HOW TO Boat Amp Installation

Amazon links for items used in video:
Rockville marine Amp: amzn.to/2K5STDJ
Kenwood Speakers: amzn.to/2XD95Ey
In this video I go over the process I took for installing a Rockville marine amp and Kenwood speakers in my Sea Ray 190BR.
This video is not sponsored.
Music: www.bensound.com

[@shaunthomascooper]

Thank you for this video! Helped out a lot! Do you have a video of when the Garmin depth finder was installed or did your boat come with it?

[@taylorhurst4735]

nice video man very well explained

[@numismaticpicker9334]

100% agree!

[@Jacob190000]

Appreciate it going to be posting some more videos soon. Lots of stuff to do with the boat.

[@numismaticpicker9334]

Cars & Computers oh cool! I’ll stay tuned!😎

[@UFpwrLifter]

Great video, thank you. I have a question... my boat currently has 4 speakers hooked up to the head unit. No sub and no amp. I want to add an amp (and maybe a sub now or down the road). If I added the amp, would I need to re-run all of the factory speaker wires to the amp, or can I just hook the amp to the head unit since the speakers already run through the head unit?

[@Jacob190000]

Hey there sorry I’m taking so long to respond. Yes, you will need to run the speakers to the amp, not the head unit. Your head unit provides the unamplified audio to the amp via RCA cable. Amp then provides that sound amplified to the speakers. When you add a sub, that will connect to the amp as well, not the head unit. So make sure you get at least a 6 channel amp so you have a channel for each speaker. You can get away with 4 channel but 6-8 will ensure plenty of power and make it easier.

[@johnnyhopkins7297]

No you don’t. You can run the sub off of the amp and the other speakers off the head unit

[@Jacob190000]

The speakers will sound much better and get the needed power front the amp. I would always highly recommend connecting speakers to an amp and not running off a head unit. Otherwise you will hear fuzzy sound when turning the volume high and blame it on the speaker when in reality, it’s because you don’t have enough power to the speakers.

[@MrShealy06]

I had no idea i could run my positive power to the switch and not directly to the battery. This is a HUGE piece of information i didnt know

[@TeViiNz]

In a boat always power for everything except your bilge pumps is wired do the switch

[@MrShealy06]

@@TeViiNz awesome info! Honestly im very comfortable with automotive and home electrical, but marine im new to. Bought a 97 290 Sundancer and replacing the headunit and speakers so this is good to know. Wire speakers to the head unit and head unit to the switch. Thanks!

[@Jacob190000]

Yes, this is key to ensuring your accessories are truly powered off not draining the battery while not being used. In response to your comment above, your speakers should be wired to the head unit, the head unit to the positive bus bar/fuse box, then a single "Accessory" wire from the fuse box to the switch. In this video, I am wiring an Amp, which uses it's own dedicated wire to the switch due to larger power draw compared to other accessories.

[@serenitynoobosity5905]

I've just installed a Pyle Amp & Radio in an old boat that didn't have radio wiring already set up or a built-in harness. I wired 8 gauge marine wire to the amplifier from the battery, connected all 4 speakers to the bridged terminal on the amp, and connected the REM wire to the Blue wire on the back of the Pyle Radio and nothing turns on. Now, m a novice at this, but the instructions for the Pyle radio unit are terrible. I'm assuming a large amount of the power that I have connected directly to the battery from the amplifier should be enough to be diverted to both the radio itself through the REM and speakers. Supposedly the radio/head units don't require much power to run and the REM wire is supposed to handle 12 volts easily. So I thought this wire along with the RCA cables is all you need to signal and power on the radio. Perhaps I'm wrong about this... So this leaves me to believe that I may need to separately wire the radio head unit to the battery as well. This is where the included directions in the radio are extremely vague. I'm guessing the directions are assuming everyone has a prewired car or boat and just has to connect the wires to the appropriate colors coming through the dash. I'm, however, starting a new install on a boat that never had a radio and no such designated wiring preinstalled in this boat. So explain to me if the power from the amplifier is enough to power the radio and speakers or if I need to have another dedicated power and ground line to the radio as well? If that is the case do I just twist the red/yellow wires on the wiring kit that came with the radio and connect them into separate 14-18 gauge new marine wire that I now have to run separately from the battery to the back of the radio? Please advise. I thank you in advance!

