New JL Stereo - disappointed, what next?

[OHJetBoater11]

Boat is a 2023 AR250. I took it to a great local audio shop who replaced all 6 factory speakers with JL Audio M6 speakers. They also added a JL Audio m6 10inch sub behind the captains chair. Everything wired to to JL Audio amp (XDM1000/5). Everything is wired into the stock Connext screen head unit.

Took the boat out today and I’m disappointed. Almost no bass even with the bass knob turned all the way. Highs are not clear. I was playing through Spotify over Bluetooth. My Spotify is set to download/stream “very high” quality. I trust the installer, he knows what he is doing.

What is limiting me? Headunit? Lack of EQ? I feel like I spent a ton of money on good equipment but it’s not sounding that way.
Any advice is appreciated.

 

[NoFla21]

Highly recommend upgrading your head unit. I have a very similar setup and run a Fusion RA770. Not only will you get better control of zones, you can hone in the sound.

 

[OHJetBoater11]

Highly recommend upgrading your head unit. I have a very similar setup and run a Fusion RA770. Not only will you get better control of zones, you can hone in the sound.

I’ve seen your setup and it’s very nice. Could you snap a pic of where you mounted the head unit? Also what about the swim platform remote?

 

[NoFla21]

I put it where the cell phone holder was. I also have a Fusion ERX400 for the rear controls. You have to keep the OEM rear controls plugged in and tucked inside the hull; if you don’t, the connext screen will show an error.

 

[vikingknut]

You mention that the installer is reputable, so I assume the following is true. I put in an 800 watt x 8 amp. I bridged 2 of the channels for the sub to get 200 watts to it. A subwoofer of 10 inches requires more than 100 watts to move enough air. The other 6 speakers are wired at 100 watts each. Other than having enough wattage to the subwoofer, you also need to set the crossovers properly so that the appropriate bass is being sent to the subwoofer and not too much to the other speakers. On mine (Kicker), there are test tones you play to set that up correctly. Lastly, hopefully the JL subwoofer is an IB (infinite baffle) model and not the one that is meant for specific sized enclosers. Either way, you will never get as much bass out of an IB type subwoofer as compared to one mounted to an enclosure. To make matters worse, unlike a car or room, you are moving air into a big environment (the outdoors), so bass will be limited in comparison. I have mine using the original head unit and I am very happy with both the sound and the bass. Of course, more wattage and another 10 inch subwoofer or 12 inch subwoofer will provide even better results. But I feel my setup pounds bass pretty darn good and the additional wattage requires a bigger battery and onboard charging like a Noco (which I have) as your boat's stator will fail to keep up for lengthy jamming while the engines are off. Even with the engines on, the house battery can't keep up very well at idle.

 

[vikingknut]

BTW, the equipment you bought is best-in-class, so that is most likely not the problem. However, if they didn't mess with the hi-pass and low-pass filters on the JL amp, that may be the problem. They clearly had to install new wiring for the subwoofer, but did they use the existing wiring for the other speakers? If so, some of them are setup in parallel across a single pair of channels which may cause problems. All new wiring provides better results, with only 4 channels remaining after the subwoofer, you have to parallelize or serialize at least 4 of the speakers.

 

[SCP1]

Boat is a 2023 AR250. I took it to a great local audio shop who replaced all 6 factory speakers with JL Audio M6 speakers. They also added a JL Audio m6 10inch sub behind the captains chair. Everything wired to to JL Audio amp (XDM1000/5). Everything is wired into the stock Connext screen head unit.

Took the boat out today and I’m disappointed. Almost no bass even with the bass knob turned all the way. Highs are not clear. I was playing through Spotify over Bluetooth. My Spotify is set to download/stream “very high” quality. I trust the installer, he knows what he is doing.

What is limiting me? Headunit? Lack of EQ? I feel like I spent a ton of money on good equipment but it’s not sounding that way.
Any advice is appreciated.

Did you go with a M3 or M6 sub? Did they run all new wires? If it’s a M6 and they ran new wires it has to be the tuning. You should have 4 speakers running off 2 channels. 2 speakers off 2 channels, and then the sub on the the sub channel. I have one 10” M6 sub and it hits plenty hard, only powering off two channels bridged off of a JL 8 channel amp so your sub should have more power than I have. I will tell you when I hooked mine up it was the same way, I took it in to have it tuned.

 

[Drift Away]

Boat is a 2023 AR250. I took it to a great local audio shop who replaced all 6 factory speakers with JL Audio M6 speakers. They also added a JL Audio m6 10inch sub behind the captains chair. Everything wired to to JL Audio amp (XDM1000/5). Everything is wired into the stock Connext screen head unit.

