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Amps On 2011 Vtx


blagrata

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I have a question for all you guys (and girls) who know way more about audio stuff than I do. I have a 2011 VTX with the factory wetsounds speakers (2 pair) with the upgraded Rockford 500watt amp. I also have the sub and amp. In cabin speakers are apparently just run off the head unit. I had the WS420 equalizer put on the boat. The guy that did that said I should just pull the stickers off of the amps (that will void the factory warranty) and crank the gains up. He said I'd get a lot more out of my tower speakers by doing that. I have been a little underwhelmed with the tower speakers when I'm slaloming behind boat... can barely hear them when they're cranked up pretty good. Others seem to think the sound is ok. This guy also suggested that I could just get another amp to run the towers (like a 600 watt) and switch the 500 that I have over to the cabin speakers (there are four of them).

Any thoughts? Have others pulled these stickers off and found the gains not turned up sufficiently?

Thanks.

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Malibu tunes there amps very conservatively. Can they be turned up. Yes. will it make a difference ? yes. Are you better off buying a third amp for the towers and switching the amp over to the cabins? yes. Will you still void the warranty on the amp when it has to be retuned for the cabins ? yes. Will you be much happier? Hell yes.

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The amps are not tuned right from the factory, they are crossed over way to high or even set on All Pass. Yeah new tower amp for sure, they need more power. Take it to a good shop and have them tune it for you.

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Lots of Bobby's! Great info from both of them. I would say the biggest thing is to get a separate amp for the tower, it's almost a must.

Sent using Tapatalk

Edited by srintx
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I did the same...pulled the stock amp off the towers and used it for the interiors and put a new amp on the towers. I also set up my system so that rear fade was the towers and front fade was the interiors so when I wanted to crank the stereo I faded more to the rear's which helps keep the noise level down slightly in the boat. I would also suggest running a min of 150rms per speaker. However when skiing even with a better amp etc you will not be able to totally hear the stereo as there will be a lot of wind noise etc. Wakeboarding I can hear better due to the slower speeds etc...

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I can't remember the exact formula, but, in order to get an additional 3db of sound, power needs to be doubled.

Yikes, I know. That's why a milliwatt of sound, sounds kinda good, then up to 1 watt can equal close to 90db (on an efficient speaker)...then keep doubling. You get into thousands of watts real quick, just to get a few db.

Steve B.

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That's right. A 3 dB increase requires double the power, so a 6 dB increase requires four times the power, so a 9 dB increase requires eight times the power and so on.

It takes a 10 dB increase to create the perception of twice as loud which requires ten times the power.

And, it takes a similar and major increase in power every time you double the distance to maintain the same amplitude.

David

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Yes, but there is also a flip side to that coin. Most systems I hear are losing 5 to 6 dB of dynamic range in areas that can be improved. So with the right execution most people can get far more from less.

David

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blagrata,

Let me know if you need me to run down the road to you guys and do some project supervision or whatever :):rockon:

Steve B.

Steve... I'll let you know when the project gets going! Do you happen to know of an audio place in the Akron/Canton area?

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Steve... I'll let you know when the project gets going! Do you happen to know of an audio place in the Akron/Canton area?

There are some custom shops around that i'm sure can do whatever you need. I'll PM you my work phone, we can chat next week or something.

Steve B.

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My AudioControl EQ has adjustable gains for the amps. My amps are pretty much at the minimum gain except for the tower amp which is only slightly turned up (about a 1/4 turn). Before the EQ they were all turned up to the point you could hear a hiss at low volume. Now the sound is clear from low volume to wide open and much louder.

I am not familiar with the WS but would think it also has an adjustable gain for the outputs.

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The newer style WS420 does not have the ability to adjust the signal gains like the first models that hit the market. I think that the adjustable gains were causing the average DIY'r to much trouble so they removed the adjustable feature. I have a the AudioControl unit and can vouch for it - it is great!

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