Seadoo Speedster 200 2005 amp suggestion

[rsandoz]

I am looking to purchase an amplifier for my 2005 Seedoo Speedster 200. I actually bought a cheap 4-chan 1200W amplifer and 10" sub from O'Reilys. This was a quick fix purchase in preparation for our community's boat parade. None of this is marine grade. I actually already ran the power wires (both gnd and pos) from the battery to the glove box (had to pull the cupholders and use a wire fish tape). This worked great for the event, but my battery was dead the next day (deep cycle). I plan to move the O'Reily stuff to my truck and want to replace it with a properly powered amp.


What is a good amp suggestion? JL, wetsounds, clarion, polk?
Also a subwoofer? Should I cut or should I just get an enclosure and find a place for it.
Should I add an isolator, second battery, tray on other side? I know this is a "project", but any good advise on this is appreciated

Also, in case anyone is interested, here is a video of my boat for the parade:

 

[gb387]

That's a crazy light show! Looks like some time went into that!

 

[rsandoz]

It was fun putting it together.

 

[10forty2]

The previous owner of my boat had installed a JL amp and Polk wake tower speakers as well as two sub tubes.....all on the one battery. He did wire it properly with 4 ga. wire for power and heavy speaker wire. With that said, the second time out on my new (to me) boat, I was left stranded in the water with a dead battery. With no voltage gauge on the boat dash, I had no indicator that the stators were not charging, so I drained the battery by running the engines AND running the high powered sound system. Found that the 30amp fuse in the charging circuit had blown/melted, as well as the regulator/rectifier on the starboard side had gone bad. I replaced the fuse/fuse holder, new battery, new rectifier, and installed a voltage gauge in the dash so I could see if it was actually charging. Don't want to get stranded out on the water again for something stupid! I decided to also order the Blue Sea Add a Battery Kit, and will install it before the boating season begins for 2019. I plan to split off the stereo and any auxiliary components onto its own battery, and keep one battery solely for the engines.

And if you're planning to install a high powered amp and/or other accessories, I would suggest that you add a second battery as well as a voltage gauge. And you MIGHT want to search out that 30amp fuse to check the condition of the fuse holder. Mine was melted inside and the fuse destroyed, with no indication of that condition from the outside. Just some friendly advice from having been there/done that!

 

[rsandoz]

The previous owner of my boat had installed a JL amp and Polk wake tower speakers as well as two sub tubes.....all on the one battery. He did wire it properly with 4 ga. wire for power and heavy speaker wire. With that said, the second time out on my new (to me) boat, I was left stranded in the water with a dead battery. With no voltage gauge on the boat dash, I had no indicator that the stators were not charging, so I drained the battery by running the engines AND running the high powered sound system. Found that the 30amp fuse in the charging circuit had blown/melted, as well as the regulator/rectifier on the starboard side had gone bad. I replaced the fuse/fuse holder, new battery, new rectifier, and installed a voltage gauge in the dash so I could see if it was actually charging. Don't want to get stranded out on the water again for something stupid! I decided to also order the Blue Sea Add a Battery Kit, and will install it before the boating season begins for 2019. I plan to split off the stereo and any auxiliary components onto its own battery, and keep one battery solely for the engines.

And if you're planning to install a high powered amp and/or other accessories, I would suggest that you add a second battery as well as a voltage gauge. And you MIGHT want to search out that 30amp fuse to check the condition of the fuse holder. Mine was melted inside and the fuse destroyed, with no indication of that condition from the outside. Just some friendly advice from having been there/done that!

What voltage gauge did you use? Is there a good one off Amazon?

Also, where was your 30 amp fuse located?

