Tower Issues

[NCSUmoomba]

I second pretty much what everyone else said with a small addition. When I bought my Monster Tower cans with the Polk DB650's, they recommended at least 100w per speaker, even though they are rated for like 60 w RMS or something like that. So I bought a RF Punch 400.2 (I think it is) and I have my 4 speakers wired in parallel off the two channels so the amp is seeing a 2 ohm stereo load and each speaker is getting 100w RMS. It is pretty loud and you can it hear back behind the boat riding, but the whole setup is still sub-optimal to be honest. To get it loud at 70 feet it has to be turned up until it almost distorts, and then it is so lound in the boat, folks ears are almost bleeding.

[philwsailz]

brianpdx - I am going to get the boat hopefully this weekend I think first Im going to do is switch amps then check to make sure I dont have any wires touching the amp or tower itself

philwsails - Yes I took off the black yellow from the stock deck and wired them to the towers amp power/ ground inputs I left the red going through the stock rockers switch. originally I had them going together through a distrubution block but I cant hear whining through the subs so I wired it to the towers amp. I dont hear any whine in the subs probably since the subs are low frequency right?


After I get the kicker amp hooked up Im going to try the rca trick that you both posted


Thanks for the replys guys
I will post up again when I get into my boat to get this figured out Just wanted to get a jump start on this issue cause it was driving me nuts

Do you have a dual battery system in your boat?

If I read right, you moved the head unit's yellow power wire to the amp, but left the red power wire in the console wiring? Moving one without the other can cause the problem you describe... It can happen because your head unit is now potentially/possibly getting its power from two different batteries if you have a dual battery setup, and/or the red power wire is still getting a bunch of noise on it from other items connected to the same power at the helm, and it is at a slightly different voltage potential from the yellow power wire. You need the red wire at the same power source as the yellow wire...


Double-check that or clarify for me; you might have just described the primary reason for your alternator whine...

Phil
Kicker

[mustangairchair]

sounds like you have the wining whan the altanator is charging, this a ground problem or you are running your power wires by you charge wire. if the noise is gone when you unplug the rcas you can run a ground loop icolator on your tower rcas this will stop it and they are prittttttty cheep. you can get them at large sterio shops

[c.rix]

Do you have a dual battery system in your boat?

If I read right, you moved the head unit's yellow power wire to the amp, but left the red power wire in the console wiring? Moving one without the other can cause the problem you describe... It can happen because your head unit is now potentially/possibly getting its power from two different batteries if you have a dual battery setup, and/or the red power wire is still getting a bunch of noise on it from other items connected to the same power at the helm, and it is at a slightly different voltage potential from the yellow power wire. You need the red wire at the same power source as the yellow wire...


Double-check that or clarify for me; you might have just described the primary reason for your alternator whine...

Phil
Kicker

phil my boat only has 1 battery right now

I did get up there and put the new amp in and messed around a bit with it, but didnt have time to wire the red wire to the battery like you mentioned. Its easy enough to do, but I kinda forgot when I was up . I am going to do it next time I go up I will have alot more than 3 hours for everything.

I did check the speakers and they seem ok at low level didnt hear any crackling or anything weird from the tweeters!!! so that's a positive. I looked over the speaker wire where the wires go into the tower and come out they look good not worn at all either...

I pulled the antenna with the radio on and ignition on and it didnt change anything either


One question I kinda had was I am using some AMP 10 pin connectors for the through hull and then into my tower box would those mess up the signal at all ? or probably not?

And if I hook up the red power and the whine is gone which it sounds like a high possibility it will be... Should I run the wire straight to the rocker switch and the straight back to the deck? I want the radio to be switched on and off with the stock rocker

[philwsailz]

phil my boat only has 1 battery right now

I did get up there and put the new amp in and messed around a bit with it, but didnt have time to wire the red wire to the battery like you mentioned. Its easy enough to do, but I kinda forgot when I was up . I am going to do it next time I go up I will have alot more than 3 hours for everything.

I did check the speakers and they seem ok at low level didnt hear any crackling or anything weird from the tweeters!!! so that's a positive. I looked over the speaker wire where the wires go into the tower and come out they look good not worn at all either...

I pulled the antenna with the radio on and ignition on and it didnt change anything either


One question I kinda had was I am using some AMP 10 pin connectors for the through hull and then into my tower box would those mess up the signal at all ? or probably not?

And if I hook up the red power and the whine is gone which it sounds like a high possibility it will be... Should I run the wire straight to the rocker switch and the straight back to the deck? I want the radio to be switched on and off with the stock rocker

Your connector choice for the speakers wiring should not have a negative effect, assuming they are solidly wired.



Yeah, for a rocker switch installation, run a red wire from the amp's +12v power lug, up to the switch, and then to the radio. I have attached a pic showing this. Just to be safe, you want a fuse on that small power wire going from the amp to the switch, as shown.

The picture shows a single wire going to the "front-end" of the switch, with a yellow wire coming off from there; you can disregard that, (hopefully!) as you already have your yellow wire run properly.


I f you have any questions, feel free to holler, via PM or reply. I bet we can get that whine gone, even with that amp.

Phil
Kicker