‘18 242 LSE stock speakers adding midship speakers

[Advance]

I came to the conclusion I wasn’t gonna spend what is needed for a retrofit. So please I am not looking for JL and WS upgrades. I’ve bought a pair of Polk DB652’s for midship bc I cannot hear crap driving. Can these midship speakers be connected directly to the Fusion RA70? The current setup has 6 DB652 speakers total. 2 in bow, 2 aft and 2 on swim deck. I’d likely have these new one’s on bow zone. If there seriously isn’t enough power from the HU, what recommendation for an amp to run these 8 speakers. I don’t think the current setup has amp. Does it? Haven’t seen it. Again, looking for fix for the midship lack of hearing issue, not a kickass system. Thanks

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

If the Fusion isn't powering anything else, then yes you can add these to be powered by it. Expect ~17-22watts of power. Not a lot but it will add sound for sure. I'd assume hooking them to front outputs (white/grey) would be part of the bow zone.

Pretty sure thee 242 has an amp, not sure on which model though. On mine it is in the helm against the bow seat inside the helm.

 

[tabbibus]

He has same boat as I do. No amp, unless I've missed it. Possible. haha. The X have amps, I don't think the LSE have one. OP, I want to do exactly what you want, but I may add an amp as well. I also do not want and can't spend the $$$ for JL/WS stuff.

 

[Advance]

Let’s assume there is not amp in LSE. I really don’t think there is. What amp should I get to power all the speakers? I’m assuming the Fusion HU cannot power 8 speakers. And actually it currently powers 6, 6.5” and two 1.5” tweeters on the tower.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I find it hard to believe a headunit alone powers 6 6.5s and two tweeters.

An easy way to test this is unplug the harness from the radio, get a 9v battery and connect the + to the white wire and white/black to negative....if you hear a speaker pop, then no amp, if no pop then you have an amp somewhere.

Anyways what is budget for everything? I can put together an idea for you off that.

 

[Advance]

I find it hard to believe a headunit alone powers 6 6.5s and two tweeters.

An easy way to test this is unplug the harness from the radio, get a 9v battery and connect the + to the white wire and white/black to negative....if you hear a speaker pop, then no amp, if no pop then you have an amp somewhere.

Anyways what is budget for everything? I can put together an idea for you off that.

I don’t mind spending money on an amp if it helps out a bunch. I bet it would. These Polk speakers are extremely average. I’ve spent $80 for the one pair putting into the midship. I have a guy to do the install that’s $95/hour and is working on some other items on the boat. So figure at worst 2 hours. So without an amp, I am looking at around $300 to get those speakers added. I don’t have a budget, only I am no longer willing to spend thousands of dollars for a JL/WS type system. I’d spend up to another $1,000 for an amp/installation. I figured if I did this simple speaker install only with no amp, I could see if it does what I am looking for (hear music from the captains chair while driving). If it doesn’t then go back and add an amp. Believe me, I feel like the minority here on this forum that I won’t spend another $4k-$8k for upgraded speakers. I just cannot justify that. Any recommendation is much appreciated on what to do based on my opinion of a very low cost solution. Thanks!

 

[dzeppos]

Get the amp!
My 2016 242 LS has an installed wetsounds HTX-6 (i installed 3 years ago), and then, a second amp rockford fosgate 1000 watt amp to power the new mid cabin speakers I installed (total of 8 inside now), plus the 8" towers and subwoofer. No regrets. The Polk speakers are decent enough for one extra amp. You will get no additional benefit by adding 2 more speakers unless you do the amp as well. I would also recommend a sub which can be installed mid cabin below your throttle (right below the 2 mid cabin speakers)

 

[JimmyB]

Same boat. Still all stock. No amp that I am aware of. Not ready to splurge on a big upgrade either so I am curious on the outcome. Good luck!

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I think the best solution for mid-cabin to this would be the WetSounds powered soundbar. That is probably $800 with wiring.

