First impressions of the 242 X E stock stereo

[mraz72]

So I finally was able to get my boat out of storage, so I was messing around with the boat on the trailer. I had the stereo on the entire time, and it actually sounded really good. The base was pretty damn good for stock, I mean of course there is room for improvements, but it sounded pretty good, better than I expected.

 

[Julian]

A couple of speakers at the helm helps a lot...but I agree, stock isn't bad!

My problem is that now I have JLs and Polks, the JLs sound so much better....i have the itch to buy and install more!

Damn forum costs me a fortune!!!!! LOL

 

[JoeMitchem]

I agree, it's decent but does leave me wanting more. I just got the boat a few weeks ago so thus far I've not even gotten it to the lake so I can't comment how it sounds at speed with wind and engine noise.

Either way, I absolutely plan on gutting the system this next off season and upgrading to a full JL setup with new amps and extra speakers and subs. I just can't ever seem to leave well enough alone, lol.

 

[Julian]

@JoeMitchem Have you flipped the sound bar around so it's pointing at the helm seats? That helped a lot with sound at the helm under way.

 

[mraz72]

Joe, I haven't had mine on the lake yet either! I am itching.

I had some beastie boys going in the yard on the trailer, had the volume max and it was shaking the boat, there is some bass there. Of course, there is always room for more, but so for so good.

 

[JoeMitchem]

@JoeMitchem Have you flipped the sound bar around so it's pointing at the helm seats? That helped a lot with sound at the helm under way.

@Julian I haven't flipped it all the way around (yet) but I did pivot it a little bit. I'm going to wait until I get it to the lake and do some experimenting and see if I prefer it facing forwards or backwards.

Truthfully I think there might be something wrong with my soundbar because when I first boot up the Connext system I get some sort of weird chirping noise that comes out of it. It seems to go away if I tap on the soundbar or just wait for the music to kick in. It sounds like it's picking up some sort of electrical interference from something. I was going to take a short video and post on here and see if anyone else has experienced this yet.

 

[mraz72]

In my short time with the stereo yesterday I did not notice any chirping at startup out of the sound bar. I thought the bar was tough to hear with the larger speakers right next to it, but it sounded good. Standing on the swim platform gives you a surround sound feel. Standing behind the boat sounds really good too, as expected since there are lots of speakers facing that way.

 

[Julian]

My sound bar chirps and crackles when it first is turned on and drives me bonkers....I've had it at the dealer repeatedly to fix the issue, and I've now just given up on it. It works fine after that....but something isn't right....at some point I plan to figure out how to pull new wires to the tower speakers and hope that will correct the problem.

 

[Rod5]

There's a thread that someone wrote about how to extort free watts from your factory system... Made an unbelievable improvement!
Also @Julian be aware of speakers being "out of phase" when changing or mixing brands (Amps and/or speakers).

Short version, bass tends to negate itself when one brand speaker is pushing out while the other brand (amp or speakers) are pulling in at the same time. Solution is to revers -+ on the new brand speakers. I ran in to this when I added the REV10's powered by a Fosgate Punch amp. Not sure which was the culprit (Amp or REV10's), but I reversed the signs on both REV 10's at the amp solved the bass canceling effect immediately.

Not always obvious or easy to detect, but find a consistent song with a lot of bass and move around in the boat. If the bass is noticeably stronger or Longer sounding in some areas than others or bass doesn't seem to flow through out the boat away from the subs you may have this issue.

 

[Julian]

@Rod5 My system sounds great, there is just way more punch and clarity to my JLs than the Polks. Add to this that Yamaha put the stock amps in with the controls facing away from you...it makes tuning the stereo a ROYAL PITA! Then, they put in wires that are exactly fixed to attach to the amps, so you can't rotate them without redoing the wiring!

You would think that since Yamaha has a whole music division that they could find someone to help them install and configure systems in their boats....

And yes...I'm cranky today after getting in at 5am this morning rather than 9:45pm last night as scheduled (due to midwest weather delays!) LOL

 

[Rod5]

I know I hate the way they mounted our amps. Good to know the JLs sound that much tighter with more punch! So does the REV10's.

 

[JoeMitchem]

My sound bar chirps and crackles when it first is turned on and drives me bonkers....I've had it at the dealer repeatedly to fix the issue, and I've now just given up on it. It works fine after that....but something isn't right....at some point I plan to figure out how to pull new wires to the tower speakers and hope that will correct the problem.

