basic stereo install

[MacFern]

My electrical knowledge is minimal, so please bare with me. I am installing a Pyle audio system. The package came with the radio/CD player, an amplifier, and 4 speakers. It's an "economy" level system, but should be sufficient for my needs. I am confused about the wiring. It's clear how to wire just the stereo in to the power source and speakers, but adding the amp is confusing. Does a main power wire and a ground wire need to go to the amp and to the stereo unit, or just to the amp. If the power and ground wires just go to the amp, how is the amp connected to the stereo unit. In the instructions the only comment I see regarding any (power) connection from the amp to the stereo unit pertains to the remote switch. It says "Connect the 'Remote' pole to the external switch for positive 12V ON/OFF. This may be connected to the receiver power antenna lead." Is that how the stereo unit attaches to the amp. The instructions also cover "Low Impedance Input and High Impedance Input, how do I know which to use. The instructions appear to show that the speaker wires coming off the stereo unit should be wired to two connectors that plug into one side of the amp, and then there is a "signal barrier strip" on the other side of the amp that the speakers connect to - does that sound correct? And finally, I'm not too concerned about losing preset stations so can I just run the power to a bus bar in the cabin, or should I still run it to the battery. And should I connect to an on/off switch - that doesn't seem necessary. Thanks for any help, I realize this is very basic.

 

[Bryan 2530]

The Amp and the Stereo should both have their own power source. Two separate lines. The Amp will need more power than the stereo so size them appropriately.

The speakers should be connected to the amp and the stereo should have pre-amp RCA style plugs that go into the amp.

The remote turn on wire should be blue, that connects to the amp from the head unit and turns the amp on when the stereo is turned on. The color coding may be diffrent but you should be able to find which one is signal.

Hope that helps if you have any more questions, post 'em.

Which unit did you buy? The stereo that is in my 2530 is not sufficient and I plan to upgrade soon. A one shot system sounds nice and easy to install, maybe I'll go that route.

 

[MacFern]

Thanks for the info Bryan. The system I bought is the PLMRKIT5. It was at Boater's World for $199. I'll let you know how it sounds after it's installed. You mentioned different power for the amp and head unit - is 10 gauge wire sufficient for both? I saw amp install kits at Best Buy with much more substantial looking wire. Also I noticed they had speaker wire that was much thicker than the very thin wire that came with the radio, is it worth the extra cost?

 

[Bryan 2530]

The thicker the wire the more power you can push. With out knowing all the numbers I would say swap out the wire with something thicker. A good quality speaker wire should be fine. No gold or anything just a quality copper.

 

[Porkchunker]

Don't want to rain on your party...but...I was thinking of installing a stereo, but decided to get a small boom-box that fits in the electronics box. Got the idea from B-Faithful. Stereos have a bad habit of failing (corrosion) in a couple of years anyway. So why not use a throw-away source of music? It has lasted 2 years, and looks like it will hold up for one more year. It was 1/4 the cost of a fixed system.

 

[Bryan 2530]

Not enough volume for my taste.

 

[TheOtherLine]

Stereos have a bad habit of failing (corrosion) in a couple of years anyway.

While that statement generally rings true, some manufacturers are producing stereos with sealed component boxes and seperate heads. The box can be installed in a nice dry place, leaving the head unit only, exposed. With a remote, you can even put that in a dry place.

I recently installed such an animal and I have to say it sounds great, wasn't that much more than a standard unit. Only thing missing is a CD, which, quite frankly, most people don't use anyway. It has Aux plugs for IPODS and sat radio (xm or sirius).

My only suggestion on the install is to make sure you use heat shrink connectors and DaleH sold me on the idea of using dielectric on everything. Probably overkill but, what the heck...

 

[MacFern]

Porkchunker, I tried the boombox and it just wasn't loud enough. Plus it was in the way and just added to the clutter. If I hadn't already purchased the system I'd skip it all together or I'd get something similar to what ScoopsAhoy has - I like that. Anyway now I'm reluctant to cut into the fiberglass to install the speakers. I saw a pair of indoor/outdoor patio speakers at Best Buy for about $35/pair. They would be easy to mount, but may not sound too great. Anyone tried using regular indoor/outdoor speakers on their boat? Also they are 3 way speakers, does that matter if the speakers that came with the system are 2-way?

 

[Bryan 2530]

I have Poly Planar waterproof speakers mounted in the Cabin by the previous owner. They sound OK. I need to add a set outside soon and may go with theses or the smaller ones. There was a thread on speakers some time ago and the Poly's were rated good by the membership of Classic Parker. Good thing is you only need a few screw holes to mount and they can be installed under the gunwales. Try the search function.

Anyones else have good solutions on mounting speakers? I plan on reconfiguring mine soon.

 

[TheOtherLine]

Anyway now I'm reluctant to cut into the fiberglass to install the speakers. I saw a pair of indoor/outdoor patio speakers at Best Buy for about $35/pair. They would be easy to mount, but may not sound too great. Anyone tried using regular indoor/outdoor speakers on their boat? Also they are 3 way speakers, does that matter if the speakers that came with the system are 2-way?

Don't need to cut into glass. I have bracket mount speakers in the cabin and the poly planers that are made to fit under your gunwale in the cockpit. I am sure your patio speakers will sound fine. Just make sure they have enought capacity for the receiver that is driving them. In other words if your speakers are only rated for 25 watts each and your receiver uts out 75 watts per channel, your speakers may not last long. 3 way, 2 way, makes no difference.

Good Luck

 

[BuddahB]

One additional thing, I have a JBL and one of the wires, I believe it's the yellow coming from the radio needs to be connected to a power source that is constantly hot. If not, each time you turn the (boat off) radio on you'll lose all your presets and stations. Connecting to the boat bus bar for this wire will kill power when batteries are shut off. I ran a hot lead from battery to a "Blue Seas" seperate fused small panel which is hot all the time and ran the yellow wire to it. I put up with it for a season then changed it around so the presets would stay and I'm a much happier camper now. Hope this helps.

 

[MacFern]

Well I thought I finished installing my stereo last night, but I guess not. The rear speakers are not working. Stereo, amp and front speakers appear to be working normally. I did not use the RCA wires because I would have had to use splitters; my head unit only has one set of RCA plugs. So I used what seems to be an alternative. I connected the speaker wires coming out of the head unit to the supplied connectors that plug into the amp - it's labeled the "high input" connection on the amp. The RCA connection is labeled the "low input". Could that be my problem? I checked each speaker wire with a volt meter and the readings were different for each one. I have no idea what I am looking at, but noticed the reading on the rear speaker wires was much higher than the front. Anyone know how to properly troubleshoot, or should I buy the RCA splitters and try that connection. Thanks

 

[Bryan 2530]

A little more info needed for me to understand how you have it set up. It has been a while since I played with stereos and Amps.

Do you have one or two amps? Seems like one from you first post

Are all speakers connected through the amp or just the fronts?

How many speakers can be connected to your amp? 2 or 4?

I would use the RCA out put into the amp because you will get cleaner sound with less distortion at higher volume. I'm not sure what you mean by the splitter.