Clarion amp and stereo

KCfanDJC · Newbie Joined: 27 May 2008 Posts: 3

Hi, I have been reading lots of information here off and on for the last couple of years as I have become more and more interested in wakeboarding. I have a question that I can't find much information about.

I recently purchased a Monster Tower and am looking to upgrade my boat stereo as well. Does anyone have any experience with or opinions about the Clarion M475 stereo and the Clarion APX490M amp? I'm needing something to drive 6 Wet Sounds XS650's...2 in the boat and 4 on the tower in either Monster Tower cans or Liquid Audio Sounds cans.

If anyone has an opinion on the pros/cons between those two cans I would be interested in that as well.

Thanks for your help!

TnR6Rida · Posted: May 27, 2008 7:33 pm Post subject:

I assume you are going to run 2 of the speakers with the head unit, and 4 speakers with the amp. If this is what you are doing it should be fine since it is a 4-channel amp, and clarion makes decent products as far as I know.

KCfanDJC · Newbie Joined: 27 May 2008 Posts: 3

I was actually planning on running all 6 speakers from the amp. According to the specs of the amp it will put out 90 watts RMS per channel at 4 ohms or 180 watts at 2 ohms, so I was planning on running the 4 tower speakers off of two of the channels (two speakers in parallel on each channel) and the two boat speakers off of the other two channels.

TnR6Rida · Posted: May 28, 2008 6:47 am Post subject:

I may be wrong so some one else feel free to chime in, but I think the way I described would be much better.

Heres why. You say 90 watts RMS for each channel wich is 4 channels. So 4 speakers on the tower getting 90 watts RMS apiece, and if I remember correctly from looking last night the speakers can handle 100 watts RMS. So 90 watts RMS to each speaker would be perfect. You will be getting plent of power to them so the will perform well, and you won't really have to worry about blowing them.

I know the cd palyer isn't going to put out very many watts to your speakers on the boat, but I promise you it will be plenty loud for you.

Either way you decide to do it will sound good, but I think using the amp just for your 4 tower speakers will make them a lot louder, and will allow you to hear them better while boarding.

KCfanDJC · Newbie Joined: 27 May 2008 Posts: 3

Since the amp is rated at 180 watts RMS at 2 ohms, wouldn't running two speakers in parallel on each channel still give me 90 watts RMS per speaker?

I'm still new to understanding how amps work and all of the specs, so I'm not trying to argue. Just want to make sure I understand correctly.

Thanks for your thoughts. Very Happy

jonyb · Addict Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 844 City: Paducah

The deck does'nt have enough power to run those speakers.

2 channels of amp on tower speakers
2 channels of amp on the boat speakers

You'll be fine.

TnR6Rida · Posted: May 29, 2008 10:11 pm Post subject:

[quote="jonyb"]The deck does'nt have enough power to run those speakers.

quote]

Your an idiot yes it does. Not to its fullest potential, but its plenty.

jonyb · Addict Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 844 City: Paducah

15X4 is enough power? Just because it says 50X4 on the radio doesnt mean it's truly 50x4. It's actually about 15x4, and not to mention there's no crossover.

Before you go calling people an idiot, you should try playing 2 speakers off the radio, then off of an amp. There's a huge difference. Having lower power creates more distortion.

TnR6Rida · Posted: May 30, 2008 8:13 am Post subject:

I have two speakers running off my radio and its plenty loud. Im not arguing that that amp wouldn't be louder because I am sure it would. I am simply saying he should do it the other way so he will put more power to his tower speakers.

jonyb · Addict Joined: 06 Oct 2007 Posts: 844 City: Paducah

ramos777 · Newbie Joined: 07 Mar 2008 Posts: 35

Jonyb is correct... I dont know if he is an idiot or not but in this case he is correct... Surprised