What to put in Tower Cans?

Moon · Newbie Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Posts: 44 City: Prosser

Got the Pictures taken lastnight and thought I'd be able to post them at work, but my computer here won't allow me to resize. I'll tell you my setup right now, and post pictures tonight after I resize them.
Setup: Head Unit -Clarion Marine M455; Equalizer -ARC Audio PEQ (not Clarion EQS 744); Amp -Precision Power PCX 5800 (5 Channel); Sub -JL 10W6 (I'm pretty sure it is 10); in 3 Cans -6.5 in. MB Quart; in 4th Can -6.5 in. Power Acoustik; in boat speakers -MB Quart

Brit Rider · Posted: Nov 12, 2008 10:04 am Post subject:

Any idea what the amps hooked upto? Is it running just the tower and sub? or the whole boat?

I'm pretty positive that's a 4 x 50w RMS amp with a sub section in the same box.

hco · Posted: Nov 12, 2008 10:13 am Post subject:

Yeah, I turned bass all the way down, I have my subwoofer for that. If anyone wants to split the cost of a pair of kicker KMT6 speakers let me know, I cannot afford to get a new amp to power both pods.

Moon · Newbie Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Posts: 44 City: Prosser

Here are pictures of my setup

Moon · Newbie Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Posts: 44 City: Prosser

Also how do I clean this crap up? I've got 2 little kids with a third coming in june and I hate having wires exposed like this.

Brit Rider · Posted: Nov 13, 2008 3:21 am Post subject:

Personally, looks like a decent setup to me; just low on power.

Problem you're having is limited amplifier power and the whole thing needing a bit of a spring clean/tidy up.

Only thing I could really suggest is going to a second amplifier with more juice. My stating of 60w RMS is really a minimum that we find workable via very high quality amplification and the correct selection of parts.

Afraid it could be time to pull the cheque book out!

Moon · Newbie Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Posts: 44 City: Prosser

Thanks Brit Rider. Now a couple more questions. If I decide to go with the Kicker MX350.4, will I need another amp for the Sub? Or will the Kicker amp be suitable enough for both the tower and sub? Or can I use the current amp for the sub? Sorry for all the dumba$$ question, but I really appreciate it.

Moon

hco · Posted: Nov 13, 2008 10:20 am Post subject:

IMO, I would say hop onto millionbuy.com and buy a cheap (but decent) mono amp to power the sub individually. That way you have alot more control over the subwoofer, and you can have four channels just for the tower speakers.

Brit Rider · Posted: Nov 13, 2008 12:56 pm Post subject:

hco, Problem is, that won't necessarily allow any more power for the tower speakers. its a 50w x 4 @ 4 ohm amp with a sub section.

Moon, What I'd do is as follows:
Keep the precision power amp, and run it to your in boat speakers and your sub.
How many in boat speakers do you have? If 4 then its straight forward. If 6 then you'll need to run 2 of the channels in parallel (thus giving each speaker 50 watts but making the amp work a touch harder). Set the amp running off the front output of your head unit/EQ.

I would then go buy something like a Kicker ZX250.2 (cheaper than the MX350.4) and run each channel in parallel thus 2 speakers on each channel. this minimises the wire you need to run up the tower and will give each speaker 85-90 watts RMS. Set this amp running off the rear output of your head unit/EQ.

Your fader on the EQ will allow for easy volume control between the tower/boat.
Ensure the high pass filter is used correctly to block bass to the tower speakers. you don't need to set it so that no bass goes to them - just limited it to the point where they stop sounding tinny. 80ft back will sound just fine.

Making these mods will cost a very modest $200 bucks (amp + wiring) and should give the difference of night and day in your current setup.
Very Happy

Hope that helps.

hco · Posted: Nov 13, 2008 4:28 pm Post subject:

Ah, I didn't know it had a sub section on that amp.

Brit Rider · Posted: Nov 14, 2008 3:04 am Post subject:

hco, Yeah its a 5-channel. Not a cheap amp either so very much worth keeping Cool

Moon · Newbie Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Posts: 44 City: Prosser

I think I have one last question for now. When I purchase the second amp can I use the same wires that currently run from the HU/EQ to the amp or should I change them? Also, can you tell from the pictures above if my in boat speaker wires are hooked up to the amp or my HU? Thanks

Brit Rider · Posted: Nov 15, 2008 5:47 am Post subject:

Moon,

You can use the same cables used now. The remote turn on cable can simply be extended with a little piece of speaker wire. run from the headunit, into amp 1, straight out of the same hole on amp 1 to amp 2.

Afraid there's no easy way to tell by the pic whats hooked to the amp. Try unplugging the remote turn-on cable from your amp, then it won't turn on when your head unit does. turn on the CD player and see if any sound comes out - if it doesn't, everythings on the amp, if it does then they are plugged into the headunit Smile

Its probably worth buying a roll of speaker wire and re-running all those cables anyway as they look a bit shabby and then you'll know exactly what each wire does. I like to tape small labels to mine (if you have a label writer - perfect! if not then some tape and a marker pen works fine).

I'd also re-do the deck connector you have running the wires from your boats deck to to the tower. replace it with a 'Speakon connector' made by Neutrik. google them... very cheap and far more robust and aesthetically pleasing than what you have now.