2022 AR250 Running Wires for Stereo

[NJboater]

I am going to be installing a new stereo in my AR250 and looking for any tips/tricks others have learned in running the power/speaker/stereo/remote cables. I plan to bypass connext completely with this standalone audio system.

Planned equipment:
1. Fusion RA770 head unit (will go at the dash, utilizing the hole already there from the phone holder that I will remove)
2. Fusion ERX400 remote (will replace the current swim deck remote)
3. JL MV800/8i (planning to put this in the storage area underneath the helm on the starboard side, mounted on starboard OR under the port side rear seat where the battery switch is located)
4. JL M6 6.5" (6) speakers will replace the current speakers
5. JL M6 10" subwoofer to be put under the starboard rear seat

My questions:
A. Can I utilize the existing house battery on/off switch to tap into the power for the amp?
B. If 'A' is true, will this impact the DVSR functionality? I assume no
C. How would I run power cables from the existing on/off switch to the area under the helm? (to power the amp)
D. Is there existing power I can tap into under the helm to wire the head unit? Or is it better to use the power I will run from the battery for the amp and tap into that?
E. Best way to replace speaker wires for bow/cockpit/swim deck and run to the amp (underneath helm)
F. Is adding a third battery (second house battery) as easy as mounting another battery tray next to the existing 2 batteries and hooking up in parallel to the existing house battery? Does this impact DVSR in anyway?

Tl;DR - Need assistance figuring out how to run power/speaker wire throughout the boat from others who have done this and have first hand experience. Photos of your installs are helpful!

Bonus - does anyone know how the existing factory stereo and remote are wired?

Thank you!

 

[jthackman]

diff boat, but to your pwr/ground wiring ?, if you're going to helm.
i started small by just running pwr/ground wire to helm to power an amp. couple yrs later, i ran another set of pwr/ground wires to a small fuse box in helm for other accessories. just finished running another set of pwr/ground wires for my second amp. each set is connected directly to house battery (power through an inline circuit breaker to pos, ground direct to neg).
so, in hindsight, i should have just run a big wire (0ga) from battery to helm and used bus bars in helm for my future mods. would have saved time and $.

 

[drober30]

Your system is exactly what I was looking into doing but I was going to run a seperate amp for the sub. Were you planning on bridging the 2 channels to feed 200 watts to the M6 10" sub?

I will be getting my boat out of indoor storage in the next couple of weeks, then I can see if there is a location for the Fusion RA770 head unit.

 

[NoFla21]

This looks identical to my setup. While I had a professional do my install, I can take a bunch of pics of the wiring and install if you think it will be beneficial.

 

[NJboater]

Your system is exactly what I was looking into doing but I was going to run a seperate amp for the sub. Were you planning on bridging the 2 channels to feed 200 watts to the M6 10" sub?

I will be getting my boat out of indoor storage in the next couple of weeks, then I can see if there is a location for the Fusion RA770 head unit.

I may add a second sub and sub amp in the future if I feel the system is lacking. I am planning on using outputs 1-6 for the 6.5" speakers and bridging output 7-8 for the 10" sub like you mentioned

 

[NJboater]

This looks identical to my setup. While I had a professional do my install, I can take a bunch of pics of the wiring and install if you think it will be beneficial.

I would love to see some pictures of your setup! In particular the battery bay/wiring (assuming your installer hooked into the house on/off switch, but if not, curious how the power to the amp is set up, or if bus bar was installed etc). Also the amplifier and head unit wiring (I have zero experience outside proactively reading manuals and youtube and am curious how pros wire everything in and either tap into existing power or run new)

 

[NJboater]

diff boat, but to your pwr/ground wiring ?, if you're going to helm.
i started small by just running pwr/ground wire to helm to power an amp. couple yrs later, i ran another set of pwr/ground wires to a small fuse box in helm for other accessories. just finished running another set of pwr/ground wires for my second amp. each set is connected directly to house battery (power through an inline circuit breaker to pos, ground direct to neg).
so, in hindsight, i should have just run a big wire (0ga) from battery to helm and used bus bars in helm for my future mods. would have saved time and $.
View attachment 217421

In running all of this directly connected to your house battery, wouldn't that put the battery at risk of draining? I like the option of running power wire from the house battery on/off switch to the helm so I know when the switch is off I'm not at risk of accidentally draining the battery. But I may be wrong...electrical is not my expertise

 

[BlueBulls]

I also bypassed the Connext and redid everything, except in Wet Sounds, and don't regret it a bit. There was always something bothersome about leaving the ECUs and Connext powered on for hours at a time just to listen to music - and the Connext needs both house and start to even work. I usually turn my start battery completely off now when chilling and run the stereo as long as I want without worry.

