Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

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I have a Sylvan on order. It comes with the infinity prv250 head unit and 4 speakers. I just bought a set of tower speakers from a member and want to mount them on the ski tow.

Actually it is two sets for a total of 4 speakers. They are Polk DB651 speakers.

The head unit puts out 50 watts per channel I believe and that should be sufficient to start with. It has one set of pre-amps. Obviously I will need an amp to drive the 4 Polks on the ski tow.

Ideally I would like to add a sub at some point as well. So I will need a 5 channel or 6 channel amp.

SO I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS:
1. What amp would be recommended to drive the Polks as well as a sub in the future?

2. I would also like to be able to turn the amp off thus turning off the rear speakers when we are not "bobbing" in the water - how can this be accomplished?

3. If I go with Bazooka tubes - how are those wired in? I could go with a 4 channel amp to drive the Polks and then use the Bazooka tube but don't know where to wire the Bazooka as the 4 standard speaker outs on the head unit are used by the 4 speakers in boat and the pre-amp RCAs would be used by the amp.

I am a stereo install newbie - I hate dealing with electrical stuff! I can rebuild a motor in my sleep but electrical drives me insane!

rsscoggins wrote:All

I have a Sylvan on order. It comes with the infinity prv250 head unit and 4 speakers. I just bought a set of tower speakers from a member and want to mount them on the ski tow.

Actually it is two sets for a total of 4 speakers. They are Polk DB651 speakers.

The head unit puts out 50 watts per channel I believe and that should be sufficient to start with. It has one set of pre-amps. Obviously I will need an amp to drive the 4 Polks on the ski tow.

Ideally I would like to add a sub at some point as well. So I will need a 5 channel or 6 channel amp.

SO I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS:
1. What amp would be recommended to drive the Polks as well as a sub in the future?

2. I would also like to be able to turn the amp off thus turning off the rear speakers when we are not "bobbing" in the water - how can this be accomplished?

3. If I go with Bazooka tubes - how are those wired in? I could go with a 4 channel amp to drive the Polks and then use the Bazooka tube but don't know where to wire the Bazooka as the 4 standard speaker outs on the head unit are used by the 4 speakers in boat and the pre-amp RCAs would be used by the amp.

I am a stereo install newbie - I hate dealing with electrical stuff! I can rebuild a motor in my sleep but electrical drives me insane!

Wow, I have everything you need. The bazooka tubes will be wired to the amp as well. To turn off you can put a switch in line with the remote wire. It will shut off amp and leave deck speakers live.

SO I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS:
1. What amp would be recommended to drive the Polks as well as a sub in the future?
Answer: I would recommend a Kenwood or Pioneer 5 channel amp, at least 1000 watts. You do not have to buy a more expensive marine amp so long as you keep the amp in a dry spot. I really don't think the marine amps are any better, just more expensive because they say "marine" and they might have a few more gold platted connections.

2. I would also like to be able to turn the amp off thus turning off the rear speakers when we are not "bobbing" in the water - how can this be accomplished?
Answer, you should be able to turn the sub woofer off or at least fade it out from the head unit. I will explain a little more below.

3. If I go with Bazooka tubes - how are those wired in? I could go with a 4 channel amp to drive the Polks and then use the Bazooka tube but don't know where to wire the Bazooka as the 4 standard speaker outs on the head unit are used by the 4 speakers in boat and the pre-amp RCAs would be used by the amp.
Answer: Just go with the 5 channel amp. Trust me. You can find them all day long in Best Buy. These have become main stream for those who want an "all-in-one" solution. Even though I personally don't like one amp for everything.

I am a stereo install newbie - I hate dealing with electrical stuff! I can rebuild a motor in my sleep but electrical drives me insane!
Advice: Disconnect your work from any and all batteries while you install. This is common sense. Put an in-line fuse as close to the battery as possible. Make all connections before putting the juice to it. Never sit there and play with re-wiring and re hooking things up while the juice is going to it. Keep all polarities, meaning + positive and - negative going where it supposed to go. Solder, solder, solder, solder, solder your connections and use good electrical tape. Don't use those little plastic and metal wire connectors, etc.



So on to my story. We began looking at pontoon boats. It came down to a 2015 or 2016 Godfrey Aqua Patio. The very first thing I noticed right off the bat was on the 2016's had that Infinity PRV what ever square head unit. First thing that came to my mind is, this will be a PITA to replace 5 or 6 years down the road. I hate the fact that it has that non-universal non-DIN mount head unit. The 2015's still had the standard car stereo DIN mounted head unit. The 2015 even had better Polk Audio speakers with separate woofers and tweeters. So, yes my decision to go with a 2015 unit over a 2016 unit came solely down to the stereo. However, the first thing I did is upgrade it. Below are a few pictures of all I did. I even added a second battery with an isolator. This thing rocks now.