8 Channel Marine Amplifiers

8 channel marine amplifiers are exteremely versatile. You can use an 8 channel marine amp to power 4 speakers and 2 subwoofers, 6 speakers and 1 or 2 subwoofers, 4 speakers and 4 tower speakers, 6 speakers and 2 tower speakers, and several other variations in between. If you are looking for 1 amp to power your entire boats stereo system, an 8 channel is a great option. You get tons of raw power and with 8 channels, these amplifiers are just so versatile.

Yes. As long as the amp can be bridged to a 4 ohm load, you can use an 8 channel amplifier as a high powered 4 channel amp. We do want to point out to you that when bridged, the amplifier is pulling more current so the amplifier will tend to run warmer than if it were powering 8 speakers. However, all of the 8 channel amplifiers that we offer can be bridged and have really good thermal management designs so it shouldn't be an issue.

The big advantage an 8 channel marine amplifier has over two, 4 channel amplifiers is the installation of 1 amplifier instead of 2. When installing a single amplifier, you don't need distribution blocks for power. You don't need to worry about whether or not you have a large enough cable for your power run to the battery. It is simple. You install the amplifier and you are good to go.

The number of inputs you need depends on the amplifier. The Kicker KXMA800.8 and the JL Audio M800/8v2 will work with 2 channels of input. The amplifier will sum that signal and use to for the output of the other channels. This is beneficial if you want to power 8 speakers off of one zone, or if you know that you are never going to use the fader or zone control on your marine radio, you can save a bunch of money by not having to buy 3 other RCA cables. The Fusion 8 channel marine amplifier does not have this ability. Instead, it treats the 8 channel amplifier as a 4 zone amp. If you want to send signal to those outputs, you need to have an input into the amplifier for those channels.

Yes, you could do this if you want to control each subwoofer individually. If your two subwoofers are in two different locations, this would allow you to use the zone control that is built into your marine radio to control each subwoofer individually.