Confused about ohms..pro 80's and amp

First let me thank everyone on this site, there is alot of people on here with a ton of information that helps me out all the time.This is a great site for information.

Well i just ordered a pair of Wetsounds Pro 80's and will be ordering a pair of Pro 60's with in a month or two. Reson for the 2 80's and 2 60's is because of head clearance. I have a 05 Mobius LSV.

Now for my questions with the 2 80's and 2 60's i oviously looking for a 4 channel amp. Was thinking the jl 300/4. Sound good? Or does someone have a better idea.

Next question is i have no clue how to go about wiring these. Do i just bring 4 sets of wires up through the tower and hook up each set to each speaker?

What about getting the wires inside the boat from the tower?

if they are the same impedance (4ohms, 8 ohms etc) you can even get a 2ch amp and run them together. Only downside is you can't tweak the sound if you want one set louder than the other etc.

Ohms is simple, its just a formula of finding out resistances when wiring devices in series 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 or paralell 1 / 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 etc

Just think of series as adding them up 4 + 4 = 8 and paralle is half (not always) 4 / 2 (# of speakers)

I would bring down 4 sets of wires anyways because it gives you more flexibility and ease of wiring in the future.

You really want to run 150 watts to each speaker to get maximum performance. I have (4) Pro 60s and Wetsounds recommended getting the Rockford Fosgate T600-2 and to run the left speakers and right speakers to same single side connections on the 2 channel amp. This would run it at 2 ohm but it would give each speaker 150 watts. They also stated that the Kicker ZX550.2 would work out as well. The jl300/4 would only give you 75 watts per speaker and would not allow the speakers to shine. I actually asked Wetsounds about that exact same jl amp and they told me it would be underpowered. Don't be scared by a 2 channel amp because there is no reason that the speakers need to be run off a single channel per speaker.

75w per speaker is not enough so I would say the JL 300/4 is not up to the task for 4 of them.

I had a friend powering one pair of Pro-80 with an underpowered amp, a JL E-series I believe, and it sounded like crap. He switched to a Zapco Reference and the difference is like night and day.

Zapco Reference 1000.4:
150w x 4 at 4 ohms
250w x 4 at 2 ohms (125w to 4 speakers when wired in parallel)
500w x 2 at 4 ohms

I use the Zapco 1000.4 to deliver 150w at 4ohms (under rated) to each of four Pro-60 but I beleive I would have been fine with running them off 2 of the 4 channels at 2 ohms and running the the four cabin speakers of the other other 2 channel also.

Instead, I use a Zapco 2-channel (I-2100) to power the 4 interior speakers, 100w each at 2 ohms. Only thing this does is give a little more power (25w) to each Pro-60 and run the 1000.4 a little easier at 4 ohms. But I sacrificed 25w to each interior speaker in the process because the I-2100 sends only 100w to each speaker and now it's running at 2ohms.

Whatever brand you decide, I do think 150w per speaker is ideal for the Pro-60, and I wouldn't want to go with less for the Pro-80s.

So do you think i am going to run into sounds issues with the 2 80's and 2 60's being powered from the same amp?

I haven't heard the Pro-80 and Pro-60 on the same boat but I doubt will cause any sound issues. If it did, it's not due to running off the same amp. It would have more to do with the different sounds of the speakers themselves. Sensitivity ratings, crossovers, different drivers, etc will all affect the sound. I assume that speakers from the same line would be voiced to blend with the rest of the line but that sounds like a good question for Wetsounds.

There are advantages to running at 4 ohms, like running cooler, but the short answer is you likely won't have any issues from the amp perspective, just make sure the amp is delivering 150w to each speaker.

(Message edited by dcwillette on October 10, 2007)

Tim from wetsounds is actually the one who told me to go with the 80's and 60's so they must work well together

So what amp should i go with the zappco is way to pricey for me

Both of the amps I mentioned above can be had for around $350 or less and will deliver the 150 wattts oer channel. I also looked at Zapco but found them really pricey as well. You do not need a 4 channel amp unless you want to spend a ton of cash to get the 150 watts per channel so stick with a solid US brand name that really delivers the marketed specs like Rockford Fosgate or Kicker and you should be good to go. If you spent that much on the speakers don't skimp on the amp since that is what makes them sound up to their potential.

