Sperate Amp and Volume Control for Tower Speakers

All,

Currently have a Sony CDX M30 head unit and a 4 channel amp (trying to remember brand / model as it was in the boat when I purchased it) that is driving 6 Polk in-boat speakers (two in the bow seating area and 4 in the stern area). Sounds "okay" but nothing to write home about.....

Purchased two Aerial Tower Cans with Polk speakers (60w continuous / 180w peak). I want to drive these speakers off of a separate amp and control the volume independent of the in-boat speakers.

Here are my questions:

1. Can I jsut "spilt" the signal going to the origanl amp to get input to the tower amp?
2. Is there a amp out there that has a remote volume control or do I need to wire one in-line (ie: "L" pad style)?
3. Any other suggestions....

Thanks...

PS: May add another two tower speakers if this does not do the trick....

I am doing the same thing this weekend. I am using a kicker zxmrlc. It is a 2 line controller and cand be used with any amp. Others have used pac-lc a single line controller. And many have used a eq to control that function and even eliminated the head unit. I went with the kicker beacuse it was dual control and cost compared to the eq. Also the kicker increases input voltage while the pac-lc just reduces input voltage. If you do not decide by the time i finish i can update u on how it works out.

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Add another 2 tower speakers, another amp and a wetsounds 420sq. You'll be all set.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by dmcgilli

All,

Currently have a Sony CDX M30 head unit and a 4 channel amp (trying to remember brand / model as it was in the boat when I purchased it) that is driving 6 Polk in-boat speakers (two in the bow seating area and 4 in the stern area). Sounds "okay" but nothing to write home about.....

Purchased two Aerial Tower Cans with Polk speakers (60w continuous / 180w peak). I want to drive these speakers off of a separate amp and control the volume independent of the in-boat speakers.

Here are my questions:

1. Can I jsut "spilt" the signal going to the origanl amp to get input to the tower amp?
2. Is there a amp out there that has a remote volume control or do I need to wire one in-line (ie: "L" pad style)?
3. Any other suggestions....

Thanks...

PS: May add another two tower speakers if this does not do the trick....

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Most of the JL Audio amplifiers have a port for a remote level control. The multi-channel amplifiers will often have this feature configurable so that the controller can operate all channels or just select channels. Unlike a passive controller you will not need to extend the signal path via RCA cables in order to obtain the function. So check out the JL Audio XD amplifiers. These are great sounding btw and are very conservatively rated.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dmcgilli

All,

Currently have a Sony CDX M30 head unit and a 4 channel amp (trying to remember brand / model as it was in the boat when I purchased it) that is driving 6 Polk in-boat speakers (two in the bow seating area and 4 in the stern area). Sounds "okay" but nothing to write home about.....

Purchased two Aerial Tower Cans with Polk speakers (60w continuous / 180w peak). I want to drive these speakers off of a separate amp and control the volume independent of the in-boat speakers.

Here are my questions:

1. Can I jsut "spilt" the signal going to the origanl amp to get input to the tower amp?
2. Is there a amp out there that has a remote volume control or do I need to wire one in-line (ie: "L" pad style)?
3. Any other suggestions....

Thanks...

PS: May add another two tower speakers if this does not do the trick....

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1) I bet the M30 head-unit has a front and rear RCA outputs, so no need to split a single set. Run the front to the in-boat amp and rear to the tower amp. Fade would allow you to go between the in-boats and tower, but it can be cumbersome on some head-units.
2) Some JL amps as David noted
3) The Kicker ZXM-RLC offers 2 zone independent control plus a 9 volt per chnl line level driver. The controllers can be surface mounted or removed from their housing and panel mounted. They also utilize a data cable between the control unit and the knobs, so no long RCA cable runs.

Most of our customer actually want the ability to turn the in-boats down, while the having the tower speakers up for their rider in tow. At a minimum, a simple line level POT like the LC-1 is effective.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by David Analog

Most of the JL Audio amplifiers have a port for a remote level control. The multi-channel amplifiers will often have this feature configurable so that the controller can operate all channels or just select channels. Unlike a passive controller you will not need to extend the signal path via RCA cables in order to obtain the function. So check out the JL Audio XD amplifiers. These are great sounding btw and are very conservatively rated.

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I just did this with my system. Works perfectly for me. I installed the JL remote on the dash and it looks great. It's only a knob and is connected via a standard phone line. I'm running 2 JL XD series amps. I have my in-boat speakers connected to one of the amps and my tower and sub connected to the other. I was able to use one of those phone line splicers to run phone lines to both amps and control both with the one remote. It allows a configuration where I can turn down the in-boats and sub while leaving the tower speakers up for listening while riding.

It's a really slick application.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slicks

I just did this with my system. Works perfectly for me. I installed the JL remote on the dash and it looks great. It's only a knob and is connected via a standard phone line. I'm running 2 JL XD series amps. I have my in-boat speakers connected to one of the amps and my tower and sub connected to the other. I was able to use one of those phone line splicers to run phone lines to both amps and control both with the one remote. It allows a configuration where I can turn down the in-boats and sub while leaving the tower speakers up for listening while riding.

It's a really slick application.

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To set this up cost me approx $40

$35 for the remote and 3.49 for the phone splicer. I used an extra phone line I had laying around.