Wiring Question Amps, Speakers & Subs

[Holy Smokes]

Need help....I just purchased Redbud's OEM Clarion amps and speakers pulled from his 2008 Baja. Two pair of 6.5" components, two 10" subs and two 250W 3-channel amps.

Question - I've found the wiring diagram online (see attached) and was wondering what's the best way to wire. Each amp has a wiring diagram to run a left, right and one sub. I had presumed to have one amp for the rights and one for the lefts, but without further info about the amps I'm stumped. For fader control, I'd like to run the cockpit speakers (everything mentioned above) as the rears and a single pair in the cabin as the fronts which would be powered from the head unit.

Since there is no separate crossover selection, is it safe to assume the outputs for the subs likely be tuned to only allow the lower frequencies or ??

Also, what capabilities should I look for in a new head unit with this arrangement?

[BDiggity]

you can tell thats an oem item because no normal amps use this arrangement. lol.

most head units will either have 4 or 6 preouts (2ch frt, 2ch rear, & 2ch sub). since this amp is 3ch it looks to be crossing over the sub from the input pair. what head unit are you using?

what i would try & do based on what you want to accomplish is use your headunit amp to run the berth speakers, using the front pair of wires. Then on your receiver, connect the amp via the rear prepreouts. if your head unit had subwoofer control, it will be functionless w/ this amp because there is not a dedicated subwoofer preout.

You will probably have to use a Y cables on your rear preout to connect 2 amps because this amp doesnt have a pass thru output.

[Griff]

You are just going to have use RCA Y connectors.

I would connect the amps only to the rear preouts on the head unit.
I would run a couple cabin speakers off the head unit power and use the front head unit speaker outputs. The fader will work and the amps will only be powering the cockpit.

[BDiggity]

I would actually find a small cheap amp for the fronts & not use the head unit amp. Lot of times when using the onboard amp, it impacts the preout volts. Some headunits let you turn the onboard amp off so the preouts get full voltage.

[Holy Smokes]

You are just going to have use RCA Y connectors.

I would connect the amps only to the rear preouts on the head unit.
I would run a couple cabin speakers off the head unit power and use the front head unit speaker outputs. The fader will work and the amps will only be powering the cockpit.

How much signal loss are we talking, if I had to go with RCA Y-connectors?

I'm not looking to make waves on the water with this system, just decent sound.





Anybody want to buy two amps?

[BDiggity]

How much signal loss are we talking, if I had to go with RCA Y-connectors?

I'm not looking to make waves on the water with this system, just decent sound.

Anybody want to buy two amps?

not enough to worry about it impacting your sound.

I attached a pic of my target state system, it will require 3 splits in order to feed the 3 alpine rear amps. even tho they are 4ch, you can set them to send a 2ch signal to all speakers. so the berth will be on the front, the cockpit speakers on rear, & then the sub amps on the sub channel.

[Christian]

Line driver.....if you are worried about losing voltage to the RCA's

[deadsexyII]

Christian what is a line driver?

[Christian]

a line driver is basically a pre-amp, amplifier....it will take the medicore 1-2 volts of output put out by most marine head units and amplify them to 8-16 volts for a much cleaner signal and that means gains can be turned down.

the other thing is it will let you go in with 1-2 volts, amplify it to 8 volts and then y it off for a net of 4 volts per pair, vs dropping down to .5 to 1 volts by y-ing off the straight leads from the HU

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_13858_Phoenix+Gold+TLD66.html

these are the ones I run the Baja (and in the PQ) that is what lets me have 20 channels (12 mid/high & 8 sub) of audio from 6 channels of output from the head unit :mrgreen:

[deadsexyII]

these are the ones I run the Baja (and in the PQ) that is what lets me have 20 channels (12 mid/high & 8 sub) of audio from 6 channels of output from the head unit :mrgreen:

Good God! [smilie=appl] Thanks.

[Christian]

Good God! [smilie=appl] Thanks.

If I can't be fast, I am damn sure gonna be loud :mrgreen:

http://midwestboatparty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18629

[dond]

This stereo stuff is like a foreign language to me. I understand a few of the words, but when you start to put phrases together, I get lost.
So my questions is,, why wouldn't everyone use a line driver? For 50 bucks, it seems a cheap way to improve your system.
My Sony Xplod(52X4) front channel is just running my 2 cabin speakers which are never on. I fade everything to the back(cockpit) that runs the two JL amps and an RF amp for the subs.
I have had 3 different people do improvements to the stereo over the years, but I'm assuming the signal from the rear channel is split several times and that the line driver would help???????????

[Christian]

well it is more than just the 50, you will also have extra RCAs and such, I have used them in all the installs I do, it is also a good speed control for the folsk who like to tinker, if you set the volume where it should be and then set the gain on the amp and max, then set the line driver to just the point of clipping, then back the amps down, when they get drunka nd mess with it,, the chances of them blowing crap up is reduced :mrgreen:

[Christian]

OH and to answer your question, I do not knwo why more people do not use them :)

[Nightlife1970]

OH and to answer your question, I do not knwo why more people do not use them :)

Because they are an unneeded component in the audio line that can induce noise into the system. They are only needed in extreeme systems where several amps are run from one source.

Second reason is that to many people would set them up incorrectly and add distortion into the system. Nothing like amplifing a distorted signal to blow your speakers with.

Not saying they are bad, they are just not needed in most systems. That is the reason they have gain controls on the amplifiers. Belive it or not those are not volume controls.

[BDiggity]

also good amps like jl audio have an output which allows you to daisy chain amps together off the original pair of preouts. i believe the jl restores the signal before sending out, i know the eq settings on the amp do not impact the output signal.

[Holy Smokes]

not enough to worry about it impacting your sound.

I attached a pic of my target state system, it will require 3 splits in order to feed the 3 alpine rear amps. even tho they are 4ch, you can set them to send a 2ch signal to all speakers. so the berth will be on the front, the cockpit speakers on rear, & then the sub amps on the sub channel.

OK. So do you run it where you have the rear right output going to amp#1 (right) and the rear L output going to amp #2 (left)? this would entail splitting right at the amp. Balance control from the head unit would work and everything for the cockpit would be faded to the rear. But, it would seem to me that stereo imaging would be lost.

OR

Do you split right after the head unit and take a RCA R&L to each amp then run speaker wire to one pair of 6.5's, (say one to the forward pair and one to the aft pair). And then one sub tied to each amp??? this way, balance control would be lost

this chit is making my head spin:roll:

[Holy Smokes]

Also, can I only ASSUME that the amp is set-up to send only low frequency signals to the sub output?


Why the HELL would even an OEM system set it up this way???

[BDiggity]

i would do it like this.

take the rear out, it has a L & R. put a splitter (1F to 2F) on each of the L & R. Now you should have 2 L's & 2 R's. Cable one L to one amp, & the other L to the other amp. Repeat for the R's. From the amp, wire one speaker for L, & the other speaker to R. Repeat on other amp. Now you still have balance control over the L's & R's, plus fade.

Yes i would assume since the amp is crossing over the sub. Problem is i dont know at what frequency. maybe a manual will say. But you do not have any control over boost or the frequency w/ this amp.