I did this on all my Spike 2 games. Reuse the old connectors (desolder/solder). Added a Goldwood GW-8024 subwoofer to replace the stock unit, and they sound fantastic. Tweek the audio EQ similar to the curves published about 10 posts back, and you're good to go. Stock amp seems to be fine for me. Love the upgrade, night and day on my Rush, JP, and Mando. Looks fantastic, too. Remove the foam speaker grills; the Kenwoods look classy behind the bare Stern frames.

A tiny bit of help: the AC power connector for the speaker lights is found underneath the metal shield in the backbox lower right corner. This isn't well explained in the installation instructions. Remove 2 nuts to remove the cover; you'll find the matching plug covered by an orange plug - that's where you attached the speaker light power cord.

That's the first I've seen that page.

Sure. Happy to show you the source of my confusion. The instruction manual for the type 13 kit I ordered (http://www.speakerlightkits.com/Deluxe-5.25-SPIKE-2-Install.html) the only reference at all to power connection at that point in the instructions says:

"The rest of the connection are pretty straight forward and clearly shown and described in the picture above."

Where the "picture above" is given as shown. There's no bill validator plug anywhere in this picture. This was so confusing to me, that I spent about 45 mintues googling, searching, and ultimately watched a Youtube video that showed where the "bill validator plug" actually was.

My suggestion: move the link you posted (on where the validator plug is) to this point in your instructions. I had no idea you had a separate link for finding the plug buried in the front page, preamble portion of the document. I only found it re-reading it for this post.

And to be clear, it's a lovely kit. I've ordered a total of 4 of these, quite happy with both the lights and mounting plates.
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I upgraded our Rush, Mando, and JP to 5.25” speakers (with the Speakerlights adapters) and a better 8” subwoofer. It does make a noticeable difference, quite a bit. I’m happy with this solution using the stock amp. The only tricky part is the subwoofer requires a spacer to mount in the bottom of the cabinet. I 3D printed one. If you don’t have a printer, this may be more of a hassle. FYI.

Speakers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079SFC3P9
Subwoofer: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HJ0S88
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The diaphragm on my subwoofer flexes beyond the plane on which is mounts. The spacer allows for full-range motion for the speaker. Jersey Jack games use a similar spacer just for this purpose. Moving the mesh to the bottom pretty much does the same thing, allowing full-range movement. I wanted to retain the interior mesh for cosmetics. And, cats.

Great job, really clean.

One question, your power supply. Looks like 24V, 4.5 amp. Call it 100 Watts. Is that enough headroom for nice and loud and no clipping? I believe the amps are rated up to 300+ Watts or so. I love the brick power supply, for sure. If that works, it's the ideal solution. And once you confirm that's enough power, might you have a purchase link?

Thanks!

Sorry, my typo. Yes, 200W is the spec. I ordered a couple cheap TAP3116D2 amps off AliExpress. They don't come with power supplies, and being cheap, I was looking for an elegant solution at low cost. From your writeup, a 4.5A 24V supply is acceptable. Thanks.

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Yes, I read that sometime ago. Ordered a bunch on the cheap thanks to your review.

Super dumb question. With these external amps and speakers, do the Stern volume buttons, front panel volume control, and digital EQ still work? I looked, but couldn’t find a straight answer to this.