Tower of Power Wiring Schematic

[xpjim1]

Looking specifically what speakers are wired from the XMD3, what are driven from the 4 channel amp and what speakers from the 2 channel amp. I will have 4 component speakers in the cockpit, subwoofer in the cockpit area, 2 bow component speakers and 2 component tower speakers. I am an audio rookie but pick up my new 24v this Friday and plan the install this weekend

Thanks

[rushin]

If you are going to do the install yourself, install the equipment anyway you want.

[yllw20]

I'd suggest running a 2ohm load.
have your 4 cockpit speakers on the front 2 channel, 2 speaker wires in each of the hook ups of your 4chan and then bridge the rear for the sub your amp manual should show you how to bridge, usually outside to outside...should give you the most power. make sure you dial in your gain on the amp...then wire your front and tower speakers to your 2 channel in the same way you did the 4 cockpit. make sure you put the lefts and right in proper place.

[xpjim1]

Thanks yllw20. That actually makes sense. I have been reading and rereading all the manuals but no example fits the setup I will have.

[talltigeguy]

Mine is run a little different than yllw20 suggests.

The front speakers are the least important to you, just run them off of the front deck wires directly. Save your amps for the speakers you usually want to have loud. Even the front speakers are plenty loud off of the deck power in my boat.

This saves your RCA outs for the important stuff. Use your 4 channel amp to run the cockpit speakers and the sub. I run the 2 left cockpit speakers in parallel to 1 channel and then the right cockpit speakers to the other. The sub is then bridged to the 3rd and 4th channels (subs are usually more thirsty for power). You can then use your 2 channel amp to the tower speakers.

There are a million combinations that may work. That is what I find fun about stereo installations. Your best combination may be very different than what mine is based on exactly what components you are using, especially the amount of power the amps carry. Mine changed when I put a 'real' sub and tower speakers in.

[FKM]

i agree with talltigeguy's setup.

Reason being: Tower speakers typically can handle more power than what you install in the bow / cockpit area, so if you wire the bow speakers in parallel with the tower speakers, either you run the risk of melting the VC's of the bow speakers, or you dont really put enough power to the tower speakers to make them useful.

What I do to make things more driver-friendly is (for a 4ch and a 2ch amp), is run the 2 bow speakers off the deck unit (wire them as the front speakers). Take your front line-out, run that into the 4ch amp with a Y-splitter so that it feeds all 4 channels of your amp. Bridge the sub, and run the rear cockpit speakers in parallel for a 2ohm load per channel.

Then run the rear-line out to the 2ch amp for your tower speakers, if they are good speakers, wire them in parallel and bridge them to get more power (only if they can handle it), otherwise wire them normally.

THis way, when you are in the boat, you can set the Fader to favor the rear, and it will lower the output in the cockpit to a tolerable level while keeping the tower speakers loud enough for the rider to hear.


Personally, i prefer to run a pair of huge 4ch amps, so nothing gets powered by the deck.

You will find, if you do not already know, that the bulk of the boat is pre-wired. The front bow speakers are pre-wired, as well as the rear cockpit speakers (wired in parallel, as I described above). They will all be labeled and taped up in a big ball in the port side storage locker under the glovebox. So, all you will need to run (assuming you ordered the boat with NO stereo option) is a PWR and GND wire for the amp from the battery, and the tower speakers. Subwoofer is also pre-wired, but the wires are often too short to use so then need to be spliced. The hole for the sub is also templated (and partially cut out) from the factory below the steering wheel against that carpeted wall. It is hard to find the pre-cut area because its covered by the carpet, but it does exist, and its shaped to fit a 10" sub.

Hope this helps