two ohms. You cannot wire them to two ohm. 1 ohm would be the lowest you could go or you can wire to four ohm. While the class D is more efficient, you are not going to see the longevity you think you would and you would lose sound quality for the 6.5s. I would stick with the Class A/B. Especially when it comes to wiring because to wire 4 SVC 4 ohm speakers to one or four ohms its a bit of tricky wiring if you don't know what you are doing. Four 6.5s with the sub will be plenty for that boat. I don't even run a subwoofer on my 21' boat. The 8s provide plenty of bass for me and I don't waste any extra space by adding the subwoofer and enclosure. Not to mention the subwoofer you mentioned before is not marine grade and will eventually fall apart from moisture and the elements. One battery will also not be a good idea, you need a second battery for all that or you are going to end up not being able to start your boat and be stranded. I highly recommend adding a second batter and a battery selector switch.

Under 9 feet run this amzn.to/38eiHN4 Over 9’ or adding more in future run this amzn.to/3K6Oop8

@@THEFSHDUDE thanks

@@MyRoliTunes my pleasure 🤙🏼

This is the amp that you want and can handle up to 8 speakers in parallel. amzn.to/3R6JKfC

You the man I appreciate the info !

@@lowboytrucker my pleasure 🤙🏼

Absolutely, the waterproof design is much better for that type of application. I also ran waterproof amplifiers on my CanAm XMR 1000 when riding through mud pits, rivers, and crossing lakes lol.

I have my 8s set at around 100hz and above and I have my 6.5s set at around 150hz and above. I hope this helps. Thank you for your support.

@@THEFSHDUDE Do you have a dedicated subwoofer for low end? I'm new to tuning but I appreciate the tips! Thanks!

@@tself77 no, my two 8s provide plenty of mids and lows for me.

@@THEFSHDUDE are those settings for both HPF and LPF?

@@gwade8808 I am not using a filter as these are full range speakers and not specific for lows or highs. LPF is for subwoofers and HPF is for tweeters or high frequency specific speakers.

Yes, that will be a good sounding set up as long as it is tuned right. As for the overheating, you should be fine with that amp with just 4 6.5s. Your batteries will be fine in that setup as long as you monitor your voltage and dont drain the batteries to where you cant start your boat. It would be safer to have them separate, one start battery and one house battery, but it is not needed. Also, with them running together in parallel you will get nearly double the run time. Also, your batteries drain as fast as the amount of draw you put on them, so if you are cranking your system they will drain fast and if you are just listening to it at a low level they will drain slower. I cant tell you how long because there are too many variables that change that time limit like use, battery condition, other electronics, and how much charge they started with. That will be something you have to figure out. Everyone is different.

@@THEFSHDUDE thank you for your reply. I will subscribe :)

If you want to add top of the line without drilling new holes here is the dash kit with the Kicker KMC4. They do have a KMC5 but the 4 is nearly as good and you save around $150. Here is the link for that amzn.to/3lzSuvT I personally dont recommend any old style single din source unit. No company with a decent upgrade has those anymore. Also, the 8s provide great bass and the 6.5s will most likely need some trimming around the original cutout but they are well worth the little bit of work.

Thx so much for the quick reply! Would the KMC 4 be enough to push the speakers or would you still recommend an amp and if so would the 500 be sufficient, even if the possible addition of 2 more 6.5s, or better with the 1000?

@@jsma2856 you would definitely need the 1k. Here is the link to that too amzn.to/38D82MN

@@jsma2856 also use this power kit for under 9’ amzn.to/3wI9IMW or this one for over 9’ amzn.to/38f6DMc

I always recommend this one amzn.to/3KamH00 as it is only $30 more and is far better than the smaller one.

It replaces the stock unit. It’s the same size mounting hole for both. I’m not sure what you’re talking about with the factory screen. The 210 does not integrate audio with any other screen. If you’re referring to the 25’ FSH then you use the NMEA kit to integrate with the Simrad

Here’s the kit if it’s not already installed but it should be I believe. Haven’t set one up yet on that boat . amzn.to/3HGuul6

@@THEFSHDUDE I have a 195S. I assumed the FSH had a similar, stock nav screen and control panel. I was wondering what you did for nav if you replaced the stock one, but now I believe I'm comparing apples to oranges

@@chadfrench3041 no, the 195s comes with an external integrated source unit. You have to bypass it if you want a better audio system.

