Putting a New Stereo In & Need Help/Advice!

[Earmark Marine]

You are only measuring the DC resistance which is typically 80 to 100% of the AC nominal impedance. You cannot read the DCR of a capacitor-couple tweeter in any case with a multimeter. A 2-way speaker, whether component or coaxial, does not parallel the two speaker values in the conventional sense because the crossover elements and midrange inductance serve to significantly raise the impedance outside of their operating range. The MM651 has been classified as 2.7 or 3.0 ohms. The MM651UM is 4-ohms. However, there is a Nautique OEM version that has the 651 non-UM color grill with a 651UM speaker.

David

[stoffs]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your help. I'll definitely go with the MM651UM's and the the D4000.4. Any chance you can recommend the best way to go for setting up 4 tower speakers and a sub. Can you run them all off one amp or would it be best to get a monoblock for the sub and a separate amp for the 4 tower speakers?

Thanks again.

Cheers

Chris.

[shawndoggy]

I've run towers and a sub off of a five channel before, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are absolutely positive that you are going to love that setup. The reason being that if you want to change anything out it means replacing two amps instead of one. For four tower speakers, a good two channel amp that can be run in parallel at 2 ohms can be a good fit and is usually the best bang for the buck $$$ wise. Mono class d sub amps in the 5-800w range are a dime a dozen and there are lots of good choices out there.

If you wanted to stick with the PPI stuff and keep it all looking the same:

tower amp: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_38335_Precision-Power-PPI-P1000.1.html

(you could also use that one for a 600w sub amp)

or step up on the sub amp with a bit more headroom...

Sub Amp: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_38335_Precision-Power-PPI-P1000.1.html

[Nitrousbird]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your help. I'll definitely go with the MM651UM's and the the D4000.4. Any chance you can recommend the best way to go for setting up 4 tower speakers and a sub. Can you run them all off one amp or would it be best to get a monoblock for the sub and a separate amp for the 4 tower speakers?

Thanks again.

Cheers

Chris.

Assuming you are going with a decent tower setup, from a price perspective you will be better off going with a 2 or 4 channel for the towers and a 2 channel or monoblock for the sub. Reason being is you start getting pretty pricey in the amp in order to get one that will push enough power to the speakers.

As an example, the smaller Exile tower speaker (surf speakers) need 125 watts RMS/each. Same goes for Wetsounds stuff. So even with the most popular brands of good tower speakers, you will need something that does 125x4 or 250x2 @ 2ohm.

I went with a 5-channel, but that was to power my in-boats and sub, with a seperate amp for my towers. Works for my setup...a setup I decided I was only going to do once and stick to it. If I had any thoughts of doing future upgrades I would have done 3 amps instead.

[stoffs]

Thanks for all the support guys. I am down to my final question I hope. This is what I am planning on running:

PPI P600.2 - For 4 Tower speakers.

PPI P900.4 - For the 6 in boat Polk MM651UM Speakers.

PPI P1000.1 - For Polk DB1240DVC sub

Kenwood KMR-555U - Head unit.

Ok so now I have all the gear but no idea how this should be wired. Please let me know if ive got any of this wrong. The Kenwood has 3 sets of RCA's Front Rear and Sub. I'll start with what I think is the easy and pretty straight forward part of the wiring. Taking the sub RCA output to the PPI P1000.1 Input. Now this is where I get slightly confused. How do I run the other two amps? Can I run say the rear rca's on the kenwood to the PPI P600.2 input. And then run the front RCA's on the kenwood to the PPI P900.4 the only question is if I do that the PPI P900.4 doesnt have an input as im sure you're aware it has a front L/R and Rear L/R input so would i just use a RCA Y connector on the front RCA's from the Kenwood split them and run the to the Front and rear of the PPI P900?

Look forward to the reply. And thanks again.

Cheers

Chris

[stoffs]

The Alternate option and Im not sure if this will work either is, to buy a slightly better amp say the Polk D5000.5 Power all 6 inboards off 4 channels (2 pairs in parallel) and then power my sub off it as well off the 5th channel. Would cut down on my workload of trying to wire up 3 amps and previously stated. Would that work? Thanks Guys

[Nitrousbird]

Thanks for all the support guys. I am down to my final question I hope. This is what I am planning on running:

PPI P600.2 - For 4 Tower speakers.

PPI P900.4 - For the 6 in boat Polk MM651UM Speakers.

PPI P1000.1 - For Polk DB1240DVC sub

Kenwood KMR-555U - Head unit.

Kenwood is $150: http://www.amazon.com/Kenwood-KMR-550U-Receiver-SiriusXM-Interface/dp/B007II080E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1370434933&sr=8-2&keywords=KMR-555U

I've never been a big fan of their stuff - why not consider the Clarion M502 instead, about $15 more:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Clarion-Marine-Digital-Media-Receiver-M502-/330867656633?pt=Car_Audio_Video&hash=item4d093fc7b9&vxp=mtr

Clarions have a better transom remote setup as well. As for the tower amp, you have to indicate what tower speakers you are running before anyone could give any advice on that.

