Stereo Help! Head Unit vs Equalizer

[FastFreddy]

Has anyone ever heard of the KMA 4200. Seems similar to WS420SQ?

http://www.bulletlines.com/Krypt-KMA-42EQ-Wakeboard-EQ-p/4555.htm

[bwhitfield85]

Does the Clarion not have dual zone? The purpose is to be able to control the cabin speaker volume and the tower speaker volume independently. ???????

[FastFreddy]

Does the Clarion not have dual zone? The purpose is to be able to control the cabin speaker volume and the tower speaker volume independently. ???????

No the Clarion does not. There are only one set of freq adjustments and it has a FADER like in your car.

To compare the WS420 has a master volume, a volume for tower AND a volume for in boat speakers. The biggest thing for me is that you can adjust all the freq independently on your inboat vs tower speakers. It has more "tuning" options.

[FastFreddy]

Yes, you could use dual EQs. In fact that was often done before a dual zone EQ was built in a single chassis.

However, the redundant zone controls and not being able to sum the bass from the two zones ( with separate EQs) if you want that ability, would make it a bit of a headache.

David

Yeah you're right. I think I'll have to bite the bullet... no use doing something I won't be happy with.

[bwhitfield85]

Yeah I might as well spend the money and get the Wetsounds but anything with WS in front of it goes up by $200

[MLA]

Does the Clarion not have dual zone? The purpose is to be able to control the cabin speaker volume and the tower speaker volume independently. ???????

Dont confuse dual zone independent volume control with traditional fade like what is found on a typical car-based EQ. There is a difference.

[bwhitfield85]

Yeah I am looking for dual zone EQ so I guess I have to go with the wet sound product.

[shawndoggy]

clarion, exile, audiocontrol will all allow you to control cabin and tower volume independently. Whoever says that they won't is being disingenuous.

[FastFreddy]

clarion, exile, audiocontrol will all allow you to control cabin and tower volume independently. Whoever says that they won't is being disingenuous.

Yes the Fade function will allow dual zone control BUT the EQs you listed will definetely not allow dual zone EQ Freq adjustments,

[bwhitfield85]

well which EQ do you guys have in your boats? I only want to install it once so I want to get a good one

[shawndoggy]

Yes the Fade function will allow dual zone control BUT the EQs you listed will definetely not allow dual zone EQ Freq adjustments,

Absolutely true.

[FastFreddy]

well which EQ do you guys have in your boats? I only want to install it once so I want to get a good one

I'm getting a Wetsounds 420.

[shawndoggy]

whether you *need* dual zone EQ is an interesting question. In the old days of really harsh sounding hlcds, it was a must, to tame them a bit. Today.... not so much at least with the rev series speakers.

IMHO, YMMV, etc. etc.

[MLA]

clarion, exile, audiocontrol will all allow you to control cabin and tower volume independently. Whoever says that they won't is being disingenuous.

How do you turn a single knob counter clockwise and clockwise as the same time? Fade is Fade as it has been for decades. It does what it does, but its not the same as independent volume control. With fade, the front and rear are forever tied together on a single knob. At center, front and rear play as the same level. Turning the knob one direction lowers one half of the output, yet the other half doesnt not get louder. Rotate the knob the other direction of center and its just the opposite.

With independent zone control, you can actually control the volume level of each zone without effecting the other zone. You can turn the in-boats to 25% and the tower to 75% or any combination you want.

[shawndoggy]

what you will always have is a ratio between tower and cabin. What you just said (75%) tower and (25%) cabin means you are going to be balanced toward the tower by a factor of 3:1. Master volume does the rest.

What you are saying totally makes sense if you don't have master volume. When you do, independent zone volume is not necessary. You just need to adjust the ratio of one zone to the other.

To say it another way, can you explain how it would not be possible to get similar volume between tower and cabin to what you've suggested with fade and master volume?

