New amp for 4 Bullet 770 speakers
 

Right now I've got a Bullet Tribal Wing with 4 770s on my tower being powered by a Boston Accoustics GT24 amp which puts out 300 watts at 2 ohms so each of the speakers is getting 150 watts. It sounds good but I have trouble hearing the tower speakers at 80ft behind the boat. If I were to install a bigger amp like an ArcKS600.2 which would put out 300 watts per speaker would I be able to hear the speakers better at 80ft or would that much power be overkill and end up damaging the speakers? Or would a Syn2 work better even though the power output would be the same as the GT24. Just want them to be a littler louder at 80ft without distorting.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Try to get something in the range of 200 to 250 per speaker. I had 250 per speaker on one pair of 770s and they were plenty loud at wake range.

Thanks Brandon. So I should look at getting a 500 x 2 channel at 2 ohms or could I just turn down the gain on the Arc KS600.2

Peter,
Keep in mind that an input gain does not necessarily always cap the power. It only controls the input sensitivity. So the input can be over-rode by a stronger signal due to an equalization boost or other variable component upstream in the signal path. You still have to be the one in control when running more power.
The HP770s will hold 250 watts each of 'clean' power. They have the same size compression dome and the same size midbass voice coil as any 8-inch HLCD.
There isn't much fat in the Boston Acoustic amplifier power specs so 2 times 275 watts at 2-ohms is about the maximum ceiling under perfect conditions and it's an unregulated amplifier so the power drops off significantly below a 14.4 volt supply. You can get about another 3 dB output (not huge but definitely audible) when you double the power. After that any speaker of that size will begin to compress, meaning the acoustic power out no longer responds equally to the electrical power in. You just start generating an inordinate amount of heat.

David
Earmark Marine

Thanks for the input Dave. So which amp would you recomment that I replace the GT24 with to provide more power to the 4 770s so I'd be able to hear them better at 80ft.

Pete

P.S. I also have a GT 42 running a 10" solobaric sub and 6 polk db cabin speakers. Could you recommend an amp to power those speakers as well.

I have a GT28 and can easily hear mine well beyond 80 feet. So anything with 225-250 will get the job done well.

Thanks hate. That is why I was leaning towards the ArcKS600.2 They are reasonably priced and would give me around 300 watts per speaker. I'm having difficulty finding a 500.2 amp

More headroom with a bigger amp is a plus IMO. You can always turn the gains down.02

I don't think there is a "better bang for the buck" amp that will power 4 HLCD's than the Arc Audio KS 600.2. Arc made that amp for guys running multiple tower speakers that needed good amounts of power.

The power supply in the 600.2 is identical to the power supply in the Signature series which are some of the "arguably best" amps on the market.

I think you will be fine putting the 300 watt's to each speaker...you can always use the volume knob to tone it down if you desire.

Pete,
The Arc KS600.2 should do the job.
Also, make sure that you have ample preout voltage, ample supply cable from the battery and anything else in the chain that would effect performance. There's not much point in upgrading the amplifier if you have left a weak link intact.

David
Earmark Marine

OK I need an education. I don't know audio as much as I would like to. Ok the amp is 600.2 thats 300 watts at 4ohms. How are you hooking them up to run 300 watts to four speakers on a 2 channel amp and keep everything at 4ohms? If bridged then doesn't it drop to 2ohms? Can you run 4ohm speakers at 2ohm? I was looking at the same speakers last night for a winter project. Be gentle, just trying to figure it also.

Jamie,
The amplifier is 2 X 400 watts into a stereo 4-ohm load.....or 2 X 600 watts into a stereo 2-ohm load......or 1 X 1200 watts bridged into a single 4-ohm load.
So the four 4-ohm speakers would be wired with two per channel in parallel to achieve the 2-ohm stereo load in order to develop full power.
In this case the amplifier would run stereo instead of bridged. You could run a series/parallel/bridged configuration but with no gain in power.

David
Earmark Marine

Does running the speakers in parallel send 200 watts to each speaker that is in parallel or does the power get cut in half due to driving both speakers from one channel?

Jamie,
The final load will determine the actual power. The available power will be divided equally between the speakers if the speakers represent the identical load whether in parallel or series.
So in the above scenario with four 4-ohm HP770s driven by the Arc KS600.2 (2-ohm stereo load for two times 600 watts), each of the four speakers would receive 300 watts.

David
Earmark Marine

JL Audio MHD600/4 Hands Down!

I run this amp to my four HP770's on my boat and it powers my bros two pair of Rev10's . . . . an amazing amp and has a foot print smaller than a piece of paper.

For a tower application, an option to the MHD600/4 amplifier is the JL Audio MHD750/1 (HD750/1). It's $100 less and 25 percent more power. You can't detect a stereo image with a horizontal array on the tower and it sums to mono automatically plus you will have more program material off axis. Same fullrange Class D and same strict regulation. Because it delivers the identical power with any load from 1.5 to 4-ohms, you have the option of a number of wiring configurations to fit the number of speakers in the scheme.

David
Earmark Marine