Tower speaker amp suggestions?
 

Have 4x skylon vector8 tower speakers on our mb tomcat running into a kicker 4 channel 400 watt amp. Pretty much when anyone is surfing or wakeboarding no one can hear the music coming out of the speakers. Don’t get me wrong they are loud, but not when your 40+ feet behind a running boat. I originally installed a wet sounds ws-420 which helped in preventing the in boat speakers from crackling and what not, still though just seems like Im not getting enough sound of of these tower speakers. Would really like to hear them better for the towed rider.

Boat also has the factory wetsounds 6 channel amp that powers in boat speakers and baby sub. Also have a JL-1000 powering a 13.5 w7 sub.

Bought the boat from dealer with the crappy kicker amp, really want to know if adding a larger amp would improve volume dramatically. Also any amp suggestions as there are a sea of them out there would be very much appreciated.

In my opinion one of the best stereo upgrades you could do is add a fresh air exhaust.
you will be amazed at how much better you can hear your tower speakers once you have an FAE on there.

As for amp suggestions I would recommend either a pair of Wetsounds Syn 2's, or a single SD 2, or an Arc KS 600.2

I sampled those speakers and I thought that the treble wasn't quite aggressive enough for projection at wake range, which was a bit of a surprise for an HLCD. Overall I liked them but felt they were more of a surf range speaker, simply based on how they were voiced. It is a trade-off that every tower speaker must make, near proximity listening versus long range projection.
Nothing wrong with a Kicker amplifier but 400 total watts to drive four 8-inch HLCDs is way too lite, especially since a four channel isn't fully optimized for four 4-ohm tower speakers. You may not be getting close to the full 400 watts.
I like all the amplifiers suggested above. I might add to the list the JL Audio HD750/1 or the JL Audio XD800/8.

Hmm I have heard of the FAE before however I was under the impression that it dramatically hurt top end performance. As I usually have our boat fully loaded down Id really not like to impair performance. Although to be honest Im not really sure. Has it affected your boats top end? We only have a indmar 350hp and that things seems to struggle when were fully loaded down.

As I didnt have much say in what was installed I really have nothing to compare it against. They just seemed dramatically under-powered to me. Thanks for the info though.

They're definitely very underpowered.

No intimate knowledge of their actual power handling, so based on whats advertised. The Arc KS-600.2 or Wet Sounds SD-2. A more conservative amp would be the Syn-2 or KS300.2.

According to skylons website its 300 watts continuous, 250 RMS and 1000 peak 4ohms. Both the syn2 and arc600 dont seem strong enough. Or am I supposed to add two of them? Id really prefer one larger amp as room is pretty tight with the JL 1k amp and wetsounds amp. However if two is necessary I will figure it out.

It is hard to compare power specs from brand to brand, especially with no real qualifications. Maybe their amplifier specs are liberal so their speaker power handling specs are rated the same, or the inverse. Maybe they never really did a lot of thermal testing and they choose a number that they feel place them in a more competitive position. Maybe that's based on reaching a temperature threshold after 5 seconds or 5 minutes at that power level. Point is....you never really know. But based on the size of the midbass voice coil I would assume they handle a lot of power. If you have an honest 250 watts per each speaker with a 14.4V supply or 185 watts per with a 12.6V supply then I would say you are getting everything those speakers have to offer, similar to what I would say with any other good 8-inch HLCD.

Ive heard that they are conservative. However my current amp isnt making very much power. Currently have a kicker KX400 which is rated to 50watts per channel which seems terribly small. Want to know what amp I would need to take full advantage of the horns.

John,

either the KS600.2 or the SD2 would ROCK those tower speakers!!
You would only need 1 of either of those amps for your application. the KS is rated at 600 watts to each channel @ 2 ohms, the SD is rated at 620 Watts/channel @ 2 ohms. you would basically wire two speakers in parallel to each channel giving you a 2 ohm load for 300 watts per can.

As for the FAE, some have felt there is a slight impact to performance (and they may be right) but it is pretty minimal. On my boat I maybe lost 1 to 2 MPH off the top end, but I'm not really worried about going fast. with the right prop you can certainly get the holeshot and pull you need.

