One 6 Channel or a 4 and 2 Channel amps

[bthessel]

So I am down to just needing to buy an amp. I have 2 sets of new Polk DB651's for in the boat and a pair of Rockford Fosgate M282's for the tower. Should I be looking to buy 1 class D 6-channel amp or would it be better to get a 4 and 2 channel? I am not looking to be heard across the lake, just have it sound clear when we are parked in a cover and floating around.

 

[txav8r]

Your tower speakers will need 100w each, depending on what amp you drive them with. As a coaxial that is rated to 200w, but 100w RMS, you can withstand some excursion, but 100w will protect them and drive them at their optimum. On the other hand, your Polk DB651's can't take 100w each. But you can use a 600/6 if you like, and tune accordingly, to protect the lower rated in-boat speakers. Headroom on an amp is a good thing.

 

[brockhals]

I'd do a 4 channel and a two channel separately for the reasons Mel mentions above. Plus it allows you to go to larger tower speakers in the future.

 

[jawsf16]

Or a four channel for the boat and a bridged four channel for the towers...

 

[brockhals]

Ahh, agreed!

 

[RightStuff]

Also wouldn't it be easier to say turn down/up the tower speakers independently from the in-cabin speakers if you had them on seperate amps?

I was considering the same for swim deck speakers by putting a volume controller (like the Wet Sounds EQ) on the amp that would drive those 2 speakers, so I can turn those up when anchored and leave the in-cabin speakers as is. I was thinking that if you had all speakers on the same amp (without anything additional) they would essentially get the same volume level, right?

 

[jawsf16]

Also wouldn't it be easier to say turn down/up the tower speakers independently from the in-cabin speakers if you had them on seperate amps?

I was considering the same for swim deck speakers by putting a volume controller (like the Wet Sounds EQ) on the amp that would drive those 2 speakers, so I can turn those up when anchored and leave the in-cabin speakers as is. I was thinking that if you had all speakers on the same amp (without anything additional) they would essentially get the same volume level, right?

Depends on your head unit. On mine I have front, rear, and sub RCa out signals, so my in boat are front, my towers are rear, and my sub is sub. Sub and boat are on same amp, towers on separate amp. I can easily fade the towers or boat speakers on or off, all while controlling sub separately, all through the head unit.

 

[RightStuff]

In my case I was going to keep the stock Clarion head unit. I just would hate to have to go in/out of the menus to adjust the fade front/back/right/left. I was thinking it just would be easier to have a separate dial for the tower/swim deck speakers and just crank it when we throw the anchor down somewhere. I saw this from kicker that looked to control the level from the input RCA side of the amp to control the volume:
http://www.kicker.com/10ZXMRLC

But I also was looking at just getting the WetSounds EQ because I know that had separate volume adjustments too with some added 'features'. So that might be overkill for what I need, but also nice to have the other options (for approx. $200 more of course).
https://wetsounds.com/pages/products/WS-420.html

P.S. sorry for hijacking your thread @brockhals, but I feel it's kinda on the same topic, right?

 

[jawsf16]

Both of those options are good too. Different ways to do the same thing. In my case the buried menu is two button clicks away so I like it.

The wetsounds is very popular here...

 

[octavio3311]

In my case I was going to keep the stock Clarion head unit. I just would hate to have to go in/out of the menus to adjust the fade front/back/right/left. I was thinking it just would be easier to have a separate dial for the tower/swim deck speakers and just crank it when we throw the anchor down somewhere. I saw this from kicker that looked to control the level from the input RCA side of the amp to control the volume:
http://www.kicker.com/10ZXMRLC

But I also was looking at just getting the WetSounds EQ because I know that had separate volume adjustments too with some added 'features'. So that might be overkill for what I need, but also nice to have the other options (for approx. $200 more of course).
https://wetsounds.com/pages/products/WS-420.html

I too was going to go with the WS EQ - but knowing the wife and kids would constantly raise and lower the volume and with the EQ, they'd change all the setting trying to do so, I wanted to keep it as simple possible. So I went with 3 of these PAC LC1's- 1 for inboats, 1 for tower and 1 for sub. Mounted them thru the dash for a clean look.
It works great.

