Audio Gurus needed

[WakeFirst516]

I know this question doesn't pertain to cars specifically but it does pertain to the same audio equipment.

I have some questions about a tower setup for Wakeboarding. Here is my setup so far.

Clarion m455 head unit 17rms x4ch

2x kicker ds65 in boat

2x kicker ds65 towers

Heres where it gets tricky.

I installed two home made tower enclosures in april. They are about 14" x 6.5" round pvc, fully enclosed epoxy, painted, and equipt with alum truss clamps and recessed terminals. In these enclosures I fit ds65 kickers. They sound AWESOME but they dont have the distance I need.

Im looking for something in the 50-80ft range to hear over the jet slosh and charger whine as well as wind. So this brings me to compression drivers. For those of you familiar with tower sets kicker has come out with a pretty kick as set. Kicker KM6500.2 While im not looking to replicate this set completely I want to come close to this as well as other HLCD sets.

Im looking to use a 2" compression driver with my current set. I heard you need to use a crossover otherwise the compression drivers will blow.

What would I need to successfully hookup a HLCD in conjunction with my ds65's? I know I will need an amp..what about crossovers, wire schematic ect...

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[System505 10+ year member]

just get those 6500's, an amp, and be done with it.

 

[WakeFirst516]

Thanks for the help. Not in my nature I am a fabricator as nice as it would be to just get the system and be done with it. As painful as it sounds I actually like dabble with things like this as a hobby to increase my general skill level for future projects.

I was told I can use a Non polar capacitor to protect the compression drivers. Is that all I would need to protect them from failing prematurely?

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

If I recall from back in the day when Image Dynamics HLCD's were the rage, they "appear" as a capacitive load on the amplifier. They don't behave the same way electrically as a speaker does, so you can't use standard passive crossovers to protect them. Fortunately there are amps available nowadays that have hipass filters that extend into the kilohertz range, that would be the safest way to protect them and run them at their recommended frequency range.

Which drivers do you have in mind?

 

[WakeFirst516]

I was thinking something like the TWD80 Pyramid I heard they are the best bang for the buck. Only problem I see with the built in crossover is these compression drivers like to see levels of 1500hz+. I think the crossover on most amps are around 80hz-120hz. Pretty sure they need an external. But not 100% sure if that's the only protection I need.

Someone was saying an inline Crossover before the amp. 2500 high pass. with a 12db/octave. Does that sound like it would work?

I contacted a few manufactures who would know better than them right?

 

[WakeFirst516]

Actually I just got off the line with a pro-audio expert and he steered me towards some selenium 250-x1's. Told be I could use a simple 800hz-5000hz 8ohm bandpass crossover with them after the amp right next to the driver. It would hit most some mids highs and throw the sound more than what I need. He claims he heard these things up to a half mile away.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks fellas

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Sounds like a plan. 8 ohm crossovers are readily available (check Parts Express). But FYI there are amps with hipass filters up to 4500 Hz nowadays for people doing active setups.

 

[WakeFirst516]

Really, didnt know that.

Any marine amps I have seen with built in crossovers are around 80-120/140hz. Know of any? I'll be doing a 4ch 60-100 RMSx4

My issue now is running these drivers with a 4 ohm amp. Would this be a bad Idea how would I get around it?

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

Marine amps.. oh ya, water. Forgot about that part.

You can use any 4 ohm amp with an 8 ohm load, it's just that the power will be half of the 4 ohm spec.