Seth,

I know of a few guys (including myself) that have gone with the Kicker 850*4 and have been happy with the performance.

http://cgi.ebay.com/KICKER-ZX850-4-CAR-STEREO-850-WATT-4CH-AMPLIFIER-AMP_W0QQitemZ140165873140QQihZ004QQcategoryZ39739Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Inexpensive, durable, and plenty of power to run your setup.

Thanks i interested in the kicker amp, but what happened with kicker the last time i was into car audio a kicker amp like that would be alot more money than 250-300 why is that?

it's a refurb.

that link is but anywhere else there are still only 300 at most

If you want the best sound. Spend the extra money for Zapco. My first system I went cheaper amps, they sounded like crap. Since I put in Zapco's I have crystal clear sound at all levels. You get what you pay for. I found out the hard way.

kicker is not bad ( infact I'm thinking of switching out my JL w6's to L7's) , but unfortunately the market is flodded b/c they are very lax on who sells their equipment. Go to any flea market / hole in the wall shop and they proabbly sell kicker right next to BOss, audiobahn and lighting audio.. This IMO really drives down prices.

(Message edited by acurtis_ttu on October 11, 2007)

Well i not spending 1000 on a zapco amp ill be perfectly fine with the kicker. Has anyone had any problems with the PAC LC-1? I going to run my polk cabin speakers off the headunit but tower speakers off a amp. What i am looking to be able to do is sometimes barley have the cabin speakers on yet have the tower speakers all the way up

I spent $700 for the Zapco 1000.4 through a local authorized dealer and $38 for the Symbilink cable which is cheaper than good RCAs.

LOL @ crystal clear sound in a wakeboard boat....

Also LOL at the brandname throwing. Set up an audio system and add decent amps that follow industry rating standards with the same power levels of brandX and brandY; similar specs. Tune them the exact same (output levels, cut-offs, etc). Tell me 4 out of 5 times which is which with a blindfold on. You won't be able to.

(Message edited by olskooltige on October 11, 2007)

Stave you must have bad hearing if you think you can't get clear sound on a boat.

LOL...a boat is about 40X more not crystal than an auto. Boats are terrible for sound quality, probably the noisiest environment you can put a system in. You can get good sound, but no crystal or clear, and surely not both. If you have crystal clear sound while running down the lake @ 23MPH pulling a rider with the engine, the wind, the water; you need to get a job in acoustical sound design b/c you have some magic happening.

Gotta agree with Steve here...but if you have super hearing and can really tell the diff Im sure steve would front the money for an a/b test to prove

Can anyone help me out????
Is there a harness or just a plug they sell for me to get the speaker wires inside the hull.

I have the stock one that came on my lsv but it only has 2 openings for more wire

A lot of my time is spent sitting in a secluded cove about sunset, no other boats around, engine off, no wind, just drinking a favorite beverage with friends. During those times I can certainly appreciate the clarity of a good SQ system in my boat.

Seth,

Give me a shout tomorrow and I'll walk you through running the additional wiring through your tower and hull.

Steve,

I don't think there is much brand name throwing going on here for the sake of bragging or putting down other amps. When discussing specfic amps you have to mention a brand and model at some point.

I went with Zapco because it delivered the power I wanted to 4 channels at 4 ohms and is a reputable brand with good build quality. Not because the name makes it sound better than another amp of equal specs. There are many amps that I would have been fine with but I was familair with it, and believe it or not I had trouble finding comparable amps for less money (<$700).

I too think that it is near impossible to tell the difference between equaly speced solid state amps when set up the same. Tube amps are another story.

I think with the quality (lack there of) of the source and pre-amp stage of these headunits and the speakers we're all using (which are mid-grade coaxials or HLCD designed for projecting the sound a far distance), plus the most important aspect... the open air environment, you will never tell the difference between two equal amps. But that's just it... all amps are not equal which is why I said "don't underpower them". Given Zapco's reputation for build quality and thier use of Symbilink with built-in line drivers instead of RCA, I went with that.

Thanks for the compliment Steve

Seth you motre than likely have a deutsch connector. the plug should have slots for 4 pins, the stock setup only uses 2. you'll haev to buy two more pins and you'll be good to go. IF you cna't find them let me know , I think I still haev my old 4 pin deutch connector off my last boat lying around. OR just buy a speakon connector.

it has room for 2 more wires thats it one in each slot and they are way to small for speaker wire to be ran through