WS-420 help

Howdy guys. I'm having some issues with my newly installed WS-420. I have it installed with 2 amps (1 for boat speakers - 6 ws-650's and 1 amp for the tower - 2 Pro 485's). I took out the factory sub to replace it so there is no sub or amp connected right now. I'm using the same amps as before. I have 6 polk in boat speakers though before. in boat amp is the stock clarion amp 4/3/2 480m or something and the tower speakers amp is a Cadence ZRS-3002.

For some reason, after tuning the WS-420 accordingly to the manual, my stereo is not near as loud as it was before and it even went down in volume since I tuned it on land and then had it on the lake. anyone had any experience with losing volume level with one of these?

I can think of 2 things that might be affecting the fact that I can't get the stereo as loud.

1. I tuned the WS-420 with the radio settings flat and I had previously been running the stereo with the head unit bass on -2 or -3 so it would go up louder without bassing out my inboat speakers.

2. I have the power, ground, and remote wires from the WS-420 running into the power, ground and remote slots on my tower speaker amp so they are both pulling power from my 4 gauge power wire, ground wire, etc. from the battery.

anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

also, i have the settings on the WS-420 (bass, midbass, treble, etc.) set at ZERO. I should probably just give Wetsounds a call, but I figured I'd check here first.

Did you remember to turn the head-unit volume up? What head-unit?

Bassing-out the in-boats can be cured by turning up the x-over frequency a little on the in-boat amp and having it on "Hi-Pass"

The WS-420 will not pull down the voltage to the tower amp.

the head unit is a CMD 5 Clarion. i have the amps on Hi Pass. I had the head unit turned to 85% or so of the max volume while tuning the WS-420. and then i turned the gain up until it was distorted and then backed it down some.

tro,

the WS-420 is a line driver so it boosts the voltage from your deck to the amps resulting in more signal so more volume. The 85% is a guide and not a rule. Sounds like you just might not have the settings where they need to be.

Go back and play with it some, take the deck up to almost max. 90% or 95%. Some decks do not start putting out a lot of voltage to you are at the end of the line but some also put out a lot of distortion.

Then re tune the amps. If you get stuck, call the office and speak with Gyver

Tim
Wet Sounds

Hey tro, do you have a nautique? i have a 220 and want to do the same. i have the 485's but i want to upgrade to the 650's. what mod did you have to do?

Originally Posted by tro

the head unit is a CMD 5 Clarion. i have the amps on Hi Pass. I had the head unit turned to 85% or so of the max volume while tuning the WS-420. and then i turned the gain up until it was distorted and then backed it down some.

What set of Pre-outs are you using between the head-unit and WS-420? If using the purple Non-Fade, then check the sensitivity setting as it is adjustable. If the h/u is powered down, I think it defaults back to low.

Try turning the ws eq settings up from the lowest setting. With them at the lowest setting on mine, the volume was muted. when I took them near the middle the volume was great.

Tim: thanks, I will try that this week. I appreciate the help. You guys rock!

John: yes, I have a 2008 SANTE 230. I didn't have to do any mods to add the 650's. the new XS 650's were the size as my Polk speakers. I just cut off the Polk cross overs and wired the 650's up. the only thing i had to do was use different holes for the screws because the placement is different than the polk housing, but that only required drilling a real small pilot hole and then screwing the screws in through the speakers.

TigeMike: yah, I'm 99.9% positive I'm using the purple Non-Fade pre-outs. I'll have to go back and look at the manual for the CMD5, I didn't realize it had a sensitivity setting. Thanks.

Dax: I might have misspoke. They are currently straight up and down, so right in the middle, the volume is loud, just not as loud as I'd like.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'm guessing then, that having the power, ground, remote wire from the WS-420 running through the same power wire as the tower amp isn't the issue. I'll check the rest.