Hey guys,

I have a real annoying problem at the moment. I have a set of Boston Z6 speakers and i am running them through a Alpine MRV-F545.

Now, i purchased this amp because i wanted the maximum power to these speakers. Currently i am running them through the first 2 channels only. (ie: amp --> crossovers --> speakers) However, when i bridge the four channels on the amp to a more powerful 2 channels i lose stereo. Meaning when i fade left and right, nothing happens. Well, something does but its only a small change in sound, not balance like it should be.

I have the RCA's running from the Front out (L&R) to RCA splitters which then fill the four RCA ins on the amp. Is this not the way to do it? Is the amp not designed to be bridged to 2 channel? Please explain as i would much appreciate getting stereo sound with the maximum power so my speakers can keep up with the woofers.


I have no idea what im doing really, so take it slow. I appreciate ur help in advance guys. Cheers.

which amp channels are Front-Left plugged into; which amp channels are Front-Right plugged into? which input channel is selected?

Front left RCA -----> Split ----> Chn 1/Chn3
Front Right RCA --->Split ----> Chn 2/Chn 4

Selected Input Channel ---> Channel 1+3/2+4



Hope that helps.

Try:

Front Left RCA----> Split-----> Chn1/Chn2
Front Right RCA----> Split----> Chn3/Chn4

Input Channel 3/4

Bridge channels 1/2 for front Left spekers, 3/4 for Front right.
I copied your format so it should be easiest for you to understand. This should sort out you Left/Right issues.

the mrv 545 is only supposed to have the rear channels bridged.

more than 125wrms isn't enough for the bostons???

could always run activley the V12 amps are designed to do this very well.

That being the case, ignore my post. I'd assumed it was similar to the previous V-12 amps I've used (MRV-F540).

Hey i just did what you said.. it works sweet now. I didnt think they were supposed to be bridged. The front lhs of the amp gets REALLY hot.. and temp skyrockets. But its only ever shut down once because i was makin my ears bleed one day stretchin its legs...


Can you explain how to run them active? I can use the crossovers to make em bi-active or something? I just want the best sound. Im dynamatting my car next week so let me know if i need to re-run anything..?

Also, any other suggestions? I like it loud and i like gettin it to a point where i surprise myself with the quality of sound..

Maybe i sell my alpine and get a dedicated 2 channel? Round same price mark?

Having never used the boston z6 I forgot they have a 3 ohm nominal impedence, probably not a good idea to run them off a amp stable to 4 ohm bridged (amp will probably get hot/ go into protection).
Looking at the f545 specs on a random website they provide 1 x 500wrms + 1x 125wrms when bridged, so 1 side will get a lot more power than the other.

Personally, with that being the case, I'd look for a different amp.

Try Bi Active. I think that the results will be fairly decent from this.

man....

boston put alot of time into the z crossover, use it, its part of why you pay 2000 for em, going active is IMO only good, on lower range speakers, cos they have crappy thrown together passives, and on components put together from different brand or series of speaker...

bi wire them, and you will get max power from the amp without it heating up, and your speakers will sound great....

i dare say, you could really mess around with the eq( in the wrong way), and they would still sound decent, there just a great speaker.

Ok so when i bi-wire them how do i set that up?
I bridge the two second channels for the woofer and just use channel 1 for the tweeters? or should i bridge 1 AND 2?

How will that change RCA setup and input channel?

Also, i have no idea how to tune bi-amped setup. I used a tuning guide from this forum but im not sure if it had anything on Bi-Amp tuning. Could someone please link me this?


]Cheers for the hand guys, i'm pumped about getting the most out of these speakers..

Your Crossovers have a switch in them, for bi wire or normal.

In order to bi wire, you need to set that switch to bi wire.

then, on your amplifier, plug both the RCA's into the 1+2 Channel, set the amplifier to accept signal from 1+2 only, to spread to the 3+4 channels also.

IE: so you input 1+2 and it outputs on all 4 channels.

Next connect the rear channels to the Midbass input on your Z6 Crossover, and the Front channels to the Tweeter/High input on your Z6 crossover.

it's very simple to work out if you just look at them.

This will give you the opportunity to tweek the Volumes of the Midbass/tweeter by tuning the gains up/down on the amp IE: front is tweeters, rear is midbass.

This would be the optimal setting IMO.
The amp is stable to 2 ohm in stereo, so you running at 3 ohm, you'll be getting well more than your claimed 125W per channel. Dynamically the Z6 can handle masses of power, but realistically you would never require or reach the said high power rating of this speaker and 100W RMS should be more than enough, unless these speakers are horrifically inefficent.

If your amp cannot be set to accept 1 pair of inputs, to output all 4 channels, you will need to get some RCA Splitters.

An interesting thing to consider with your Boston Z6's, regardless that they cost $2000 RRP here,
at the end of the day, they are only $500 USD Speakers, Designed to compete with Alpine Flagship DD Linears, Focal K2p, DLS Ultimates ect. So they should be expected to perform in the 1k AUD range here, not the 2K range!! A quick look at there build quality, specifications and design puts them in this lower range also.

Juls

Does anybody know how to do this on the F545? Is it 1+3/2+4 switch or simply flick it to 3/4?

All this help is appreciated. I just ran new wire today for the bi-amp setup so hopefully i can get it all running tomorrow.

it should be 1/2

Ok awesome, i have it all bi-wired up. I have printed off marcs tuning guide. Ie: start with front turn gains all the way down etc..

I just have two more questions. Because i now have the fronts bi-wired, does that mean i put the tweeters on HP on the amp and put the mids to OFF? or do i still leave them as Hi-Pass?

Secondly, in saying that you turn the gain up until the speakers distort, i have them VERY loud so far with no distortion with a bit to go as far as i can see, but thhere is a light in the Z6 crossover that is lighting up like crazy at high volumes. I am scared to keep going. Is this a circuit protector and should i be bothered by it?

Any suggestion also on how to tune the splits if they are bi-amped? I am following the tuning article but assume it is for generically wired splits. Is there tricks? I know i now have more possibilities, but also more oppurtunities to go wrong.


Thanks for all the help. Excited to hear this baby properly tuned.


Thanks again.

Hey Kaniff,

I had the same setup as you about two months ago.
I bi wired the Z6 using the factory crossover from the F545 and had it setup as you do above and tuned correctly they sound absolutely awesome. It will be hard to tune the Z6's as above as you need massive amounts of power to make them distort, your ears will bleed before you get enough power out of the amp to make the speakers distort.

Ant