Yes, that will work great 👍🏼

Thanks...not as nice as the Kicker you recommend but I thought it was a pretty decent unit

Rockville is a very cheap brand. The only time I would recommend them is if that is a budget build and you can only afford them to have sound.

No I was running 4 sk65ms on the 75.4 (500 watts rms) from Skar. Now I’m running the 4 sk65ms and 2 sk8ms on the 150.4 (1,000 watts rms) and 4 more sk65ms on another 75.4 (500 watts rms) all Skar audio

Thank you 🙏🏼

Skar only makes a 500 watt 4 channel and a 1000 watt 4 channel marine amplifier, so I don't know what you have. The best way for the 500 is to only have 4 6.5s wired to it to avoid overheating. With the 1000 watt you can wire 4 6.5s on two channels at 2 ohms. I am running 4 6.5s on two channels and 2 8s on 2 channels on my 1000 watt with no issues. The 6.5s are at 2 ohms and the 8s are at 4 ohms.

@@THEFSHDUDE you are correct, it's a 500x4. I wish the 1000 watt amp's were in stock!. So running four of the 6.5's parallel @2ohm and two @ 8ohm will fry the 500x4 even keeping the volume modest?

@@gwade8808 it won’t fry it but it will overwork it and put it in protection mode after a while. I don’t advise it but it will work.

In your opinion of course

@@THEFSHDUDE truly appreciate your time and experience on this stuff! You/your videos have helped more than you know and were the deciding factor on my set up (minus the 1000 being out of stock). I'll run it easy for now and hopefully the amp's comes back in stock and I can set it up appropriately. Thanks again!

I am running one 1000 watt amp for that exact setup with the kicker KMC5 head unit and it sounds phenomenal.

@@THEFSHDUDE i just picked up the last one on ebay. i plan to run the same system .. thank you for the advice i cant wait to hear it!

@@THEFSHDUDE what gauge wire are you running for the 1000 watt amp? and do you need 2 house batteries?

@@shane462 The gauge wire you use will be dependent on the length of the run and the amps you pull. I recommend running four gauge unless it is a short run and you are drawing less than 85 amps. If that is so you can go with 8 gauge. As for the house batteries that all depends on how long you want it to run without the boat running. I am only running one house battery. I usually get about an hour out of it at half volume without the low voltage warning I have set coming on. If you want more than that or to listen to it louder for longer than add as many batteries as you need. It all goes by amp hours which is labeled on your batteries.

@@THEFSHDUDE all installed sounds awesome. just need to properly tune it... i just turned everything way down on the amp and let the media device turn up to max.. (none the less im pretty happy . a great investment and lives up to the high quality sounds for sure

Run the 8s on channel 3 and 4 and wire the 6.5s in parallel and run on channels 1 and 2.

@@THEFSHDUDE awesome, thank you. What are your thoughts on the Fusion MS-RA70? That’s what my family all run on their boats and seems to be really popular in my area. I know you say you run the KMC5. What’s the benefits of one over another?

⁠​​⁠ The Fusion will be fine for what you’re looking for if that’s what you prefer.

Are you saying you only have room for the single din older rectangular style? The kmc5 is not a double din it’s much smaller than that. Can you fit the newer round style units?

@@THEFSHDUDE Didn’t realize that it was smaller, I’m going to check the specs and hope it fits. I’am currently building a system and will be going with your recommendations.Just in case what would be your recommendation for a single din stereo. THANKS!!!

@@zey1981 If it does fit here is the link for it with the adapter plate to cover the single din cutout. The price is the same with or without it so order it anyways even if there is not a hole there already for the free plate for future use or reselling to another boater. amzn.to/44i75jU

That would work, it sounds like you would only need the 75.4, but if you plan to expand the system any more then get the 150.4

@@THEFSHDUDE while expanding is possible the cost would not be worth it as the extra pods to expand to 4 more speaker would cost about $550, then another $150 for the speakers and then $34 to get the bigger amp. Not to mention a 4 gauge amp install instead of a 8 gauge install and then more high quality speaker wire, I just don't think I could talk my wife into spending another $800 on my toy

@@arthurschamne Sounds like you are on the right track then.