[@kblm1014]

What did you you run your rca cable to from the amp? What was the name of the plug on the head unit? Front or rear?

[@justintabert1498]

Did you actually disconnect the battery or did you just use the selection switch in off?

[@Channel-About-Nothing]

Thinking about a Rockville 6 channel for my boat. Hows that 4 channel amp been holding up for you? A lot of mixed reviews.

[@Jacob190000]

I've used it for probably 20+ hours of boating now and no issues whatsoever. I can feel it with my feet while boating and never seems to overheat or anything. I would recommend any of their Amps.

[@Channel-About-Nothing]

@@Jacob190000 Thanks, ordering a 6 channel.

[@mattkish6484]

I have a tricky question for ya but hopefully you can follow along and give me some advise! I have three speakers already hooked up to my head unit that allows 4 speakers. But once I add the fourth speaker my head unit shorts out. If I were to add an amp would I be fine with just hooking up the 4th speaker separately to the amp? If that is unable to work should I just hook every individual speaker to a 4 channel amp? Thanks hope this made sense!

[@Jacob190000]

Does the head unit short out at any volume with the 4th speaker? Typically, you would only run into issues if you didn't have enough power, and turned the volume up too high for the head unit to put out enough watts to all speakers. Even then, your unit wouldn't short out, your speakers would just start distorting. I would suspect the issue is actually with your head unit fuse itself, or the wiring to your head unit. I would ensure the fuse and wiring is good before doing anything else. Either way, an amp will make your 4 speakers sound better than not having an amp. It may also solve your issue, as your head unit won't be required to send any power to the speakers. Just make sure you connect all speakers to the amp, you will have more control and it will sound better that way.

[@mattkish6484]

Cars & Computers my head unit volume goes to 50 and shuts off at 42 with the 4th speaker connected. But with only 3 I can crank it to 50 but then the distortion starts. So just to make sure I’m following along, when connecting the amp I can disconnect all of the speakers going straight to the head unit and wire them up to the amp it’s self so that the rca input will connect them all to the head unit? Thanks!

[@Jacob190000]

Correct, RCA will feed the sound to the amp and you will connect all speakers to the amp instead of the head unit. Honestly regardless of the source of your issue, it’s going to sound better with an amp so it will be a good investment.

[@chriscullison391]

Do you put your front speakers on one channel and the rear two on channel 2 and where did you ground your amp?

[@Jacob190000]

This is a 4 channel amp, so I used channels 1-2 for front speakers, and channel 3 alone for the sub (didn't need to bridge 3-4 because the amp has enough power with each channel). For this amp channels 1-2 & 3-4 are paired and gain adjusted together. I grounded the amp using the provided short ground wire to the negative bus bar under the dash.

[@AchikSarih]

Merci beaucoup ❤❤❤❤❤

[@MrPauldelatorre]

Looks like you connect the amp straight to the battery switch and not the battery itself?

[@Jacob190000]

Yes that is correct, in my case, I want all accessory power to go through the switch. This way I can control which battery they are using. The only thing I do not have going through the switch is the Bilge pump, so that it will run regardless of which position the switch is in.

[@gavintaylor6297]

Yep and it looks

[@francescob5849]

Did you get an small buzz noise from speakers when the motor was running? It sounds perfect when motor isn’t on but the buzz come when it’s running

[@Jacob190000]

I don't notice any buzzing but this may be due to the alternator creating additional current. Either that or your speaker wires are too close to the engine causing too much vibration. If you are using a battery switch with 2 batteries I would try connecting your amp directly to one of the batteries to see if that fixes it. If so, you will need to leave it like that, or install some sort of inline capacitor to stabilize the current while the motor is running. If you only have 1 battery, adding a second would give you the ability to connect the amp to the second battery. You will then want to install a switch (I have a video on this). Just my quick 2 cents.

[@Fuelish_Habits]

Try adjusting your gains. If they are too high, you will have buzzing in your speakers. You may not be able to hear it over the engine when it is running.

