195S Stereo Upgrade Questions

[nonissan]

Hello all,

I'm going to upgrade my factory 195S stereo

I was thinking, since the factory Recon 5S speakers are rated to 50 watts RMS, that I could get a 4 channel, 400 watt amp and use one channel for the front speakers, one for the rear speakers, and have 200 watts left for two tower speakers... would that be too much of a mismatch having 100 watts on the tower speakers and only 50 watts on each of the cabin speakers? Would this be a good setup, or would it leave me wanting more power?

I was going to add a powered sub as well. Was thinking about putting all of this, along with a second battery, in the aft, port storage

I know Wet Sounds is the popular choice around here. Any other brands I should consider?

Am I missing anything here besides wires and fuses?

Thanks!

Tim

 

[Hoyt]

So yes you can put front speakers on 1 channel, and rear speakers on 1 channel. That will still leave you 2 open channels. However, and it's a big However, your speakers and Amp must be rated at 2ohm stable. Most wetsounds amps are 2ohm stable, but I don't think the stock recons are.

Now a great suggestion with that in mind is go with a 6 channel amp instead. Giving each speaker its own channel. No worries of overworking or overheating then.

Last question is what tower speakers are you going with? Wetsounds towers are very very power hungry. What ever tower speakers you decide to go with your going to want to push them to their maximum power. So if they are rated at 400 watts rms... give them 300minimum

 

[nonissan]

So yes you can put front speakers on 1 channel, and rear speakers on 1 channel. That will still leave you 2 open channels. However, and it's a big However, your speakers and Amp must be rated at 2ohm stable. Most wetsounds amps are 2ohm stable, but I don't think the stock recons are.

Now a great suggestion with that in mind is go with a 6 channel amp instead. Giving each speaker its own channel. No worries of overworking or overheating then.

Last question is what tower speakers are you going with? Wetsounds towers are very very power hungry. What ever tower speakers you decide to go with your going to want to push them to their maximum power. So if they are rated at 400 watts rms... give them 300minimum

Thanks Hoyt!

That makes sense about getting a 6 channel vs 4, except, if the stock Wet Sounds only handle 50 watt RMS, then I'll either be overpowering them or underpowering the towers (planning on WS towers as well). If that's the case, it's really either replace the stock speakers and run a bigger amp, or run two amps in order to have everything properly powered?

 

[Hoyt]

Thanks Hoyt!

That makes sense about getting a 6 channel vs 4, except, if the stock Wet Sounds only handle 50 watt RMS, then I'll either be overpowering them or underpowering the towers (planning on WS towers as well). If that's the case, it's really either replace the stock speakers and run a bigger amp, or run two amps in order to have everything properly powered?

If your going to run wetsounds Rev tower speakers then yes you'll probably want a dedicated Amp for those alone. Rev tower speakers are incredibly power hungry. I use 2 syndx6 amps as you have seen. Reason for that is the syndx6 Amp puts out 400 watts rms bridged on channels 1&2,3&4.So ch1 and 2(bridged) go to one tower speaker, and ch3&4 bridged to other tower speaker. That gives me 400 watts rms to each tower speaker (I got it turned down slightly too about 350). This is not possible without bridging using wetsounds amps.

Now for your cabin speakers..... you can easily run one speaker per channel. Even though the channel puts out more power then speaker can handle. You just tune the Amp to the power you want. I still have recon speakers in my bow running off another syndx6 Amp. One speaker per channel no problem.

 

[matskoviche]

I'm also in the same boat, literally. Was thinking to forgo towers and instead add two more cabin speakers + 6 channel amp. Would like to do a powered sub as well. Hoping for a decent upgrade for a grand or less.

 

[Farny]

I'm also in the same boat, literally. Was thinking to forgo towers and instead add two more cabin speakers + 6 channel amp. Would like to do a powered sub as well. Hoping for a decent upgrade for a grand or less.

You may be able to do a kicker amp within your budget - I’m running 4 cabins stock WS recon 6 off a KXM400.2. Wired in parallel (amp is 2Ohm stable) each speaker is getting 100w rms tuned back slightly. Haven’t blown one yet (although was hoping I did as an excuse to upgrade). The stock WS actually perform great with that setup.

you’ll have $500 or more left in your budget to add a powered sub. Won’t touch @Hoyt system but it’s VERY respectable.

Kicker KXMA4002 KXMA400.2 2x200-Watt Two-Channel Full-Range Class D Amplifier https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCTYK2S?ref_=cm_sw_r_apin_dp_7FV5S6VHXEW76FT47NAK

 

[zipper]

I'm also in the same boat, literally. Was thinking to forgo towers and instead add two more cabin speakers + 6 channel amp. Would like to do a powered sub as well. Hoping for a decent upgrade for a grand or less.

What boat is that? We like pictures.

 

[cschum]

Hello all,

I'm going to upgrade my factory 195S stereo

I was thinking, since the factory Recon 5S speakers are rated to 50 watts RMS, that I could get a 4 channel, 400 watt amp and use one channel for the front speakers, one for the rear speakers, and have 200 watts left for two tower speakers... would that be too much of a mismatch having 100 watts on the tower speakers and only 50 watts on each of the cabin speakers? Would this be a good setup, or would it leave me wanting more power?

I was going to add a powered sub as well. Was thinking about putting all of this, along with a second battery, in the aft, port storage

I know Wet Sounds is the popular choice around here. Any other brands I should consider?

Am I missing anything here besides wires and fuses?

Thanks!