The Skars are going to be bigger and deeper than the original speakers in the Top. I can't tell you if they would fit without being there. Just take the old ones out and measure to compare with the mounting depths on Skar's website. You could run the four 8s on the 150.4 but then you would need another amp the the 6.5s. Or you can do four 6.5s and two 8s on a 150.4 like I have setup. Channels are paired so you can't tune one channel alone you can only tune two channels together differently than the other two channels. If you truly want this setup you will need a 6 channel amplifier around 1500 watts to support all that. Or you can do one 150.4 (the four 8s) and one 75.4 (the two 6.5s) from Skar. If you do the four 6.5s and two 8s you run the two 8s on the linked two channels and the four 6.5s wired in parallel on the other two linked channels at 2 ohms. This way you can tune them separately from the 8s and this amp can handle all 6 of those speakers no problem. I hope this helps. good luck.

@@THEFSHDUDE I decided to set up exactly like you did and do 2 sets of the 6.5s and one set of the 8s on the 150.4. Do you have a schematic as to how to do the bridge on the 8s? Are the 6.5s set up in one zone and the 8s in another? Also, what are the tuning settings I need to use? Thx! Your assistance has been awesome!

@@derrickjenkins7421 None of the speakers are bridged. The 6.5s are wired in parallel on channels 1 and 2 and the 8s are wired directly to their own channels on 3 and 4. There are no tuning settings you need to use for the amplifier as you should run these speakers in full range mode on the built in crossover. The only tuning you need to do is for your head unit. Most head-units start to distort around 3/4 volume. Turn head unit up until just prior to distortion (with any level adjustments at flat/0) and then turn the gain up on the amplifier until just prior distortion and that's it. If you don't know how to wire in parallel just twist the positive wires together and then twist the negative wires together. Two 6.5s on channel 1 and two 6.5s on channel 2. This splits the ohms from 4 to 2. Hope this helps.

@@THEFSHDUDE Thank you for clarifying that. I also bought the Kicker KCM5 as well. One question. The old Simrad Sonic Hub I have can be disconnected and taken out and the new Kicker head can be connected to the NMEA 2000 network, correct? The Kicker can then be called up on the Simrad screen and controlled there as well? Thx.

@@derrickjenkins7421 ok, so then you can use volume 38-40 to tune the amp and it should end up at around half gain on each set of channels. The kicker should be able to be incorporated with your network as well. Hope this helps. Should turn out great. Let me know how you like it.

Thank you for watching. First, I would not run (6) 6.5s on the 500 watt amp, I would run the 1000.4. Second, If you want to wire them all to this style amp what you need to do is run four in parallel at 2 ohms on channels 1&2 and the other two wired at standard 4 ohms on the channels 3&4. I am not saying this amp cannot handle them but you are running the risk of overheat protection kicking on when running the stereo at high levels for extended amounts of time, especially if the amp is mounted somewhere that does not ventilate the heat well. I hope this helps!

@@THEFSHDUDE Thanks for the advice. I wanted the 1000 4 but they are out of stock

@@jameskellenberger5401 oh dang. Well you should be fine. Do you have a good source unit? If it’s putting out 4v preouts you should be good. If it cuts out after a while it’ll be due to overheat protection. Just let it cool down and you’re good to keep jamming.

@@THEFSHDUDE can i run 4 scar speakers on the 2 channel kicker amp??

6.5's...

I think that would work out great with the Skar amp. It sounds like they are underpowered at the moment.

@@THEFSHDUDE yeah my only concern is the cockpit speakers remaining underpowered. I’m not sure how they have the 8 speakers and sub on the M6600 though or how many watts they may be currently getting?

@@RyanAndreyka once you remove the tower speakers, will you be able to bridge the cockpit speakers?

@@THEFSHDUDE I’ll be able to have the 4 cockpits on their own channels at 75w RMS. Still under powered unfortunately. But the last 2 channels on that app I’ll bridge the sub for 150w.

@@RyanAndreyka ok I gotcha. I mean that’s a great amp but if you’re not getting what you want out of it then maybe sell it and get new amps?

My pleasure 🤙🏼 This one will be best amzn.to/46kC9Bz let me know if you need links for wiring.

@@THEFSHDUDE thank you sir! What if you wanted to go with a class D? I’ve been searching everywhere trying to take what I understand from your videos and find a suitable class D to save a ton of battery life out there all day long… but I don’t think I know enough to figure it out because I can’t seem to find a 4 channel class D skar with enough wattage, that doesn’t jump dramatically in price. Am I off? Haha

@@endostyle class D would be this one for those 4 speakers amzn.to/46q7nqQ. Is there a particular reason you want it to be 4 channel? If so, you would have to go with this one amzn.to/3Nu2IvD

@@THEFSHDUDE Thank you! The way I understood it was that the mono block was mostly just for subwoofers? Will that skar one you posted above, mono block work for 4 regular 8inch speakers? I really appreciate your help, I'll for sure use your links for everything!