[@franksmythe6969]

Do you get a pop when running your trim up or down? I'm having an issue with that on a pre-installed stereo system

[@Jacob190000]

I don't but this may be caused by voltage drop. A couple solutions are to have your stereo/amp on a separate battery, or install some sort of capacitor that can prevent voltage drop when using the trim.

[@Fuelish_Habits]

I have the same issue on my boat - trim and drive tabs cause snapping. I have a dedicated house battery, 6 speakers, sub, amp and head unit. I ran the negative from the amp directly to the negative terminal of the house battery. I have run the power and negative directly from head unit to the house battery. I checked RCA’s from head unit. I adjusted gains using a DMM. I checked speaker wires. Nothing has solved the snapping. I thought about adding capacitors to the trim and drive switches but that doesn’t solve the issue. What about the led power and ground wires? I have multiple speakers spliced into a single positive and negative wire.

[@TheKrreozek]

The positive 8gu wire goes straight to the battery or to the disconnect switch ?

[@Jacob190000]

If you have a battery switch, then it goes straight to the out of the switch. This way, your amp uses the same selection on the switch as your accessories (batt 1, 2, OFF)

[@TheKrreozek]

@@Jacob190000 thank you

[@jimmiejohnson1404]

Hey man I have a 2010 sea ray 195 sport an I want to add some subs but there is no space at all what do u suggest ( I would like to mount them right into the boat

[@Jacob190000]

First idea that comes to mind is that they make low profile subs that you should be able to fit against the driver or passenger footboard without too much disruption. Link: amzn.to/2XPhCmf

[@Jacob190000]

Here's another one I found with good reviews. I feel like you could find somewhere to fit this: amzn.to/2TVrSZ7

[@Jacob190000]

Both options are powered, so you would not need to fit a separate Amp.

[@andreroberts132]

Where did you ground the amp? That's the whole reason I watched the video.

[@Outdoor_Don]

Exactly why i watched too

[@Jacob190000]

I do briefly mention that I ground the amp using the provided short grounding cable to the negative bus bar under the dash. This is a short metal bar that your gauges, stereo, etc. Will all already be grounded to as well.

[@Jerryh31]

@@Jacob190000 Do you know what size the wire is running from that bus bar to the battery? They are usually only sized for the instrument panel load.

[@craigroberts4923]

@@andrewh.8890 that will work just fine too obviously. That's what I've done and I have an 1800 watt 5 channel JBL, and a 450W MTX running six 6.5 wet sounds and a 10 inch kicker sub

[@Flybye43]

Always ground a Amp alone onto metal like the engine block

[@alexmiller6087]

Will the amp not drain your starting battery?

[@Jacob190000]

In another video I show how to install a second accessory battery with battery switch. This is to ensure you always have your starting battery unaffected by the amp.

[@mattkish6484]

Separate question, will my single boat battery be strong enough to power my 400 watt amp and my head unit with out losing its main functionality?

[@Jacob190000]

This will mainly depend on the size of your battery. Your biggest worry when only having one battery, is playing music for too long, while the engine is off and not charging the battery. If you have a group 27 battery or larger, you should be fine, just make sure not to leave the engine off for period longer than 30 minutes at a time, without running the engine to charge the battery periodically. I would always suggest adding a second battery and battery switch for peace of mind(check out my video on that)

[@dcouwlier]

My Yamaha 275Sdx came with 2 batteries. I made them put in a second house battery because o knew I would be adding another amp to power the wet sounds Rev12 HD that just came in.

[@craigmclaughlin7073]

Nice stereo, but do yourself a favor and splurge on some mildew cleaner.

[@Jacob190000]

I have used lots of different cleaners to try to get the dirty color out of the upholstery.

[@jimmiejohnson1404]

What the name of this song ?

[@Jacob190000]

It's called dreams and free for download here: www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/dreams-chill-out

[@greglambo3]

100 amp fuse on 8ga ? Thats to much ampage.

[@Jacob190000]

Good point and thanks for keeping me honest. I believe I mis-spoke and this is actually a 50amp fuse, which is much more reasonable for 8ga at that length.

[@greglambo3]

@@Jacob190000ok. i do a bit of car audio soo i didnt want you to have a fire or problems. A Guy asked me to do his boat soo i watched your video for a game plan and figure out the ground thing because its not like a car lol.