Mr SS -

As my headline suggests, the easiest way not to get overwhelmed in your stereo world is break things down to three different areas: Tower / Cabin / Sub setups. Even though your current setup might be combined amplifier wise, the trick will be to look into the future and chart a path. That will dictate what the upgrades will require amplifier wise, power wise and performance wise.

To keep things straightforward, i'll give you some general advice. As Johnny mentioned, knowing budget would help guide with further details.

Here we go:

Cabin setup - a lot of people have good things to say about those polks. I would use your kenwood amplifier for this as they dont require much power to produce good results. No changes needed.

Sub Setup - not withstanding budget, dedicating an amplifier to the sub will produce the best result. I know many guys use a 5 ch amp and thats fine if you dont end up using a higher power sub. i'd say for a 10 / or entry level 12 5 channel amp would be fine and you could combine with your current cabin set up. Stepping up beyond that would require a dedicated bass amplifier.

Tower Setup - If I read your post right you've got polks up here as well. The main difference between your buddies decked out exile tower or say another friends decked out WS tower is going to be the amount of sound they can put out at the end of the rope. they will crush your polk setup hands down. This is because they are driving HLCD speakers with a lot more power amplifier. Word of warning, HLCD's are the most expensive tower option. So, I'd ask yourself if sound at distance is critical... If not your polks will probably sound great in the boat and compliment your existing cabin setup. having a dedicated amplifier to drive the polk set up, would be great. Having a dedicated amp to drive the HLCD configuration would require a more powerful amplifier. A great cheap solution for tower control would be a PAC-LC1, runs about 15 bucks so you can turn off or down the tower sound. Follow me on all this?

Battery Setup - before going down the road of any of these dedicated sound setups I'd spend the money and add the second battery and then begin upgrades. sinking a bunch of money into tower, bass or whatever would be short lived without the power to run it. Having a dealer install all this will add to the costs but having an expert in the loop has its advantages. If saving $ is critical, all this stuff can be done if you have any DIY experience.

If you'd like specific Exile recommendations, shoot me an email at [email protected] and I'd be happy to help.