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I am looking at getting a couple of the kicker kmt6 tower speakers. I am wondering if anyone knows anything about these speakers. Also what amp should i get for them. I was looking at the clarion APX490M 4 channel 720W amp. Is this a good amp for these speakers? <BR> <BR>Thanks
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It's a very good low budget speaker. It is loud if powered correctly. Two of the most popular amps for them are the Kicker ZX450.2 and the Kenwood KAC7204. You need two channels with at least 150W RMS per channel at 4 ohms.
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Kramer- <BR> <BR>Wakemania is correct. You want an amp that delivers 150 watts RMS power into 4-ohms. The Kicker Zx450.2 or ZXM450.2 both do exactly that. The ZXM450.2 is the marine version of the amp, with conformal-coated circuit boards, and ABYC USCG compliant power connections and fusing. <BR> <BR>We do not recommend bridging a 4-channel amp for the KMT6's. <BR> <BR>Phil <BR>Kicker
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Thanks that helps me out a lot!
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I have a set on my sanger and have no complaints... bang for the buck, you cant beat em.. I am powering mine with a 800 watt JL amp <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/773231.jpg" alt="Upload"> <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/773232.jpg" alt="Upload">
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Just ordered a pair off eBay for $223 shipped. Plus bing cashback is offering 10% back if you pay through paypal. So they ended up costing just over $200. Smokin deal as far as I am concerned. Alot of people on here recommended them. <BR> <BR>Issac, where did u get get your Bimini or who makes it? I need one in a big way.
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I have a sony 600w 4 channel amp i wanted to use for those speakers, thinking it needed a 4 channel amp...
Will it be okay if i bridge it? It's the XM-ZR604 4X60 rms or 4X110 max at 4 ohms |
I hate to say it, but after looking at the specs, I don't think that amp will be powerful enough. You're going to need at least 150 RMS. That amp would probably work well powering your inboat speakers!
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OK, thanks for the help. I'm a bit of a noob with sound systems.
I have another amp lying around that might do the trick. What do you think about the Phoenix Gold RSD 500.4? Not sure it's bridgeable tho... |
Jonathan-
You really need to be looking for a 2-channel amplifier for your KMT6 speakers. We have touched on it briefly above... The KMT6 generally works better on an amp that is not bridged. While the KMT6 is a 4-ohm nominal speaker, the dynamic load presented can often dip to 3-ohms, and most bridged amps do not like to be run below 4-ohms. You can find plenty of high-powered stereo amps these days, and a Kicker ZXM450.2 is about ideal. There are others as well; be looking for a 2-channel amp that will deliver 150 watts RMS into a 4-ohm load. We all have our opinions, but so you know mine, for most full range/hi-pass applications, I recommend one speaker per amp channel. I discourage bridging, and I try to discourage wiring two speakers in parallel for a 2-ohm load. Most of the time, this design rule minimizes current flow, minimizes heat in ampifiers, maximizes damping, (don't ask, just know high damping factor is good) and maximizes stereo run-time with the engine off. Notice I used MOST twice above... As with all things, there are exceptions... David at Earmark, a friend and very talented installer/engineer has lots of specific examples of equipment and hookups that fall outside of my recommendations, so please understand my statement above is quite general. I provide my general recommendation so that you can have a guideline that works for the most part, with most speaker brands, and with most amps. You might get lucky and find a 4-channel amp that will drive your KMT6's without issues, but in general I can say with confidence that a 2-channel amplifier will have a much better chance of driving them reliably. Good luck, and let us know! Phil Kicker |
Phil,
Are the KM6500.2 shipping yet? Will these fit in the factory Supra sound bar cans (replacing the factory installed kicker 6.5" speakers)? Anyone else have these or have any comments on them? |
Kevin-
Very soon on the Km6500.2's. They should go into the stock Supra cans, although if they have the Kicker KM6202's in them, (separate tweeter) you will need to be creative about the old tweeter and mount. I hope to post up here when we are officlally shipping, somehow... Stay tuned... Phil Kicker |
First let me just say, Phil I have a lot of respect for the time you spend on here and the general knowledge sharing you and others provide. I dont mean to call you out on your last post but I dont want others to be confused either. So please indulge the comments below.
