Marine amplifiers vs. car amplifiers

[dsw1204]

I am looking at acquiring a 6-channel amplifier and was considering a JL Audio XD600/6. But, then, I ran across an MBQUART NA540.6 Nautic Amplifier. I am still leaning towards the JL, but I was just wondering: Are there any benefits or disadvantages to putting a marine amplifier in a car?

Click to read more...

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

It don't matter. MB is junk

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Clarion XC6610 is a direct competitor with JL XD600/6. I ran two for a while and they are wonderful. Marine rated means salt and water resistance, plus Clarion considered RF emissions as well in their design.

 

[dsw1204]

One thing I forgot to mention in my OP is that I want to go active with my next amp. I want to keep this as simple as possible (and costs down), so I am trying to do this without a DSP. I am running 2-way comps up front and have two 6x9 full range speakers in back. Not going to run a sub, at least not at this time. I will need an amp that has crossover abilities to cross the tweeters. The JL, I now find, does not have that ability. Neither does the Clarion XC6610. I do find that that MB Quart NA540.6 does. The only problem I now have with the MB Quart is that (other than the crossover abilities) it is downgrade from my Arc Audio KS900.6. I am guessing that the overall capabilities and performance of my Arc KS900.6 are greater than the MB Quart. At least, I found an amp that will do what I need it to do...as long as marine amps are every bit as good as car amps (which was my original concern).

 

[porkcereal]

What's wrong with the arc 900.6? Ive got a Kenwood x4r that is capable of a fully active system with built in dsp. Great amp to get into active systems due to time alignment, phase, eq etc. Pm me if it interests you at all, im kinda interested in the arc.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[dsw1204]

The only thing wrong with the KS900.6 is that it won't cross the tweeters. The manual (and any spec sheet you can find) says it will high cross up to 5500 Hz. But, when I looked at the back of the amp, I could only find controls that would go up to 550 Hz. So, I called Arc Audio and talked to a technician. He looked at the diagram and said "Oops, the manual is wrong. It will only cross up to 550 Hz. We will have to make a change in the archives." I said "Wow"! It's been a few years since they discontinued the amp and I am the one who finds this out? I find this hard to believe. But, as it stands and according to Arc Audio, the amp will not crossover the tweeters over 550 Hz. And that makes it useless as a crossover, at least for the tweeters. It's a great amp otherwise. It's by far the best amp I've ever owned, but I've never gone active before. Now, that I want to go active, it looks like I'll need another amp...or go DSP...and I may just do that.

Your Kenwood looks like it can cross the tweeters, at least on paper. I will try and have a look at the actual controls to confirm (remember, my Arc said it would cross at 5500 Hz...but can't). But, that Kenwood amp is only a 4 channel amp. I really would like to have a 6 channel amp.

 

[porkcereal]

Advantage of the Kenwood is that it has the dsp. Perfect for a front active stage. Then run the rears off the head unit.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[porkcereal]

Yeah, in reading the manual i do see where it says 5500 in one spot then 550 in all the others. I've seen a few misprints in their manuals

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[dsw1204]

Advantage of the Kenwood is that it has the dsp. Perfect for a front active stage. Then run the rears off the head unit.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

I can't run the rears off the head unit because my head unit is an Eclipse CD8051, which is a dead-head head unit.

 

[dsw1204]

Yeah, in reading the manual i do see where it says 5500 in one spot then 550 in all the others. I've seen a few misprints in their manuals
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

Yeah, apparently, some manufacturers have a 10x button that magnifies the crossover setting by 10. And, even the tech I talked to thought there was a 10x button on the KS900.6. But, when he checked, he saw that there was no such button. That's when he said the manual was incorrect. I still can't believe it took all these many years for this to be caught. I have to think they knew about this, but, just did nothing about it...kind of disappointing.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

The fact that it's a marine amp certainly wouldn't be a negative. It's just a little more corrosion resistant than a standard car amp. I think they dip the board in epoxy after it's assembled and the power/speaker connections are a little more resistant to corrosion.