Just got some Pro 80's... amp suggestions?

What up all,

I just picked up a pair of Wet Sounds Pro 80's last night. I know next to nothing about car/marine audio, so I'm looking for some suggestions on a decent amp to run these things. Any suggestions?

Also, in regards to the rest of the system, is there a good resource online that I can go to find info on putting together and installing my system? I'm sure I'll need an extra battery. I have no idea how that works. I also have no idea what else I might need. I don't want to keep peppering the boards with questions every time something comes up, so if there's something you guys could recommend for the basic information and such I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

Keith

I'm rockin Kicker AMPs, and I haven't had a problem with it in the past 4 years. The price was pretty reasonalbe when I did some shopping. The key point is to make sure your ohms match when pairing them up. You want the most wattage out of those amps/speakers. For sure get that extra battery.

Alpine pdx 2.150
JL 300/2
JBL PX600.2
Kicker ZX 450.2

All of these should do a great job!

It looks like those all push 150 RMS per channel. Per the Wet Sounds website, the RMS handling of the Pro 80's is 200. Is this going to make a difference? Will 150 per channel be underpowering?

Keith,

You will need an amp that does a good solid 200 watts rms. Some of the new Wet Sounds Syndicate amps are shipping now. The SYN2 and SYN6 are shipping and the SYN1, SYN4 and SYN Micro are a few weeks out.

The SYN2 is the 2 ch amp that is designed to power the PRO 60's or PRO 80's or 2 pairs of either.

It is 200x2 and designed to power them. The ones that Hate mentioned are all about 150 watts rms and we have had plenty of people use them and have been happy with the results as well running 150 watts.

But the SYN2 is what we have designed for what you have.

Tim
Wet Sounds

Tim, I can't wait to check out the new amps. What kind of footprint does the SYN2 have?

Tim,

In your experience, is it better to run 150w at 4 ohms or 200w at 2 ohms? Any difference in sound?

From what I have heard on different setups with Pro 80's and Hollow Point 770's, 150w at 4 ohms sounds more efficient and just as loud.

Just curious....

2x150w @ 4 ohms is more power than 2x200 @ 2ohms as the speakers are 4ohms each. This means that to wire them at 2 ohms you have to put both speakers on the same channel(parallel) to get 2 ohmsso you are effectively only giving 100w to each speaker. Unless you have an amp that is 2ohm stable when bridged, then you would be giving them 200w each at 2ohms because you would have 2x200w bridged to 1x400w with two speakers attached to it each getting 200w.

With the 2x150 at 4 ohms each speaker is connected to it's own channel and gets the full 150 each, thus there is an extra 50w per speaker and the amp will run much cooler. I think some of the Boston amps are 2ohm stable when bridged though.

So is maxing out the RMS important or no? There seem to be a ton of amps available that are 150 RMS x 2 @ 4 ohms but not really anything at 200 RMS. I just don't want to buy something and find out I'm underpowering my new speakers.

Once again, I can't thank you guys enough for your help.

Kicker 550.2

Like Nick said show your amp a 4ohm load, it's gonna run hot regardless, but making a class a/b amp see a 2ohm load all day and your more than likely going to run into heat issues.

If it was me, I'd get the wetsoudns amp, thye've produced nothing but great products so far. Another option would be go with the alpine pdx 4.150 and bridge it, showing 300x2 to each. Class D Full range amp, it won't overheat. I run this amp on my threesome setup.

So might be a stupid question, but how I do I keep a 300 RMS signal from jacking up a 200 RMS speaker?

My bad I thought they were 150RMS and I actually ment the ZX 550.2 I don't think they even have a 450. But as Tim said they're effecient and would sound great with a little less than RMS.

Tim, cool to see you're getting the amps to market you guy's are doing great.

I don't see anything about RMS for the kicker 550.2 @ 4 ohms stereo. I see 2 ohms stereo (275 x 2) and 4 ohms bridge (550). Does this mean this amp can not run @ 4 ohms stereo?

Keith,

SYN2 is a 200x2 at 4 ohms. It is always best to try to match the RMS ratings as close as possible.

More power than the RMS rating is not bad if used properly. For instance, our PRO 485 is rated at 300 watts RMS. I run 700 watts RMS to them all day long. But I also have the system set perfect etc..Most of our customers run as close to the RMS ratings or a little bit more.

