Wet Sounds WS-420 Question?
As a fairly inexperienced stereo person who purchased a used boat that was already loaded with a IMHO very good sound system I was wondering what it would take to install a WS-420. Do the interior speakers need to be amped to be controlled through the eq or is there another way to control them through the eq or just something I don’t understand with how the ws420 all works. I know you can control the boat and tower speakers separately however, can you still control the volume normally or should you only use the eq to control the volume once installed? Any explanation would be appreciated.
I want a MAGIC KNOB!!!!!!! WHOA!
Sorry guys, as I have not had much time lately to chime in on here.
Here's some input for everyone in very plain terms. It sometimes surprises me how people can get confused by all this. The very first thing I'll say is there is no MAGIC KNOB that fixes every audio problem. Keep this in mind while going over this.
The PAK-LC1 is a very simple and effective tool. In short its a knob that is continuously variable style potentiometer that the captain uses to very the entire audio signal passing thru it. In the real world you'll see this on boats tied into the bass amplifier - to blend the sub overall level or the tower amplifier to reduce volume when a rider is down, etc... as mike mentioned it goes in line with your amplifier and its an easy setup. Only downside is you often times have to run a long rca cable to the helm mounting location. It's not a great thing to be running the low voltage signal around the boat.
Remote bass knobs - are an entirely different thing. Several mfgs offer an addon knob that looks quite like one of those LC1's but work entirely different. Some boost the bass region of an amplifiers output. On the Exile gear, we use a "twinT" filter circuit that allows the captain to adjust amplifier output across a narrow range of the bass audio spectrum. We do this because we want the amplifier to focus the output energy. This saves power and doesnt make the amplifier work to reproduce un-needed audio frequency. As a side note, amplifier's with built in subsonic filtering do this much the same way. It's really great because all the energy below the port frequency is wasted. Why make the amp work so hard if you dont have to, right?
Line Drivers - Dont really have remote knobs but play a role here because they sometimes are included in other devices I'll mention in a moment. The bottom line here is they are going to boost up the output of a headunit. Unfortunately, many mfg's are liars when they spec their gear. You really have two choices, buy a headunit that is known to be worthy---kenwood,clarion, alpine marine source units, or keep the unit you have and stick on a line driver. often times i see guys asking me about the biggest meanest amplifier we make and I have to tell them, "hey, start with your headunit bro, or your wasting your money". Liine drivers are pretty cost effect and can be found in 2/3/6 channel versions pretty easily.
WS420 - My take is its a great device that offers features that sometimes people try to piece together. It's got the line drivers I mentioned, built in EQ's controls and the ability to talk on a remote mic. It will operate like those LC's in every sense but offers a lot more! I think they want 300 or so for it.
Exile Harpoon - The amp has to very specific knobs built into the amp itself. First a full range level control. Works like those LC's but you dont have to fly RCA's around your boat. It controls the amplifiers input stage sensitivity, allowing you to reduce, blend or shut off all the way the output. I think JL might also offer a full range feature like this as well. The second feature is a unique "marine audio" first. It's called throttle box and it lets the user shape the sound of HLCD's. It doesn't do this with equalization. It uses the inherent HLCD characteristics to map specific audio output goals - CLOSE / NEAR / FAR. It's done with a remote that is continuously variable. Meaning you can make slight adjustments or dramatic ones. Only point that Mike got wrong is that other companies wont be following suit.... We've applied for a patent on this design. It's special and only available in the Harpoon amplifier.
The bottom line here is that all the items mentioned above are tools for your audio system. When your system grows into a multi amplifier setup, its time to look at these items to help your system reach its full potential.
Hope this helps.
-Brian
Exile Audio
