MJBoater

Have a 38 Fountain Lightning. In cockpit, 2 rear installed M770 up high (cut new holes and installed) and 2 M770 down lower at factory level in driver/passenger location in front. Also have 2 JL M10 IB5 subs mounted under the back seats. Currently using a JL m1000 5v2 amp

Would I hear a difference changing the am out to a MHD900/5? or to go with a Wetsounds SD6?

The subs are loud and pounding..almost too much, have to turn them down. But I feel a little lacking in the M770s. Wondering if more power would help. Thinking I might sell the JL M1000 5v2. Installing another amp and then paying to have someone wire it to the rear would be costly and maybe an overkill... not sure

Ideally, would have put 8.8 down low upfront and cutout M770s up high, and installed anther amp, but budget was an issue at the time and still is.

Morton38

What Headunit are you running? Does it have a Front/Rear/Sub output? Or just Front Rear? Have you tried readjusting the settings on your Headunit or Amp? A lot of times the "lack of sound" is just a simple issue like that and can make a big difference.... Plus would save you a lot of money. You have great equipment and a great amp so You wouldn't gain a lot changing up amps from where your at now.

pstorti

For sure they 770's can take more power, 75w isn't much. I have 2 SD6's in my boat and they are great, tons of power and easy to configure in multiple ways. I think you will hear a big change going to an SD6, I think an MHD900/5 is kind of a sideways move.

You can run each of the 6 drivers on one channel of the SD6 and give the 185w each, which is a little to much for the 770's and enough for the 10's but they can handle more.

or

Bridge channels 1&2 and 3&4 for the two subs and adjust the gains so you don't cook the subs with 585w, and run channels 5&6 at 2 ohms to give each 770 145w, I think that would be the best setup. (you could swap the 10's for the new JL 12's if you wanted some blurred vision )

jstrahn

I know you said one amp solution but if it were me, I'd keep the M1000/5. Bridge the front 4 channels to one set of the 770s. Then purchase a M400/4 and bridge it to the other set of 770s. That would give you 200 rms per 770 which is just over JL's 175 watt rms rating for the 770s. They would do just fine with 200 watts. Your subs would still be getting 300 rms apiece as they are now.

Edit: and as JL rates their amps at 14.4 volts, you probably wouldn't even be getting over 175 rms as your boat probably doesn't charge at 14.4 even when running.

MJBoater

To answer the question on which head unit I am using.... Its the headunit that came with the boat. Its a Kenwood KTS 300 MR. Would this make a difference to change this??

I am using my Samsung Note 4 w/Poweramp version 703. Hi-Res output UHQA PCM, 192 sample rate output. I could also use a FiiO E12 headphone amp to increase the output going to the headunit.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-xgLmcjO...KTS-300MR.html

jstrahn

You likely wouldn't get much improvement out of changing the head unit. That unit, while a bit older, has 3 sets of 2 volt preouts and a high S/N ratio. If it does what you need it to do, no reason to switch it out in my opinion. You just need to feed more power to your full range speakers and I think you'll see a big improvement.

jonyb

The SD6 is a solid choice

Morton38

Headunit Is pretty old. And doesn't allow you to set bass vs sub settings. I'd vouch for an upto date Headunit you can personally adjust each setting on. Then maybe turn up the mid/ high amps a little while keeping the low end frequencies tuned out. Not only will you notice a major gain in your mids/highs..... You won't spend $400-600 finding it.

Your best sound doesn't come from having the best equipment! It's all about installation and settings

Tinkerer

Does your amp have adjustable frequency bypasses? Since you have subs there is no reason to send low bass to the 770's. This should allow you to turn the gain up on the 770's for more volume.

MJBoater

How about installing 2 more pairs of 770 and wire off of the existing speakers.. run them in 2ohm vs. 4 ohm? (run them in parallel or in series). Put them up high vs. down low where the fronts are now.