2022 Yamaha 195S Audio Upgrade Project

[Billy John]

After getting a lot of help from reading threads here (big shout out to @Hoyt for the excellent build thread and helpful messages in planning our upgrades!! Thank you!!) I've decided to post our build to help others make decisions, answer questions, and provide guidance.

We received our 2022 Yamaha 195S last August after our 2021 Yamaha AR195 was cancelled in May of 2021 by Yamaha (a blessing in disguise as we love the 195S! We actually received the first 2022 that arrived at our dealer, signed the paperwork and took it home on 2022 release day!).

As soon as the boat was put away at the dealer in storage in October, I began researching the best way to go about upgrading the audio system on the boat for a bit more volume, more bass, and sandbar/wakeboarding/tubing distance listening. We decided to go with Wet Sounds products after a lot of research as they seem to be the best in terms of performance, appearence, and durability. We took advantage of sales that were going on around Black Friday and saved 20% off the products sold by WakeMakers, Crutchfield, and direct from Wet Sounds. The following thread posts summarize the build!

 

[Billy John]

Products purchased and installed:

1. Yamaha dual battery kit (installed by the dealer before we brought the boat home this May).
2. Wet Sounds ANL Fuse holder and 100 Amp ANL fuse.
3. Wet Sounds SYN-DX 2.3 HP Amp (to drive the tower speakers).
4. Wet Sounds HTX 4 Amp (to drive the factory Wet Sounds Recon 6-S cabin speakers)
5. Wet Sounds Stealth AS-10 Powered Subwoofer.
6. Wet Sounds REV 10 Tower Speakers with Swivel Clamps (regular size, not the mini).
7. Bass Pro Shops XPS 2 Bank on board battery charger and maintainer.
8. 4 gauge power and ground cables.
9. Stinger Marine RCA cables and mono subwoofer RCA cable.
10. 12 gauge jacketed marine speaker cable (for the towers).
11. 16 gauge wire for the remote Amp turn on.
12. 12" x 17" x 1/2" HDPE board (for an amp mounting board)
13. Wet Sounds REVO 8 subwoofer grill (for a port hole for the port side storage locker where the sub is located)
14. White window weather stripping.
15. Wire organizer tubing.
16. Stainless steel screws, lock washers, washers, and nuts ranging from 1/2" #6 to 1 1/2" #10.
17. 4 post 12V and ground bus bars.
18. 8 gauge power and ground cables (to extend the length of the cables provided on the AS-10 Powered sub, which are only about 4 or 5 feet long).

 

[Billy John]

So I started by planning this install all out, very carefully after a lot of reading and a few messages to @Hoyt, trying different locations, examining the boat, and looking for quick wins.

The plan became clear after examining the boat and determining how to minimize wiring, wiring mess concealment, and ease of install, all with the best possible sound quality.

Locations:

The REV 10 tower speakers would be mounted on the tower of course, just outside the outermost cross braces on the top of the tower. This allows for good adjustment and clearances with the tower up and folded (the starboard side speaker just barely clears the steering wheel, pictures will follow) with the wires run down the tower tube and through the tower cable slot into the port side aft storage.

The Stealth AS-10 Powered subwoofer would be located in the port side storage compartment with wires ran back to the port side aft storage compartment.

The amps would be located on a HDPE board in the port side aft storage compartment tucked all the way to the side and back.

Overall the REV10 location is somewhat obvious but you need to be careful of clearences when the tower is folded, the subwoofer location provided great sound and is out of the way, and the amps are close to power, close to a convenient location to splice into the existing cabin speaker wire, close to the Fusion head unit, and out of the way.

 

[Billy John]

I started by removing the factory Fusion ms-ra70nsx head unit which is located on the swim platform. I then chose to put all of the cabin speakers on zone 1 and rename it "Cabin". I then chose to also put the subwoofer on zone 1 with the cabin speakers. I chose to put the tower speakers on zone 2 and renamed it "Tower". Lucky for me, in 2022 Yamaha did not clip the RCA outs that are on the headunit, so no need to put on a new harness there!

