Just started digging into the 2021 SX250/AR250 audio system

[adrianp89]

That is 99% guaranteed your problem. Those connectors are called t-taps and are the worst invention in electrical history. I fix a ton of “professional” jobs because someone used them. They should never be used. I tapped the line level inputs, so we tapped the same wires. I found the wires right at the amp hard to reach so I tapped them closer to the connect screen. Use a military splice and this should fix the issue.

 

[hanskapur]

Thanks so much for your detailed response. I will change the connections today / this weekend as your explanation makes sense. I didn’t follow the wires up to the connect screen. Duh. That would make life so much easier. Part of the reason I used those crappy connectors is it’s so darn hard to reach behind the helm to access the plug going into the amp. Your approach makes more sense.

Question 1: Even if my connections are not good, why would my rear swim deck speakers have barely no output even at full volume. There is some sound coming out but it’s faint. I would think if my t tap crappy connections where bad then only the towers would be affected. The weird thing is both the swim deck and tower speakers either work great at the same time or barely work at all at the same time. Almost makes me think something is grounding out. Any thoughts? Either way I’m going to follow your advice and fix those connections to remove that problem from the equation.

Question 2: If I follow the amp harness where I tapped and undo the covering on the factory wiring, will that simply run all the way to the connect screen which I assume is much easier to access and splice wires.

 

[adrianp89]

Thanks so much for your detailed response. I will change the connections today / this weekend as your explanation makes sense. I didn’t follow the wires up to the connect screen. Duh. That would make life so much easier. Part of the reason I used those crappy connectors is it’s so darn hard to reach behind the helm to access the plug going into the amp. Your approach makes more sense.

Question 1: Even if my connections are not good, why would my rear swim deck speakers have barely no output even at full volume. There is some sound coming out but it’s faint. I would think if my t tap crappy connections where bad then only the towers would be affected. The weird thing is both the swim deck and tower speakers either work great at the same time or barely work at all at the same time. Almost makes me think something is grounding out. Any thoughts? Either way I’m going to follow your advice and fix those connections to remove that problem from the equation.

Question 2: If I follow the amp harness where I tapped and undo the covering on the factory wiring, will that simply run all the way to the connect screen which I assume is much easier to access and splice wires.

#1: I don't have a definite answer. I have seen t-taps do weird things. They can cause a change in resistance, which could cause an issue. When you take them off, make sure the wire is still solid and then wrap it up with electrical tape.

#2: That harness goes into a bigger harness, so hard to follow from amp. On my 252SE there are two wire looms coming from the Connext. One of them has only the wires going to the amp, pretty easy to find based on wire color (though I still recommend checking with a meter) I can probably get a picture tomorrow.

 

[hanskapur]

Thanks again! Makes sense what you are saying about weird things happening with crappy connections. I think you are 100% correct - that is where my problem is.

Today, weather and work permitting I’ll start at the connect screen and look for a better more solid and easier to access place to splice. Thank you again and enjoy your weekend.

 

[adrianp89]

If you don't have a set, I would highly recommend some auto wire strippers. Harbor Freight should have a pair, doing it any other way usually results in a wire being cut if you don't have experience stripping wires.

 

[Wheelspin]

I removed the harness to make it easier to modify. Disconnect it at the 2 white plugs and make your splices with it out, then plug it back in. Much easier. It's only about 2-3 feet long.

 

[hanskapur]

I do have a good set. I normally would do a better job at the connections but for me it was next to impossible to reach into the helm area behind the amp to splice those wires. That’s why I went with the easier crappier solution of just crimping those connectors. Now that I know there is an easier place to get to the wires, I’m going to do a proper splice as you suggested. Thanks!!!!

 

[hanskapur]

I removed the harness to make it easier to modify. Disconnect it at the 2 white plugs and make your splices with it out, then plug it back in. Much easier. It's only about 2-3 feet long.

