Quick Speaker Question

[Rmattajr]

Hey everyone quick question. I am looking for your advice on my amp wiring and if you think it makes sense to wire my tower speakers differently. Below is my current setup but my question is do I keep how I have it below or should I bridge the tower speakers for more power? I have a third amp I could use for the sub if you recommend bridging the tower speakers. Want to be sure I am getting the most out of the setup. Appreciate any feedback.

On my first AMP

Currently have the 6 in boat speakers (4 ohms 75w RMS) and of that two speakers each in parallel taking up the first 3 channels.

Amp is a Precision Power 4 channel amp, Amp Specs are below...

RMS Power @ 4 ohms 145 watts x 4 channels

RMS Power @ 2 ohms 225 watts x 4 channels

RMS Power @ 1 ohm Not Stable

Bridged RMS Power 450 watts x 2 channels

On my Second AMP

Have 2 Exile SXT 65 tower speakers(I have read these are 125w RMS or 200w RMS not sure which is correct), one in channel 1 and the other in channel 2. Have a sub bridged on the remaining channels.

Second Amp is also a Precision Power 4 channel amp, Amp Specs are below...

RMS Power @ 4 ohms 145 watts x 4 channels

RMS Power @ 2 ohms 225 watts x 4 channels

RMS Power @ 1 ohm Not Stable

Bridged RMS Power 450 watts x 2 channels

Edited May 28, 2013 by Rmattajr

[MLA]

I would set it up in the fallowing configuration:

port bow spkr on chnl 1

STBD bow spkr on chnl 2

port mid and aft spkr in parallel on chnl 3

STBD mid and aft spkr in parallel on chnl 4

Sub bridged on chnls 3/4

6.5" tower coaxials on chnls 1 and 3 @ 4 ohm each

The 4 ohm x 2 output of that amp is way more then a 6.5 coaxial will need.

[Big_Moose_Wakesetter]

I think MLA's advice is pretty solid with your current 'hardware.' If you don't have people in the bow all the time, you could consider running those in parallel with the 'mid' speakers. In my experience, those mid speakers sound a bit louder all things being equal - I presume since the sound is bounced off the windshield.

How are you currently utilizing 3 channels with the 6 in-boat speakers? Are you running 2 in mono? It would certainly work that way - not sure you can get 3 left channels and 3 rights though (at least without a mess if a series + parallel setup).

[MLA]

I would set it up in the fallowing configuration:

port dash spkr on chnl 1

STBD dash spkr on chnl 2

port bow and aft spkr in parallel on chnl 3

STBD bow and aft spkr in parallel on chnl 4

Sub bridged on chnls 3/4

6.5" tower coaxials on chnls 1 and 3 @ 4 ohm each

The 4 ohm x 2 output of that amp is way more then a 6.5 coaxial will need.

Big_Moose brings up a good point about windshield mounted speakers. I always forget about those with Malibu. If your mid cabin speakers are dash mounted, I would probably change the configuration just a little. Edited above. This will allow for the gain to be adjusted back on those dash speakers as they do tend to have some advantage, reflection of the windshield.

[Rmattajr]

Thanks,

Currently i have the 6 in boat in pairs so each pair being wired parallel taking up 3 out of the 4 chanels. You are right about the dash speakers, they sound very loud bouncing off the windshield. What do you mean in mono? I turned off the 4ch switch to just (st) stereo so i only need to run the amp off one set of RCA's. Is that what you mean? Sorry, still a bit new to the whole amp thing and these amps confuse the heck out of me with all the buttons on it like the HPF vs BPF and Freq x1 vs Freq x10.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/pictures_new.php?id=38338&picture_id=860584

I think MLA's advice is pretty solid with your current 'hardware.' If you don't have people in the bow all the time, you could consider running those in parallel with the 'mid' speakers. In my experience, those mid speakers sound a bit louder all things being equal - I presume since the sound is bounced off the windshield.

How are you currently utilizing 3 channels with the 6 in-boat speakers? Are you running 2 in mono? It would certainly work that way - not sure you can get 3 left channels and 3 rights though (at least without a mess if a series + parallel setup).

[Big_Moose_Wakesetter]

Don't worry I don't know a ton myself. You've got to learn somewhere! I was referring stereo sound (where the left channel and right channel differ) vs mono sound (where all speakers output the same exact sound).

When you hook up a red and white RCA cable you get a left channel and a right channel (like how you get different sound in each ear with headphones). White is left and red is right (they'll work in reverse but will be opposite of the 'intended' sound).

With a 4-channel amp you've got two pairs of left and right channels. Channels 1 & 2 might say front left & right and 3 & 4 might say rear left & right. With some head units you might have a second pair or RCA's for the rear channels or the sub. When you clicked that switch to Stereo, you basically told the amp you're only using one set of RCA inputs so it'll use that signal for both the front and rear channels. I channels 1 & 3 are the lefts, they'd be getting their signal from the white RCA input and the other two would be getting their signal from the left.

When you have 3 pairs of speakers hooked up to those 3 channels with that single pair of RCA's hooked to one input, you're probably sending the left signal to to the 2 speakers on channel 1, the right to the speakers on channel 2, and the left to those on channel 3 (or the opposite if channels 1 and 3 are "right" channels).

If you'd prefer to stick with only using 3 channels for the six speakers and you don't care about having differing left & right channels, you could use a combination of pigtails to combine the left and right channels (to make them the same) and send it to the RCA input you're using on the amp or just send that 'combined' signal to the second RCA input so channel 3 is a mono channel (no difference between left and right). Unfortunately I'm not positive that my understanding of that is 100% correct so I can't really elaborate further. Hope that helps a bit though!