Tim

I'm not quite doing all the same stereo components just adding a sound bar and a subwoofer that need to be Amplified and some transom lights. I do about 50/50 driving and floating with the stereo going so I wanted to look into adding the second battery with the gen pro battery system.
Wondering which 2nd battery and what amperage charger would be best ?
2024 195s

 

[nonissan]

So, here we are, over a year later... procrastination IS my middle-name

Everything is installed. I have one HUGE issue with the below amp...

KMA600.6 Marine Stereo Amplifier | KICKER®

KICKER produces high-performance car audio, vehicle specific solutions, marine audio, home and personal audio, and power sports products since 1973.

www.kicker.com

When I got everything hooked up, the amp was immediately in protected mode. I ran through all the wiring, and I couldn't find anything loose or apparently shorting. The Fusion head unit seemed to be working well and Bluetooth from my phone showed as connected. I could hear the subwoofer bumping. But amp was in protected mode, and there was no sound from any of the speakers (except the sub)

I removed all wires, except power and ground, to the amp, and it was still in protected mode

I tried a new amp to eliminate that as the issue, and it did the same thing

Here's the 'Kicker'... If I remove the ground wire from the amp and reattach it, everything works fine... I have done this every trip since the install, and everything works as it should until the next trip

Googling shows there may be some issues with running amps off a battery selector switch... otherwise, WTF did I do wrong?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Farny]

So, here we are, over a year later... procrastination IS my middle-name

Everything is installed. I have one HUGE issue with the below amp...

KMA600.6 Marine Stereo Amplifier | KICKER®

KICKER produces high-performance car audio, vehicle specific solutions, marine audio, home and personal audio, and power sports products since 1973.

www.kicker.com

When I got everything hooked up, the amp was immediately in protected mode. I ran through all the wiring, and I couldn't find anything loose or apparently shorting. The Fusion head unit seemed to be working well and Bluetooth from my phone showed as connected. I could hear the subwoofer bumping. But amp was in protected mode, and there was no sound from any of the speakers (except the sub)

I removed all wires, except power and ground, to the amp, and it was still in protected mode

I tried a new amp to eliminate that as the issue, and it did the same thing

Here's the 'Kicker'... If I remove the ground wire from the amp and reattach it, everything works fine... I have done this every trip since the install, and everything works as it should until the next trip

Googling shows there may be some issues with running amps off a battery selector switch... otherwise, WTF did I do wrong?

Thanks in advance!

That is strange,

how do you know it’s in protect mode? Have you talked to kicker support? They are usually great. Have any pics of your wiring & runs?

 

[nonissan]

That is strange

Agree...

how do you know it’s in protect mode?

There's a green light when it works and a red light (with an acronym) when it's in protected mode...

Have you talked to kicker support? They are usually great.

No. I figured I did something so obvious somebody here would point me in the right direction, but I will call them as my next step

Have any pics of your wiring & runs?

I will draw a diagram later today

Thanks!

 

[jthackman]

just sounds like a power/ground/12v switched issue.
does it work correctly wired directly to house battery.
is the head unit's blue/remote wire connected to the amp? or are you using another switched 12v source?

 

[nonissan]

just sounds like a power/ground/12v switched issue.

I'm like a 4 year old when it comes to this stuff, so, I'm not sure exactly what, 'just a power/ground/12v switched issue' means. It sounds pretty easy when you say it though

does it work correctly wired directly to house battery.

Let me try this and report back

is the head unit's blue/remote wire connected to the amp? or are you using another switched 12v source?

I'm spliced in to the head unit's remote wire. Tee'd off to the powered sub (which is still bumping when the amp is in protected mode)

 

[Jerlane]

How are the power and ground lines connected? Do you have a house battery? Are they connected directly to the positive and negative terminals there? I would recheck that those lines are connected properly.

 

[nonissan]

How are the power and ground lines connected? Do you have a house battery? Are they connected directly to the positive and negative terminals there? I would recheck that those lines are connected properly.

Dual battery setup. Each battery goes to one side of the switch. The switch common post goes to the positive bus bar. 'House' just has the auto-bilge hooked directly to it

Original ground wire goes to negative of the house battery and then to negative on second battery and then to negative bus bar

 

[Jerlane]

I’m by no means an expert, but I’ve done a few installs. Maybe try connecting both positive and negative leads directly to the house battery.

 

[nonissan]

So, here we are, over a year later... procrastination IS my middle-name

Everything is installed. I have one HUGE issue with the below amp...

KMA600.6 Marine Stereo Amplifier | KICKER®

KICKER produces high-performance car audio, vehicle specific solutions, marine audio, home and personal audio, and power sports products since 1973.

www.kicker.com

When I got everything hooked up, the amp was immediately in protected mode. I ran through all the wiring, and I couldn't find anything loose or apparently shorting. The Fusion head unit seemed to be working well and Bluetooth from my phone showed as connected. I could hear the subwoofer bumping. But amp was in protected mode, and there was no sound from any of the speakers (except the sub)

I removed all wires, except power and ground, to the amp, and it was still in protected mode

I tried a new amp to eliminate that as the issue, and it did the same thing

Here's the 'Kicker'... If I remove the ground wire from the amp and reattach it, everything works fine... I have done this every trip since the install, and everything works as it should until the next trip

Googling shows there may be some issues with running amps off a battery selector switch... otherwise, WTF did I do wrong?

Thanks in advance!

I wanted to come back and update this thread in case anybody else has this same issue

This is with a Kicker KMA 600.6 amplifier (KMA600.6)

When I spoke with Kicker about the issue, they said it was a known issue on their part. I told them I tried two different amps with the same issue, and he said it's possible... there were a bunch of bad ones on the market

I sent it back to Kicker, and they returned it fixed under warranty. The issue has not occurred since then, so, fingers crossed, it is fixed