I actually found a guide on here where another guy did this to his speedster 200 which has practically the same layout:
My 2004 Speedster 200 Project

I was looking at this for these items for the other stuff:

Blue Sea Systems Add-A-Battery Kit
65a Dc, 10a Ac, W/Switch
$155.62
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B1VRLQ2


One of these:
(should I go with the higher power more expensive one?)
JL Audio HX280/4 Motorcycle Bike ATV UTV Audio Waterproof 4 ch. Amplifier
$200
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012ZNVTKO

JL Audio MX280/4 4-Channel 70W RMS x 4 Compact Marine Amplifier
$260
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074G4VZ2K

M400/4 - JL Audio 4-Channel 400 Watt Marine Amplifier
$440
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LIFY66

JL Audio M700/5 5-Channel Class D M-Series Marine Amplifier
$538
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NOLKJ4


And one of these:
(Is wetsounds really much better than Clarion)
or is there a good recommeded sub tube and location to put it?
Clarion CMQ2512W 10-Inch 400-Watt Marine Subwoofer
$82
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B43LKQA

Wet Sounds White 10" Free Air Marine 2 ohm Sub
$200
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MR5K56P

 

[jeffyp06]

i have all wetsounds currently on my boat and love it. pricey but loud and clear.

 

[10forty2]

What voltage gauge did you use? Is there a good one off Amazon?

Also, where was your 30 amp fuse located?

I bought an analog, round, in-dash, wired-in, voltage gauge off the shelf from the local Auto Zone for about $12.00. I spliced the wires into existing power and ground wires in the driver's console where the fuse block is located. There are other digital gauges available on Amazon that will simply plug in to the 12V outlet (cigarette lighter plug) and read a voltage. The 30amp fuse I referenced, is an in-line fuse in the engine bay near the main battery. With it blown, the output of the rectifier (supplied by the engines' stators) couldn't reach the battery to provide a charge. Mine had taken quite a bit of heat internally and had melted the inside of the fuse holder and the fuse itself..... I assume it happened as a result of loose connections inside the holder itself causing resistance and hence heat buildup. I also found that the starboard side rectifier was bad and not outputting any voltage. I found that out AFTER I installed the voltage meter. I noticed that the gauge only read right at 12VDC when it should have been reading closer to 14VDC to properly charge the battery. When I revved the port engine, the voltage increased slightly, but when I revved the starboard engine, nothing. So, I replaced the starboard rectifier, and with both engines running, I am getting a very adequate 13.8vdc.

BUT....the reason for my advice to you to add the second battery, is that there is little room on the amp-draw and output of the stators for extras like high powered amps. Even the engine bay fume exhaust blower drags down the voltage output significantly.

 

[anthonymsaad]

I had installed the JL Audio M700 amp to replace my Wetsound Amp, as I was told my WetSound amp was bad. Had the WetSound amp checked out by the sound shop that was installed the JL audio amp and JL audio head unit and it was working just fine and wasn't having problems, as the dealer suspected, but had already purchased the JL amp so I have it and working on upgrading the sound system again to include it.

As for the voltmeter, my boat does come with a volt gauge. But I did add another gauge. It is similar to what @10forty2 mentioned, except it isn't a gauge per say. I never use the 12V outlet on my dashboard so I replaced the outlet with a 2x USB 2.4A socket. Light sanding to smoothen auto the hole, but the leads slid right off the old 12V socket and onto the USB socket. And on that USB socket, I got the option to include a digital volt meter. For me, I can get a better sense of what is happening on the accessory line with faster updates than the voltmeter gauge (not sure why it won't move as frequently). I only say that because after installing that digital gauge, and pushing my sound system, any song with heavy bass will cause the system to pull enough power to drop the voltage on the accessory line ~1-2V, which is fine as long as I maintain over 12V, but don't see the analog gauge volt meter changing as rapidly.

And as 10forty2 mentioned, he is exactly correct on the amount of current draw available. I had a second battery installed, both deep cranking in the event one dies and need to crank the engine, but it will help deliver the extra power needed to ensure properly power to the amp. The other option besides a second battery, depending upon sound system load, would be installing massive capacitors to smooth out the power demands of an intense system. I understand how that works and would be installed, but I personally haven't done that and only know of 1 person doing that and they had a CRAZY sound system i'd estimate in the ~3000A range.