2017 Yamaha speaker replacement question

[jmilford]

Hi folks,
I purchased some Wet Sounds Recon 6's (taken out of a Mamba on the showroom floor) to replace the Polk Audio speakers that came on my 2017 Yamaha 212 Limited a few years ago, but never had time to install them. I finally got around to replacing them last year and only the front speakers work well. I only purchased 6 speakers, because that's all he had and simply left the Polk speakers on the swim deck. Clearly, I should have done more research, etc...but we're past that now. I thought it was going to be a "plug and play" situation and am fairly handy. No doubt the connections are good, but I'm guessing I may need to rewire, etc.

Ultimately, I could barely hear the Polk Speakers when we were underway and it was driving me nuts. I know an amp and new system would be the optimal way to go, but simply wasn't in the budget. So, here I am.

Any thoughts as to make this set up work? Or, should I put the old Polk's back in until I get 2 more Wet Sounds and rewire it?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Marvin willis]

Adding mid cabin speakers will give you what your looking for

 

[h2oskierfl95]

I'm assuming you are running them off the head unit? The recons will require an amp to make them sound good. They have a higher RMS than the Polks. Also, the back four speakers are wired in series creating an 8 ohm load for the radio. The front two speakers are run straight and are at 4 ohms. More resistance equals less power. Marvin is also right. If you want a chance at hearing them underway, you will need to add a pair near the driver and passenger seats.

 

[jmilford]

I'm assuming you are running them off the head unit? The recons will require an amp to make them sound good. They have a higher RMS than the Polks. Also, the back four speakers are wired in series creating an 8 ohm load for the radio. The front two speakers are run straight and are at 4 ohms. More resistance equals less power. Marvin is also right. If you want a chance at hearing them underway, you will need to add a pair near the driver and passenger seats.

Thanks guys! Yes, they’re run directly off the head unit. Sounds like an amp is the way to go for sure. What about the original Polks on the swim deck? Will they work fine along side the Recons? If so, I may add one of the original polks back in the captains area.

Will the amp require new or parallel wiring?

Thanks again for your advice!

 

[h2oskierfl95]

There are a TON of different ways to go about this, but if it was me and I was trying to keep my budget reasonable, here is what I would do. Purchase another set of matching speakers and get a good quality Class D 4 channel amp that can handle 2 ohm loads. Wire the swim deck and bow, Starboard and port, in parallel. This will use two channels of the amp. Then wire the four cabin speakers in parallel as well. This will be the other two channels of the amp. This will also give you the option of adjusting the gain on the amp to balance the two "Zones" how you like. I like the cabin louder so when I am underway I can hear, but I'm not blasting the swim deck to everyone on the lake. By doing this, you can use the fade control on the radio to adjust as well. If we are parked and out back, I fade the radio to the back. This turns the cabin speakers off and just uses the bow and swim deck.

 

[Marvin willis]

There are a TON of different ways to go about this, but if it was me and I was trying to keep my budget reasonable, here is what I would do. Purchase another set of matching speakers and get a good quality Class D 4 channel amp that can handle 2 ohm loads. Wire the swim deck and bow, Starboard and port, in parallel. This will use two channels of the amp. Then wire the four cabin speakers in parallel as well. This will be the other two channels of the amp. This will also give you the option of adjusting the gain on the amp to balance the two "Zones" how you like. I like the cabin louder so when I am underway I can hear, but I'm not blasting the swim deck to everyone on the lake. By doing this, you can use the fade control on the radio to adjust as well. If we are parked and out back, I fade the radio to the back. This turns the cabin speakers off and just uses the bow and swim deck.

I’m that ass blasting music so that everyone can hear my music. My wife is making me use a Bluetooth speaker so I don’t piss everyone at the beach off this year. Lol We will see how long that lasts.

 

[SCP1]

Thanks guys! Yes, they’re run directly off the head unit. Sounds like an amp is the way to go for sure. What about the original Polks on the swim deck? Will they work fine along side the Recons? If so, I may add one of the original polks back in the captains area.

Will the amp require new or parallel wiring?

Thanks again for your advice!

You’re going to want to run new wiring. The Polks will work fine however after you hook an amp up you maybe disappointed in them when comparing the two. Obviously it would be best if you are running at 2ohms to have 4 of the same speakers as the Wetsounds will handle more power. One other thing to consider would be to buy a 5 channel amp or bigger just in case next year you’re like I really want a sub. Then all you have to do is buy a sub and not another amp and wiring kit.
I cut the back holes bigger to fit 6.5’s.

 

[212s]

There are a TON of different ways to go about this, but if it was me and I was trying to keep my budget reasonable, here is what I would do. Purchase another set of matching speakers and get a good quality Class D 4 channel amp that can handle 2 ohm loads. Wire the swim deck and bow, Starboard and port, in parallel. This will use two channels of the amp. Then wire the four cabin speakers in parallel as well. This will be the other two channels of the amp. This will also give you the option of adjusting the gain on the amp to balance the two "Zones" how you like. I like the cabin louder so when I am underway I can hear, but I'm not blasting the swim deck to everyone on the lake. By doing this, you can use the fade control on the radio to adjust as well. If we are parked and out back, I fade the radio to the back. This turns the cabin speakers off and just uses the bow and swim deck.

This is exactly what I did...a good amp like Kicker, JL, or Wetsounds to drive them makes a huge difference in output. 200w of power total in the cockpit really blasts the sound. I kept the stock Polk DB652+ speakers as they actually sound pretty good, and added another pair mid-cabin, and re-wired it all to a JL 500/4 amp.