I'm running 4 pairs of Revo 6's, a pair of Rev 10's, a soundbar, and two subs (10" free air and 12" sealed). The original house battery feeds a panel under the helm that runs the head unit and other accessories. I ended up putting a third battery on the starboard side and running two direct power circuits underneath the gunwale to the amps on separate switches - one feeds only the second sub and overhead speakers so we can turn them off and engage 'stealth mode' when appropriate without messing with zones and levels.

A. Can I utilize the existing house battery on/off switch to tap into the power for the amp?
I was able to add the wire for the helm accessory circuit (6 gauge, maybe?) but it would have been too tight trying to bring in one of the heavy gauge power cables for the amps - not to mention if you go all the way from the helm to the stock battery it adds 20' to the round trip circuit length vs having a closer battery.

B. If 'A' is true, will this impact the DVSR functionality? I assume no
Everything charges just like it should.

C. How would I run power cables from the existing on/off switch to the area under the helm? (to power the amp)
Through the bulkhead, across the engine compartment, and down the gunwale underneath the helm. Alternately there is a channel under the floor that steering cables go into, I think, if you want to go underneath and take a more direct diagonal path direct under the helm. This is also a good way to get speaker wires across the boat.

D. Is there existing power I can tap into under the helm to wire the head unit? Or is it better to use the power I will run from the battery for the amp and tap into that?
The only accessory wires I had under the helm came off the 'accessory' switches in the console and were very low amperage, 3-5 if I recall. There are power circuits under the helm for the Connext, existing amp, and other loads but I wouldn't want to run anything off of a vampire tap and the stock amp wires are very small, in the neighborhood of 12 gauge. For one amp and one headunit I don't think there would be an issue with them being on the same circuit, be sure all the grounds are tied together.

E. Best way to replace speaker wires for bow/cockpit/swim deck and run to the amp (underneath helm)
Under the gunwales the long way around or down and underneath the floor - there's not really any other options. I wouldn't 'replace' so much as 'add new'.

F. Is adding a third battery (second house battery) as easy as mounting another battery tray next to the existing 2 batteries and hooking up in parallel to the existing house battery? Does this impact DVSR in anyway?
I went back and forth between having a stand-alone third battery or wiring two in parallel - and I went parallel. I would recommend balancing the weight of the three batteries on both sides of the boat, I ran heavy gauge wire between the house batteries on opposite sides and haven't had any issues. I typically use a 3-bank onboard charger to keep all the batteries charged but haven't had any issues with the DVSR doing its thing.

Bonus (stern remote):
Plan on mummifying your existing stern remote behind your new one - if you remove it fully you will get an annoying error on the Connext.

Think about anything you are even contemplating in the future and run the wires all at the same time (RGB, tower speakers, second amps, etc). I rummaged around and just found the one pic of the amps about 3/4 of the way through install - it's almost time to pull the winter cover off so I'll try to get some more for reference.

 

[NJboater]

I also bypassed the Connext and redid everything, except in Wet Sounds, and don't regret it a bit. There was always something bothersome about leaving the ECUs and Connext powered on for hours at a time just to listen to music - and the Connext needs both house and start to even work. I usually turn my start battery completely off now when chilling and run the stereo as long as I want without worry.

I'm running 4 pairs of Revo 6's, a pair of Rev 10's, a soundbar, and two subs (10" free air and 12" sealed). The original house battery feeds a panel under the helm that runs the head unit and other accessories. I ended up putting a third battery on the starboard side and running two direct power circuits underneath the gunwale to the amps on separate switches - one feeds only the second sub and overhead speakers so we can turn them off and engage 'stealth mode' when appropriate without messing with zones and levels.

A. Can I utilize the existing house battery on/off switch to tap into the power for the amp?
I was able to add the wire for the helm accessory circuit (6 gauge, maybe?) but it would have been too tight trying to bring in one of the heavy gauge power cables for the amps - not to mention if you go all the way from the helm to the stock battery it adds 20' to the round trip circuit length vs having a closer battery.

