A client from here in Gainesville recently dropped by Sound Depot and Performance to ask about upgrading his 2017 Sea Chaser 23 LX audio system. The boat came with an AM/FM receiver with Bluetooth and two sets of Infinity marine speakers. While this was OK for sitting at the dock, the sound system didn’t have enough power to overcome the wind and engine noise once underway. Just as with our vehicle audio system upgrades, the solution was to add more power and a subwoofer to bring his music to life.
JL Audio Subwoofer Upgrade
Our fabrication team set to work on the boat by creating a mounting location for a pair of JL Audio MX10IB3-CG-WH 10-inch subwoofers in the helm console. The guys secured a piece of weather-resistant Starboard to the back of the mounting surface to increase the rigidity of the panel. Starboard is marine-grade, high-density polyethylene that boat builders use to reinforce parts of the hull or make panels. Starboard won’t degrade when exposed to water and resists chalking and cracking from prolonged UV exposure. With the mounting surface reinforced, the guys mounted the pair of JL subs vertically on the starboard side of the helm.
Kenwood Five-Channel Amplifier
The Kenwood amplifier provides the power needed to drive the speakers on the open water.
To bring the system to life, we installed a five-channel Kenwood KAC-M8005 amplifier on another Starboard panel at the top of the helm console. We used JL Audio marine interconnects to connect the amp to the factory-installed source unit. We use marine-grade, corrosion-resistant power and speaker wire in all of our installations to ensure the system will perform reliably whether it’s being used on Newman’s or Orange Lake, or exposed to the salty conditions of the Atlantic Ocean.
Sea Chaser 23 LX Audio System Tuning
The addition of a subwoofer and amplifier to the factory sound system serves two functions. Obviously, the JL subwoofers will produce more bass output than the Infinity speakers ever could. Beyond being able to play lower frequencies, having subwoofers in the system means that the small speakers don’t need to try to produce bass frequencies. That way, they don’t have to work as hard and will sound much better when playing midrange and high frequencies. Bottom line, the entire audio system sounds better at all volume levels.
Alachua County’s Marine Audio Experts
If you are in the Gainesville area and are interested in upgrading the sound system on your boat, drop in Sound Depot and Performance and speak with one of our product experts. We’d be happy to design an upgrade that will exceed your expectations. For more information, give us a call at 352-374-7700 or e-mail us using our contact page.
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