2021 Yamaha 195S Audio Upgrades

[mpecoraro]

Yes, another post about audio upgrades. I'm sorry. I think I have read all the audio posts at this point and have a general plan. Thank you to all that have provided such useful information and pics! Looking to take advantage of some week long cyber Monday deals. Would appreciate your opinions and hopefully a thumbs up on my plan below.

I would like to upgrade incrementally, likely over the next couple years. I'm not an audio expert, so I prefer simple to complex. First priority is to improve cabin audio, mainly when boat is in motion. Next is to add bass and add tower speakers for water sports. I added a group 31 house battery last year, so hopefully based on our listening style that will power everything...at least through upgrade 1. Does the following plan sound reasonable? Thank you for your time and opinions!

Current Audio

HU - stock Fusion MS-RA70NSX
Current speakers - stock (2) RECON 5S - bow/zone1
stock (2) RECON 5S - rear/zone2


Audio Upgrade 1 - 2023

Add amp - Wet Sounds HTX-6 (also considering the JL Audio M600/6, should be fine with either?)
Keep current speakers - stock (2) RECON 5S - bow/zone1
Additional speakers - (2) RECON 6S - mid cabin/zone2
Replace speakers - stock (2) RECON 5S with (2) RECON 6S - rear cabin/zone2

Drive all speakers (bow, mid, rear) using HTX-6.

Alternate plan: Drive bow speakers using HU and mid/rear cabin speakers using HTX-4?

I like the simplicity of using the HTX-6 (and I assume the speakers would prefer the extra power), but if the HTX-6 is overkill then I will consider the alternate plan.


Audio Upgrade 2 - 2024

Add Sub - TBD
Add amp (or sub's built-in amp)


Audio Upgrade 3 - 2024

Add Tower speakers - TBD
Add amp - TBD

EQ? - 3 zones - bow, mid/rear cabin, tower

 

[mpecoraro]

I may have jumped into this too quickly. Looking into it more, and doing the math, it appears I'll overpower those speakers with those amps. Although I thought I read that others are having success with the Recon 5S or 6S with those amps. I'm going to take a step back and look at some other options...and more of your posts.

Thanks again for all the valuable information that you share on these forums!

 

[212s]

Audio Upgrade 1 - 2023

Add amp - Wet Sounds HTX-6 (also considering the JL Audio M600/6, should be fine with either?)
Drive all speakers (bow, mid, rear) using HTX-6.

No you're on the right path here...I'd use either the HTX-6 or the JL M600/6 - both amps will drive your speakers well, pick whatever works for you. Do not use the head unit for the bow speakers, the head unit can push maybe 5w/ch of clean power - you want an amp pushing all your speakers to get them pumping. I believe the 5s can handle a good 75w input without issue...it's always better to slightly over-power your speakers than under-power them to avoid clipping distortion at high levels which destroys voicecoils. Most speakers are blown by too little power, rather than too much.

Come back again when you're ready to look at subs and tower speakers. We'll help spend your money wisely.

 

[kgower]

Yes, another post about audio upgrades. I'm sorry. I think I have read all the audio posts at this point and have a general plan. Thank you to all that have provided such useful information and pics! Looking to take advantage of some week long cyber Monday deals. Would appreciate your opinions and hopefully a thumbs up on my plan below.

I would like to upgrade incrementally, likely over the next couple years. I'm not an audio expert, so I prefer simple to complex. First priority is to improve cabin audio, mainly when boat is in motion. Next is to add bass and add tower speakers for water sports. I added a group 31 house battery last year, so hopefully based on our listening style that will power everything...at least through upgrade 1. Does the following plan sound reasonable? Thank you for your time and opinions!

Current Audio

HU - stock Fusion MS-RA70NSX
Current speakers - stock (2) RECON 5S - bow/zone1
stock (2) RECON 5S - rear/zone2


Audio Upgrade 1 - 2023

Add amp - Wet Sounds HTX-6 (also considering the JL Audio M600/6, should be fine with either?)
Keep current speakers - stock (2) RECON 5S - bow/zone1
Additional speakers - (2) RECON 6S - mid cabin/zone2
Replace speakers - stock (2) RECON 5S with (2) RECON 6S - rear cabin/zone2

Drive all speakers (bow, mid, rear) using HTX-6.

Alternate plan: Drive bow speakers using HU and mid/rear cabin speakers using HTX-4?

I like the simplicity of using the HTX-6 (and I assume the speakers would prefer the extra power), but if the HTX-6 is overkill then I will consider the alternate plan.


