Need Stereo Help!! Little Knowledge

[Kevin_B]

Not much knowledge in the stereo department, and wanting to begin building a nice, not over the top stereo system for my 1990 Sport Nautique.

I'm currently running a Kenwood CD player, probably 2-3 years old, and 4 Polk Audio db651 interior speakers. I don't know how many outputs the receiver has, I'm assuming just 1 but that is strictly a guess.

I would like to build a modestly priced system, after speaking with friends I think the best course of action is to amp the interior speakers, then I would like to go to some tower speakers and eventually get to a sub. Planning on keeping my existing interior speakers but coming to terms with possibly needing to buy a new receiver too.

Looking for any ideas on various amps, head units, tower speakers and subs (note- Sport Nautique has limited space to put a sub). Also I have a monster tower so finding a good area to hang down is limited too. Ideally I would like the wetsounds 3-some, but out of my price range. Thinking maybe Titan Alpha 2s and possibly adding alpha 1s later.

Last wrench to throw in the mix. I was planning on repairing/upgrading my 60 amp alternator. Would 60 amp be plenty or should I consider going up with a new stereo.

Thanks for any help, I'm pretty lost and have hardly any stereo knowledge to fall back on. All ideas welcome.

[2gofaster]

RE: Need Stereo Help!! Little Knowledge

Kevin, At least on amplification I am a huge fan of the Alpine PDX series amps. You could do a pdx4.100 to power the DB651's, do another pdx4.100 bridged to two channels for the tower speakers, and a pdx1.600 for the subs. Those amps are small in footprint and rock solid. Get us the model # of the kenwood head unit and we can tell more about it.

[Kevin_B]

RE: Need Stereo Help!! Little Knowledge

I really appreciate the advice, after looking and talking to a guy at Crutchfield he had nothing but good things to say about that amp. I really like the footprint size and that is runs very cool and doesn't draw much power. Another amp he recommended was the JL Audio M2250, which he claims is a cleaner sound but draws more power, but I do like the price over the alpine.

Also the Head unit is a Kenwood KDC 232MR. It has one output so I'm hoping to find amps which have outputs as well so I can daisy-chain amps together.

Again thanks for the help and steering me in the right direction, all input is welcome.

[Kevin_B]

RE: Need Stereo Help!! Little Knowledge

Would a single wetsounds pro 485 look weird if it stood alone for a while. For those familiar with the monster tower i was contemplating the notion of putting a 485 on the cross bar where the rope tow eye is, I would eventually add pro 60s but possibly not for a season or 2. Just a thought to save money but gain some functionality.

[SuperSquirt]

RE: Need Stereo Help!! Little Knowledge

There is nothing weird about a wetsounds 485, so don't be afraid to rock it solo. Your friends will soon respect it, just make sure you get at least 300 watts on it. Check out the PDX amps, i'm very happy with mine.

[EarmarkMarine]

RE: Need Stereo Help!! Little Knowledge

Kevin,

The Titan 2s are really good looking but I feel that's too much to invest for conventional car stereo speakers.

The WetSounds 3-some is definitely a powerhouse but I would package the Pro485 with Pro80s and not Pro60s. It's far more effective to use similar versus dissimilar speakers. 50 percent of all musical fundamentals fall between 200 and 600 Hz which is the sole domain of the midbass drivers. And, this is the realm that you'll use to properly balance and tune your tower speakers. Similar speakers and power will sum for double the output (+3dB) while dissimilar speakers fall short. The midbass sections of the Pro60s would be practically invisible along side the Pro485 with symmetrical power.

There's a couple of exceptions of course. The Double-Ups emphasize separate bandwidths and you're not going for double the output. If in your scenario your just looking to greatly enhance the field of dispersion without a substantial increase in the average output then the 485/60 package could work well with the 60s aimed outward. I would also want to have uniform collars.

You can maintain the Kenwood 232. I would strongly recommend a line driver to up the voltage as its light, especially in consideration of such a potentially dynamic tower system. Depending on the location of your source unit you could add LC-1 zone controls between tower and boat or two JL Audio line amplifiers that come equipped with remote level controls. In either case you would have the much needed preamp voltage and control at your fingertips.

If you're rebuilding your alternator anyway then perhaps an upgrade to a larger capacity by the rebuilder would be affordable. Class D amplifiers are the most efficient and most friendly to your charging system. So ditto on the PDX.

Measure the maximum available dimensions of the interior cavity in which you want to place your sub and also consider the insertion access. This should automatically determine the enclosure size and type, the best driver and the best driver orientation. From there you'll choose the sub and amplifier that are correctly balanced between power and efficiency.

Make your eventual speaker selection first which will dictate the amplifier(s) choice and all other incidentals after that.

David
Earmark Marine

[Kevin_B]

RE: Need Stereo Help!! Little Knowledge

Thanks for all the info david, super squirt and 2gofaster, this has given me all kinds of things to start researching and school up on. As far as the tower speakers go (which I guess is the first link in the selection process to dictate everything else) I'm leaning towards a single Wetsounds PRO 485 and eventually adding more. But i wanted to see what people thought about NVS in comparison to the wetsounds. I have seen some very positive words about them on here and would love to hear some experiences. I like how they have a low profile mounting system. I would like to not constantly knock my head into them, major reason I don't want Pro 80s on the sides.

Relating to what david was talking about with the pro 60s not being the similarity of a speaker for the 485, how can I tell what dictates that. I ask because I'm wondering about getting the 485 for the main part of my system and later adding some single NVS's to each side of the tower.

http://www.nvs1.net/modus.html

Just a thought, tell my I should or shouldn't. Also I know that sound quality not aesthetics is the reason to base a speaker purchase, but is anyone else with me that wetsounds housing/can looks kinda cheap and unappealing, (don't mistake that they are still on the top of my want list).