Stereo upgrade

Jus the two of us

Jus the two of us

Active Member
Dec 7, 2015
296
United States Lake Cumberland
Boat Info
1998 Sundancer 450
2009 Sundancer 55
Engines
3116 Cats
MAN 900
We are looking to juice up our stereo on the 55. The stereo guy wants to add 12 volt battery's and a charger for the amps. I see a lot of 24 volt stuff on the market. Looking for advice, 12 volt or tie into the 24 volt battery's I already have.
 
As a high level suggestion, I would go with Fusion RA770 and JL Audio amps and C8 speakers. But all that my be out of your price point. But take a look at the Fusion RA770 zoned head unit, lots of really cool features. Every possible remote option as well.
 
I'd go separate batteries and chargers.

Will go a long way to eliminating potential ground noises as well as not drain main batteries if you're on the hook playing for a while.
 
I almost bought a Cruisers Yachts 370 2+years ago for $60k. Geez, they are selling for $120k now...anyways...

You could not run all amps without running the genny/connected to shore power though. That coupled with a couple of other things were a deal breaker to me. Don't do this.
 
Last edited:
mrsrobinson said:
You could not run all amps without running the genny/connected to shore power though.
Click to expand...
Too late for you, but for anyone else, this is just poor installation by a less then knowledgeable installer. Audio equipment does NOT need to have gen running, engine running or shore power connected, to be played.

By the way, the 08'ish Cruisers sedan bridge, is one of my fav's.
 
+1 on Skybolt - Just did exactly that this past spring on our 340. Outstanding system. Just be sure to run your grounds from your head and amps DIRECTLY to the ground of your last battery is a series. This will eliminate 95% of your ignition, genny and other spkr noises. I ran a separate grounding block from my battery to where my amps are located and then tied my stereo head ground to it. Bought everything from Crutchfield - they have excellent tech support - its free for life of equipment and even available on weekends. They will even match your system up as you build it so you get the best bang for your buck. On installation - they assisted with setting the gains etc on the amp. Awesome working with them.
 
Jus the two of us said:
The boat is a 2009 Sea Ray 55 Sundancer, All the bigger Sea rays were 24 Volt.
Click to expand...

You should have a house battery then and a dedicated 12v system panel? If not then I would add one. Wouldn't take much, not to mention getting all of the equipment in 24v. I am not sure that is even possible without having to use DC to DC converter(s). Going 24v for US dc electronics is nothing but a huge PITA.
 
This is a US boat, Sea Ray, All the larger boats are 24 volt. They take a feed off for 12 volt stuff but is not nearly enough for amps. With 24 volt alternators on the engines, Adding 12 volt stereo equipment means the only time it would get charged is with the genny or Shore power,And this only happens after adding a 12 volt charger dedicated to the 12 volt.
 
Jus the two of us said:
This is a US boat, Sea Ray, All the larger boats are 24 volt. They take a feed off for 12 volt stuff but is not nearly enough for amps. With 24 volt alternators on the engines, Adding 12 volt stereo equipment means the only time it would get charged is with the genny or Shore power,And this only happens after adding a 12 volt charger dedicated to the 12 volt.
Click to expand...

I thought there was a 12v feed, so beef it up and replace it with the needed wire gauge for your application. I wouldn't be putting a separate system in just for a stereo, although I have a friend with a 55' Viking that did just that. He put two 12v bat's under his helm with a dedicated charger just for his six amps and Fusion head.
 
Jus the two of us said:
This is a US boat, Sea Ray, All the larger boats are 24 volt. They take a feed off for 12 volt stuff but is not nearly enough for amps. With 24 volt alternators on the engines, Adding 12 volt stereo equipment means the only time it would get charged is with the genny or Shore power,And this only happens after adding a 12 volt charger dedicated to the 12 volt.
Click to expand...
Ill take your word, that you know your boat. Our local lakes are small in comparison to others, so large cruisers are not common. Pretty much anything over 40 is rare. So I have not come across boats running a 24V charging system with a 12V step-down system.
 
Wylie_Tunes said:
Ill take your word, that you know your boat. Our local lakes are small in comparison to others, so large cruisers are not common. Pretty much anything over 40 is rare. So I have not come across boats running a 24V charging system with a 12V step-down system.
Click to expand...

It's actually either separate 12v batteries or taken off of one of the paired up 12v batteries the create the 24v's in the first place. Usually the house batteries are 12v. The 24v's are needed for the engine(s) which come from the manufacturer configured that way. Man, MTU and the larger Cummings are for the most part are all 24v.
 
Last edited:
My boat is as described above, all 24V (except Generator) w/ smaller 12V takeoffs (factory installed Vanner equalizers) for misc electronics. I have a Fusion 12 V Head unit powered under the helm, not using the internal amp at all. The Fusion head unit controls 4 zones via several JL M series amps (24V). All speakers are JL (7.7's, 8.8's and several 10" subs). Excellent performance. No problems at all.
 
I believe that you can install them in parallel.
 
Today, 24V is a plus, not a negative, even with stereo components. Same reason larger boats are 24V, no voltage droop, cuts amperage in half. I had mine wired (gauge) like it was 12V, meaning the cables were oversized, basically zero loss. Especially with companies like JL making quite a few high quality 24V amps. I really like the M-series (~2019). The MHD (2103) digital, not so much, all three MHD600’s had a zone fail.
 
SKybolt said:
It's actually either separate 12v batteries or taken off of one of the paired up 12v batteries the create the 24v's in the first place. Usually the house batteries are 12v. The 24v's are needed for the engine(s) which come from the manufacturer configured that way. Man, MTU and the larger Cummings are for the most part are all 24v.
Click to expand...
Engines and House battery's all 24 volt, The only 12 volt battery on the boat is one small start battery for the geny.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,202
Messages
1,428,452
Members
61,108
Latest member
asigman
Back
Top