The Alternate option and Im not sure if this will work either is, to buy a slightly better amp say the Polk D5000.5 Power all 6 inboards off 4 channels (2 pairs in parallel) and then power my sub off it as well off the 5th channel. Would cut down on my workload of trying to wire up 3 amps and previously stated. Would that work? Thanks Guys

It isn't a "better" amp than the PPI, as the class D PPI amps are the same as the Polk amps (and NVX amps among a couple other brands). I have this amp and wouldn't recommend it for your in-boat application. It is only 75x4 @ 4ohm and 100x4 @ 2ohm. That means 2 of your speakers will get 75 watts and the others will get 50/each...you are underpowering all of them. It works for my application as I'm running 2.7ohm speakers instead of 4 ohm speakers, so I'm getting about 90 watts/speaker, which is a decent match for my in-boats.

[stoffs]

Hi Nitrousbird,

Thanks for your response. Ill probably end up going with 4 Rockford-Fosgate M262B. I'm buying everything from sonicelectonix as I'm living in Hong Kong and getting everything shipped from one store is the easiest. With that ill change my head unit to the M502, I just wasn't sure how to go about wiring 3 amps to only 2 RCA outputs. If you could advise how to do that it would be great. Thanks again

Cheers

Chris

[Nitrousbird]

Hi Nitrousbird,

Thanks for your response. Ill probably end up going with 4 Rockford-Fosgate M262B. I'm buying everything from sonicelectonix as I'm living in Hong Kong and getting everything shipped from one store is the easiest. With that ill change my head unit to the M502, I just wasn't sure how to go about wiring 3 amps to only 2 RCA outputs. If you could advise how to do that it would be great. Thanks again

Cheers

Chris

Looks like those speakers only handle 75 watts RMS...I guess you could get away with a D5000.5 with those. You may not be all that impressed with their output, and at $280/pair you will be in them for $560. I think you would be a bit better served with two Kicker KMT60 speakers (which is 4 6.5" speakers and 2 horns) @ $550:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-KICKER-KMT60-6-5-300W-Loaded-Marine-Boat-Wakeboard-Tower-Speakers-11KMT60-/390599441638?pt=US_Marine_Audio&hash=item5af18a7ce6

Beyond those options you would obviously be spending a lot more money to see a noticable gain. I went with 4 Exile surf speakers...but got them on a really good Warehouse deal, otherwise I would have went the KMT60 route. If you wanted to do the 5-channel setup, the KMT60 would be nicer off of that as they are 4ohm per pod, so you can bridge the 4-channnels of the D5000.5 and run them at 200x2, which would be a great match for those towers. Run the in-boats off a D4000.4 or PPI 4-channel and have plenty of in-boat sound. The only sacrifice is you are getting a ton of power to the sub...I can tell you my Exile sub may be rated for 400 watts, which is what my D5000.5 is pushing, but it is clear it could take quite a bit more. I'm sure the Polk sub (which I almost got but Exile price matched me) is probably about the same in terms of power handling. My sub still puts out plenty of bass...more than I "need"...so it isn't an issue at all.

I never realized the Clarion only had 4 RCA outputs...my suggestion was based on reviews from others. I have all Alpine source gear but they are getting out of the Marine world now and are about where you looked to be budgeted. You could still run that head unit, but would either loose fading controls for the tower/in-boats OR would need to add an EQ (Clarion makes a nice one for $50). You may actually like the EQ as it will give you some additional functionality over running a straight head unit.

[stoffs]

Ok finally I think I have everything. This is the setup:

Polk PA D5000.5 to power 2 KMT60 (bridged) and Polk-Audio-DB1240DVC sub

PPI P900.4 to power 6 MM651UM

Clarion M502 with EQS746

As for wiring all this up would this work:

Take the front L/R outputs from the head unit and put them into the main inputs on the EQS746. Then take the front L/R outputs from the EQS746 and put them into the front L/R inputs of the D5000.5 and select ST on the amp so it send that signal to both inputs. Then do exactly the same thing using the rear L/R signal from the EQS746 to the from of my P900.4 and also selecting that amp to ST. And then obviously the sub output to the sub input on the D5000.5. Would that all work in the end or is there a better method that I'm missing?

Cheers

Chris

[Nitrousbird]

Ok finally I think I have everything. This is the setup:

Polk PA D5000.5 to power 2 KMT60 (bridged) and Polk-Audio-DB1240DVC sub

PPI P900.4 to power 6 MM651UM

Clarion M502 with EQS746

As for wiring all this up would this work:

Take the front L/R outputs from the head unit and put them into the main inputs on the EQS746. Then take the front L/R outputs from the EQS746 and put them into the front L/R inputs of the D5000.5 and select ST on the amp so it send that signal to both inputs. Then do exactly the same thing using the rear L/R signal from the EQS746 to the from of my P900.4 and also selecting that amp to ST. And then obviously the sub output to the sub input on the D5000.5. Would that all work in the end or is there a better method that I'm missing?