Edited April 24, 2013 by shawndoggy

[MLA]

what you will always have is a ratio between tower and cabin. What you just said (75%) tower and (25%) cabin means you are going to be balanced toward the tower by a factor of 3:1. Master volume does the rest.

What you are saying totally makes sense if you don't have master volume. When you do, independent zone volume is not necessary. You just need to adjust the ratio of one zone to the other.

To say it another way, can you explain how it would not be possible to get similar volume between tower and cabin to what you've suggested with fade and master volume?

With fade and a master volume, if the user wants more tower volume without more in-boat volume, they would have to balance further toward the tower in order to lower the in-boat level, then turn up the master volume. They cant simply turn up the tower zone to make it louder. Remember, once at center, the front and rear fade volume is at the level of the master volume. Rotating clockwise or counter clockwise will not make the front or the rear any louder, it simply decreases the other. With independent zone volume control, if the user wants more tower volume with out more in-boat volume, they simply turn up the dial for the tower zone.

I'll say it again, Fade is fade and it does what it does. it works for many people's application, but its not true zone control, thats all.

[Earmark Marine]

Personally I don't make that much distinction between the user functionality of a pre-amp level fader and true independent tower/in-boat controls. I see the difference as more of a quality issue.<br />A fader in a car stereo EQ is a passive pot (two sets of opposing passive wipers) that is after a stereo OP amp, in the signal path, and splits the stereo signal into four (two to the tower and two to the in-boat). A fader also divides the voltage of a single stereo OP amp. So a 7 volt IC can only deliver half that voltage to each of two amplifier inputs when driving both.<br />Discrete controls simply drive a control voltage into independent stereo OP amps so that the OP amps are directly connected to the amplifier inputs without any resistive or passive component in between. Each output (Left, Right, Tower, In-boat) is discrete. There is not a passive or resistive device in the signal path and the full voltage potential of each IC is always maintained.<br />To clarify an "OP amp" in this case is the integrated chip that drives the preamp output. Op amps are also used in EQs to do the processing work such as the various EQ tone circuits. The control on the front panel simply sends a +/- voltage to the Op amp and it does all the tone processing versus a bunch of passive filters from a past era.<br /><br />David

[Bobby Light]

[shawndoggy]

David, I totally agree that the functionality argument of zone control vs fader is a distinction without a difference once master volume is introduced. Maybe we can finally put that one to bed.

As to the "how" it works, well, that's a discussion for the manufacturers to figure out not the end users. Ergonomically the single zone control knob (fader) makes more sense and is easier to use, especially by touch.

Sounds like the smart guys need to go back to the drawing board to make something with a lot more transistors and resistors and OPs and other gizmos so they can get dual zone control on one knob. We got a man on the moon and the Internet in my phone, and I think America is up for the challenge.

[bwhitfield85]

Ok guys lets stop all the technical jargon and get back to my original question. Which EQ do most people use and post pics of where you mounted.

Thanks

[kiley]

I have the Clarion eq, mounted to the right of the steering wheel under the dash. I have had no issues with it what so ever.

[shawndoggy]

"most" is tough. I'd guess wetsounds has a substantial market share though. David would probably know the answer to that, at least from his perspective.

Here's how my 420 was mounted on my vride the day I sold the boat:

My clarion was mounted like this in my current boat:

in both cases used an abs plastic mounting bracket made from a $1 scrap from the plastics store and a butane torch, like this or this:

[Bobby Light]

Ok guys lets stop all the technical jargon and get back to my original question. Which EQ do most people use and post pics of where you mounted.

Thanks

That's all part of the smoke and mirrors though......

[Ronnie]

Drop it Bobby Light, you've got too many warning points to keep up this picking at other members. If you don't feel like you can contribute to the OP's questions, there will be nothing for you to gain by continuing this bickering.

[Murphy8166]

Im surprised the Audiocontrol Three.2 does not come up more. It the best EQ on the market...in fact everthing that Audioncontrol makes is superior to anything else mentioned in this thread.