Tower speaker upgrade

[jason.briggs]

I am looking to upgrade my tower speakers from the standard 2 kicker cans to a Westsounds 3-some. I have the stock amps; Zx700 running the cabin and sub, and zx350 for the tower.

Just looking at power, it looks like I will need to change out the 350 for this upgrade. Thoughts? any recommendations, or has anybody else completed this upgrade?

[chpthril]

The ideal amp would be the Wet Sounds Syn6 = 200 watts to each Pro80 and 600 watts to the Pro485.

Next best choice would be the Syn4 - 125 watts to the Pro80's and 400 watts to the Pro 485.

[jason.briggs]

What about just changing out the kicker speakers for a pro485? Do you think that would equal what I have already or be better? The I can run my current amp and hold off on the upgrade for a season.

[chpthril]

The ZX350.4 is a 4 chnl amp, and you would only be able to use half the amp and wire a single Pro485 in bridge mode. The most it's going to deliver to a Pro485 is going to be 175W's......far short of what it really likes to see. Tim @ Wet Sounds would have to give his thoughts on how the Pro485 will perform on that low of wattage.

[jason.briggs]

Maybe then I should just swap out my current speakers for a pair of Pro80's. Thoughts? That should get them some decent power to the pro80's until I can upgrade to a Syn 6 with a Pro 485 as well.

[chpthril]

The zx350.4 bridged would be just fine for a set of Pro80's.

[G-MONEY]

Maybe then I should just swap out my current speakers for a pair of Pro80's. Thoughts? That should get them some decent power to the pro80's until I can upgrade to a Syn 6 with a Pro 485 as well.

The zx350.4 bridged would be just fine for a set of Pro80's.

That is you best bet as far as getting new speakers and a new amp.

I single pair of pro 80's will blow away your kicker cans you have right now and you can use the same amp.

[jason.briggs]

Thanks for the info chpthril and G-Money

[Timmy!]

That amp states:#
- RMS Power: 60 Watts x 4 @ 4 Ohm
- RMS Power : 90 Watts x 4 @ 2 Ohm
- RMS Power : 175 Watts x 2 @ 4 Ohm
So you could get 175 x 2 channels. What does the 3 some require?

[chpthril]

That amp states:#
- RMS Power: 60 Watts x 4 @ 4 Ohm
- RMS Power : 90 Watts x 4 @ 2 Ohm
- RMS Power : 175 Watts x 2 @ 4 Ohm
So you could get 175 x 2 channels. What does the 3 some require?

The Pro 80's are rated at 200W's rms, but will perform respectably at less ( I know because I just reconfig's a guys system that is powering his off a 2chnl R/F trickling 80W's to each and they sound ok.) The Pro485 needs 300+ to really wake it up. So, with that amp, he would have 175W's to the 485 bridged on half the amp and 60w's to each Pro80 wired on the other half.

[Timmy!]

Oh, that's right - the 3-Some is pro 80's plus the 485 - I had something different in my head.

[jason.briggs]

Update

Quick update! I just ordered a set of Pro 80's and the WS 420. Thanks for all the advice. I saw a thread somewhere else on how to bridge my zx350.4 by phil. I wasn't sure if I needed to use a Y adapter for the RCA or if the crossover switch would run everything from the Amp 1 input. Thoughts?

Also- Anyone looking to purchase a set of Kicker Tower speakers? PM me if interested. They are in great condition, just upgrading.

[philwsailz]

Jason-

If you want stereo operation, you will want to use two y-cords.

Connec the left RCA cable from the radio to a y-cord and connect both to AMP1 inputs. then take the right RCA, attach a y-cord and connect both ends of that y-cord to AMP2. This allows AMP1 to run a left speaker in bridge mode playing only left-channel information, and will allow AMP2 to run the right spekaer with right-channel information.

The amp will run in bridge mode with both RCA's connected to AMP1 and power all channels, but each amp half is going to play a monaural signal, as the left and right inputs are electrically summed when they are wired up only to AMP1 inputs. Most of us prefer stereo, so use the y-cords and do it as described above.

The crossover switch does not affect inputs as your questions asks; it splits low sounds from high sounds. That allows us to only amplify certain frequency bands rather than a full-range signal. For PRO 80's you want the crossovers set to HIGH PASS for both AMP1 and AMP2. You want to set the crossover frequency higher than 50 Hz I know, but would ask that we check with Tim for his recommendations for crossover point; he is the guy to tell you what will work best with the Pro 80's Tim????

Finally make sure the bass boost knobs for both amp sections are turned totally off...

Hope that helps!

Phil
Kicker

[jason.briggs]

Thanks for the advice Phil, I think my Kicker amp should drive them pretty well and I will go ahead with Y connectors like you mentioned. When I hookup the 420, should I hook the RCA's for the zx700 the same way for the in boats (Y adapter), then plug the RCA's from the 420 sub output directly in to the sub input on the amp as well?

Tim- Any suggestions on the crossover frequency for the tower speakers?

Thanks for all the help Phil.

Jason

[chpthril]

Thanks for the advice Phil, I think my Kicker amp should drive them pretty well and I will go ahead with Y connectors like you mentioned. When I hookup the 420, should I hook the RCA's for the zx700 the same way for the in boats (Y adapter), then plug the RCA's from the 420 sub output directly in to the sub input on the amp as well?

Tim- Any suggestions on the crossover frequency for the tower speakers?

Thanks for all the help Phil.

Jason

80Hz's is a good starting point for the Pro 80's