Cheers

Chris

Wiring sounds correct. I will say if you are going with the D5000.5, you might as well get the D4000.4 instead of the PPI so the amps match.

[Big_Moose_Wakesetter]

Very interested to hear how that Polk sub works out for you in that setup. I just got the Polk D5000.5 amp as well. You can grab that sub at Best Buy for like $70.

I got a good deal on a used Wetsounds XS-10FA at the end of last season and am planning on hooking it up in a 'temporary' box to try it out. It's an older dual 4-ohm VC one rated at 275 RMS (the newer version is single VC and 300 RMS I believe) so I'll be pushing it quite a bit at 400 watts. I have no idea though if that 12" Polk sub will be an improvement or not. Seems almost too good to be true at that price.

[mr7]

We are going to install everything this weekend, so I'll make sure to add some pics of the process!

Does anyone have any recommendations for a modest/ cost-efficient sub? We want to hear it first to see what we think, but I'd like to get some opinions. Ideally, we'd get an enclosure, amp, and the sub. Not looking for an all in one. As far as performance, not looking for anything crazy, just wanted to know what options are out there for some low end.

[shawndoggy]

We are going to install everything this weekend, so I'll make sure to add some pics of the process!

Does anyone have any recommendations for a modest/ cost-efficient sub? We want to hear it first to see what we think, but I'd like to get some opinions. Ideally, we'd get an enclosure, amp, and the sub. Not looking for an all in one. As far as performance, not looking for anything crazy, just wanted to know what options are out there for some low end.

Why not go with the bass link? For your modest goals and budget it seems perfect.

[wakesetter8796]

He doesn't want all in one.

[mr7]

I know some people on here have had success with the bass link, but when I read reviews online, I wasn't thrilled. A lot of people said it worked great for 3 or so months then stopped working. Additionally, I'd rather do it 'right' & follow convention per se the first time around and not have to re-visit this for a while.

[shawndoggy]

He doesn't want all in one.

That is why I asked "why?"

As in why doesn't he want all in one?

[shawndoggy]

I know some people on here have had success with the bass link, but when I read reviews online, I wasn't thrilled. A lot of people said it worked great for 3 or so months then stopped working. Additionally, I'd rather do it 'right' & follow convention per se the first time around and not have to re-visit this for a while.

I've used them in the past with good results. I wouldn't worry about random whiners on the interwebs, but if you are willing to go bigger that's fine too.

[mr7]

Does anyone have recommendations for an affordable amp? Either a monoblock or bridged 2 channel? What about the Polk Audio DB1240DVC? Do you think it would matter with a 10" or a 12"?

[Nitrousbird]

Very interested to hear how that Polk sub works out for you in that setup. I just got the Polk D5000.5 amp as well. You can grab that sub at Best Buy for like $70.

Can be had on Amazon for $60 shipped:

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-db1240DVC-12-Inch-Subwoofer/dp/B0016GV218/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370630732&sr=8-1&keywords=DB1240DVC

I thought that sub would be a bit too marginal for the amp, so I was going to do the MM1240DVC until Exile price matched for me:

http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-AA3125--12-Inch-Subwoofer/dp/B001C3R444/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1370630783&sr=1-1&keywords=mm1240DVC

[Earmark Marine]

I know some people on here have had success with the bass link, but when I read reviews online, I wasn't thrilled. A lot of people said it worked great for 3 or so months then stopped working. Additionally, I'd rather do it 'right' & follow convention per se the first time around and not have to re-visit this for a while.

That's because those owners went into it with faulty expectations. Let's say that someone wants moderate bass fill or great balance with four coaxials on a high power source unit. The self-powered sub will operate conservatively, work long term and they'll be completely satisfied. But then a few come along who see bass on a budget yet hope for the same result as a custom enclosure, big heavy woofer and separate mega-amplifier. Of course they're complaining later.

David

[mr7]

Finished the install. In the process of uploading pictures. The only thing left is to make a kicker board for the amp. Was wondering where you guys found carpet to match the boat carpet? & If you had any advice for that process?

[mr7]

By the way, this may be helpful to some people. We were able to use a right angled screw driver to install the windshield speakers without removing the windshield. With a little patience, everything went in perfectly.

It sounded incredible! I'm sure in the whole scheme of things, its probably 'mid' quality, but we were very impressed, especially for the money. Thanks for all the opinions & help!

Edited June 11, 2013 by matt.robillard

[Big_Moose_Wakesetter]

Looks great Matt! I've looked at those same speakers a bit lately myself. Glad to hear that you like them.

Have you picked/installed a sub yet?

[mr7]

I've looked at a few, but haven't decided. This install took about 1.5 days (It was our first time & wanted to make sure everything was done right) I think we are looking forward to just using it for now. We'll add one in the fall or next spring. Leaning towards a 10" polk though.

It definitely doesn't feel like you are missing a lot though.You don't get shake the boat bass, but it does have a good kick just with the 6 polks.