Ideas on new stereo system

glemay

Are horns really louder than regular dome tweeters?

Yeah are far as system goals, its more about just getting some good loud tunes out there on the water, not SQ.

Would I be better of with a two channel amplifier like poweredbydodge suggested or a four channel? Dont really understand how its works, the whole 4ohms vs 2ohms and all...

Thanks again

neomagus00

horns are much much louder, yes, and are very appropriate for this application...

PoweredByDodge

well the idea is this...

you can get a 4 channel amp that is say 100 x 4 at 4 ohms (since each speaker is 4 ohms). you'll get 100 watts per speaker.

or... you can tie the terminals of two speakers together... 4 ohms + 4 ohms tied together is a 2 ohm load... so you would go from having 4 hookups at 4 ohms to having 2 hookups at 2 ohms... then you could get a two channel amp (cheaper). so if an amp is say 150 x 2 at 4 ohms, then its probably around 300 x 2 at 2 ohms... which means 150 watts per speaker at less money that the 100 x 4 four channel would cost you.

my reccomendation would be something like the Polk C300.2 or an MTX 302/6302/502.

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for the record, speaker for speaker, audiobahn really is NOT the way to go in most situations.

however, with a lot of work, adjustment, and modification, the gear can do a helluva job...

for this particular application though, those 6x9 marine speakers have proven themselves to be BEASTS for me, and they've earned my respect... the horns really make 'em shine.

Mine are running FREE AIR, high passed at 80 Hz (Fmod pre-amp highpass on the RCA line -- but you could do something as simple as engaging the high pass filter on your headunit/cd player at around 80 or 90 Hz). With a ~500 cubic inch power plant in the boat, I would be surprised if you would be able to distinguish the average 300 watt sub from the ambient rumble of the motor anyway.

audiobliss

I would prefer the flexibilty of a four channel amp myself, but it would be cheaper to get a powerful two channel amp, and it would be just as practical for this situation.

PBD - Good point about the sub...hadn't thought about that.

neomagus00

well, you're definitely not going to hear it under power, and probably not under idle, 300 watts would be okay once you got to where you were going... though it wouldn't make ripples in the water or anything, you need more power to really match the rest of the music...

glemay

Thanks for the input. And thanks for clearing the whole ohm thing up for me PBD.

Yeah, you guys are right, I wont notice a cheap sub in the boat underway to make it worth while.

PoweredByDodge, you said you were running your 6x9s free-air with 60 watts crossed at 80Hz, right? Do you have any pics of this setup just outta curiousity, and could you do me a favour if it isnt too much work? Could you try running the 6x9s full range in your application without subs and let me know what it sounds like?

If its too much work don't worry about it.

And what kind of amp are you running them off of?

Thanks

neomagus00

it'd be inadvisable to run them truly full-range, but a low xover, like 40 to 60 Hz, will get substantial bass without destroying the speakers...

glemay

Good suggestion neomagus00. PBD if you could could you try that instead and let me know the results, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

PoweredByDodge

I've played them down to 40 free air, i had initially intended to run them full range (no crossover at all). the result is that at medium volume they start to sound muddy, as if they're being pushed beyond their means... at 60 they were allright, and i imagine if i had a better (read as: more power) amplifier behind them, they'd have been happier. 80 really is a nice sweet spot for them.

They are currently running off an MTX Blue Thunder Pro 502 (2 channel amp, a little over 100-120 x 2 at 2 ohms... i've got 4 speakers, so its about 50 to 60 per speaker... the blue thunders are all underrated severely).

Here's some pics... (click to make thumbnails larger).

On the amp rack, the little one with red stripes is the one pushing them. I should really get a Blue Thunder 150.2 (its about 500+ watts bridged easily - so around 125 per speaker or more) but I'm somewhat limited by space constraints. The Blue Thunder 754 (next to it - the bigger one with red stripes) drives the interior highs. The two below it are sub amps.

The sheet of plywood they're mounted in lays back at about a 60 degree angle, so it makes a nice "seat" when at the drive in... sounds wicked and pisses off the neighboring cars. there's about a foot to a foot and a half or space between the back of the bed and the back of the carpeted sheet of plywood... it's all reinforced with a 2x4 wooden frame (all carpeted up to look decent). i use that space behind there to store tools and other "if you get stuck on the side of the road" stuff. Also, when I roll the tonneau cover up to sit in the back, that space makes nice "tuck away" room for the tonneau.

PoweredByDodge

PS - they've been rained on, snowed on, thunderstorm terenchial down pour-ed on... and not only do they keep playing through all that, they have not shown any signs of wear or damage. like i said, i was impressed. although, logically, it's not a good idea to play them WHILE they're soaked.

glemay

PBD,

Thanks for the pictures. Pretty nice set up you got there, I really like your plate, going deaf, hahaha.

Thanks, I appreciate it

1996blackmax

Nice amp rack you have their PBD .

PoweredByDodge

sooner or later it may be expanding...

i want new/bigger amps... I only need say two 800w @ 2 ohm mono amps (say 6500D's)for the subs (the 81000d's are overkill, but I had them), which could probably fit on one "shelf" -- and then I'd like to move up to three 8302's and tri-amp everything... another 8302 for the rears. and yes i'm still stuck in "yester-year" as far as amps go - i like the older smaller cases. ...they're a lot easier to work on too.