right now in my boat (2003 Malibu Wakesetter 21xti) there is:
4 x Kicker ks60 coax speakers (195w peak/65w rms) - boat front and back
on the tower- (03' deafcon IV)
2 x Kicker ks6.2 componet speakers (150w peak/75w rms)
2 x Kicker CompVR 8" subs (400w peak/200w rms)
1 x Kicker kx300.4 amplifier (four channel amp)
clarion head unit i forget the model but it was rated at 53w x 4 peak and has three preamp outputs which are rated at 4v
I didn't wire the boat i bought it like this.
the tower is wired as the front channel, and is wired in what looks like a mixed mono configuration. one set in each channel then one more set + in one channel - in the other channel. BUT these three sets of wires are running to two componet sets and two subs. four speakers and three sets of wires.
the back channel is the four boat speakers. There is one set of speaker wires into each rear channel. so thats two speaker wires for four speakersthe wires connected to the speakers are different then the ones coming out of the amp. both sets look like there going back to the head unit, but can you run an amplified signal back to the head unit then split each signal to two speakers? or it might be that each channel is split to two speakers and the wires are just stored behind the head unit. I just can't see back there and dont know how to take off the panels
also the boat has two batteries and an isolator to switch between them.
SO, my feelings are that the boat speakers are severely underpowered. One of the tweeters blew on one of the componet sets, and I feel that may be due to clipping and to much distortion due to an underpowered amplifier.
I would like to just get a new larger amp so i can just switch the wires from this one to the new more powerful one. But should i be running two amps? and how big should the new one be for six speakers and two subs?
also, everything is kicker right now, is that good to do? keep the same brand? does it make a difference?
mixing brands etc... is fine. your best bet and simplest is to add a dedicated subwoofer amp just for the woofers, i base it on where you have room to mount it and get the biggest sub amp you can fit there. i'm a believer in tons of power even at lower volumes is more efficient and generate less heat at the speaker due to not clipping or sending much DC to the speakers. Then just have the 4channel power the mids.
EDIT* i just reread and realized you have 8 mids, the 300.4 is to small for that job, you could add another or go with a huge 4channel in addition to a dedicated sub amp. Space dicates in my opinion between multiple amps or 1 large amp.
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