Stero upgrade - Tower speaker and amp set up

[crowland]

So my winter project is to upgrade my entire stereo system. I am starting with the tower and I have the following components and am starting with the following upgrades:

Existing Head Unit: Clarion XMD1
Upgraded Tower Speakers: Pair of NVS Entitys
Uprgaded Amp: Xtant 604x - 4 channel amp that is 4ohm stable bridged to 2 channels producing 300watts x 2

I have hooked up the amp and tower speakers in the following manner:

Tower speakers are each set to produce a 4ohm load and I am running them bridged to the amp giving me a 4ohm load at 300watts x 2. I have set the input gains on the amp at +10dB which corresponds with the 1 volt preamp outs from the Clarion XMD1. I have initially set the gains on the amps in the middle as sent from factory.

Here is my question: I am able to turn the head unit volume all the way up to volume 33. The tower speakers are crystal clear with absolutely no distortion, but I am positive that I can get way more out of them. I am also able to turn the gains on the amp all the way up which results in no distortion at all from the speakers. However I do not want to use the gains at max because I dont want to burn up the amp.

Is there a way to get more sound of this setup? Do I need a higher power amp? I know the amp is top quality and is conservatively rated and do not feel that out put power is the problem I just cant increase the volume on the head unit anymore. Or would an upgrade to the head unit or adding an equalizer that would raise the preamp voltage be the way to go? I am not to sure how to proceed.

A couple of additional items which I have considered may be issues. The tower wiring is old, I believe it is 18 gauge and has multiple splices from the previous owner. I will be rewiring to 14 or 12 gauge. The amp is wiring is currently at 8 gauge which is going to be upgraded as well. Also the boat has been in the garage and the batteries (dual setup) may not be providing a constant 12 volts since I have turned the engine over after winterizing a month ago. I am aware of the battery that could be running down and will be testing the voltage this weekend, but could the wiring be hampering the ability to distribute the power effectively?

Sorry for the long post, any help is greatly appreciated!

[TravisFling]

RE: Stero upgrade - Tower speaker and amp set up

Hey Crowland,

I don't think the volume issue is from an underpowered headunit or amp. You can and should put a battery tender on your battery, especially when you're in a situation to draw current from it. The preamp volts will make it clearer and better, but what you're talking about will require a higher output amp. You should contact gride300, he has a kicker 900.4 that would probably blow your socks off. I'll probably buy it if you don't, but I have no need for it, it's just a great amp at a great price. You should be able to turn your headunit up to 75 or 80% max and have your ears bleed. That's great that you get no distortion or clipping, but you have an underpowered system. What do your NVS' take RMS watt-wise? Is your amp producing 300 x 2 RMS or peak? Anyway, let me know. You can change the tower wiring, too, but that won't make it not sound loud, just not sound as good. Good idea to replace though, if it's spliced and whatnot. If your battery wasn't powering those items they would shut down. Think of it like a car (kind of/sort of) in that if there's no gas it won't run half speed, it will use what it can, then fail and turn off.

[crowland]

RE: Stero upgrade - Tower speaker and amp set up

Travis thanks for the reply. I am going to be upgrading both of the batteries so that my electrical system will be on par with the stereo I am planning to add so I was merely wiring everything to the batteries for an initial test run to make sure all the components were working so far. As far as the speakers each is rated at 400-500 watts RMS per module. So with 2 modules I am looking at between 800-1000 watts. The amp is rated at 600RMS bridged at 12V and the factory spec ratings on the amp are underpowered like the kicker or zapcos. The Xtant is really more of an SQ amp amd I am probably being a little hard headed and want to make it work for my application even though I could go with a higher output amp. I just like the looks and versatility of the amp. I was just curious if there was some other aspect that I might be missing out on since I am not an audio expert. I guess my other option is to use this amp on the interiors and use a larger amp for the tower speakers. I am going to mess around with it again this weekend with a multimeter and make sure I am getting the output I think I am.

[gride300]

RE: Stero upgrade - Tower speaker and amp set up

i still have my sx900.4 for sale. 200+shipping takes it. i opened my closet to get something the other day and saw it on the cheese cloth lined shelf and thought to myself, "wow, i wish i had a use for this bad *** amp, and i pretty much forgot i had it.

[AuMDLST]

RE: Stero upgrade - Tower speaker and amp set up

I'm using a kicker 850.4 on my Entity's and Have no issues - I would say you are underpowered- NVS recommends at least 400 watts per for the Entity's

[SuperSquirt]

RE: Stero upgrade - Tower speaker and amp set up

If your interested in upgrading your head unit, PM me. I am selling my practically new Clarion CMD5 and dash remote out of my boat.