 

[GTBRMC]

I too was going to go with the WS EQ - but knowing the wife and kids would constantly raise and lower the volume and with the EQ, they'd change all the setting trying to do so, I wanted to keep it as simple possible. So I went with 3 of these PAC LC1's- 1 for inboats, 1 for tower and 1 for sub. Mounted them thru the dash for a clean look. View attachment 17477
It works great.

Looks great!

 

[GTBRMC]

Depends on your head unit. On mine I have front, rear, and sub RCa out signals, so my in boat are front, my towers are rear, and my sub is sub. Sub and boat are on same amp, towers on separate amp. I can easily fade the towers or boat speakers on or off, all while controlling sub separately, all through the head unit.

What head unit are you running these days, @jawsf16?

 

[jawsf16]

Sony CXD-H910UI CD Receiver

It does MP3 discs, usb line with iPod integration, cd, etc

 

[PaulyB]

If you use the wet sounds EQ you can still run one 6 channel amp because the 6 channel amp still takes 3 sets of RCAs. The Wet Sounds EQ adjusts the volumes to each of the types of speakers by regulating the output voltage throught the RCAs.....

Two 4 channels would work well. You could bridge one of the four channel amps and run two tower speakers off of it bridged as long as the speakers are 4- ohm, and run the in-boats off channels 1 and 2 of the second 4 channel and bridge channels 3 and 4 for the Sub as long as your sub is four channel as well.... I have attached a drawing I just made to help understand it....

 

[txav8r]

As you can see, there are a number of ways to skin the cat. We all get supportive and sold on what we end up with, because we get very familiar with it. The stock Clarion was fine with me...until it crapped out! I love my Fusion MS-iP700i, 3 zones of control and sub control too, plus, nothing easier. It also will take almost any iPod internally and run it, it will take USB, or AUX, or blue tooth control of your phones music...you name it, it does it. And it is rated high, as it JL Audio equipment. The JL 600/6 would be a perfect match for what your after and give you room to go up in speakers should you decide that your not getting enough out at cruise or WOT...LET THE MUSIC PLAY!

 

[PaulyB]

If you dont plan on running a subwoofer, the 6channel amp would work well... You can run all four in-boats on channels 5 and 6 and the towers can be bridged on channels 1-4....

 

[jawsf16]

@PaulyB That picture is exactly how my setup is, minus the wet sounds eq.

 

[kthrash]

I installed (2) Rockford Fosgate Marine Amps in mine, I used one M400-4D 4 channel amp to control the inboard speakers, and a M600-4D amp to power the two towers and bridged the last set of inputs for the Subwoofer. All of my speakers are RF as well.. M262's in the boat, M282-Wake tower speakers, and a M210S Subwoofer.

 

[PaulyB]

I installed (2) Rockford Fosgate Marine Amps in mine, I used one M400-4D 4 channel amp to control the inboard speakers, and a M600-4D amp to power the two towers and bridged the last set of inputs for he Subwoofer. All of my speakers are RF as well.. M262's in the boat, M282-Wake tower speakers, and a M210S Subwoofer.

@kthrash that works, but you are not fully utilizing all the power from your amps. For example right now you are getting about 75W per inboat speaker and 100W per Tower Speaker. If you swich the in boats and the tower speakers where they are connect on the amps, you would still maintain 75W per inboat, but the Towers would then be 200W per speaker. With it that hooked up that way, you probably use a lot less battery power though....

 

[octavio3311]

I installed (2) Rockford Fosgate Marine Amps in mine, I used one M400-4D 4 channel amp to control the inboard speakers, and a M600-4D amp to power the two towers and bridged the last set of inputs for the Subwoofer. All of my speakers are RF as well.. M262's in the boat, M282-Wake tower speakers, and a M210S Subwoofer.

How do those M282 towers sound? I like the mount set up and the fact that can face them in any direction, or easily remove them.