What To Power Wetsounds Pro 80's With?

[brucemac]

yeah agreed red. those balmers are so pricey because of their output at lower rpms i'm pretty sure.

cody, i know a guy here locally who works for an industrial equipment company. they specialize in power products, batteries, charging systems, etc. for big heavy duty equipment. he's got decent pricing and knows his stuff. he also has access to the delco remy marine grade alternators MC/Indmar use in the current boats. if you want his contact info, send me a pm. he also owns an 88 stars and stripes fwiw.

[Big Dogg]

Originally Posted by brucemac

how many amps? how much total RMS? i wouldn't mess with your alternator unless absolutely necessary. i'm running 2 amps rated at total 1500W RMS with the stock 03 70A alternator and two optima blue tops and so far it doesn't look like i'm going to need to change my alternator. it would be better, imo, to add a 2nd or possibly 3rd battery and isolator along with a good muli-bank smart charger that you could charge the house bank off the water. good marine grade alternators are pretty expensive. the balmer 150A units that some here run cost over $800.

Brucemac,
Are you haveing any voltage loss with your 70A alternator. I did an upgrade on my system in the previous months and am only running about 1000W RMS on a 75A alternator. Hasnt had any issues yet, but it is very much in the back of my mind..... Any issues with yours?

[brucemac]

not so far, but i've only been out once this season so the jury's still out. was out for the first time last last monday and at the time, was running 1400W RMS. started work this morning to replace my inboat amp for a new one which will put me at 1500W RMS, but now have two Class G/H amps which run more efficiently so i'm hopeful that will help overall. i didn't see any drops in voltage while underway and i'm certain we drew down the housebank to a point where it was isolated from the starting battery. i intend on giving it a good look next time out with my buddy and will be bringing a multimeter with us to check things out. i also plan on adding a 3rd battery before our two big summer road trips. basically bottom line, i don't know yet, but i think i'll be okay. my guess is, it's going to take quite a while at high rpm's to recharge the housebank. i have a smart charger that i use to recharge and maintain the batteries in the garage.

i had a smaller setup in my last boat with a 65A alternator; two JL amps (1) AB and (1) D, two batts, combiner, smart charger, etc. never had an issue in 3 years with 2 optimas.

[CODY_YARBER07]

Originally Posted by brucemac

yeah agreed red. those balmers are so pricey because of their output at lower rpms i'm pretty sure.

cody, i know a guy here locally who works for an industrial equipment company. they specialize in power products, batteries, charging systems, etc. for big heavy duty equipment. he's got decent pricing and knows his stuff. he also has access to the delco remy marine grade alternators MC/Indmar use in the current boats. if you want his contact info, send me a pm. he also owns an 88 stars and stripes fwiw.

PM sent.....

[Big Dogg]

Originally Posted by brucemac

not so far, but i've only been out once this season so the jury's still out. was out for the first time last last monday and at the time, was running 1400W RMS. started work this morning to replace my inboat amp for a new one which will put me at 1500W RMS, but now have two Class G/H amps which run more efficiently so i'm hopeful that will help overall. i didn't see any drops in voltage while underway and i'm certain we drew down the housebank to a point where it was isolated from the starting battery. i intend on giving it a good look next time out with my buddy and will be bringing a multimeter with us to check things out. i also plan on adding a 3rd battery before our two big summer road trips. basically bottom line, i don't know yet, but i think i'll be okay. my guess is, it's going to take quite a while at high rpm's to recharge the housebank. i have a smart charger that i use to recharge and maintain the batteries in the garage.

i had a smaller setup in my last boat with a 65A alternator; two JL amps (1) AB and (1) D, two batts, combiner, smart charger, etc. never had an issue in 3 years with 2 optimas.

Brucemac,
I appricate the info, I have been out once too, and didnt see any voltage drop yet. I am going to keep my eyes on mine. I only run the entire system when underway or pulling riders. Sometimes even then I shut everything down but the tower speakers. Its good to know you didnt have any issues in the previous boat. Thanks for the help!

My applogies on the thread jack cody!

proporjet,

You might consider using a four-channel amplifier and an 8-conductor tower harness when running asymmetrical tower speakers like the Pro80s and Pro60s. This gives you the ability to crossover the 80s a little lower and the 60s a little higher so the power handling and output is equalized. For times 150 to 200 watts at a 4-ohm rating would be a good range.

David
Earmark Marine

[proporjet]

Thanks for your comments. What do you think of this....this is my understanding after talking with the Wetsounds techs....First, the tower is wired with 8 separate conductors. The Wetsounds speakers have there own crossover network inside each respective speaker 'can'. The 8" and 6" are different crossover networks but they would say exactly what frequencies they were crossed over at. They are supposedly 'tuned' for the speaker combination (cone + horn) depending on speaker size. So 4 wires (2+ / 2-) going to the left side in parallel. This will equate to a 2ohm load on one of the channels. 4 wires (2+ / 2-) going to the right side in paralles. Also equaling a 2 ohm load. Same signal is driven to each of the speakers with a max power of 175W to each speaker. That's slightly above the Pro60MC's 150WRMS continuous, and slightly below the PRO80MC's 200WRMS. From what I've been told, it is better to have the Amp slightly more powerful (higher rated) so that the AMP doesn't have to be turned up to the highest levels of gain (where the amplifier characteristics are nearing saturation) to get good sound. If I use the SYN2 I will have 4 independant speaker wires pairs (8 conductors) which will look like 2 2ohm loads to the AMP which could supply 175W RMS (max-continuous) to each speaker.
What do you think of that?

Originally Posted by EarmarkMarine

proporjet,

You might consider using a four-channel amplifier and an 8-conductor tower harness when running asymmetrical tower speakers like the Pro80s and Pro60s. This gives you the ability to crossover the 80s a little lower and the 60s a little higher so the power handling and output is equalized. For times 150 to 200 watts at a 4-ohm rating would be a good range.

David
Earmark Marine

[brucemac]

i think what david is saying is that if you only use a 2-channel amplifier, you only get 1 crossover frequency for all 4 speakers and they will be receiving the same signal.

if you went with a 4-channel or 6-channel you could crossover the 80's a little lower to get more mid-bass and possibly a little warmer sound overall.

the syn2 will work, but i think ideally the syn6 would be a better fit as it would give you

200W x 2 @ 4Ohms (ch 1-4 bridged to 80's)
155W x 2 @ 4Ohms (ch 5-6 bridged to 60's)

[proporjet]

Gotcha, thanks!

[brucemac]

no problem. Cody, pm'd ya back that contact info.