@Julian Sounds like we might have the same issue. Seems like it has to be electrical interference but I'm not sure why tapping on the soundbar makes it go away but I'm not hauling my boat back to the dealer to have them chase it down. I have a pretty good idea that they wouldn't find it easily. Look at the video attached and see if this sounds like yours. Sorry for the depth-finder sounds.

@Rod5 Add to this that Yamaha put the stock amps in with the controls facing away from you...it makes tuning the stereo a ROYAL PITA! Then, they put in wires that are exactly fixed to attach to the amps, so you can't rotate them without redoing the wiring!

This is driving me nuts!!! I wanted to tweak some of the amp setting to see if I could get a little more out of the system but it's impossible to get to the adjustments. I've done all sort of tricks with mirrors and other contraptions trying to get to the adjustment dials but it's useless. I'm probably just going to ride it out for the summer and then start from scratch in the off-season.

 

[Rod5]

@Julian Sounds like we might have the same issue. Seems like it has to be electrical interference but I'm not sure why tapping on the soundbar makes it go away but I'm not hauling my boat back to the dealer to have them chase it down. I have a pretty good idea that they wouldn't find it easily. Look at the video attached and see if this sounds like yours. Sorry for the depth-finder sounds.

This is driving me nuts!!! I wanted to tweak some of the amp setting to see if I could get a little more out of the system but it's impossible to get to the adjustments. I've done all sort of tricks with mirrors and other contraptions trying to get to the adjustment dials but it's useless. I'm probably just going to ride it out for the summer and then start from scratch in the off-season.

Yep mine does exactly the same thing booting up. Been doing it over a year now with no apparent ill effects. Dealer gave me a BS line about there are so much electronics with Connext booting up this is expected...

 

[swatski]

Dealer gave me a BS line about there are so much electronics with Connext booting up this is expected...

I'm thinking that may not be very far from the truth...
I think @Mainah commented on this once, I forgot what he said exactly, but it was scary.

--

 

[Julian]

@JoeMitchem Mine makes 2-3 chirps like that and stops on its own....

 

[mraz72]

Now I have to listen to mine to make sure. I had the stereo on for a few hours, but only turned it on once or twice. Any 242 x boats WITHOUT this issue?

Also, I started looking for the amp controls as well, and as Julien said, they are facing the ground. So, how the heck do you guys do anything with the amps? Unscrew them? I even tried to take a picture of it and that isn't easy. I have no idea what the controls look like....

 

[JoeMitchem]

Also, I started looking for the amp controls as well, and as Julien said, they are facing the ground. So, how the heck do you guys do anything with the amps? Unscrew them? I even tried to take a picture of it and that isn't easy. I have no idea what the controls look like....

Yours are facing the ground? Mine are facing the outer hull. The only thing I managed to do where I could even begin to see what I was doing was to put my cell phone camera in selfie mode (so that I was looking at the screen and seeing myself) and then put it in the battery compartment so that I could see the amp controls and begin messing with the dials. For most of the dials you have to insert a small screwdriver so it is a major pain in the butt but somewhat doable.

For the amp controls, try the attachments for reference. If you google the amp models Polk 4000.4 and Polk 5000.5 you can find the manuals.

On a side note but somewhat related, I know that you can power on the Connext unit without having the engines running by holding down the Sys Control button but I have no idea how to turn it off without killing all power at the batteries. Can it be done?

 

[Julian]

Yours are facing the ground? Mine are facing the outer hull. The only thing I managed to do where I could even begin to see what I was doing was to put my cell phone camera in selfie mode (so that I was looking at the screen and seeing myself) and then put it in the battery compartment so that I could see the amp controls and begin messing with the dials. For most of the dials you have to insert a small screwdriver so it is a major pain in the butt but somewhat doable.

For the amp controls, try the attachments for reference. If you google the amp models Polk 4000.4 and Polk 5000.5 you can find the manuals.

On a side note but somewhat related, I know that you can power on the Connext unit without having the engines running by holding down the Sys Control button but I have no idea how to turn it off without killing all power at the batteries. Can it be done?

I did the same thing....google the amp model numbers and look at the images tab for pics of the control face.

To turn Connext on and off use the Light button...press and hold.

My amps also face the outer hull not down. If I ever get to adjust them I'm going to have to unscrew them!

 

[mraz72]

mine are most likely in the same direction, I haven't looked that hard yet. I wonder why the decision to have the controls hidden, very odd....

 

[Julian]

mine are most likely in the same direction, I haven't looked that hard yet. I wonder why the decision to have the controls hidden, very odd....

I don't think they thought it through.....engineering didn't discuss it with the usability team!