However it would be nice to get some power on the current speakers. The problem here comes your zones. If you don't really use your zones, then you can do something like the Fusion SG-DA61500. Fusion Entertainment SG-DA61500 Signature Series 6 Channel Marine Amplifier This is a 6-channel amp, so I would pair two sets of speakers for each channel. That gives you 75 watts per speaker, and leaves open channels 5/6 to add a subwoofer. You can add this free air sub (killer deal) for $110: JL Audio MX10IB3-SG-TB 10-inch Marine Subwoofer Driver Titanium Sport Grilles 4 Ohm, OEM brown box package, Black Badge Only

That puts you at $710 for amp for all speakers and a subwoofer. Probably another ~$150ish in wiring. With install you will come a hair above 1k. You could also do it your self, pretty straight forward.

 

[Advance]

@adrianp89 thanks for the detail. I don’t want to have a sound bar. I like the idea of the amp and sub. That sub is so cheap. Surprised. It’s a good idea and affordable. But, I won’t be installing. I screw things up.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Where are you located?

 

[Advance]

Jacksonville

 

[Shookie]

This all has me thinking...... damn...... gonna get me in trouble with the boss

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Jacksonville

I don’t know any installers there. If you decide you want to take it on your self, we can help you through it.

 

[Advance]

@adrianp89 I do like the zones. Is there an amp that the Fusion HU zones can still work?

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

You can still use the zones, but you would have to decide how you want to split it up. in this scenario it’s pretty much 4 speakers per zone.

 

[212s]

I’ve bought a pair of Polk DB652’s for midship bc I cannot hear crap driving.

Your boat doesn't have an amp, so no surprise you can't hear anything as the Fusion head unit can only pump about 5w/ch of clean power and you need more damping and power to get those speakers pumping.

Can these midship speakers be connected directly to the Fusion RA70?

If you have 8 speakers on the Fusion now in series, adding more speakers will just split the output and reduce volume. You need an amp.

what recommendation for an amp to run these 8 speakers.

Any decent quality marine amp that will handle 2 ohm loads will make a big difference to the stock speakers. But you will need to modify and/or rewire the speakers properly to the amp for proper sound.

My 212s has six of the Polk speakers stock. The stock wiring had the cockpit and swim platform speakers wired in series which cuts the output and volume - sounds poor with no thump. The bow speakers were wired direct and sounded better, but still lacked a lot of oomph. I added a JL Audio MX500/4 and ran new wires to all speakers, putting the bow and cockpit on the "front" zone in parallel and the swim speakers on the "rear" so I can fade them off when driving. With a solid 50+ watts driving them, the Polks really wake up and sound decent. Good enough that I bought another pair to install by the captain and co-captain seats. I'll wire them in parallel to the amp and will have four cockpit speakers on the "front" channel for driving, and the bow/swim on the "rear" for relaxing which I can fade off if I want.

The MX500/4 is overkill but I got it on sale for just a bit more than the 280. The MX280/4 will do just about as good for this scenario and is a solid amp. There's lot of other options out there...I went with the JL because it's compact, has all the tuning features, marine rated, and is a quality amp with lots of reserve power.

You can also search the forums...lots of audio upgrade threads that many have posted similar questions/answers. Have at it!

 

[Shookie]

Hot damn, I got approval to do some mods! Will start another thread.....

 

[Shookie]

Have you put together a parts list yet @Advance ???

 

[Bizywk]

I think the best solution for mid-cabin to this would be the WetSounds powered soundbar. That is probably $800 with wiring.

However it would be nice to get some power on the current speakers. The problem here comes your zones. If you don't really use your zones, then you can do something like the Fusion SG-DA61500. Fusion Entertainment SG-DA61500 Signature Series 6 Channel Marine Amplifier This is a 6-channel amp, so I would pair two sets of speakers for each channel. That gives you 75 watts per speaker, and leaves open channels 5/6 to add a subwoofer. You can add this free air sub (killer deal) for $110: JL Audio MX10IB3-SG-TB 10-inch Marine Subwoofer Driver Titanium Sport Grilles 4 Ohm, OEM brown box package, Black Badge Only

That puts you at $710 for amp for all speakers and a subwoofer. Probably another ~$150ish in wiring. With install you will come a hair above 1k. You could also do it your self, pretty straight forward.

Those subs are discontinued, and few places even have any left. You found a great deal!