@@endostyle so the mono block will work for more than one speaker you just lose the ability to fade front rear left and right so if you don’t plan on feeding the audio to a certain zone of the boat, you don’t need a four channel

I would run the Skar Audio Marine 150.4 (1,000 watt) amplifier

Ok thankyou

@@tristanshurbet6330 You're welcome

Don’t adjust anything on the head unit. That needs to be flat. On the amp make sure it’s in full range mode and start gains at 1/2. Adjust from there.

The Kicker KMC5 marine media center has a voltage alarm built in as an option to set so there is no need to run a separate one on my boat. If you would like a recommendation for a marine voltmeter I would go with this, but it does not have an alarm: amzn.to/3NmmGY6

Also, what type of head unit do you recommend for a single DIN head unit?

If you are powering mids and highs it has to be the A/B amp amzn.to/3LLRYG0 , if you a powering subwoofers use the Class D amzn.to/3Gi4Jaa

I recommend this to replace single din units amzn.to/3lHzxHV it includes the plate adapter. Do not go back to single din as they are outdated and do not have the features of todays units.

@@THEFSHDUDE Awesome - thanks man!

@@gregorybarr2236 my pleasure 🤙🏼

Depends on your budget and application. For free air use I like this budget friendly sub with LED by Kicker to pair with Skar Mids and Highs: amzn.to/3DtTtpR . If that doesn't fit your application you'll have to let me know what size, airspace in enclosure if there is going to be a box and what amp you plan on running it off of.

@@THEFSHDUDE i like a middle ground price and decent base, don't want crap, free air seems to be popular, I def like the skar 6.5s and def like to hear 8s sometime!

@@maritimemodelboatworks23 the 8s put out decent bass, I don’t even run a sub on my boat. But if you’re looking to bang get that Kicker and an amp to run it.

@@maritimemodelboatworks23 If you want more bass than that let me know there are harder hitting models as well. That Kicker 12 is a nice middle ground price and good bass but not extreme.

I always liked kicker, use to have a 15" solobaric in my car back in the day. It was unreal! Thanks for advice,

The head unit is one of the most important parts. That is the source of your music quality and how hard your amp and speakers will have to work. If you don't want to do the KMC5 you can always step down to the KMC4 for $350. Jensen is probably one of the worst head units you can use. I replaced mine as soon as I did a distortion test and a voltage test on the output RCA. I strongly recommend changing it out for ease of tuning, installing aftermarket setups, better features, and overall better quality sound. You won't be disappointed and it is by far the best investment in the whole stereo upgrade.

Yes that makes sense; Garbage in = garbage out. I ordered the Skar amp & speakers 6.5 + 8" and MC4 head. This boat is gonna rock. Thanks for the response.

@@THEFSHDUDE what would be a good receiver to pair with skar speakers and amp for an ATV or UTV?

@@mcafee3604 I highly recommend this one amzn.to/3hAdTpZ

There are many options. Are you looking for a better budget option, a single amp option, multiple amp setup, I will need more information. I would also need to know what kind of tower speakers with rms watts. I can not give you a proper answer with this information. I could throw out assumptions, but that is something I DO NOT do, my reputation is more important to me than giving answers that I can't be accurate with.

@@THEFSHDUDE I appreciate the response! I am ok with a one or two AMP setup. The tower speakers would potentially be skar 8's (250W) or kicker 8's/DS18s which are 150W...TBD. I worry a bit about running two skar amps because of the class A/B power draw, but maybe be ok. Boat is a new yamaha AR250 with dual batteries and I plan to put a noco battery tender in it. Thanks!

@@bennyb8809 what budget are you looking for on the amp(s)

@@THEFSHDUDE Budget friendly....I can't afford wetsounds level, but I do want decent quality and reliability I would say.

@@bennyb8809 for that build I would recommend the Skar 150.4 for the 8 6.5s ran in parallel and the 75.4 bridged for the tower speakers.

