HELP PLEASE - Boat Tower Speaker Wiring

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  • rsharp2000
    • May 2009
    • 3



    HELP PLEASE - Boat Tower Speaker Wiring

    I am wiring 4 MM651UM speakers on my boat tower and powering them via a Clarion 480XM 4-channel amplifier.
    I have outlined the 4 options I see for configuring these components in the pic below and thought option #4 serial/parallel config would be best since:
    1) Stereo imaging not really an issue for tower speakers.
    2) only requires a 2 wire harness from tower to amp.
    3) only requires 1 bridged channel (via bridging channels 3 & 4) & leaves channels 1 & 2 open for current bow speakers.
    4) this config would also produce most available volume/power to speakers.
    BUT when I power up this system the output volume of these 4 speakers is barely heard - NOT what I was expecting at all! I have 2 Polk MM650 speakers in the bow individually connected to channels 1 & 2 in standard stereo mode and these can be heard just fine. I obviously have got something wrong w/ the series/parallel config or my thinking for Option #4 outputs but can't figure out what !!??
    I wired the 4 speakers in series then parallel and have the resultant single + wire connected to ch3+ on the amp and the - wire connected to ch4-. I have the amp channel 3/4 mode set in mono (if I switch to stereo I get nothing at all) and all filters off. Gain was left midway just like channels 1/2 for bow speakers. I could easily go to 8 wire harness & just hook up all 4 tower speakers in straight-forward stereo mode and move bow speakers to unused deck speaker outputs (Clarion CMD 04 head unit) - but really thought this parallel/serial config would be best trick way to maximize this setup.
    Thanks in advance for ANY/ALL help GREATLY appreciated to resolve this for me!
    Attached Files
  • rsharp2000
    • May 2009
    • 3



    #2
    ... here is a better drawing ...
    Attached Files

    Comment

    • AuMDLST
      Senior Member of PLANETNAUTIQUE
      • Apr 2007
      • 870

      • Orlando, FL (Butler Chain)


      #3
      I believe your best option is senerio number one - reasoning:
      #1 produces 80 watts per speaker
      #2 actually produces 57.5 per because you have an 8 ohm load on the bridged 4 ohm channel
      when bridged it is one new channel not the two you are thinking so the 8ohm load is going to cut the wattage in half
      #3 is correct with a two ohm load on a 2ohm channel the 115 watts is shared for two speakers - 57.5 watts each
      #4 results in a 4 ohm load on a 4 ohm bridged channel which is 4 speakers sharing 230 watts
      each speaker only getting the 57.5 watts
      2006 SANTE 210 (Pending Sale)
      2005 206 TE (Previous)
      1994 SNOB (First Nautique/Boat)

      Comment

      • Mikeski
        1,000 Post Club Member
        • Jul 2003
        • 2908

        • San Francisco, CA

        • Current 2005 SV 211, due for upgrade! GS22 or GS24 perhaps? Previous

        #4
        #1 and #2 are the exact same from the amp and speaker perspective because there are internal jumpers between 1- to 2+ and 3- to 4+.

        My vote is #2, you won't really see the same power from #4

        Comment

        • cdrymalla
          • Aug 2009
          • 88

          • Austin, TX

          • 2003 Nautique Super Sport 2001 Air Nautique

          #5
          Originally posted by Mikeski View Post
          #1 and #2 are the exact same from the amp and speaker perspective because there are internal jumpers between 1- to 2+ and 3- to 4+.

          My vote is #2, you won't really see the same power from #4
          Is this true? I was under the impression that under option #2 (two 4ohm speakers in series bridged) you would end up with an 8ohm load, thereby cutting the power in half.

          I am new to this stuff and I was looking at how to do the same thing with a Kenwood KAC-8405. In my case, I was looking to bridge a pair of polk momos (4 total speakers) into each of channels 1-2 and channels 3-4. The amp is rated at 180W RMSx2 bridged 4 Ohms).

          So if this is the case, as Mikeski, stated, it would be the same output as #1 (each speaker hooked up to a single channel), but with less wires - which is what I am trying to do since I already have two sets wires already routed - one set of wires going to each can.

          Comment

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