I know you have been over on the MB forum before. search FAE and you will find several discussions on the topic from other MB owners or within this forum from many other brand boat owners.

Personally, I will NEVER have another boat without an FAE on it. Best stereo upgrade you can make

The KS600.2 and the SD-2 would both deliver 300W rms to each pod. Thats what the manufacture has stated, which is what ive based my info on. Some "manufacturers overstate the amp output and will thus put a number on the speaker that matches the amps. Going by this when paring their speaker with a different amp brand, you could possibly end up with way more thermal power.

SO, without knowing more about them other whats whats on the surface, the Syn-2 and KS300.2 would be a good choice with respectable wattage. This is based on these amps on other 8" speakers.

I'm with Mike an Russ.

I roll with a KS600.2 on my 4 WS Rev 10s and they are fantastic! 300WRMS seems to be the magic number for most 8-10" HLCDs... You will be stupendously stoked with the results!

I have those exact speakers with a rockford fosgate P1000x2. I have 4 speakers, two speakers wired in parallel to each channel. Rockford amps are rated very conservatively. The amp build sheet that came in the box said it was tested at 1375 watts, and 687 per channel @ 2ohm.

Those speakers are insane loud with that power. You can hear them loud and clear at 85' back and beyond.

Your kicker amp right now is only giving them 50w each, you only get the full 400w on that amp while running 2ohm. Long story short, that amp is way underpowered.

Quick question before we have you buying a $500 amp.

I re-read your OP and you said (4) vector 8" speakers but you didn't say they were HLCD's or not.

With that small of an amp I am almost thinking you have the in-boat coaxial speakers in tower pods. Please validate what you have on that tower!

Skylon vectors are 8" HLCD.

Go read the website again. They advertise 2 different 8" models: a Vector 8" HLCD and a vector 8" in-boat speaker.

I think it is very possible to see an 8" in-boat speaker be placed in a pod and given only 50w. The OP simply needs to spend 5 minutes to verify before we have him spend $500 on an amp that won't get him where he wants to be...

I have FAE & I swear I lost 1-2 mph on top & the RPM's run a tad higher. But I have zero issues with hole shot fully weighted. Every boat I own in the future will have FAE, the noise reduction is worth it alone. I used to think my end of day headaches were the sun, loud music & 3 beers, since FAE I realized it was CO2 since I no longer feel like crap at the end of the day

Skylon suggested the rockford fosgate amp as well. Curious how that compares to the arc and wetsounds syn mentioned earlier. They all seem to be at the same pricepoint. The arc seems a little dodgy as Ive never heard of them, and their website doesnt really say much and seems pretty poor (I know cant judge a book by its cover)

Sorry I should have stated they are the HLCD variation.

Rockford has been around long before wet sounds so their amps are probably a little more refined. I know mine has a couple LED lights that sense clipping allowing you to set your gains super easily. The sound quality may be a little better, not that it really matters in a boat anyway.

For the speakers though, I wouldn't be anything less than 1000w rms. you'll be blown away and what your missing out on.

I stand corrected from my previous statement about the price of the rockford being the same as the wetsounds and arc. The p1000x2 is only around 400 which is more than half price cheaper than the other two. Are you saying that I just need one of these for all four speakers? Or would I need two?

No you only need one. You would run two speakers, positive to positive, negative to negative, to one channel on the amp. It would probably be best to upgrade the power wires to 4awg if you don't already have that.

A authorized retailer sells the p1000x2 amp for $600. The power series 1000w 4ch amp is at $1000. FYI, when spending that much on an amp, I would go through an authorized dealer. Otherwise you'll be SOL if you need to get it warrantied.

brand new syn4 in the box that Im selling. I sold my boat before I had a chance to install. Also have a Pr of Rev8s with swivel mounts... all still in the box.
If anyone is interested please Email me at nautiwakes@yahoo.com

Just contacted rockford fosgate and they said that the two retailers that I wanted to purchase it from are not authorized dealers and therefore the amps would not come with a warranty. However they did tell me that I could purchase from those retailers and if I used an american express it would automatically give me a one year warranty. Im all for purchasing from an authorized dealer, but at twice the cost its just not worth it to me. Thanksfully I do have an american express

"Dont leave home without it"

Exile 30.2 would be another good one to consider.