You can blow a speaker with too much power but you are more likely to blow a speaker with too little power. When you run too little power. You max the amps out. And they are at the limits of that amp so the amp will produce a square wave also know as "clipping" This is what damages a speaker. When you have more power, you do not have to max out the amplifier and you gain "headroom" meaning the amp can play cleaner and cooler etc...So there is less chance of clipping.


Our amps are Class H. More effcient than class AB and even many Class D's. So it has the smaller size like the full range class D but Class H has the sound quality of a class AB. Some of the full range class D and class T amps have very high distortion ratings.

Stewart, I think Nick covered most of it but I will elaborate. For instance. The SYN2 does 200x2 at 4 ohms. So one pair of PRO 80's would be getting 200 watts per speaker as they are 4 ohm speakers. The only way to get the amp into a 2 ohm load would be to add a second set of PRO 80's in parallel. Thus making it a 2 ohm stereo load.

We real world rate our amps so the SYN2 will do 350x2 at 2 ohms stereo. So each PRO 80 will be getting 175 watts. The difference is minimal in terms of power.

On many class AB amps. 2 ohm stero is not recommended like what adam said. They will run hot. Also, you will increase the distortion rating when dropping it down to 2 ohms. But these are boats and built for loud and rocking. This is not IASCA SQ comp cars so the difference is small so it is really not a concern.

On a Class H or the full range Class D amps that can take a 2 ohm load. The heat issues are a none issue as the amps run cooler.

A class AB amp is like a car that has no gas pedal. It just has a brake. So you put it in drive and it goes max to the redline. All you can do is use the brake to stop. You let go and it is going again and sitting there redline while you are smashing the brake down to keep it from taking off. So it is always on and always at full redline. This is what a class AB amp does. So since you are running all the time, you are generating heat no matter. And when a lower impedance is put on, more heat is generated.

A switching amplifier like Class H, Class G, Class G/H, Class D and Class T all give you a gas pedal. So the amplifier turns on or off depending on the signal. Like a regular car. You can go a little or stomp on it. All these different classes acheive this in a different way. But that is why you can get them smaller and with less heat. They are also way more efficient. As they are not always pulling current.

So you get small size, less heat and less current draw. Sorry for the simplified version but it usually makes more sense to people when relating it to the car world.

Alan,

The SYN2 is 8 inches wide by 13 inches long by 2 3/8 inches tall.

So they are very compact for the amount of power they put out.


Tim
Wet Sounds

Hate, Thanks!

Keith, Kicker rates their amps at 2 ohms. You have to download the manual to get the 4 ohm rating. But yes those will play at 4 ohms. It shows the 550.2 doing 205x2 at 4 ohms.

Tim
Wet Sounds

Tim, I must say, the customer service shown by Wet Sounds is above top notch. You guys are fantastic.

So would the 550.2 be a more ideal amp than an amp running 150 x 2? I would love to get one of your syn amps, but I'm going to go ahead and assume that they will be out of my price range (for now). Do you have pricing information?

Keith, No problem at all. Thanks! We always try to make sure that people get the most out of their systems.

I would run the 550.2 over the 450.2 for sure.

E mail me at twhite@wetsounds.com and I will be happy to see if there is a dealer near you etc...let me know if you picked up the 80's from a dealer or one of our online dealers.

Tim
Wet Sounds

Tim,

Great info on the amps. I'm sure your company will get 1 or 2 of my paychecks in the next while

Tim,

Who is manufacturing the amps for Wet Sounds? I'm assuming that you aren't taking on this task in house.

We have been working with who many feel, myself included is the best amplifier engineer in the industry on the designs of our new amps, Robert Zeff.

Tim
Wet Sounds

Keith check this site out. Most info I have found. You can become an expert off this site if you have the time.
www.bcae1.com

Thanks Sparky Jay, that is an awesome resource.

Anyone know of a site(s) that show different boat installs? Looking for some ideas on wiring, amp/battery placement, etc... Also if there is a site where someone might have done a walkthrough on their install that you know of, that would help out greatly. Thanks again to everyone that has helped me out.

Keith

Robert Zeff is the man. You definitely made a smart choice in an engineer. I mean first Zapco, then Arc Audio, and now Wetsounds.....

From what Tim said....

I am running the Kicker 550.2 at 2 ohm stereo to 4 pro 60s and have had no heat issues with the amp (knock on wood).

Tim - I have been pleased with the speakers.

Tons of boat install pics here... they also did my stereo.

http://earmarkcaraudio.com/install_marine.asp