Bazooka tower speakers set up

[stach73]

My current system includes clarion cdm7 head unit, 4 clarion 6.5's cabins, 2 double ended bazooka tubbies on the tower and 1 -10" Memphis sub. Currently I'm running the sub off a clarion XR2220 2 channel bridged, and running the cabin speakers and the bazooka tubbies off a clarion XR2420 4 channel, cabin 6.5's off channel 1/2 and the bazooka tubbies off channel 3/4 . My problem is the tower speakers don't really sound that great when they are turned right up to hear at wakeboarding distance. Anyone have any experience with these, I'm wondering if I put more power to them by buying a third amp ,possibly the clarion XR2120 mono for the sub, and use the 2 channel for cabins, and the 4 channel 1/2 bridged and 2/3 bridged(I believe 180x2) for the bazooka tubbies, any input on this set up would be appreciated.

[chpthril]

Yes, I have experience

No, more power will not help for 3 reasons: they do not have a high thermal power handling. 2) what ever wattage you feed them is being shared with a speaker facing forward 3) its a traditional coaxial, see next line.

What you have is a traditional coaxial speaker. They are limited as to how far they can project because the tweeter is designed to radiate out in all directions. For a wake-boarding setup, you need an HLCD (horn loaded compression driver). They are designed to project the volume through a narrower pattern through the horn flare via a compression driver or tweeter on steroids if you will.

For a budget friendly HLCD, check out the Memphis Audio 15MM62T. They are a 2 ohm speaker and might be a good fit for that 2 chnl, moving the sub to the 4 chnl. Let me dig in to those amp specs later and see.

For far better setup in both power handling, build quality and sound quality, I would suggest the Wet Sounds Rev-8 or Rev-10. These will most certainly get the job done and offer a more balanced sound for near-field listening like surfing and the party cove. the smaller 6.5" HLCD tend to lack enough mid-bass to balance out the aggressive horn, so going with the larger driver is always better.

[stach73]

Thanks for reply chpthril, was hoping you'd reply. Good to know about those towers before I invest more into them. I havent been able to find alot of personal experiences from anyone who are using the tubbies. Just curious, when those double ended speakers are wired to each other inside the can does that drop them to 2 Ohm? Do you have any suggestions for better wiring set up with my current amp set up, these are the amp specs: clarion 22209 (65 x 2 4 ohms, 95 x 2 2 ohms, 190 x 1 bridged 4 Ohms), Ive also considered running some of the cabins off the head unit to free up some room on the amp. One more question!! if im running 4 speakers off of 2 channels ie) 2x65watts, does that actually put only 32.5watts to each of 4 speakers, confused on all this wiring configuration business!!! 4 ohms, 2 ohms ,1 ohm!!! any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

[chpthril]

Just curious, when those double ended speakers are wired to each other inside the can does that drop them to 2 Ohm?

Yes. Each driver is a 4 ohm and they are wired in parallel. This puts the load at the amp 2 ohm.

Do you have any suggestions for better wiring set up with my current amp set up, these are the amp specs: clarion 22209 (65 x 2 4 ohms, 95 x 2 2 ohms, 190 x 1 bridged 4 Ohms)

Unfortunately, no! Heres the thing. It would take a considerable increase in power to make a teat of the pants difference in volume. Currently, each double pod, 2 speakers, are receiving 95W rms. The two speakers in each of the double pods is splitting that 95W. If the speakers are same type and of equal size, they will actually divide that power evenly. Since your pods have a 5.25 speaker in the front and wither a 6.5 or 8, depending on which model they are, they split will not be even. So lets call it a 60/40 split for chits and giggle. So the smaller speaker is getting about 38W and the larger rear facing speaker is getting the remaining 57W.

If you cut the small forward facing speaker out of the loop and just ran the rear facing driver, the load on the amp will be 4 ohm. The amp's output would now be 65W. An 8W difference would be a mouse fart. So, bottom line, there is no way to make your current amp/double pod setup into a wake-board setup. You need feed those speakers WAY more power then they could handle.

Horn Loaded Compression drivers is the way to go, but its going to require another amp.

Ive also considered running some of the cabins off the head unit to free up some room on the amp

Honestly, I would leave the 4 in-boats on an amp. You could run them on the 2 chnl or possibly the sub. This opens the 4 chnl up for a pair of tower speakers running bridged on the amp. Your Clarion 4 chnl will deliver 180W rms x 2 to a 4 ohm HLCD.

[stach73]

Thanks for replying Chpthril!! I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. Unfortunately I took my prop out on my 22i at the end of the season last year so just ordered a new Acme 525!! so new tower speakers (HLCD's) are on hold for a while! hopefully next year! You had mentioned that my 4 channel clarion 2420 when bridged to two channel would push 180x2 to 4ohm HLCD's, would that also be sufficient enough if I ever got my hands on a higher end HLCD (ie, rev 8 or rev 10), or would I need to upgrade amp as well?

[chpthril]

When you bridge an amp, you are getting all the RMS power it has to offer. SO the ideal setup is to shoot for more wattage RMS then the speaker suggests. 180W is solid for a typical 6.5", but would be light for an 8", when that 180 is from a bridged 4 chnl. That basically means, you would not be pushing a larger HLCD to its potential.

So would upgrade the tower speakers first, reconfigure like mentioned above. Then when the budget permits, upgrade the amp to one that will be a better fit for the speakers.

[stach73]

Thankyou chp! Sounds like a plan