Audio Upgrade 2 - 2024

Add Sub - TBD
Add amp (or sub's built-in amp)


Audio Upgrade 3 - 2024

Add Tower speakers - TBD
Add amp - TBD

EQ? - 3 zones - bow, mid/rear cabin, tower

I use an HTX-6 to power my 6 Recons and a 10" Free air sub. Per suggestion from @Hoyt I ran the bow speakers to my mid-cabin and then to the amp. aft speakers to amp then bridged the sub on Channels 5&6. I also have the HTX-4 to power my two tower speakers.

 

[mpecoraro]

@212s and @kgower thank you for your replies. It's good to hear that I'm not too far off with my understanding and plan. I had a conversation with an online vendor and was told those amps were way too much for those speakers. Tried to direct me to some underpowered amps instead. Ugh!

@kgower, it sounds like you have a setup similar to what I'm looking for. You mention 6 Recons and I see "6 6.5 Stock" in your signature. I have seen both the 5-S and 6-S mentioned on this forum as the stock speakers on the 195S. I have not pulled mine yet to confirm. Can you confirm that the stock are Recon 6-S? If that is the case then I only need to buy one pair of Recon 6-S to get to that 6 speaker setup.

If I'm understanding your speaker wiring to the amp, you have bow and mid speakers wired in parallel to channels 3+4. The 2 aft speakers to channels 1+2. Given that channels 3+4 are driving 4 speakers, how does that impact the sound output compared to the 2 speakers on channels 1+2? How do you balance the aft and mid cabin speakers? Do you have the gain set differently for channel 1+2 vs 3+4?

The HTX-4 and tower speakers will likely be next off season, but we'll see.

 

[tbg0519]

Rather than start a new thread, I'm just posting here. I have a 2022 195S, and my only beef is not being able to hear the radio well when running. I am not looking to have a system that can be heard by everyone on the lake, just for my passengers and me. I was thinking of just adding a Kenwood KAC-M1814 to push the factory speakers. (Wetsounds 6.5") It's rated at 45w RMS, which is under the max RMS for the speakers but is more than double the RMS of the factory head unit. Anyone have an opinion on that particular amp?

 

[kgower]

Rather than start a new thread, I'm just posting here. I have a 2022 195S, and my only beef is not being able to hear the radio well when running. I am not looking to have a system that can be heard by everyone on the lake, just for my passengers and me. I was thinking of just adding a Kenwood KAC-M1814 to push the factory speakers. (Wetsounds 6.5") It's rated at 45w RMS, which is under the max RMS for the speakers but is more than double the RMS of the factory head unit. Anyone have an opinion on that particular amp?

Add mid-cabin speakers as well. If you go to the classifieds, audio I have a pair of stock Wet Sounds for sale.

 

[Crob83]

Rather than start a new thread, I'm just posting here. I have a 2022 195S, and my only beef is not being able to hear the radio well when running. I am not looking to have a system that can be heard by everyone on the lake, just for my passengers and me. I was thinking of just adding a Kenwood KAC-M1814 to push the factory speakers. (Wetsounds 6.5") It's rated at 45w RMS, which is under the max RMS for the speakers but is more than double the RMS of the factory head unit. Anyone have an opinion on that particular amp?

I am pretty much like you, want something good but nothing crazy. In my 195 I have 4 recon 6S and a 10 inch kicker sub run by a JBL MA4505 5 channel amp. And the I have 2 recon 6s on the tower in swivel cans run by a MTX 2 channel 450w amp. I haven't had the chance to hear it running yet, but I can tell you it is at least 3-4 times as loud as my old setup. Def have under 1K in the whole thing. I did what I could with the space I have....lol.

 

[212s]

Rather than start a new thread, I'm just posting here. I have a 2022 195S, and my only beef is not being able to hear the radio well when running. I am not looking to have a system that can be heard by everyone on the lake, just for my passengers and me. I was thinking of just adding a Kenwood KAC-M1814 to push the factory speakers. (Wetsounds 6.5") It's rated at 45w RMS, which is under the max RMS for the speakers but is more than double the RMS of the factory head unit. Anyone have an opinion on that particular amp?

Actually the speakers in the 195s are WS Recon 5-s which are 5.25" rated at 50w RMS. While the Kenwood would drive them better than the head unit, the Kenwood is over-rated and doesn't quite push the claimed power into a normal speaker load and would be a little anemic trying to get the volume to overcome wind noise into all 4 speakers cleanly. When shopping for amps, an easy clue as to how much power an amp can really push is to look at the fuse rating. Basically with compact class D amps you need about 1a for every 10w of output, so a 400w amp would need a 40a fuse give or take. The Kenwood has a 15a fuse and can maybe push 25w into all 4 channels cleanly.

For about 30 bucks more I would look at something with a lot more juice like maybe the Clarion XC2410 with a real 50w/ch into 4 speakers - it uses a 40a fuse inline on the power cable for easy installation. This is probably your best bet cost wise.

