Looking for advice on a 2017 212X stereo upgrade

[Jameson Clark]

It is that easy. I will say I had to play around with the gain (mine came from the dealer maxed out) a bit otherwise the amp would shut down for a second or two when turned way up. Once I had it tuned both subs made a big difference.

The other big tip is move the WetSounds bar to a separate amp. That bar is stupid loud when you give it the right amount of power.

Other free power (well you have to buy speaker wire) is running all the other speakers in parallel. They come wired in series so each speaker is only getting like 40 watts.

Thanks for the help. I'm sure I'll be back over the off season to ask more questions!

 

[geohil]

Thanks for the help. I'm sure I'll be back over the off season to ask more questions!

After a season and a half with our boat I'll be adding mid-cabin speakers and upgrading the swim platform speakers this winter. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Another small tip is while you are running 20mph or more flip your sound bar to forward facing if you want to hear the music. Otherwise the driver and passenger seats get left out of all sound.

 

[Jameson Clark]

After a season and a half with our boat I'll be adding mid-cabin speakers and upgrading the swim platform speakers this winter. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Another small tip is while you are running 20mph or more flip your sound bar to forward facing if you want to hear the music. Otherwise the driver and passenger seats get left out of all sound.

Yes, please keep me updated. I am not looking to go crazy on stereo stuff but rewires and adding one amp and one sub seems right in the ballpark for me!

Also, what amp for just the sound bar? Surely that would be a pretty small deal for just it right? Where did you mount yours?

 

[geohil]

Yes, please keep me updated. I am not looking to go crazy on stereo stuff but rewires and adding one amp and one sub seems right in the ballpark for me!

Also, what amp for just the sound bar? Surely that would be a pretty small deal for just it right? Where did you mount yours?

I found a Polk 2000.2 for less than $100 and it works so well. Huge difference.

 

[jocolo21]

Crutchfield has JL marine 16 gauge wire at .49 per foot i ordered 200 feet to redo my wiring add rev10 and 2 jlamps from my 07 boat

 

[Jameson Clark]

@zwillz these guys have the 17-18 212x stereo really figured out!

 

[JDRacing]

Hi All;

Reviving this thread to see if anyone has in fact added 6.5's to the swim deck to replace the stock 5.25's (Wet Sounds on my boat) for a 212X. I see @geohil was heading that direction with Revo 6's, and I'm curious if he's gotten there, or if anyone else has done so. The reason I'm asking, is that it seems like the swim deck speaker area is molded such that 6.5's won't fit in that space on the 2018 (and I'm assuming on the 2017) 212X. Thanks.

Jeff

 

[Dave burke]

I was thinking of doing it on mine but haven’t done it yet. I took out the 5.25 to see how a 6.5 would fit and you’re right that the curve of fiberglass would make the cut tricky. I think it can be done though.

Somebody (@geohil I believe but am not sure) said they had a contact who was going to make a custom shim to make the fit in the curve better. That info might be in this thread. Haven’t had a chance to look yet.

I’m definitely interested in hearing what you do though. In my case, the trade-off between the better sound from the 6.5 vs. the tricky cut hasn’t been that compelling yet.

 

[JDRacing]

I agree with you Dave. Cutting into that area to try to squeeze a 6.5 in place of the 5.25 doesn't seem worth the risk. The shim idea might work, but unless it is kinda thick, I'm still not convinced the larger speaker will fit in the hole.

I'm holding out hope that Wet Sounds will make a Revo 5.25 to fit in the existing space. I've replaced all my cabin speakers with Revo 6's and added them in the mid-cabin. I think they sound significantly better. In talking to folks at Wet Sounds, 5.25 Revos sound like they might be a possibility in the near future.

Also, for those not wanting to add another amp, re-wiring the existing speakers in parallel (two speakers per channel) instead of series should make a nice difference. In fact the Wet Sounds amp manual shows/recommends parallel connections for multi speaker applications. I'm told that Yamaha finally realized this and in the late 2018 and 2019 242X, have now wired the rear cabin and bow speakers in parallel.

 

[geohil]

@JDRacing - sorry haven't been online much. I used a 1 inch spacer like these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078V7DS9...olid=1WCD0V4W96HVJ&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
and went with the JL MX series 6.5 and it worked fine. Boat is in storage so it will still be a while before I get a pic. Sorry!

 

[JDRacing]

No sweat, @geohill, and thank you for the update. Whenever you can get a picture, it would be much appreciated. It may cause me to decide to put Revo 6.5's on the swim deck.

Jeff

 

[twonb1]

@JDRacing - sorry haven't been online much. I used a 1 inch spacer like these: Amazon.com
and went with the JL MX series 6.5 and it worked fine. Boat is in storage so it will still be a while before I get a pic. Sorry!

Those rings don't fit the m6 6.5 just in case someone was curious

 

[Matty]

Anyone have a rough idea how many feet of new 16g wire is needed to rewire in series? I'm planning to just re run to every speaker, back to the amp location.

 

[JDRacing]

I think you want to wire the speakers in parallel, if you are putting multiple speakers on one amp channel, not in series. Wet Sounds amps are mostly rated for one or two speakers per channel in parallel, as are other quality amps.

Not hard to calculate the amount of wire needed, if you simply measure the distance from each speaker to the amp via the route you decide to use, and then add, say 20% to make sure you have enough. It's been several years since I did all mine, but that's how I went about it.

Also suggest you consider using split loom around all your speaker wire, particularly if you're running it through the engine compartment. It will match the stock Yamaha wiring that way and help protect it. Split loom is available at any hardware store, comes in a variety of diameters and is cheap.

It's a bit of a tedious process but totally worth it in my opinion if your speakers were mis-wired from the factory, as mine were.

Jeff

 

[Matty]

I think you want to wire the speakers in parallel, if you are putting multiple speakers on one amp channel, not in series. Wet Sounds amps are mostly rated for one or two speakers per channel in parallel, as are other quality amps.

Not hard to calculate the amount of wire needed, if you simply measure the distance from each speaker to the amp via the route you decide to use, and then add, say 20% to make sure you have enough. It's been several years since I did all mine, but that's how I went about it.

Also suggest you consider using split loom around all your speaker wire, particularly if you're running it through the engine compartment. It will match the stock Yamaha wiring that way and help protect it. Split loom is available at any hardware store, comes in a variety of diameters and is cheap.

It's a bit of a tedious process but totally worth it in my opinion if your speakers were mis-wired from the factory, as mine were.

Jeff

Ya I'm not with the boat so I was hoping someone might have known off hand so I could order ahead of time. I meant series... been reading too many threads about the '17 wiring mess. Planning to put another amp to run the bar and subs, and use the one in there(Hertz not Polk as it was replaced before I bought the boat) to run the rest.
Thanks for your reply!