Took the boat out today and I’m disappointed. Almost no bass even with the bass knob turned all the way. Highs are not clear. I was playing through Spotify over Bluetooth. My Spotify is set to download/stream “very high” quality. I trust the installer, he knows what he is doing.

What is limiting me? Headunit? Lack of EQ? I feel like I spent a ton of money on good equipment but it’s not sounding that way.
Any advice is appreciated.

2 things. 1. Make sure the volume is up on your phone. I've dont a 100 times my self. 2. Your gains may not be set up corectly on the amp. Should look something like this.

BTW, the equipment you bought is best-in-class, so that is most likely not the problem. However, if they didn't mess with the hi-pass and low-pass filters on the JL amp, that may be the problem. They clearly had to install new wiring for the subwoofer, but did they use the existing wiring for the other speakers? If so, some of them are setup in parallel across a single pair of channels which may cause problems. All new wiring provides better results, with only 4 channels remaining after the subwoofer, you have to parallelize or serialize at least 4 of the speakers.

The gains, low pass/high pass or what i have done...cell phone volume is low sounds to be the problem.

 

[Farny]

Scrap it and go wetsounds ??

 

[kgower]

Scrap it and go wetsounds ??

Having a dealer do my WetSounds upgrade next Monday, hope not to have the same issues, I did the last install (21, 19S) myself and was happy with results, just don't have the time this time around.

 

[FX195]

Seems like its the output signal from stereo. I had similar issue when I installed amps to factory head unit ('18 model year), no connext. Replaced HU with Fusion, then made sure I had L/R RCA output to amp versus single RCA output. Sounded excellent IMO..

 

[NJboater]

How is it wired into connext? Do you have the line out converter? If not, you might not be getting sufficient input signal to the amp.

Are you gains on the amp properly set? This is the most likely culprit.

I have a JL MV800/8i powering 6x M6 6.5” and a M6 10” IB sub on my 2022 AR250 and it sounds really damn good. I also did the RA770 / ERX400. Had it tuned by Jon Cain (all things aquatic in Kansas City). I’m in NJ and he tuned it remotely

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Sounds like a tuning issue / poor install.

 

[TommyMcK]

I don't have anything to contribute to the original question, but these sorts of threads always make me wonder. I understand the concept of headroom, but 3600W sounds...crazy. What sort of SPL do you guys shoot for?

 

[NJboater]

I don't have anything to contribute to the original question, but these sorts of threads always make me wonder. I understand the concept of headroom, but 3600W sounds...crazy. What sort of SPL do you guys shoot for?

I only have 800W. Just wanted to have the clarity and quality that comes with the JL territory. For SPL the move is wetsounds

 

[TommyMcK]

Cool. I was just wondering. I'm a bit of an audiophile at home and design my own tube amps... In the context of the boat environment though, there are so many environmental factors working against good sound, I haven't been able to muster the enthusiasm to dig too deep. I find that the stock system on my 222XD is acceptable while floating, and underway I can't imagine any system is significantly better than another, but there are a bunch of things where my imagine could stand to be improved I suppose...

 

[NJboater]

Cool. I was just wondering. I'm a bit of an audiophile at home and design my own tube amps... In the context of the boat environment though, there are so many environmental factors working against good sound, I haven't been able to muster the enthusiasm to dig too deep. I find that the stock system on my 222XD is acceptable while floating, and underway I can't imagine any system is significantly better than another, but there are a bunch of things where my imagine could stand to be improved I suppose...

If you’ve been on a boat with a quality sound system, it will change your perspective. I’m an audiophile as well having done audio engineering. There are certainly major limitations and challenges on boats, but good sound is possible. A friend of mine has a $40k massive JL system on a center console and it is amazingly clear and LOUD.

 

[FX195]

JL builds some good equipment, I was able to turn my stereo to max volume, clean and clear without any distortion. I had 1 M600 and 1 Audio Control mono for sub. I was 100% happy with it.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

I don't have anything to contribute to the original question, but these sorts of threads always make me wonder. I understand the concept of headroom, but 3600W sounds...crazy. What sort of SPL do you guys shoot for?

SPL doesn’t really exists on boats. 500 watts on a pair of HLCDs is louder than anyone on a boat can handle, anything else is just showing off how big your junk is.

 

[NickF]

Your problem is with the connect system, I was in a very similar situation, I replaced all the interior speakers with JL M6's even added two 10" subs and a set of 6.5"s and tweeters by the passenger and captains chairs. The audio installer called me in and showed me the difference with it hooked up to the factory connect and then he hooked it up to the JL Media Master 100 and it was night and day difference in performance. I did like the fact you could control 4 different zones. I will say once you get it set correctly, you will not regret your investment, boat sounds fantastic.