Cheetah FastCat sub placement

My Cheetah FastCat stereo is pretty decent. 4 Infinity 6.5's and two Polk 6.5's with an 8 channel amp running them, a Kenwood headunit. The sub amp and speaker were shot, and not even hooked up correctly. I got a new 1500w 12" sub in ported box, with a new 1200w amp. The stereo rocks super loud, and he sub bumps hard. The problem is, you only really hear it in the back of the boat since it is placed under the helm. My question is, how can I make it louder so it is heard more evenly with the music? Should I build a box and attach it to the inside of the helm, and mount the speaker flush with the outside of the helm? It will look like it is just mounted into the helm, but in actuality it will be mounted into a box. Thoughts?
Here's a couple pics to show speaker placement and interior layout

You only hear treble or bass in the back of the boat... or both?

My sub is buried in my seat bottom, and pointed towards the side of the boat, you cant even see it, and you can hear it everywhere.

Bass is non directional remember.

Any pics of the new sub and box setup?

LargeOrangeFont said:

You only hear treble or bass in the back of the boat... or both?

My sub is buried in my seat bottom, and pointed towards the side of the boat, you cant even see it, and you can hear it everywhere.

Bass is non directional remember.

Any pics of the new sub and box setup?

Click to expand...

The 6.5's I have are amazing mid range speakers. They have great highs, and actually really good bass as well. The bass from the sub just isn't traveling past the back half of the boat. It's weird. In our pontoon I had done the sound system very close to the same way as this boat, but the sub was exposed to the inside of the boat. It was facing the middle of the boat. I am wondering if the helm is blocking a lot of the sound? From the back seat it sounds amazing, but by the time you get to the bow of the boat, you really don't hear it much.

Are you sure all the settings are correct in your amp and head unit? A 12 with that much power in a ported box should be blowing you away. In theory the helm should not be blocking the sound. The port in the box is not blocked or anything right?

My head unit (JVC) has many subwoofer controls built into it. You have to turn the sub output on and crank the subwoofer output up in the head unit for it to work well. I had this problem in my last boat, so in my current boat I knew exactly what to do to make the sub operate at full power. I suspect that could that be your issue.

Something was definitely wrong. I believe in my settings. I was given a brand new 1500W marine Bluetooth 8 channel amp by a good friend of mine. My existing one was cutting in and out. And I want to get rid of my headunit all together so perfect.
I rewired the entire system, installed both amps under my seat against the walls since there nice an compact. The stereo kicks ass and is working flawlessly through Bluetooth! My sub however has no sound. I have the RCA's goo from the output of the 8 channel amp, into the sub amp. Everything IS wired correctly, checked multiple times. If I move the RCA's cables in and out the sub thumps but still no music. I also checked it by hooking up the RCA's to my headunit and it bumped HARD. So o know the amp is working. So I'm not sure if I have my 8 channel amp setup wrong, or if the output channel isn't working all together?
Any ideas of what to check, or is going on? Thanks
Here are a few pics of my settings-

If it were me.. Just get a new head unit with both 4 channel output and a sub output. Run 3 sets of RCAs, 1-4 channels to the 8 channel amp and sub RCAs to the sub amp. A new head unit is under $100 easily. But if Bluetooth only fits your purpose, I understand why you want to run no head unit at all. I have a JVC, and just use it to play music off a USB stick, but it does Pandora, Bluetooth, iPod/Android, USB, etc. It was $80 last year, and it is nice to use the built in EQ to enhance the sound.

Why do you have the amp in 8 channel mode? Perhaps the outputs do not work in 8 channel mode? I'm spitballing here..

It sounds like the Bluetooth amp output is certainly the problem. Are there any other switches or settings on the amp? Maybe those outputs are bad from the 8 channel amp? Maybe the voltage is not high enough? The Bluetooth amp is a Rockville, correct? You might have to find out what the output voltage is and make sure your Boss amp is at the appropriate input voltage setting... Or try switching on the Boss amp and see if that works.

Could this be why you were given the amp in the first place?

There is nothing wrong with my headunit at all. It a nice Kenwood and has everything I need in it exempt Bluetooth capability. I get tired of having to plug in to listen to our music, and climbing in the boat to adjust volume and switch songs.
The 8 channel amp is set to 8 channel because I am running 6 speaker/6 channels. The only thing I W's able to come up with is that the outputs are not working properly. I ran new RCA's and hooked everything up to the headunit and it works properly. My buddy got this amp at cost from a friend of his in the industry, and it wasn't the proper application to his boat. He has 20 speakers in his boat, running 4 odyssey batteries. Big complex system, and just not right for him. The Sub still isn't heard from the beach like it should be, but, sounds great in the boat. My ported box may be too small. 14x14x16 with a slot port on one side of the woofer.

You said you plugged the sub amp directly into the head unit and it pounded, right? When it is daisy chained try switching the input sensitivity switch on the boss amp, and see if that helps make the sub work properly. If that does not work I'd agree the outputs are not right on your 8 channel amp.

I doubt your box is the problem at this point, especially if the above is accurate. When everything is plugged into the head unit, there is more bass, correct? If so your bass outside the boat problem is probably solved.

At that point you need a new 8 channel amp, or a new head unit with Bluetooth to resolve your problem. If Bluetooth is your goal, I'd just get a head unit that has it.

If you can get that amp repaired that may be the cheapest option, but most time consuming. A new one looks to be $150. A decent head unit is much less than that and faster to swap out.

Did you try inverting the phase of the driver? That can also make a difference in the way it sounds. (firing inward instead of outward)

I had the same Fastcat boat and I had one kicker sub under the helm and one under one of the front seats. I used the under the seat type box from Kicker.
https://www.amazon.com/kicker-marine-subwoofer-enclosure-wiring/dp/b00fagphs4
I would suggest at least two subs in a boat this size.
It also sounds like you have an amp problem...

I have gotten it all figured out by now. The Bluetooth amp will not daisy chain to my sub amp because it would have to be the same type Bluetooth amp as well for it to work that way. I have everything wired the traditional way, and am just using the AUC cord for the head unit and it all works great. It is still a large open boat for the one sun though. It does sound great, but doesn't have the range that I would like. Luckily, these infinity 6.5's in my opinion are one of the best sounding speakers out there, and give a ton of bass. I added two more of them to make it even louder. So I now have 8 of those, and the 12" under the helm.