How Many Amps!!

I have a amp question. I currently have a two channel amp that runs a 12' sub. I have just bought 6 new polk speakers and want to get a set of the Fusion tower speakers, the ones with the 6.5 and 5.1/4 speakers. So how many amps do I really need and can I get away with a 6 ch amp ????

Ideal for me is a one or two channel amp for sub(s), a 4 channel amp for boat speakers and a 4 channel amp for tower speakers. I ran a 5 channel amp for sub and boat speaker and a 4 channel amp for tower speakers last year and it did very good as well.

Main question is how much $$$ do you want to spend.

Zack,

There are a couple things to think about, one being control. I am running a 4 channel strapped to 2 at the tower, another 4 to the main boat speakers, a 2 channel to the bow and a mono D for the subs. The reason I run the bow on a seperate amp is so I can control the volume or turn it off when there's nobody up there (to conserve power). Considering a decent 2 channel amp is only about $150 it's an easy decision. I would stay from a 6 channel amp, most have crossovers designed for 4 highpass and 2/1 lowpass. Run all amps except the subs in highpass at 100-150hz so you can push them hard without them flapping around and making muddy bass.

(Message edited by mikeski on March 16, 2006)

So is it money well spent for 2 JL 4channel amps. My concern is the moisture affecting the amp in the long run so i am leaning marine grade. AND Does one consider the fusion T series tower speakers one channel per set(2) or 4 speakers, four channels needed.

mikeski,

you don't have anything against a 6-channel if all 6 channels will do highpass do you? the JL e6450 i'm looking at will do that. it does allow channels 5&6 to bridge to a low-pass with bass boost and octave slope, but i'm not going to use it that way.

I run three, one for the subs, one for the towers, and one for the boat speakers. I just turn the gain down on the fronts and if you dont want to hear it loud ride up front since the towers are overhead anyway and it WILL be loud. Mikeski im not sure how much power you are sending up front but im sure its not alot, say, compared to towers or subs, especially with people sitting square in front of them?? Use the fader to control the boats on front and the towers on rear or vise versa. Im thinking about adding something to boost my signal from my portable mp3 player as it works but the level is just too low compared to the deck.

Tower 2 x 500
Boat 4 x 85
Subs 2 x 500
Bow 2 x 75

Sounstream preamp/eq with 6v outputs now, might upgrade to PPI since I like the PPI botton layout better.

I had some of the amps, if I had to do it over again I might do something different. I hear people say that about the bow speakers, in my 211 most of the time you sit behind the speakers directly in front of the one on the other side.