For the cabin speakers and HTX 4 amp:

(Side note, the Recon 6-S speakers are loud and sound great, they just need more power, hence the 100 W x 4 HTX 4 amp upgrade. This also allows you to put all 4 speakers on one zone with the Fusion head unit via the zone 1 RCA out. The factory Fusion head unit only has 2 channels per zone at 50 W per channel, 4 channels total two on each zone)

I located where the main wiring harness was running all of the cabin speaker wires, which is just under the inner edge of the port side aft storage compartment. I clipped off all of the Yamaha factory cable ties which affix to built in tabs on the hull that new zip ties would eventually resecure the wiring to. I pulled out/loose as much of the wiring as I could and clipped it off as close to the aft as I could (Yamaha used wire colors that match what is in the Fusion head unit manual, so identifying the correct wires was easy using the manual as a guide). I ran those wires down to where the HTX 4 amp would be. I then ran RCA cables up from the Fusion head unit and into the port aft storage compartment by taping them to a wire coat hanger and shoving it through. There is a small slot that these wires can run over where the transom meets the storage compartment, so plenty of room there. As @Hoyt did, I also removed the port side cup holder on the swim platform to make it easier to reach around in there. From there I placed the amp approximately where it would go, hooked up the speaker wires, and measured power wires, remote wire, and approximated where the Wet Sounds fuse holder and bus bars for power would go (they were installed directly below where the main wiring harness runs, and next to the batteries).

For the AS-10 subwoofer:

I ran the RCA and remote wire the same as for the HTX 4 amp, but then followed the boat forward all the way through the port side aft storage along the side and into the port storage compartment (easy). The subwoofer input is a 3.5 mm male connection, so you need to buy a connector that converts the male RCA to a female 3.5 mm jack. I extended the power and ground wires using 8 gauge wiring back to the bus bars, and done! The wiring can follow the main speaker wiring harness around the upper inner edge of the port aft storage for concealment and be zip tied to the existing wiring that Yamaha zip tied using those built in hull tabs.

For the tower speakers:

I used a step drill bit to drill 3/4" holes in the underside of the tower after having the tower up and using the Clamps to mark where the holes needed to be drilled. I then ran the wiring up the tower from the port aft storage, through the tower cable slot, and up the tower by the hinge. Since I was using jacketed wire (to protect from damage) it was rigid and fished up the tower easily to the holes I drilled. I then connected those wires to the wires on the REV 10 swivel Clamps and tightened down the Clamps. I then installed the REV 10 speakers onto the clamps. I placed the SYN-DX 2.3 HP Amp just aft of the HTX 4 amp and ran the RCA and remote wires the same way as I did for the HTX 4 amp, measured and cut power/ground wires, and connected it all up. Side note, I used 6 ft RCA wires.

 

[Billy John]

Tuning:

For the cabin speakers, I set a volume limit on the Fusion head unit to 19 out of 24. I set the HTX 4 amp input to 2 channel since I'm running just 1 RCA cable, set the crossovers to high pass at 80 Hz and started with the gain at zero. With the Fusuon head unit at 19, I turned the gain up until I heard distortion with a variety of music and then just backed it off until the distortion was gone (ended up at about 2/5ths of the way up on the gain)

For the subwoofer, I didn't use the onboard crossover, so I just left it all the way up at 200 Hz, bass boost all the way down, and started with the gain all the way down. I set the Subwoofer filter on the Fusion head unit to 85 Hz, subwoofer level all the way up, and zone 1/cabin volume (which the subwoofer is linked/wired to) at 19. Same procedure, and ended up with the gain at about 2/3 the way up (lots of bass, sounds great and plenty loud for my needs!).

For the REV 10 towers, I went with getting a bit more bass and sacrificing a bit of total volume/projection as I wanted more near field well rounded sound (I don't need to be heard across the lake, just loud enough for a wakeboarder or tuber to hear, and believe me, these things get crazy loud, like my ears were ringing like after a night of front row live music loud). The SYN-DX 2.3 HP was set with the crossover at full, bass boost 2/3 of way up, and sum mono output). I set the Fusion zone 2 volume to 19 and started with the gain all the way down. I ended up with the gain 1/2 way up and hard of hearing for the rest of the day...

 

[Billy John]

Finishing touches.

Happy with where everything was located, I mounted the Amps to the HDPE board and secured the board in place using the stainless steel screws.

I then secured the wiring bus bars and also hooked up and installed the on board charger (wired directly to each battery, do not go through the switch).

