Stereo For Dummies

[Z3CO23]

I have 6 in boats, 2 rev 10's and the 10fa sub powered by the syn2 and syn6 in my 2015.

I am stereo challenged so I apologize up front......

My question is about impedance at the amplifier. My syn 2 is wired to my rev 10's, 1 on each channel. The back of my syn 2 says 2 ohm min and 4 ohm bridged. This confuses me. My basic understanding has always been that bridging lowers the impedance??

I assume a rev10 is treated like a single coil subwoofer for wiring purposes (this is where I could be going wrong). So a 4 ohm rev 10 wired to a single channel of my syn 2 should see a 4 ohm load at the amp correct? But the back of the syn 2 says 4 ohm bridged.

I'm obviously mixing something up here or just confused...... need some explanation.

[chpthril]

My basic understanding has always been that bridging lowers the impedance??

The nominal impedance of the speaker or speakers, never changes, regardless of how the speaker or speakers is wired to the amp. So if we wire a single speaker per chnl, the amp "sees" the impedance of that speaker, and the output is accordingly. If we wire 2 or more speaker to a single chnl, the final impedance "seen" at the amp is a result of the speakers being wired in series or parallel. However, the nominal impedance of each speaker didnt change, just the final load they present to the amp.

When bridging, again, the speaker(s) impedance remains the same, but the load each chnl "sees" is 1/2 of the speaker impedance. So, if you bridged a single 4 ohm speaker, each chnl is presented with a 2 ohm load. If you bridge an 8 ohm load, the chnl output will be the amps 4 ohm output.

Pertaining to the Syn-2, a 4 ohm bridged load is the minimum load it will safely run bridged.

[Z3CO23]

Ok, I got ya on impedance, and the Syn-2. Sounds like my options are to go SYN 4 bridged or SD 2. or.... away from wetsounds to a 2 channel that will deliver the power.

Now to the Syn-6..

My 4 in boat speakers are being powered by channels 1-4 for 125x4.

Channels 4 and 5 are bridged.... which I assume is for the 10fa sub. (which seems strange to me because that would be 600 watts, which is peak power for it and not RMS... seems like to much.

Here's my confusion........my boat has a 3rd set of coaxial speakers that were included in this package:

"Wet Sounds Power Premium Sound System (Premium PKG, Plus 2 Coaxial Speakers, Power Amp and Subwoofer)"

Where is this third pair of coaxial speakers getting wattage from?

Apologies up front about the questions.... I'm clearly audio challenged.

[chpthril]

For a single pair of Rev-10, the Syn-DX4 (or previous Syn-4) is the best wattage for the money. 400W rms x 2. The SD-2 would be the premium option. Still delivering 400W rms, but it does it at 4 ohm per chnl. This has the amp running a little more on the conservative side. The SD-2 also allow for that 2nd pair to the added, the Syn-DX4 will not

Your in-boats are receiving about 60W rms if 2 paired wired to chnls 1-4. That 3rd pair should also be wired to the Syn-6. Bow pair on 1 and 2, aft port pair on 3 in parallel and aft STBD pair on 4 in parallel. Chnls 1 and 2 are @ 4 ohm each and chnls 3 and 4 are @ 2 ohm.

Yes, 600W sounds like a lot, but thats a potential. Proper adjustment has it set way below that.

[Z3CO23]

Ok, I got ya.

What would be your amp recommendation to property power all of the in boats and sub to their potential.

Any recommendations on gain settings etc for the syn 2 and syn 6?

[chpthril]

Building from scratch, we could go with any number of amps.......

SD-6
Syn-DX6
HTX-6
HTX-6/HTX-2 combo.

However, you've got a great amp already, so any investment in a new amp, is going to have to net a substantial increase in wattage, in order to actually hear a difference in output.

Sub wise, there may be some tuning improvements that could be made, but you've got 600W rms to work with. Thats more than enough to drive the WS-10fa to its potential.

In-boat wise, the SD-6, Syn-DX6 and HTX6 are all going to give you 2x the wattage the in-boats are currently getting. The SD-6 and Syn-DX6 would be a single amp option as you will also be able to drive the sub much as you are now. With the HTX-6, you will want to let it handle the 3 pair of in-boats alone, and get the HTX-2 for the 10fa.

[gwhite94]

Z3CO23, CHP is the man on stereo configuration. My first stereo configuration was just like yours. Here is how I changed it up the first time and it sounded amazing.

1 SD2 for the Rev 10's Power to add another pair of Rev10's
1 SD6 for the 3 pairs of in-boats overkill but I added a pair of 808's to this as well
1 Syn 2 for a Wetsounds XS12 in a box.

[Z3CO23]

GW, Thanks for the info on your upgrade. Seems like a logical way to go. It's not in the budget this year but maybe next season.

CHP definitely knows his stuff.... appreciate his expertise around here.

[chpthril]

You can make one amp addition and upgrade the entire setup:

Syn-DX-4 or SD-2 for the tower

re-purpose the Syn-2 to the woofer. Sounds crazy, but not really. With the Sub fed by head unit non-fade, we can adjust that down, as well as setting a proper and safe gain level. This leaves room for a future woofer upgrade.

Now, let the current Syn-6 drive all the in-boats in 4 chnl mode for about 150W rms for each.

[JLG]

Z3CO23, CHP is the man on stereo configuration. My first stereo configuration was just like yours. Here is how I changed it up the first time and it sounded amazing.

1 SD2 for the Rev 10's Power to add another pair of Rev10's
1 SD6 for the 3 pairs of in-boats overkill but I added a pair of 808's to this as well
1 Syn 2 for a Wetsounds XS12 in a box.

G-Did you notice a huge improvement in sound by adding the 808s? I've thought about adding them also but know I'll have to pair my 6.5s to do so which in turn loses wattage output. Thoughts?

[chpthril]

I'll have to pair my 6.5s to do so which in turn loses wattage output

Ideally we would want the larger speaker on their own chnls rather than paired up with a smaller. HTX-2 or Syn-DX2. However, on the OEM Syn-6, there is no difference between the single speaker 4 ohm load and 2 speaker 2 ohm load. Speaker nets the same wattage. 60W and 52W respectively. Theres not an audible difference there. But, being there is some difference in efficiency, they will not equally divide that wattage as two same speaker will. Either way, I dont see this being an issue. The biggest advantage to having the larger speaker on their own amp channels, is gain matching. The larger speaker can easily dominate a smaller speaker thats close by.