...For the speakers wired in series...

[Drexx3]

I've read in several posts here that the cabin speakers on my boat (2020 242 SE) are likely still wired in series as Zone 1 on the Fusion head unit and the two speakers on the swim platform are alone in Zone 2. I have the Wet Sounds OEM amp in front of the help and am considering either replacing it (to my wife's dismay) or adding a separate small amp just for the sub and use the 3 zones on the WS amp to separately run the three pairs of speakers.

A few questions...for those of you that have changed the speakers from being in series to in parallel, did you have to run all new speaker wire or were you able to somehow take advantage of wiring already there? Not sure how but thought I'd ask.

With the OEM Wet Sounds amp being closed off of setting adjustments, would it be possible to achieve the 3 zones I'm looking to do? I also haven't pulled the Fusion unit in the back to see if I have RCA plugs or need the new adapter. Again my wife is boggled by I'm considering spending $1000 to replace equipment already on the boat that is already supposed to be 'upgraded'.

 

[Marvin willis]

I’m curious what you don’t like about your sound. I have read where ppl have rewired their stock speakers to make them louder. I replace the crappy stock speakers in my ar240 with 8 kickers and I’m pretty happy with it. They are in parallel but I’ve never wanted to adjust the zones. I just want to blast music when I’m at the beach

 

[Drexx3]

I can't hear it very well when underway, but that is more likely because of the engine noise. Some of it is mental, knowing the amp is unbalanced and driving an 8-ohm load for one zone and a 4-ohm load for the other. Also, the sub doesn't seem to have as much of an effect. I've used the Fusion app to unlink the two zones and adjust the sub crossover and level. The difference in sound however between my system and on my friend's boat (not a Yamaha) was noticeable.

 

[Marvin willis]

I had the same issue about not hearing the speakers underway. But you have much better speakers than what I had. Added two more beside the captains chairs makes a HUGE difference

 

[ripler]

I wonder why the speakers are wired in series, doesn't make sense. You should always wire the speakers to give you the least resistance which results in more power output from the amp. The only thing I can think of is they are trying to limit the amperage draw of the amp by increasing the resistance of the speakers.

How many channels is the amp?

 

[Drexx3]

My understanding is that it is something left over from the 2018 model year when a different head unit was used. The amp that comes on the boat is a 6-channel amp. Channels 1 & 2 are "Zone 1" and the cabin speakers (2 pairs wired in series), channels 3 & 4 are "Zone 2" and the two speakers on the swim platform and channels 5 & 6 are bridged to run the sub.

 

[Marvin willis]

Can you not adjust the gain up on the amp?

 

[ripler]

I would parallel the 2 left speakers and put them on whichever channel 1or 2 is left and parallel the 2 right speakers and put them on the other channel 1or 2. If the swim platform speakers are each on their own channel leave them alone or if want more power to them parallel them and bridge channel 3 and 4.

 

[Drexx3]

Assuming the power output of the DTS version amp is the same as the HT-6 the specs show it is designed to run with 4 or 2 ohm loads. No problem running 8-ohm on a 4-ohm amp, just reduced power. Kind of explains part of the problem right there.

if I rewire the cabin speakers to be in parallel then they become a 2-ohm load and should be louder (? if I’m remembering correctly).

 

[Julian]

I posted a diagram of how to rewire the speakers that were in series on my boat, and photos too. Yamaha is very good about labeling their wires so it should be easy to figure out. On my boat the cabin and tower speakers were in series. I'll go find the post....

 

[Julian]

This thread has the diagram and description of how I did this:

https://jetboaters.net/threads/2017-242x-stereo-upgrade.15296/page-3

 

[jacoviii]

You need to check and see that Left is left and Right is right. They have had issues. I got a set of DSP amp flash units from Wet sounds to fix it. I have a '18 242x tho. The amps are ultra conservative on there factory DPS settings. Use your phone's app to adjust the settings on the head unit. Or spend some time going through the head unit's settings.
As far as I can tell the HU subwoofer settings don't do anything. Wet sounds uses the LR RCAs and the DSP in the amp for the subs signal. I have found for more boom to set the bass to near max and the treble to 50% and mid the 65% - 75%.
With no speakers near the captain's seat you will not hear much under way. To squeeze a bit more power out of the amp leave the stock speakers in series @ 8 ohms and wire the last in parallel to get 2.6 ohms. Or if you want to push it all 3 per side L/R in parallel for a 1.6 ohm load that should not be an issue for the SDX6 Amp.
Try this turn it up to what you want to jam @ from the captain's seat. Then move to the bow or one of the other seats and you will see that the other spots are pretty loud. The boat has a bad dead spot and the captains seats.
Also check out the sound insulation/ deading threads. Best thing is more on the engine hatch and making a seal/gasket for it. Thick foam yoga mats .75" to 1" from Amazon. We did the hatch and the rear seat cubby walls and floor (fuel cover). Now I'm annoyed at the sound the tower makes when underway Lol. It's not whisper quite but a big difference.

 

[jacoviii]

 

[jacoviii]

The Fusion HU has LR RCAs zone 1 and LR zone 2. The sub output is not in the the HU harness. The RCAs connect the the boats harness behind the rear right stern speaker but you may have enough slack to pull them to the HU mounting hole but it's tight. The boats harness (RCAs) is then wired directly to the OEM style plug that is plugged into the amp.

We are adding a set of Recon 5 or 6 Near the captains seats. A second sub one the drivers side with a new mono amp to run the stock and new sub. Then we are going to use ch5 and ch6 they are bridged from the stock SDX6 amp to run two 8" wet sounds subs up front in the bow area. After 2yrs playing with the audio I feel this will the best bang for the buck.

 

[jocolo21]

Can you not adjust the gain up on the amp?

You cant adjust its sealed you need a software from yamaha to do so, it cuts out when full power.....i have 1 brand new laying in my garage as a dor stop, ill sell it to you if interested. you have the ar not the 242se big difference in stereo setup, many write ups about it.

 

[jacoviii]

You cant adjust its sealed you need a software from yamaha to do so, it cuts out when full power.....i have 1 brand new laying in my garage as a dor stop, ill sell it to you if interested. you have the ar not the 242se big difference in stereo setup, many write ups about it.

I will take you up on that I tried to get a hold of you before about it

 

[jocolo21]

I will take you up on that I tried to get a hold of you before about it

Send me a pm its brand new took it off after the first ride

 

[Eric242limiteds]

So let me start with i could be completely wrong. I have a fusion 650 head unit with a 1600w fusion amp hooked up. In my 2011 242 the tower tweeters are which in the same wire as my front two speakers. I have reason to be leave that the crossovers for the tweeters are effecting the sound out of my front speakers. When i increase the volume my front two speakers along with the tweeters loose sound. I saw others posting about their front bow speakers not having good sound it could be the issue.... i just can not for the life of me find the crossovers for the tweeters to see where in the line they sit.

 

[jacoviii]

What tower speakers do you have? Most tower speakers are coaxi and use a small capacitor to filter the sound. The Cap is usually just glued to the side of the speaker

 

[Eric242limiteds]

What tower speakers do you have? Most tower speakers are coaxi and use a small capacitor to filter the sound. The Cap is usually just glued to the side of the speaker

The Polk tweeters that come with the vessel