B. If 'A' is true, will this impact the DVSR functionality? I assume no
Everything charges just like it should.

C. How would I run power cables from the existing on/off switch to the area under the helm? (to power the amp)
Through the bulkhead, across the engine compartment, and down the gunwale underneath the helm. Alternately there is a channel under the floor that steering cables go into, I think, if you want to go underneath and take a more direct diagonal path direct under the helm. This is also a good way to get speaker wires across the boat.

D. Is there existing power I can tap into under the helm to wire the head unit? Or is it better to use the power I will run from the battery for the amp and tap into that?
The only accessory wires I had under the helm came off the 'accessory' switches in the console and were very low amperage, 3-5 if I recall. There are power circuits under the helm for the Connext, existing amp, and other loads but I wouldn't want to run anything off of a vampire tap and the stock amp wires are very small, in the neighborhood of 12 gauge. For one amp and one headunit I don't think there would be an issue with them being on the same circuit, be sure all the grounds are tied together.

E. Best way to replace speaker wires for bow/cockpit/swim deck and run to the amp (underneath helm)
Under the gunwales the long way around or down and underneath the floor - there's not really any other options. I wouldn't 'replace' so much as 'add new'.

F. Is adding a third battery (second house battery) as easy as mounting another battery tray next to the existing 2 batteries and hooking up in parallel to the existing house battery? Does this impact DVSR in anyway?
I went back and forth between having a stand-alone third battery or wiring two in parallel - and I went parallel. I would recommend balancing the weight of the three batteries on both sides of the boat, I ran heavy gauge wire between the house batteries on opposite sides and haven't had any issues. I typically use a 3-bank onboard charger to keep all the batteries charged but haven't had any issues with the DVSR doing its thing.

Bonus (stern remote):
Plan on mummifying your existing stern remote behind your new one - if you remove it fully you will get an annoying error on the Connext.

Think about anything you are even contemplating in the future and run the wires all at the same time (RGB, tower speakers, second amps, etc). I rummaged around and just found the one pic of the amps about 3/4 of the way through install - it's almost time to pull the winter cover off so I'll try to get some more for reference.

I think I will run 4AWG from the house battery (and add another in parallel) to the helm and stick bus bars up there to connect the amp and stereo.

From the sound of it, the factory remote is technically the head unit and I should leave hooked up as is (just unhooking the speaker wires). I will probably just return the remote I bought since I’ll never use the swim deck remote anyway. The fusion RA770 and fusion app give me control at the helm and anywhere else Bluetooth reaches so that is good enough for my needs. The last thing I need is stupid errors or warnings on connext from disconnecting the existing remote.

 

[drober30]

In running all of this directly connected to your house battery, wouldn't that put the battery at risk of draining? I like the option of running power wire from the house battery on/off switch to the helm so I know when the switch is off I'm not at risk of accidentally draining the battery. But I may be wrong...electrical is not my expertise

Have you invested in a NOCO jump pack? They are highly recommended.

 

[NJboater]

Have you invested in a NOCO jump pack? They are highly recommended.

Yep. I have a jump pack and onboard charger

 

[BlueBulls]

From the sound of it, the factory remote is technically the head unit

That was the case with the last generation of boats with the Polk system, the Enovation remote is exactly that but the Connext looks for the connection when it starts. The Connext is the jack of all trades (navigation, audio, controls, gauges) and the master of none - and a single point of failure. My remote is zip tied up behind the swim deck speakers. I would recommend still placing a new remote back there unless you just never get in the water - I personally wouldn't want to be trying to float around holding a beer while trying to use my phone to change the song. You would also have a remote in a prominent location that would be useless and need constant explaining to guests.

 

[NJboater]

That was the case with the last generation of boats with the Polk system, the Enovation remote is exactly that but the Connext looks for the connection when it starts. The Connext is the jack of all trades (navigation, audio, controls, gauges) and the master of none - and a single point of failure. My remote is zip tied up behind the swim deck speakers. I would recommend still placing a new remote back there unless you just never get in the water - I personally wouldn't want to be trying to float around holding a beer while trying to use my phone to change the song. You would also have a remote in a prominent location that would be useless and need constant explaining to guests.

This is a pretty good option I haven’t thought of! Thanks