The problem even with a good amp, is that the speakers in the 195s are not well positioned for listening in the cockpit as they're down below the seats. That's fine for floating, but is not great for cruising. That's why many owners add mid-cabin speakers beside the bucket seats if there's room to install them, or tower speakers or tower soundbar to get the sound up and out.

 

[212s]

Add mid-cabin speakers as well. If you go to the classifieds, audio I have a pair of stock Wet Sounds for sale.

Is there room for mids in the side panels? If so, 5.25" or 6.5"?

 

[Farny]

Rather than start a new thread, I'm just posting here. I have a 2022 195S, and my only beef is not being able to hear the radio well when running. I am not looking to have a system that can be heard by everyone on the lake, just for my passengers and me. I was thinking of just adding a Kenwood KAC-M1814 to push the factory speakers. (Wetsounds 6.5") It's rated at 45w RMS, which is under the max RMS for the speakers but is more than double the RMS of the factory head unit. Anyone have an opinion on that particular amp?

If you pick up a kicker 400.2 amp and wire 2 speakers in parellell to each channel, it will wake this WS up - yes that’s 100w per speaker but I’m doing exactly that with my cabins and it’s amazing the difference. Those stock WS actually pump out some nice mid bass when you put the power to em!

 

[kgower]

Actually the speakers in the 195s are WS Recon 5-s which are 5.25" rated at 50w RMS. While the Kenwood would drive them better than the head unit, the Kenwood is over-rated and doesn't quite push the claimed power into a normal speaker load and would be a little anemic trying to get the volume to overcome wind noise into all 4 speakers cleanly. When shopping for amps, an easy clue as to how much power an amp can really push is to look at the fuse rating. Basically with compact class D amps you need about 1a for every 10w of output, so a 400w amp would need a 40a fuse give or take. The Kenwood has a 15a fuse and can maybe push 25w into all 4 channels cleanly.

For about 30 bucks more I would look at something with a lot more juice like maybe the Clarion XC2410 with a real 50w/ch into 4 speakers - it uses a 40a fuse inline on the power cable for easy installation. This is probably your best bet cost wise.

The problem even with a good amp, is that the speakers in the 195s are not well positioned for listening in the cockpit as they're down below the seats. That's fine for floating, but is not great for cruising. That's why many owners add mid-cabin speakers beside the bucket seats if there's room to install them, or tower speakers or tower soundbar to get the sound up and out.

The 2023 195s have Hertz audio/speakers. I'm not familiar with them at all.

 

[212s]

The 2023 195s have Hertz audio/speakers. I'm not familiar with them at all.

Yes but the OP has a 2021 with WS Recon speakers, and my response you quoted was to another with a 2022, with the same WS speakers.

The 2023 apparently uses a head unit by Hertz, and the speakers have grills similar to Hertz, but I don't recognize them and they're not on the Hertz website that I could find. They might be OEM spec'd by Hertz for Yamaha which makes them an unknown. Hertz are decent quality from what I've read, but I've never heard them in person. Their specs are average with mid-high pricing (about the same as JL M3 series). I suspect they're trying to be higher end than they actually are...just my opinion.

 

[kgower]

Yes but the OP has a 2021 with WS Recon speakers, and my response you quoted was to another with a 2022, with the same WS speakers.

The 2023 apparently uses a head unit by Hertz, and the speakers have grills similar to Hertz, but I don't recognize them and they're not on the Hertz website that I could find. They might be OEM spec'd by Hertz for Yamaha which makes them an unknown. Hertz are decent quality from what I've read, but I've never heard them in person. Their specs are average with mid-high pricing (about the same as JL M3 series). I suspect they're trying to be higher end than they actually are...just my opinion.

Yes, I was just throwing it out there that the 23's had the Hertz as an FYI.

 

[Tom_G]

Yes but the OP has a 2021 with WS Recon speakers, and my response you quoted was to another with a 2022, with the same WS speakers.

The 2023 apparently uses a head unit by Hertz, and the speakers have grills similar to Hertz, but I don't recognize them and they're not on the Hertz website that I could find. They might be OEM spec'd by Hertz for Yamaha which makes them an unknown. Hertz are decent quality from what I've read, but I've never heard them in person. Their specs are average with mid-high pricing (about the same as JL M3 series). I suspect they're trying to be higher end than they actually are...just my opinion.

Here is the picture and Specs on my 2023 195S Hertz speakers.

 

[Ozzyj93]

I’m looking to upgrade my FSH 195 sound system. My plan is to buy two JBL tower speakers (MT6HLB), and maybe upgrade the speakers on the fiber glass to something a little better. Do I need an amp or any other equipment? Thank you!