As for setting it up, what are you asking for? Frequencies, wiring, tuning, etc... Also, please let me know what you are using to tune the amp as every setup is different. The one question that I can answer is that make sure you run the M77s on the same channels and the M6.5s on the same channels. That way when you tune them you won't mess up the frequencies for the different type of speaker.

Should I bridge 2 channels each for the M7’s and then use the last two for the 6.5s. I used a multi meter to set up the amp. Should I start from scratch and do everything different

@@davidbrannan981 Here is what is listed on JL Audio's site for setup "bridge four of its channels to create a staggered power four channel amplifier with 200x2 @ 4 ohms and 75x2 @ 4 ohms. For a more detailed one on one session consider becoming a Patreon to keep this channel going. Thank you in advance for your consideration. Here is the link to the Patreon page for this channel. www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=57776407

You can but I highly discourage it. You will either over work one side of the amplifier and under utilize the other side or you will underutilize one set of speakers or over work the other set. Either way it would either have poor amplifier performance or poor audio quality. You want to keep 8s with 8s and 6.5s with 6.5s. the speakers have different tuning ranges. If you keep the 8s on one side you would be maxing out amp 1 and under utilizing amp 2 on this amplifier. If you mix one set of 8s with the 6.5s your tuning would be out of wack.

I have another amp but I’m not sure if it would help, that’s what I have right now running. An MTX MUD100x4, I have 2 6.5, 2 4” & 10” sub running with that amp. But I’m replacing those speakers with the skars that I just bought

@@MyRoliTunes I would keep that amp to run your sub on one side and the 6.5s on the other, then use the 1000.4 Skar to run your 8s.

@@THEFSHDUDE Sounds good I’ll do that, or do you think it’s better if I end up buying another amp? I’m running it on a MTX head unit

@@MyRoliTunes if I’m going to give you custom advice I need all the parameters of everything you have. This is just general advise. Including every speaker specs, amp specs, speaker wire being used, power and ground wire being used, head unit specs, rca being used, etc.. there’s a lot that goes into a proper setup or you can just get by with basic ohms law and rms ratings. I need feet length of all wiring too.

You should have really good bass if installed correctly. Make sure amp is in full range and not high pass.

Ok so no low or high pass filter (full setting) and use gain to limit volume to just under point of distortion? Bass eq at 0?

@@jsma2856 yup, you got it.

@@jsma2856 remember when adjusting the gain to have the volume at 38 on the head unit.

@@THEFSHDUDE thx I’ll give that a try

I love the 1000 watt amplifier. I currently run that and the 500. If you are getting the 8s get the 1000. Always remember the better the source unit the better the audio. Amplifiers just amplify what you give them. You give them garbage and they amplify garbage. You dont need to go as high as I went but I recommend this for the best budget friendly head unit amzn.to/3xkVsuT I hope this helps.

Depends, class a/b is higher quality audio. Class d is more efficient. Depends on what you’re using them for and your amount of available power. I use class a/b for every install except subwoofers. I use class d on subwoofers installs.

Still works great.

No, just the ones listed as they are the ones my clients wanted to know about. I dont recommend Kenwood or JVC for marine audio. Not saying they dont work, I just dont prefer them.

Sorry lol, but Thank you for the support!!

and out of stock

Not discontinued, out of stock.

@@THEFSHDUDE the Skar amps are gone....500 or 100.. cant find it anywhere areas on amazon were saying discontinued i dont remember everything i was looking at. that must be a Hot amp....

i was also having an issue trying to find the kicker amp..

with the 4 channels

Huh?

It’s all personal preference but Rockford is an ok company as well. Not the best bang for the buck but also not overpriced.

@@THEFSHDUDE I get that they aren't cheap, but I've seen many benchmarking reports that indicate RF gives you more power than rated, while some other brands (like DS18) can be slightly underpowered. I like that with RF you're always getting the power you paid for.

@@ericmcgrane8000 that is correct, they are usually a little above rated RMS just like Kicker. The better deal is going with a company like Skar Audio that gives you WAY more watts per dollar and were designed not only produce high quality audio but to do it at a fraction of the cost of big tech like JL, Kicker, and Rockford. Skar has proven to compete and beat the old school branded companies that are trying to turn high profits over the last decade. Like I said Rockford is a trusted brand but far from the best deal. Always go with what you like though because ultimately it’s your money and your vehicles. I’ve never talked a customer out of Rockford, Kicker, or JL. I just educate them on today’s brands that are out there doing better things for cheaper.

It’s crazy