Using a 4 channel amplifier in a dual bridged mode is fine to run on speaker setups. It really becomes a question of matching the impedance characteristics of a given speaker array (1 pair, 2 pair or 6 for that matter) to an amplifier that delivers maximum reliable output power. Amplifier current consumption is a function of efficiency at a given power output delivery from given load. Now thats all fine and simple on paper but speakers in general, vary in their impedance characteristics as does the actual music we listen to influence the whole situation as well. Now if all we listened to is test tones we could nail down an exact impedance characteristic / or the "load" we are placing on the given amplifier. I dont know about you, but I dont listen to test tones..... so that brings us to the real world. The op's question as it relates to the KMT6's is somewhat a unique situation because the speakers rest slightly lower than its 4 ohm nominal (rated) impedance. I think its ~3.3 ohms, if memory serves. Why is this a big deal? it's not really... some manufacturers design their speaker systems this way so it sounds a big hotter on a demo board. It's not really hotter, its just asking the amplifier to produce ~10% more power than another speaker that has a true 4 ohm resting resistance. Why does all this matter? It really doesnt.... That is until all of us crazy consumers go hooking up amplifiers 50 different ways into a given speaker application. With this in mind, you could effectively be seeing dips into the 2 ohm range depending on the music you listen to, and yes sir, that could become a problem for many 4 channel amplifiers. My suggestion would be this.... If you have the PG amp, start with it. I spent 15 years at that company designing gear and my feeling is you should probably be fine running it in dual mode on those speakers. Yes you can do that. If it cant hang with the load - - gets hot, shuts down, burps, farts or whatever, step up to a 2 channel amplifier from Kicker to match up with the Kicker towers. Sorry to get technical on all this as I know you said your new to audio. Short answer is: use what you got. If that dont work, replace it with a 2ch kicker because it will be equipped to better deal with the lower load of the kmt6's Just my 2 cents, -Brian Exile Audio ps: In a separate post maybe we can dig into dampening factors. How they are measured and why it even matters out there in the open air. Does iasca have a boat class these days?> hehe! |
Brian-
Sorry that the fact that I was sharing my opinoin was lost on ya. No worries though.... :D I discourage bridging in most cases because when someone is purchasing a new amp, there is no reason to go buy a 4-channel amp for a two channel speaker setup when there is a 2-channel amp with the proper power output available. You and I both know too often we see guys buying 4-channel amps due to perception of need rather than reality. What I am trying to dispell is that pervasive myth that bridging somehow is that magical pill that makes an amp deliver way more power than it is supposed to... We agree to a point, in a pinch when you have something lying around, give it a shot, I just know that the speakers will perform better when driven by the recommended stereo amp. Your inference that the KMT6 was designed with a lower-than-4-ohm impedance for demo board purposes might be accidental, regardless, your inference is incorrect. The KMT6 DCR is 4-ohms, yet dips to around 3-ohms impedance occasionally. Still I agree with most of what you added, the worst thing we want is to show a too-low load to an already-hopped-up-and-hot 4-channel amp! :D That is pretty much in-line with my thought above. Dampening? Why would we want to get stuff wet??? ;) hah hah.. Just kididng... Not sure a discussion regarding damping is necessary; it would only serve to make folks heads spin listening to a bunch of us middle-aged whizz-bangs regaling themselves with their IASCA glory days, (I didn't participate much, I was too busy juggling daytime college classes and trying to make a living nights and weekends doing pro sound concert engineeering). Jonathan- With a PG RSD 500.4, the mfg specs suggest 236 watts per cahnnel in bridge mode; a little more than we would normally want to see going into the KMT6. If you give it a go, you will be able to have the gains turned WAY down! :D Be sure to turn the hi-pass crossover on, and set the crossover frequency to at least 50 Hz, and maybe as high as 80. Anywhere in between will be a matter more of personal taste. Do you wakeboard or surf? Sometimes due to differeng brands of products, placement, and other factors, you can have out-of-phase cancellation between your tower speakers and your in-boat speakers. It is not so noticeable if you wakeboard, but for surfing, sometimes switching the speaker wires hot-for-ground and vice-versa, (basically, just wiring the speakers backwards) will bring the tower speakers in-phase with the boat speakers, often resulting in better sound, more mid-bass etc. Try it both ways! Again, good luck and let us know! Phil Kicker |
Phil - My bad on the DCR. I stand corrected. Great advice to on the PG amplifier for Kramer. Hey its never is a bad thing to actually gain down an amplifier right? hehe!
And if IASCA drops out of the blue with a boat class, someone shoot me! -Brian |
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I'm very impressed with them so far, but have not had a chance to get them cranked up out side in order to get a more realistic sound. I did unleash them a time or two at the boat show, but it was indoors as well as I had 40ft Regal anchored right in front of my booth. :mad: |
Thanks guys, you are really helping.. I will try the PG amp on those kmt6. I wasn't going with those speakers at first and decided to buy the amp before knowing my setup. My bad...
I read good reviews ont those speakers and instead of regular cans with 6 inches car speakers, i think these are the obvious choice, but again i know very little about them, just good reviews on the net... |
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