I did a low budget stereo in my old boat. Consisted of a basic head unit, two pioneer 6x9  3 ways in boxes, a performance technique amplifier and a 6" bass tube to let the speakers be alleviated of bass and just do mids and highs.  Amp was a 4 channel and iirc, 400 watts. Bought all of that from one of the guys at the o.c. swap meet a few years ago.
Wanna say it was around 300 but the best bang for buck I could afford and see fit to spend.

Edit: I wanna say I used two amp channels for the 6x9's and bridged the other two channels to power one sub.  Sub must have had its own low pass filter, or I had got one from the guy, can't remember but all cheap anyway.

 Speakers under the seats...facing eachother. Also maybe on your inside transom cover facing forward and a sub box under the bow. A good amp and you can plug your Ipod/sat or whatever right into it without the head unit. Look around on craigs for used stuff or even here and performance....or try something cool.

got all my shiz on ebay

Any you guys have pictures of your set ups? In progress would be sweet too.


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"your mom" I was looking at some of your pictures in other thread. And all I have to say is, holy sh*t that is was sweet set up!


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with that budget you're lookin at some used parts or make some changes...

a new 4 channel amp, even a low budget one is going to run you $150'ish.  plus you wanted a head unit ($100), a 2nd battery ($50-100), perko ($40), and 4 speakers ($100-200)...  thats easily upwards of $400 right there.



id suggest finding a used 4 or even 2 channel amp on craigslist, ditching the head unit and going with just a straight headphone to RCA cable and have just your ipod, no radio.  radio's are pretty useless on the river unless you want to listen to the 12+ channels of mariachi music that parker has to offer. 


a perko can be wired up pretty easily.  you're gonna need another set of battery cables, one from the 2nd battery to the perko, and then from the perko to your starter and distribution block for your ign, lights, radio, etc.. be safe, use fuses.   



you'll need another battery tray so it doesnt jump around and attack you as well. 



as far as speakers, bigger the better in this case.  lets face it we're not going for super sound quality, we're going for "i just want to hear it from the beach."  you can always tab in some small supports under the deck to fit whatever size speaker you can.  if you can fit a 6x9 in there, go for it.  id suggest going to a store and listening to what they have.  everyones ears are different.  keep in mind that they'll need to be turned up pretty high to be able to hear em over the exhaust of a big block or all the way on the beach.  they'll be under the deck and in the rear somewhere. lookin at this pic could u cut a hole in those 2 rear panels and put a speaker in each one?





so the list:

2/4 channel amp $100-150
amp power, ground, speaker wire  $20-40
perko $40
battery cables $15
battery tray $20
headphone to RCA cable $10
battery $50-100
speakers $100-200. 

Ka0tyk... Holy cow, thank you. That is pretty much what I was looking for. Oh and I wasn't counting the new battery and tray in that budget. And yeah I've been looking at used stuff, just don't know what is good. But that was a huge amount of help. And without trying to sound stupid a perko is like a switch? You can pick which battery gets and gives power?
And my little brother was explaining the amp thing to me last night, seems like that's the route I'm going to go. Only reason I was thinking head unit was, A- that's what I'm used to B- if anyone has a CD they want to play.
And lastly I have some 6x9 Eclipse car speakers, would those be okay to use under the deck?


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i went with a cheep sony package at walmart ..head unit with ipod hookup 2 6x9 and 2 5 1/4 for like 90 bucks and a cheep sub and an amp i already had...figured if it got wet or broke it was cheep enough 2 replace.

Sweet! Have you installed it yet?  I have yet to put a radio in mine.  I want to go with something strong so you can hear it while under way.  I like the post above where he has an amp rack glassed in under the deck.  That was slick. 

I'll have to look into all this. It will be a winterish project that I want done before next season, but it seems like these projects are just adding up. D*mn I wish I could have my boat closer to me. Haha


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Let's start you off with a couple of these. Two pioneer three-way 6x9's in their own boxes. Hit the easy button. Will trade for Coors Light 18 pk

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Walmart in Brea has a special on pioneer head unit with headphone jack and usb. Comes with two 6.5" speakers and two 6"x9"s.

It's $85 for the package, probably needs an amp, but it will suffice for what I think you're looking for.

Honestly the extra money for "marine" products is not necessary. The stereo in the Nordic is a PepBoys special deck and has lasted for the last 6 years. I have 4 6x9's and 2 4x6's that are also PepBoys specials. You can get the speakers for around 40 bucks a pair and they sound great.