Polk head unit upgrade

[Bogus]

Since 2017 models will not accept any other head unit other than the Polk PA4A, Im making the upgrade of polk head unit RCA cables.
First, I will insall high quality RCA cables that will let my system perform its Best.
Second, I will get rid of many connections, see the picture, that is on the way from Polk Unit to Amplifier. There will be 3x2 straight Line RCA cables right from the board inside of this Polk box. See the picture also. I already have the cables and gold COATED connectors to the board. So will report when the work will be done.
So I will improve the quality of the sound removing unnessesary rca connections and using excellent cabels.

 

[tdonoughue]

Interesting project. Certainly getting rid of connectors will remove failure points. I do wonder, however, if any improvement will be a) anything you will notice on a boat and b) will outweigh the risk of messing something up when redoing the cabling. Doing a little custom connector on your fancy RCA's should not have much risk of messup (though I am sure I could figure a way to screw it up...), but if you are going to go about unsoldering from the board to do your connection, that is something that should be factored in.

Do report back on your progress and results!

 

[Bogus]

This projest is more about of improving the sound quality. Connectors is where the sound deformation occurs. Also, the length of new cables will be shorter that is also result in sound quality. Plus the new cables will be of excellent audiophile quality. Many people here upgrade to expensive speakers and apms but there is no way to Do it it you have bad cable output quality at first. Thanks for the note, will update when work is done.

 

[Bogus]

Finally finished the project

 

[Cambo]

I think the sound quality is great from doing multiple sound systems in boats the biggest hurdle to overcome is the use of speakers that are to small for an open air environment . The second thing is the need for multiple zones due to different locations on the boat . The best way to do this is with equalizers one eq splits a single rca pair into a sub channel and a front and rear . This polk has 2 pairs of rca outputs so I run 2 eqs giving me 2 sub woofer channels and 4 zones with amazing control of what is amplified and how its powered getting the most efficiency out of each driver . That polk is driving 4 tower cans with two sound bars . The stock speaker locations plus added cabin speakers so 4 pairs of cabin speakers and 3 different 10 inch subwoofers the sub that really helps is the jl10 w7 it has a massive motor structure . When powered up the 4 amp system runs super efficient sound is amazing none of the amps need to be over driven to create amazing sound clarity and I have easily 100 feet of rca cables running from the polk to the eqs then to the amps there is no noise being amplified from all the rca runs . The 3rd and final thing is to tune the system and know how to use the eqs to dial in for the type of music that's being played and the volume level . Some music is loaded with low frequency sub base older recordings are relatively flat and need extra base maybe somone doesn't like the music loud they can hang in the bow area and it can be turned down up there or somone is wakeboarding the tower can be turned up and the cabin turned down . The eqs are within reach and very easy to quickly dial in the perfect sound . Trying to go layers deep on the connext screen to adjust bass ,treble , loudness and balance is to difficult time consuming and distracting .

 

[tdonoughue]

@Bogus , congrats! Waiting for the report out of how it sounds...

 

[Cambo]

What Yamaha did that creates the problem was the rca splitter this drops the input voltage in half to the amps creating the need to turn the gain up on the amp amplifying a smaller input signal. It looks like you took the split and moved it into the chassis of the polk unit. If you wanted a simple inexpensive way to avoid this split drop an eq in that area they are around $60.00 and it will take the single RCA and produce three rca outputs at normal Milli volt levels and give you options to adjust . You can tap power and ground from the amp connections and a few short rcas and really get what you want better sound. For my set up l routed all the rca connections to the dash board so I can adjust on the fly but you could just keep it simple

 

[Gwade8808]

View attachment 151650
Finally finished the project

Looks great! Considering doing this and what @Cambo did with the EQ's. With the area being so small, how did you make 3 leads out of the two that were original? Are they just pig tailed together so to speak?

 

[Gwade8808]

What Yamaha did that creates the problem was the rca splitter this drops the input voltage in half to the amps creating the need to turn the gain up on the amp amplifying a smaller input signal. It looks like you took the split and moved it into the chassis of the polk unit. If you wanted a simple inexpensive way to avoid this split drop an eq in that area they are around $60.00 and it will take the single RCA and produce three rca outputs at normal Milli volt levels and give you options to adjust . You can tap power and ground from the amp connections and a few short rcas and really get what you want better sound. For my set up l routed all the rca connections to the dash board so I can adjust on the fly but you could just keep it simple

View attachment 151782

View attachment 151783


View attachment 151786

YES! This is exactly what I was hoping I could do! I was looking at the wet sounds because I like being able to control the tower, bass and rest of the boat separately. Is it worth the $250? Or having 2 rca outputs from the polk, could I essentially connect 2 of the American Bass EQ's and have one amp set up with tower and rear speakers (no sub). Then the other for the rest of the boat and sub? So each EQ controls that specific amp and the speakers assigned to it which would essentially give me the same control but via 2 EQ's? Lastly how is the American Bass holding up? is that a radio case you have them mounted in? Is there anything you would do different or suggest?

 

[Cambo]

The American bass is holding up great and is a better eq . The wet sounds lost part of the back lighting and it has a little noise until you turn the volume then it goes away, very slight but annoying for the price . The main reason I used the wet sounds was for the pa feature it helps to give direction to wakeboarders and surfers. Yes you could use two American bass eq’s both the wet sounds and American bass have the same single input and 3 outputs wet sounds just labels boat tower that is equal to front and rear on the American bass and they both have sub. American bass has a fader that is actually easier to adjust than the way wet sounds has two knobs stacked on top of each other. The most difficult part was mounting two eq’s stacked in the radio din box. I cant remember exactly how I did it but it took some type of fabrication due the the slightly different sizes. There is not a single time that I’m out on the boat with music on that I’m not making adjustments to improve the sound. Every stereo build that I see leaves out the cheapest best way to improve and tweak the sound the eq .The last boat I had in a salt water environment for 12 years with a pyramid eq in a radio case it started to get a little surface rust but still operated flawlessly. Keep us posted on the install

 

[Gwade8808]

The American bass is holding up great and is a better eq . The wet sounds lost part of the back lighting and it has a little noise until you turn the volume then it goes away, very slight but annoying for the price . The main reason I used the wet sounds was for the pa feature it helps to give direction to wakeboarders and surfers. Yes you could use two American bass eq’s both the wet sounds and American bass have the same single input and 3 outputs wet sounds just labels boat tower that is equal to front and rear on the American bass and they both have sub. American bass has a fader that is actually easier to adjust than the way wet sounds has two knobs stacked on top of each other. The most difficult part was mounting two eq’s stacked in the radio din box. I cant remember exactly how I did it but it took some type of fabrication due the the slightly different sizes. There is not a single time that I’m out on the boat with music on that I’m not making adjustments to improve the sound. Every stereo build that I see leaves out the cheapest best way to improve and tweak the sound the eq .The last boat I had in a salt water environment for 12 years with a pyramid eq in a radio case it started to get a little surface rust but still operated flawlessly. Keep us posted on the install

 

[Gwade8808]

Awesome feedback! Thanks so much for the quick response. Just ordered the American Bass EQ. One of the biggest advantages that you pointed out is the digital readout especially at this price point. I think that'll really help me as a beginner so I'm looking forward to getting it. I did a complete audio upgrade with 95% SKAR equipment so I'll let you guys know how everything worked!