I used wire organizer to organize all of the wiring (do not run any "signal wires" directly with the power wires as you may get interference). I resecured all of the wiring up and out of the way using zip ties and the factory mounting loops on the hull.

I then screwed the subwoofer down and secured the wiring for it.

Lastly, I removed the HPDE port side storage locker door and traced where my REVO 8 subwoofer grill would go. I drilled a starter hole and then used a jig saw to cut out the hole. I secured the cover to the door with stainess steel machine screws and nuts with a rubber window strip backer, and reattached the door. I also added the rubber window stripping to the door frame edge to reduce rattling.

Last but not least I remounted the Fusion head unit and enjoyed some music.

Pictures attached!

Can't wait to get out on the water this year!!

 

[Hoyt]

Very nice work my friend

 

[Billy John]

Very nice work my friend

Thank you @Hoyt !! Wouldn't have gone as smoothly or turned out as well without the information that you shared on here!!

 

[Hoyt]

Thank you @Hoyt !! Wouldn't have gone as smoothly or turned out as well without the information that you shared on here!!

That's why I put things on this forum. Someday someone will be able to use that info

 

[Billy John]

Upgraded the cabin speakers to Wet Sounds Revo 6-SW speakers today. Got a great deal on them on sale at Crutchfield. They fit right in the factory holes as a direct replacement. Very crisp highs and more midbass than the Recon 6-S Speakers. Very loud too! Retuned the HTX-4 amp for these speakers. Gain now set at 2/3 of the way up.

 

[JetBoatCaptain]

Products purchased and installed:

1. Yamaha dual battery kit (installed by the dealer before we brought the boat home this May).
2. Wet Sounds ANL Fuse holder and 100 Amp ANL fuse.
3. Wet Sounds SYN-DX 2.3 HP Amp (to drive the tower speakers).
4. Wet Sounds HTX 4 Amp (to drive the factory Wet Sounds Recon 6-S cabin speakers)
5. Wet Sounds Stealth AS-10 Powered Subwoofer.
6. Wet Sounds REV 10 Tower Speakers with Swivel Clamps (regular size, not the mini).
7. Bass Pro Shops XPS 2 Bank on board battery charger and maintainer.
8. 4 gauge power and ground cables.
9. Stinger Marine RCA cables and mono subwoofer RCA cable.
10. 12 gauge jacketed marine speaker cable (for the towers).
11. 16 gauge wire for the remote Amp turn on.
12. 12" x 17" x 1/2" HDPE board (for an amp mounting board)
13. Wet Sounds REVO 8 subwoofer grill (for a port hole for the port side storage locker where the sub is located)
14. White window weather stripping.
15. Wire organizer tubing.
16. Stainless steel screws, lock washers, washers, and nuts ranging from 1/2" #6 to 1 1/2" #10.
17. 4 post 12V and ground bus bars.
18. 8 gauge power and ground cables (to extend the length of the cables provided on the AS-10 Powered sub, which are only about 4 or 5 feet long).

Hello Billy- Nice work. I'm doing an upgrade on my 195S and like how you mounted the AMP to an 1/2" thick HDPE board, so I'll do the same. Do you recall the screw length you used? I'm thinking of a 1" screw for 1/2" of thread engagement into the fiberglass. I want to make sure I won't pierce/damage anything with the screws. Thanks!

 

[Billy John]

Hello Billy- Nice work. I'm doing an upgrade on my 195S and like how you mounted the AMP to an 1/2" thick HDPE board, so I'll do the same. Do you recall the screw length you used? I'm thinking of a 1" screw for 1/2" of thread engagement into the fiberglass. I want to make sure I won't pierce/damage anything with the screws. Thanks!

1 inch screws will work just fine. I asked the dealer if there was anything to be worried about drilling into the floor there and they basically said no, just don't drill too far down. When you drill your pilot holes for the screws, go slow, and after you drill through, push the drill bit down (without the drill running) and you'll see how much room you have. I'm actually relocating the amps this year to the vertical board in the back of that compartment.

 

[kgower]

Thank you @Hoyt !! Wouldn't have gone as smoothly or turned out as well without the information that you shared on here!!

I can say the same when @Hoyt helped me last year. Much appreciated!

 

[PatrickKolby]

@Billy John

Doing a similar install. I have the AS-10 hooked up but had to use a 3.5mm extension. Not getting any sound out of the AS-10. Any thoughts why? Maybe the extension is the issue?