Thanks!!! So if I understand you correctly:

I simply unplug the line in (marked amp in) harness from the htx6 amp and follow it back about two feet which will get me to a white connector that I can unplug thereby allowing me to remove the entire 2 ft section of wire harness and take it to my bench to do a proper splice with proper RCAs?

Is your boat also a 2021 250’series where the connect screen is the head unit?

Thanks for your help!!!’

 

[Wheelspin]

That's correct. Yes, I have '21 250. I have a picture of that harness disconnected in an earlier post.

 

[hanskapur]

Thanks again. Your posts on this thread have been amazing and very helpful. I just couldn’t recall your boat. Enjoy your summer!!!

 

[adrianp89]

That's correct. Yes, I have '21 250. I have a picture of that harness disconnected in an earlier post.

I wish the 252 was this way lol

 

[hanskapur]

I wanted to thank everyone on this thread for all your help. Today I figured out the issue. I opened up the rca connectors that I had spliced in (they unscrew) and discovered a loose solder joint that was causing a short. As soon as I fixed that everything worked really well.

I still decided to follow the wires further up. Never found the white plug but I was able to do a much better splice once I got some working room. Now the towers and the rear swim deck speakers all work with amazing volume. I of course wish there was a way to tune at least the bass and treble but for now I’m really happy. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND EXPERTISE. ENJOY YOUR SUMMER!!!

 

[Jeebus]

So what did I do wrong here?

Ipulled the harness from the boat. Used the plug that has the remote wire as inputs, cut them and soldered on rca plugs. Then the plug that had just 8 speaker wires, I cut and hooked up to the speaker output of my amp.

everything powers on, but I get no music at all, just a small crackle noise.

Did I wire the plugs backwards?

 

[adrianp89]

Sounds correct.... use your meter to confirm.

 

[Jeebus]

I’m not sure what else to meter.

I plug my stock amp back in, and throw power and ground to it, and everything is good.

I don’t have a meter that will tell me if I’m sourcing my rca plugs from the audio in or audio out harness.

if my harness is right, then my amp must be no good, but it’s new out of the box

 

[hanskapur]

I initially used those cress rca plugs as well. Mine were defective and had loose solder in them when I unscrewed the rca connectors. If you look closely you can unscrew them apart to see the solder joints which will let you examine the joints for any potential shorts.

Another trick I tried was I used a iPhone lightning to rca cable to feed a different input source from My iPhone directly into the amp to diagnose if I then got sound. You may consider trying something like that.

turns out My Main issue was those cress rca plugs. I changed them to Rockford and cleaned up My Splices and now all works really well.
I agree use a multimeter If you have one.

 

[hanskapur]

Also my wires going into the amp actually had printing on them that stated AMP IN CHANNEL 3 or CHANNEL 4 and even had markings for polarity. Check to see if your wires have any markings on them but it sounds like you have tapped the correct wires. What amp are you adding? In my
Case I was adding in a 2 channel
Amp for two tower speakers. Specifically HTX2 by wet sounds for two icon 8 tower speakers. I tapped channel 3 and 4. Green and purple if I recall correctly. It was in the same harness as the blue amp turn on lead. Exactly the same as other posters have posted on this thread. My boat is a 2021 252 SD.

 

[Jeebus]

Use a multimeter to test what? What am I looking for exactly.

if I un screw the rca they seem to look okay, but still all I get is crackly noise with a faint beat of music

kicker amp 5 Chanel.

 

[Jeebus]

I have a hard time thinking all these rca ends i soldered in are bad, even each one individually won’t produce audio.

 

[adrianp89]

Use a multimeter to test what? What am I looking for exactly.

if I un screw the rca they seem to look okay, but still all I get is crackly noise with a faint beat of music

kicker amp 5 Chanel.

Put meter to ohms >> Check the speaker outputs for resistance. Should be 2 or 4ohms (depending on speakers and set up).
Put meter to AC Voltage >> Check out the inputs for voltage - should be variable and change with music and volume, somewhere between 2-20volts would be expected. I would start at the RCA (pin is positive, outer casing is negative), and then move to the wires down stream from where you attached them).