douglee25
Well-Known Member
It's quite possible that is your problem right there. You may be over/under driving those 6.5's.
Doug
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New stereo sounds great, I think it could be better though
- Thread starter mrsrobinson
- Start date
It's quite possible that is your problem right there. You may be over/under driving those 6.5's.
Doug
douglee25
Well-Known Member
Greg,
I looked again at the specs on your 6.5's.... RMS is 50 watts and Peak is 100 watts. You have 4 speakers. 50 x 4 = 200 watts RMS needed to drive those speakers.
Your clarion you said was rated at 30 watts x 4 = 120. You are under-driving those 6.5's.
Replace that POS Clarion amp and run some dedicated wire to each speaker.
Doug
I looked again at the specs on your 6.5's.... RMS is 50 watts and Peak is 100 watts. You have 4 speakers. 50 x 4 = 200 watts RMS needed to drive those speakers.
Your clarion you said was rated at 30 watts x 4 = 120. You are under-driving those 6.5's.
Replace that POS Clarion amp and run some dedicated wire to each speaker.
Doug
mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
Greg,
I looked again at the specs on your 6.5's.... RMS is 50 watts and Peak is 100 watts. You have 4 speakers. 50 x 4 = 200 watts RMS needed to drive those speakers.
Your clarion you said was rated at 30 watts x 4 = 120. You are under-driving those 6.5's.
Replace that POS Clarion amp and run some dedicated wire to each speaker.
Doug
Yup, I was thinking the exact same thing. What size 4 channel do you think will work best? 50 X 4? Keeping in mind this will be your boat soon, what do you suggest I buy? :grin:
douglee25
Well-Known Member
Yup, I was thinking the exact same thing. What size 4 channel do you think will work best? 50 X 4? Keeping in mind this will be your boat soon, what do you suggest I buy? :grin:
I would suggest this Rockford Fosgate model # P450.4. This model is 60x4 RMS. I don't think you'll be driving them at full volume so it should be fine for your application.
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=120&i=575P4504&tp=115
When we working out a deal? :smt001
Doug
mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
I would suggest this Rockford Fosgate model # P450.4. This model is 60x4 RMS. I don't think you'll be driving them at full volume so it should be fine for your application.
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=120&i=575P4504&tp=115
When we working out a deal? :smt001
Doug
I was looking at that one earlier, and this kicker one:
http://www.amazon.com/Kicker-08ZX350-4-4-channel-amplifier-watts/dp/B0013K9IUE
Question, I am using the Rear RCA out of the head unit, splicing to 2 RCAs into the amp. Will I get the full benefit of a 4 channel amp to the outside speakers doing that?
douglee25
Well-Known Member
I was looking at that one earlier, and this kicker one:
http://www.amazon.com/Kicker-08ZX350-4-4-channel-amplifier-watts/dp/B0013K9IUE
Question, I am using the Rear RCA out of the head unit, splicing to 2 RCAs into the amp. Will I get the full benefit of a 4 channel amp to the outside speakers doing that?
Either amp should be fine.
I am confused by your question though? Can you clarify?
Doug
mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
We have 1 set of RCAs coming out of the back of the head unit, from the Rear RCA. At the amp end there is a splitter that splits the 1 set to 2 sets of RCAs. This was the way is was done by Sea Ray. I think it's done this way to allow the amp to think it's receiving input from front and rear vs. just rear. Make sense? Otherwise I can only plug into one set of inputs on the back of the amp.
My guess is a 4 channel amp is designed, out of the box, to run a set of front speakers and a set of rear speakers. We have 2 sets of "rear" speakers outside and no front speakers, so there has to be a way to use a 4 channel amp, on the input side, to do this, which is why I think there is a RCA splitter on the amp end.
My guess is a 4 channel amp is designed, out of the box, to run a set of front speakers and a set of rear speakers. We have 2 sets of "rear" speakers outside and no front speakers, so there has to be a way to use a 4 channel amp, on the input side, to do this, which is why I think there is a RCA splitter on the amp end.
douglee25
Well-Known Member
We have 1 set of RCAs coming out of the back of the head unit, from the Rear RCA. At the amp end there is a splitter that splits the 1 set to 2 sets of RCAs. This was the way is was done by Sea Ray. I think it's done this way to allow the amp to think it's receiving input from front and rear vs. just rear. Make sense? Otherwise I can only plug into one set of inputs on the back of the amp.
My guess is a 4 channel amp is designed, out of the box, to run a set of front speakers and a set of rear speakers. We have 2 sets of "rear" speakers outside and no front speakers, so there has to be a way to use a 4 channel amp, on the input side, to do this, which is why I think there is a RCA splitter on the amp end.
