06 DA320 Stereo Upgrade project

Sorry guys for bringing up an old thread, but I lost the bubble on this one and just found it again. :smt001

Thanks for the info on tuning the JBL amplifier. I do have the 4-channel version, same as you and am driving 4 speakers with two of the channels and the subwoofer with the other 2, as you are. I will perform those steps you mention again this spring. When I "tuned" mine, I don't ever think I kept the subwoofer offline...may be part of my problem.

I do like Polk audio products in general and had recently used them in a Jeep Grand Cherokee to really improve the sound. I did build a box for my sub and put it under a passenger seat, but the box is a bit undersized according to volume (size) specs I needed.

It doesn't help that all of the other speakers are in the gunwales of the boat and really have no enclosure, but that's the design of that boat.

If I sell this boat this spring, I am really tempted to keep the JBL amp for the 280DA...especially after reading this thread.

Thanks again,

Tom
 
Tom,
No worries with the coaming speakers as they are infinite baffle by design. In contrast to the sub, they are best suited for how they are used. In some cases you would use a small chamber to acoustically isolate the coaxials from the sub when they are sharing the same cavity, console or compartment and are in close proximity. This keeps the sub from modulating the coaxial and keeps the coaxial from becoming a sympathetic radiator to the sub. Not applicable to your situation.
David
Earmark Marine
 
I will have to say your setup looks very nice. I have been thinking about upgrading my system.

I am no expert in stereos or the kits that are needed. So, I had a couple of questions which may be obvious, but I just wanted to make sure I understood everything prior to starting to make any purchases. I see you have a 4 channel amp with 4 speakers and sub. So, I assume you hooked 2 speakers to channel 1 and 2 to Channel 2. Then hooked the sub to channel 3 and 4 bridged. Do you lose power or sound quality because you have 2 speakers hooked on to 1 channel? I believe each speaker requires 4 Ohms. Not sure if you lose anything or if it matters. I read you already had the amp, but would it be better to buy a 5 channel amp like the Kicker ZXM770.5 or similar. I am sure my stock head unit does not have a seperate output for a sub and I think you used a rca splitter for your setup. I guess that would mean if I got the 5 channel amp I would have to split the line again. I am not really trying to buy the 5 channel amp unless it is really recommended. What is the ground bar that your using called? What is the 8 awg? red cable plugged into from the amp?

Thanks in Advanced for helping a novice!
 
madgrit said:
I will have to say your setup looks very nice. I have been thinking about upgrading my system.

I am no expert in stereos or the kits that are needed. So, I had a couple of questions which may be obvious, but I just wanted to make sure I understood everything prior to starting to make any purchases. I see you have a 4 channel amp with 4 speakers and sub. So, I assume you hooked 2 speakers to channel 1 and 2 to Channel 2. Then hooked the sub to channel 3 and 4 bridged. Do you lose power or sound quality because you have 2 speakers hooked on to 1 channel? I believe each speaker requires 4 Ohms. Not sure if you lose anything or if it matters. I read you already had the amp, but would it be better to buy a 5 channel amp like the Kicker ZXM770.5 or similar. I am sure my stock head unit does not have a seperate output for a sub and I think you used a rca splitter for your setup. I guess that would mean if I got the 5 channel amp I would have to split the line again. I am not really trying to buy the 5 channel amp unless it is really recommended. What is the ground bar that your using called? What is the 8 awg? red cable plugged into from the amp?

Thanks in Advanced for helping a novice!
Click to expand...


I described the answer to your first question about the speaker wiring method in post #17 of this thread. As for loss of power or sound quality, that would be no. Each speaker in my system can reach the full 80 watts RMS (true reading of power; don’t be fooled with speakers or amps that rate in peak power). In my application I bought the amp, and my plans from the start were to parallel wire each side of the cockpit speaker so I did not need a 5 channel. But if I did this over again I would have bought a 4 channel Class D (digital) amp, which is more efficient on the power usage. I would not have needed the fans either for the class D amp. The class D amp is going to be more expensive though.

The “8 awg” is the wire gauge (size) and has to be sized to handle in input rating of the amplifier in amps (current draw).

The RCA splitter was used to feed channels 3 and 4 of the amp. The output of my deck unit fed the pre-amp, and then the pre-amp output went to the splitter for feed all 4 channels of the amp.

I am very happy with this current setup, it produces great quality sound and really kicks if I want it to.
 
