Boat Audio Questions

dannyhightower

After reading this forum I've purchased 2pr of MMC6500's for my boat but with this I have a few issues... First let me tell you about my boat and system. The boat is a 22ft Baja thats a closed bow with small cuddy cabin up front. In the nose of the boat I have two Fosgate 15's in a sealed box built into the bow. These have a Punch 800 amp powering them. This is connected to a new Alpine HU. The MMC6500's will be mounted in the main area (outside the cuddy). They will be replacing several pairs of 6x9's. Currently poweing these 6x9's are a Fosgate 4 channel @50w per channel at 4 ohms. Now I could use this amp to power the 6500's but,,,

#1 is the Fosgate 50x4 enough power and clean enough for the 6500 considering they are in an open air environment?

#2 If purchasing new amp or amps for the 6500's should I consider biamping for this boat system or is it just a waste (because its a boat) If it is a valid consideration I see there will be pros's / cons to it.
Pros = more power to each speaker, louder, more efficient
Cons = more amps per speaker = more power drain from batteries
= more cost

#3 If I were to biamp why wouldnt I just use the active crossovers for both the mids and highs and not use the included Polk Xover for the highs (as instructed in the manual)

#4 If I should buy a new amp should I use the POLK 400.4 or try something like a Hifonics Olympus 125x4 @4ohms??

Thank you in advance for taking the time to answer all of this!

Dennis Gardner

Was it loud enough before? If not, I doubt reducing the number of speakers will increase the volume of sound.

I would expect it to be cleaner, but not louder.

dannyhightower

It was great to wake up this morning and find 3 people trying to help. Thank you!

A little more background:
Back 15 years ago it was all about volume with the least amount of costs. That meant 4 sets of 6x9's with the two 15's :eek: Then 7 years ago when I bought the Baja I had all theses speakers sitting around so I installed 3pr under the rear bench seat and another in the factory 6.5 locations. Overall it ok but the SQ was not there (embarrassing).

So this summer I wanted to go for SQ #1 and volume as the second priority. I replaced the $79 HU with an Alpine and bought the MMC6500. Why the 6500's? Because:
They were Polk’s (great quality)
Marine rated (important to my install location)
Got terrific reviews & multiple recommendations from this board and others
Got them for 179.99a pr with the factory 3yr warrantee.
I can buy 1 or 2 more sets later and add them to my great install location which will be incorporated into upholstery and hidden. (While not affecting SQ)

So for my situation...
Will I be able to tell the SQ difference with Biamping?
Will it help make it noticeably more volume?
If I could get the 400.4 for 315.00 with warrantee should I get 1 or 2 (one for each set)?

Thanks again everyone

dannyhightower

In theory if someone were going to biamp the MMC6500's wouldn't using an active crossover on the mids and a second active for the tweeters be better than using the supplied passive for the tweeters? Does anyone have recommended xover points for these?

I also like the thought of running the system at 2ohms. My only concern is the amp getting too hot. Its over 100 degrees here in Texas and this system could be playing in those conditions for extended periods... Suggestions?

HiPerf360

I think bi-amping your components in a boat is overkill.

Make sure that you use a quality marine rated amp.

dannyhightower

Thanks HiPerf, Can you tell me why you think that? I'm really caught between doing it for SQ but dont know if the environment is going to negate the potential benefits.

HiPerf360

you nailed it....

The enviroment in a boat is totaly different than a car or home, the difference you will notice is not worth the extra time and expense of bi-amping

lsutigers

HiPerf360 wrote:

I think bi-amping your components in a boat is overkill.

Make sure that you use a quality marine rated amp.

If anyone is looking for a quality marine amp and speakers for that matter, check out MTX's new Thunder Marine line. I just bought 2 pairs of MTX TM6502 6 1/2" marine speakers and the MTX TM904 4 channel amp and it sounds amazing. I bought all all the stuff at Circuit City, as far as I know, they are the only place carrying the marine line right now. The best part is they had it all in-stock locally, they now carry marine electronics in the store.