I see what you're saying. Sea Ray did some screwy stuff. What they did is split the preamp signal to the amp. Not good IMO.
I believe your headunit had 3 sets of preouts. Front, Rear, and Sub. Just use both the front and rear preouts from the headunit to the amp even though you'll be driving both sets of rear speakers.
Doug
mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
Just got off the phone with Crutchfield. By using the Head Units's Rear RCA preamp output the preamp voltage running to the amplifier is reduced, so it won't be as strong as if I were using two sets. Per Crutchfield I should not notice a difference though especially on a boat where the amp is !2V and it will be getting 13+
At the amp end they state continue using a 1 - 2 Y splitter. They agreed I should run 4 dedicated speaker wires vs continuing to parallel. Parallel increase the power to the speakers but also causes the amp to run hotter and less efficient.
Purchased the Rockford Fosgate! Great, more crawling into the blige and lockers running/fishing wires.
At the amp end they state continue using a 1 - 2 Y splitter. They agreed I should run 4 dedicated speaker wires vs continuing to parallel. Parallel increase the power to the speakers but also causes the amp to run hotter and less efficient.
Purchased the Rockford Fosgate! Great, more crawling into the blige and lockers running/fishing wires.
mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
I see what you're saying. Sea Ray did some screwy stuff. What they did is split the preamp signal to the amp. Not good IMO.
I believe your headunit had 3 sets of preouts. Front, Rear, and Sub. Just use both the front and rear preouts from the headunit to the amp even though you'll be driving both sets of rear speakers.
Doug
Thought of that too. However, I am running the 4 cabin speakers off of the Head Unit's front speaker wires. Can I use the front RCA preamp and the front speaker wires at the same time?
douglee25
Well-Known Member
Thought of that too. However, I am running the 4 cabin speakers off of the Head Unit's front speaker wires. Can I use the front RCA preamp and the front speaker wires at the same time?
Yes you can. There should be a fade (front to rear) or level adjustment on the preouts in addition to a fade (front to rear) on the speaker levels.
Doug
mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
Yes you can. There should be a fade (front to rear) or level adjustment on the preouts in addition to a fade (front to rear) on the speaker levels.
Doug
On the head unit or the amp?
Another +1 for Crutchfield, ordered the amp and supplies on Wednesday, sitting at my front door on Friday.
This amp is HUGE compared to the existing/original one. I hope it fits in the locker.
douglee25
Well-Known Member
On the head unit or the amp?
Another +1 for Crutchfield, ordered the amp and supplies on Wednesday, sitting at my front door on Friday.
This amp is HUGE compared to the existing/original one. I hope it fits in the locker.
All in the head unit.
Doug
mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
Great news...
Received the new amp and took it the the boat this weekend. I had to run new speaker wires for the 2 paralleled outside so I did that first...what a pain. I figured I would try the old amp with 4 sets of speaker wires, one for each channel rather than 2 bridged and paralleled Wow, what a huge difference. The 4 6.5s sound fantastic now, no more poping, handling high volumes well, amp is not overheating, much clearer.
The new amp was too big for the locker and as it turns out the existing 30 X 4 amp can do a nice job, if wired correctly.
Received the new amp and took it the the boat this weekend. I had to run new speaker wires for the 2 paralleled outside so I did that first...what a pain. I figured I would try the old amp with 4 sets of speaker wires, one for each channel rather than 2 bridged and paralleled Wow, what a huge difference. The 4 6.5s sound fantastic now, no more poping, handling high volumes well, amp is not overheating, much clearer.
The new amp was too big for the locker and as it turns out the existing 30 X 4 amp can do a nice job, if wired correctly.
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teekster
Member
What exactly do you mean? Are you saying that Sea Ray wired your speakers in series?
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mrsrobinson
Well-Known Member
What exactly do you mean? Are you saying that Sea Ray wired your speakers in series?
On the factory Clarion 4 channel 120 watt amp Sea Ray bridged 2 channels for the sub and then bridged 2 channels for the 4 outside speakers. Then, the outside speakers were paralleled together. So coming off the back of the amp were 3 sets of speaker wires, 1 for the sub and 2 for the 4 outside speakers.
I added an amp for the new sub (replaced the old original sub). I used the existing 4 channel amp for the 4 outside speakers but never ran dedicated speaker wires for the 2 paralleled ones. I bridged 4 channels to 2.
Last weekend I ran dedicated speaker wires for the 2 outside that were paralleled to the 2 others. It greatly improved the system...so much so I returned the new 4 channel amp I had purchased to replaced the factory one. It was too big to fit in the aft locker anyway..nice looking amp though for the money.
The 4 channel 120 watt amp is no longer heating up and no longer flipping the breaker.
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