Powering 6 speakers with 4 channel amp?

[Jeff T]

Yes, it puts out 60x4 at 4ohm, 90x4 at 2 ohm, and 175x2 @ 4ohm when bridged.

[lee]

Yes, it puts out 60x4 at 4ohm, 90x4 at 2 ohm, and 175x2 @ 4ohm when bridged.

60x4 @ 4ohm Stereo
90x4 @ 2ohm stereo
175x2 @ 2ohm mono

[Jeff T]

Ah yes you are correct. "Mono" is real hard to see in the description. I should have noticed that 175x2 @ 4ohm was off.

[spharis]

Jeff....the driver is not bridged....nothing is bridged. It just lowers the impedence of that channel to 2 ohms. Bridged just means that you are using 2 or more channels to power a single driver. Perhaps it was a bad choice of words. You would simply be wiring the channels to 2 ohms vs 4.

[Jeff T]

Any thoughts on using this option:
http://marine.jlaudio.com/products_amps.php?amp_id=262

Specs:

-6-Channel Class-AB System Amplifier
-Absolute Symmetry Class AB Circuit
-Differential, Noise Cancelling Input Topology
-RMS Power Output:
-45 Watts x 6 Channels @ 4 Ohms
-75 Watts x 6 Channels @ 2 Ohms
-90 Watts x 3 Channels @ 8 Ohms (Bridged)
-150 Watts x 3 Channels @ 4 Ohms (Bridged)
-Variable High- / Low-Pass Filters: 50 - 200 Hz
-Adjustable Input Sensitivity: 200mV - 8V
-Bass EQ on Channels 5 & 6: 0 / 6 dB
-3 Pair RCA Stereo Inputs
-4-Channel High Level Inputs (Not Sure What This Means!)
-Channel 5&6 Sum / Discrete Input Switch (Not Sure What This Means)
-Unregulated MOSFET Switching Power Supply
-Dual N-Channel MOSFET Output Design

[Coach]

Any thoughts on using this option:
http://marine.jlaudio.com/products_amps.php?amp_id=262

Specs:

-6-Channel Class-AB System Amplifier
-Absolute Symmetry Class AB Circuit
-Differential, Noise Cancelling Input Topology
-RMS Power Output:
-45 Watts x 6 Channels @ 4 Ohms
-75 Watts x 6 Channels @ 2 Ohms
-90 Watts x 3 Channels @ 8 Ohms (Bridged)
-150 Watts x 3 Channels @ 4 Ohms (Bridged)
-Variable High- / Low-Pass Filters: 50 - 200 Hz
-Adjustable Input Sensitivity: 200mV - 8V
-Bass EQ on Channels 5 & 6: 0 / 6 dB
-3 Pair RCA Stereo Inputs
-4-Channel High Level Inputs (Not Sure What This Means!)
-Channel 5&6 Sum / Discrete Input Switch (Not Sure What This Means)
-Unregulated MOSFET Switching Power Supply
-Dual N-Channel MOSFET Output Design

Personally for any product I say away from "Marine" Products covered in white. Amps shoud be somewhere they will not get wet. JL makes some good amps but I would stay away from the white amps. Arc, Zappco, JL, Kicker, and Crossfire (best bang for the buck) make great amps.

[spharis]

High level inputs are speaker wires running to the amp to provid the signal. Speaker leads are usually high level, RCA/composite are low level. Low level gives a cleaner signal.

The 5&6 sum is most likely going to have something to do with bridging that channel for a sub. It will probably make the input signal mono so you have a constant single channel input.

And I love JL, I just don't love the price tag associated with it.

[Jeff T]

So do you think that this will be a better option than running 4 speakers parallel out of 2 channels off of a 4 channel amp? FWIW, I can get a decent deal on one of these amps new. It is slightly more than I wanted to spend, but it falls into the range of I would do it if it is the best option.

[spharis]

6 channel amp @ 4ohms will be less stressed than an amp @ 2ohms. It's 6 one way, half dozen the other. Audibly, you will probably not hear much difference.

[my86stanggt]

I have the kicker 350.4 and 350.2 and I like em. I have the 4 cabin speakers parallel on 2 channels and the 2 tower speakers on the other 2 channels of the 350.4 while the sub is a dual voice coil setup to the 350.2. I wanted to seperate my cabin speakers and tower speakers by fade so I could turn up the tower speakers without blasting the people in the boat.

Plus these amps have the crossovers built in for adjustment.

[talltigeguy]

[QUOTE=spharis;39365] Low level gives a cleaner signal.

QUOTE]

Spharis,

Not to hijack, (but yes I am hijacking), Most stereo gurus seem to love having a line driver to give a high level input. Please explain what you mean by the low level being cleaner.

[mtnsmith]

Personally for any product I say away from "Marine" Products covered in white. Amps shoud be somewhere they will not get wet. JL makes some good amps but I would stay away from the white amps. Arc, Zappco, JL, Kicker, and Crossfire (best bang for the buck) make great amps.

Why stay away from the white amps??? I know that the color black dissipates heat faster, but is there a particular reason to stay away from the white amps? That's all I have in my boat, clarion, jl, and soundstream, all marine amps. I got a good deal on them so I decided to get the marine versions. I use the boat about 90% in the saltwater and thought that maybe the marine amps would last just a little bit longer, guess we'll see.

[spharis]

[QUOTE=talltigeguy;39699]

Low level gives a cleaner signal.

QUOTE]

Spharis,

Not to hijack, (but yes I am hijacking), Most stereo gurus seem to love having a line driver to give a high level input. Please explain what you mean by the low level being cleaner.

I can't say I know a single installer that prefers speaker leads over an RCA.....I would take my money elsewhere. Are you sure they weren't talking about HU output voltage, an inline RCA boost, or maybe amplifier line output level? In lines are not required if you choose the right amplifier and know how to setup the gains correclty. I can't think of any case where I needed to boost my RCA levels pre-amp.

Line inputs on an amp run through an internal converter that take the signal down to a useable level. No sense in doing it if you have the option not to.

Info on RCAs and why they are better....note the shielding which you will not have on a speaker lead.
http://www.bcae1.com/rcacable.htm

Here's some info on line out converters, which an amp will run a speaker lead through, or you will have inline external if using speaker leads. This are generally reserved for situations where RCAs cannot be used (like an OEM head unit).
http://www.bcae1.com/loc.htm