 

[Billy John]

@Billy John

Doing a similar install. I have the AS-10 hooked up but had to use a 3.5mm extension. Not getting any sound out of the AS-10. Any thoughts why? Maybe the extension is the issue?

Could be the cable. I convert my 3.5 mm to an RCA using an adapter and run a shielded RCA cable back to the Fusion head unit on the swim platform since the subwoofer out is an RCA connection. Also check a few other quick things. Does the blue light come on on the back of the sub to indicate its powered up? Is your gain set high enough? Mine is set at about 3/4 of the way up (3 o clock position). Is the subwoofer volume turned all the way up on the Fusion head unit for the zone you are using? I have mine on zone 1 with the cabin speakers turned all the way up.

 

[PatrickKolby]

@Billy John

Doing a similar install. I have the AS-10 hooked up but had to use a 3.5mm extension. Not getting any sound out of the AS-10. Any thoughts why? Maybe the extension is the issue?

Same thing happened to me. You need the LC2 and it solves everything.

 

[Billy John]

Well, another spring upgrade project ahead of the season has been completed.

I installed another Yamaha wakeboard tower rack on the starboard side since the kiddos will be riding this year and each rack only holds 2 boards. So now, there's a swiveling rack on each side of the tower.

I relocated the amps to the vertical separator board that's located in the back of the port side rear storage compartment. Now I have most of my storage space back in that compartment and don't have to worry about wet stuff being placed on top of the amps anymore, or the wires getting yanked around on.

I also installed a 3rd battery. It's run in parallel with the 2nd battery on position 2 of the switch so that we don't have to worry about running out of power during long sandbar days. If anyone is wondering, Costco has by far the best prices around on Interstate Batteries. I believe it was only $89 for a group 24 deep cycle battery.

I also installed a second Wet Sounds Stealth AS-10 sub underneath the starboard side rear seat. It really doesn't sound as muffled as others have suggested putting a sub in an enclosed area would and now we have plenty of bass at the back of the boat where we hang out the most at the sandbar. I ran the cables along side with the other cables running across the engine bay. There's a small slot on each side of the dividers that you can sneak the cables through.

I also drilled out a hole where the tower meets the hull on the port side of the boat using a 1/2 inch drill bit. The hole is already driled out on the starboard side for the mooring light wire, and I drilled a similar hole on the starboard side for the tower speaker wires to run through. No more worrying about the speaker cables getting pinched by the tower cable and retaining washers!

I also installed a Perfect Pass system for speed control when wakeboarding. Super easy to install per the directions. I have the GPS puck under the dash and have no issues getting a GPS signal lock, so there's no need to install it above the console as some have suggested may be required. I like to keep things clean looking, so having it concealed was a must. The control unit is installed on the side of the dash using the provided RAM mount.

Last, I've added 350 lbs of ballast to the rear of the boat in the storage compartments to enhance the wake a bit for wakeboarding. These boats have a very shallow draft, and really need additional weight to produce a reasonable wake. We have a small family of 4, so we don't always have the extra people on board to provide the needed weight. We bought the steel shot 50 lb bags from Wake Life as they are excellent quality and are the best price around ($65 per bag with free shipping)

Pics of the upgrades attached!

 

[kgower]

Could be the cable. I convert my 3.5 mm to an RCA using an adapter and run a shielded RCA cable back to the Fusion head unit on the swim platform since the subwoofer out is an RCA connection. Also check a few other quick things. Does the blue light come on on the back of the sub to indicate its powered up? Is your gain set high enough? Mine is set at about 3/4 of the way up (3 o clock position). Is the subwoofer volume turned all the way up on the Fusion head unit for the zone you are using? I have mine on zone 1 with the cabin speakers turned all the way up.

Yes, a solid blue light on the logo badge on the speaker should indicate that all is good, flashing red would mean you have a problem/s. I bridged my sub on zone 1 and the base is turned up. almost all the way.

 

[Billy John]

All ready to launch for the season today!!!

 

[gking]

thank you for all this 195s audio upgrade info. I am designing an upgrade for mine. I have the stock recon 6 in cabin. in your experience would a skar 75w rms per channel (4x @4ohms) amp do a good job with the recons do you think? Then later I can add tower speaker pair and sub amp?