Class D is an analog switching amplifier and isn't 'digital' in any respect....except for an uninformed manufacturer's marketing depeartment that might use the term. However, Class D is significantly more efficient and is highly recommended.
When you tie two 4-ohm speakers in parallel on one channel this presents a 2-ohm load to the amplifier which is perfectly safe and typically. At a 2-ohm load, versus 4-ohms, you slightly decrease damping, increase distortion, decrease efficiency, increase the amount of heat generated as a ratio of output power, decrease dynamic headroom but substantially increase continuous power. So it's a mixed blessing but commonly done. A 4-channel amplifier is fine to drive four 4-ohm coaxials and no less than a 4-ohm sub. Unless, you need to gain the four coaxials differently to offset positional dis/advantages. In that case, you would select a 5-channel amplifier and you would have the option of a 2-ohm sub.
Remember that supply cable is much longer on a boat than on a motor vehicle plus on a boat you have an equally long ground cable to the batteries direct which doubles the colloctive run. And that means more resistance and that means more voltage drop. And unregulated amplifiers can lose a large percentage of their rated power as the voltage sags. So, do not go minimize the supply cable.

David
 
EarmarkMarine said:
At a 2-ohm load, versus 4-ohms, you slightly decrease damping, increase distortion, decrease efficiency, increase the amount of heat generated as a ratio of output power, decrease dynamic headroom but substantially increase continuous power.
Click to expand...
. . . And see your doctor if you have an erection for more than four hours :)
 
madgrit said:
I will have to say your setup looks very nice. I have been thinking about upgrading my system.

I am no expert in stereos or the kits that are needed. So, I had a couple of questions which may be obvious, but I just wanted to make sure I understood everything prior to starting to make any purchases. I see you have a 4 channel amp with 4 speakers and sub. So, I assume you hooked 2 speakers to channel 1 and 2 to Channel 2. Then hooked the sub to channel 3 and 4 bridged. Do you lose power or sound quality because you have 2 speakers hooked on to 1 channel? I believe each speaker requires 4 Ohms. Not sure if you lose anything or if it matters. I read you already had the amp, but would it be better to buy a 5 channel amp like the Kicker ZXM770.5 or similar. I am sure my stock head unit does not have a seperate output for a sub and I think you used a rca splitter for your setup. I guess that would mean if I got the 5 channel amp I would have to split the line again. I am not really trying to buy the 5 channel amp unless it is really recommended. What is the ground bar that your using called? What is the 8 awg? red cable plugged into from the amp?

Thanks in Advanced for helping a novice!
Click to expand...

Needing RCA splitters to signal all 4 (or 5 chnls) will depend on the amp, as well as how you want or need to configure the system. In the case of the Kicker ZXM700.5, it will drive all 5 chnls on a single set of RCA cables into "Amp-1". If you connect connect up the optional ZXRC you will then have sub volume control. lets say you have a single pair of speaker on the bridge and a 2nd pair down in the cabin and want to fade the volume level via the head-unit. At that point, you would need to run a "Front" and "Rear" RCA set to "Amp-1" and "Amp-2" of the amp. If you system plays out to where a 5 chnl looks like it will fit the bill, then take a look at the Kicker IX1000.5 Class-D 5 chnl. 75W rms x 4 @ 4 ohm, 125W rms x 4 @ 2 ohm on the four full-range chnls and 250W rms x 1 @ 4 ohm or 500W rms x 1 @ 2 ohm for the sub chnl. This amp will drive 4-6 in-boats and 1 nice 10 or 12 inch sub or a pair of moderate 10" subs.

As far as "kits" go there really isn't an amp install kit for a boat install like what you will find for a basic car install. We do all our power cabling custom from bulk and choose the RCA lengths as needed. If we are installing multiple amps, then we will use a couple of distribution blocks at the amp install area with larger cable, like 1/0ga, and circuit protection to carry the load of the multiple amps. From the distribution blocks to the amps we would typically run 4ga for each amp.
 
Wylie_Tunes said:
Needing RCA splitters to signal all 4 (or 5 chnls) will depend on the amp, as well as how you want or need to configure the system. In the case of the Kicker ZXM700.5, it will drive all 5 chnls on a single set of RCA cables into "Amp-1". If you connect connect up the optional ZXRC you will then have sub volume control. lets say you have a single pair of speaker on the bridge and a 2nd pair down in the cabin and want to fade the volume level via the head-unit. At that point, you would need to run a "Front" and "Rear" RCA set to "Amp-1" and "Amp-2" of the amp. If you system plays out to where a 5 chnl looks like it will fit the bill, then take a look at the Kicker IX1000.5 Class-D 5 chnl. 75W rms x 4 @ 4 ohm, 125W rms x 4 @ 2 ohm on the four full-range chnls and 250W rms x 1 @ 4 ohm or 500W rms x 1 @ 2 ohm for the sub chnl. This amp will drive 4-6 in-boats and 1 nice 10 or 12 inch sub or a pair of moderate 10" subs.

As far as "kits" go there really isn't an amp install kit for a boat install like what you will find for a basic car install. We do all our power cabling custom from bulk and choose the RCA lengths as needed. If we are installing multiple amps, then we will use a couple of distribution blocks at the amp install area with larger cable, like 1/0ga, and circuit protection to carry the load of the multiple amps. From the distribution blocks to the amps we would typically run 4ga for each amp.
Click to expand...

Or, you could do it yourself.
 
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