Wiring advice for new speakers and amp

[Brody2012]

I just purchased 4 JL Audio 6.5 inch M6 Speakers paired with JL audio M600/6 600 watt amp. I plan on adding a sub as well later on. My question is do I need to wire each speaker to its on channel or what?

 

[yjander]

I just purchased 4 JL Audio 6.5 inch M6 Speakers paired with JL audio M600/6 600 watt amp. I plan on adding a sub as well later on. My question is do I need to wire each speaker to its on channel or what?

Yes each speaker gets its own channel for maximum performance. I ran new speaker wires. Have the same amp and I like it.

 

[212s]

@Brody2012 As mentioned, ideally you should run each speaker on it's own channel, but you can parallel with that amp and bridge two channels for the sub. Depends on what you want to achieve. The bigger M6 speakers really should have a solid 75w pushing each one, so the M800/8 for 6 speakers plus the last 2 bridged for a sub is the way to go for max output. Or the M600/6 running all 6 and another amp to push the sub.

If max output is not your goal, the single M600/6 can run 4 speakers in parallel at 50w per speaker, 2 speakers at 75w, and the sub bridged at 200w.

 

[Brody2012]

Thanks for your response. I plan on installing this weekend so I may run into a few more questions. But you are right I should have went with the 8 channel amp. The JL 8 channel seems to be out of stock everywhere right now. I wont need the two extra channels until I add tower speakers which I am not sure when I will do that. I guess when the time comes I can just add the JL 2 channel amp.


I've never messed with stereo equipment before so I hope this goes smooth. The guy I bought the boat from upgraded the head unit from a Clarion M502 to M505 I believe.

 

[212s]

Thanks for your response. I plan on installing this weekend so I may run into a few more questions. But you are right I should have went with the 8 channel amp. The JL 8 channel seems to be out of stock everywhere right now. I wont need the two extra channels until I add tower speakers which I am not sure when I will do that. I guess when the time comes I can just add the JL 2 channel amp.

Sorry I was thinking you had six speakers, not four. So the M600/6 should work well for what you have now with each speaker on its own channel and leaves you 2 channels for sub or towers. Though if you want to pump the towers, you may want to double that power or more so another amp may be in your future...depends what you want to achieve.

I've never messed with stereo equipment before so I hope this goes smooth. The guy I bought the boat from upgraded the head unit from a Clarion M502 to M505 I believe.

It's all pretty easy really...google for some info about speaker and amplifier wiring in cars and you should be fine. Two critical things are thick power wires for the amp so it gets the juice it needs (probably 4awg size), and +/- wiring must match on all the speakers so they are all in-phase. If you reverse the wires on a speaker or two it won't hurt anything, but your system will sound flat and lack bass output. A friend did that years ago in his pickup and said his new system sucked until I played with the balance/fader and realized he flipped a few wires around. About 5 minutes later - boom, great sound. Just take your time and label your wires with masking/painters tape and a pen one at a time. Also make sure you put an ANL fuse in the positive power line for the amp...ANL fuses are ignition protected for safety and will protect your boat's wiring if something goes wrong or the amp shorts, gets damaged, etc.

 

[Brody2012]

Ok got everything installed speakers sound AMAZING. Huge upgrade. My question is when I adjust the gain for the four speakers there is audible sound that tells me that I’m changing something. But on the sub nothing happens. Only way I can get the sub to change is if I turn the gain up or down on the receiver. Not sure. Any one ran into this?