The recent launch of a luxury yacht outfitted with more than 50,000 watts of Powersoft K Series amplification validates the familiar saying that everything is bigger in Texas.
The 61-ft. Sea Ray 610 Sundancer yacht, owned by Lance Crosby, chairman/CEO of SoftLayer, sports a total of 47 loudspeakers – including a giant subwoofer weighing more than 370 pounds – and generates a sound pressure level equivalent to a rock concert.
Gemini Light Sound & Video of Dallas, TX supplied the Powersoft amplifiers, which are fitted with optional DSP cards. The complement includes nine two-channel K2 models, each generating 2 x 2,600 W into 2 ohms, and a single K6, driving 2 x 3,600 W into 2 ohms, all running off of 240 VAC. The 10 amplifiers in total draw just 24 A.
Chris Taylor, owner of Custom Audio & Video by Chris, designed the boat’s audio system, which was integrated by a team managed by lead installer, Chris Smart. The company, located near the popular Lewisville Lake in North Texas, specializes in audio installations in the home, office, car, boat and RV.
The team took less than three months to complete the project, which not only required the fabrication and fitting of custom fiberglass housings and speaker enclosures but also the installation of an additional 13.5 kW Onan generator – supplied by Mike Terito of Mike’s Mobile Marine – on the boat solely to power the audio equipment.
The Powersoft amplifiers provide power to 34 AudioFormz 10-inch Eminence horn loaded compression drivers and one dozen Kicker Solo-Baric L7 12-inch square subwoofers mounted around the boat’s bridge, upper deck and stern. A single 24-inch square MTX Audio JackHammer subwoofer, which includes a 6.5-inch voice coil, a magnet that weighs over 56 pounds and can handle 4,000 W RMS, is mounted in the stern above the swim deck.
A variety of sound sources are available, including a Sony DSX-310BTX digital media receiver and a Mac Mini computer. The system can also access the internet and accepts any Bluetooth audio input.
According to Chad Cain, system tech at Gemini, a major rental, sales and installation provider of sound, lighting and video equipment, Taylor first saw the Powersoft amps at an open house and was impressed by their efficiency and compact size.
“The power coming from the K2s also matched up quite well with what the components needed to be driven with,” said Cain.
The Gemini team utilized Powersoft’s on-board processing in conjunction with Rational Acoustics’ Smaart analysis software to optimize the boat’s speaker system.
“At full tilt, we’re just tickling the amps – it’s got so much headroom and gain available it’s unreal,” said Cain. “It sounds like a pair of stereo headphones when you’re sitting in the boat.”
With the system cranked up, he said, “It literally sounds like a concert on the water. We measured the sound pressure level behind the boat and it was hitting 115 dB(A) at about 40 feet back.” The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) recommends hearing protection for exposure to levels of 115 dB and above for more than 15 minutes.