Proposed Yamaha 242 Limited S E-series audio upgrade

[Cambo]

Eq's are a great addition to these boat systems I had one on my 2005 with multi amp system It was a was not expensive and worked great for balancing out the sound and allowing fine tuning. The new system is in phase 1 My goal was to have total control of volume tone and crossover points so I took the front and rear RCA connections from the Polk PA4A and fed them to two separate EQ's one would be good for most systems but they are inexpensive . I did use the wet sounds 420 but the American base works just as well for a fraction of the price and has a built in volt meter , it doesn't have the PA. This was needed due to the poor cross over on the Rockville amp.

 

[Travis242LSE]

Sorry to reserect an old thread but I am starting to upgrade the stereo system in the boat. But I am having trouble understanding the oem wiring. Looks like the bow and tower are wired together at 2ohm, and the cabin and rear deck are wired together at 4ohm? Is that correct? I want to use a Exile Javelin 5 channel amp, passive EQ, and a 12” Sub I want to use the original connext and the rear P4A4 head unit to control system as well.
Is there a wiring harness I can buy to keep from hacking the oem speaker harness?

 

[212s]

Looks like the bow and tower are wired together at 2ohm, and the cabin and rear deck are wired together at 4ohm? Is that correct? I want to use a Exile Javelin 5 channel amp, passive EQ, and a 12” Sub I want to use the original connext and the rear P4A4 head unit to control system as well.
Is there a wiring harness I can buy to keep from hacking the oem speaker harness?

Most likely the wiring is in series, not parallel, to get 4-8 ohm loads. My boat had the cockpit and stern speakers wired in series to the rear channel, and the bow wired direct to the front channel. This way the stock system is not heavily loaded and ensures it works will minimal amp draw, but it sucks for upgrades and using the stock wiring. The series wiring also cuts power and volume by sharing it across two sets of speakers. It's better to wire direct or parallel if the amp supports 2 ohm loads.

I'd run new wires to connect it how you want and to get full volume from the system.

The Connext simply slaves off the stereo head unit, so use the RCA connections from your head unit to inputs on the amp and you'll have regular control over the volume from the Connext and joystick. That joystick is one of my favourite features - all boats should have these.

 

[Julian]

On my boat the speakers I messed with were wired in series. This is what I had stock:


I added an amp and rewired like this using the stock wiring:


Since I was intercepting the wiring on the way to the tower sound bar it was much easier. Those wires are behind the Port side cabin speakers, and are well labeled on the wires themselves. All I had to do was cut the wires to the tower and connect them to the new amp, and then join the wires to eliminate the series set up (the purple connections shown above). This is also linked in my signature under the 242X link with all my mods (if you don't see my signature, you are on your phone....turn it on its side)

 

[Travis242LSE]

Thanks for the help guys. I decided to wire the 6 6.5” speakers and the sub directly to the amp/eq and run the tweeters on the head unit. I’ll let you know how it comes out. Everything I’ve seen Yamaha do so far makes zero sense.

 

[Travis242LSE]

Update: Removed the tweeters from the system. They just scream and sound is off compared to the rest of the system.

I do feel there is a dead spot at the helm and passenger seating areas but wife likes that you can get away from the music if you want.
Debating running a 3rd battery. One forStart and 2 for House. Anyone else running this setup?

 

[jacoviii]

We did mid cabin speakers. And this is a pic of 2 out of 3 of the house batteries. One group 31 in stock batt. location and 2 on the starboard side but all wired as one bank.

 

[Travis242LSE]

We did mid cabin speakers. And this is a pic of 2 out of 3 of the house batteries. One group 31 in stock batt. location and 2 on the starboard side but all wired as one bank.View attachment 175414View attachment 175415

Thanks, What's the other (port) speaker look like. I just picked up 2 8" wet sounds coax speakers but I don't think I can get the depth I need. May need to grab some more 6.5" coax speakers

 

[Travis242LSE]

Just finished my 3 battery setup. 2 (house) X2Power BCI Group 31M 12V 100AH 1150CCA AGM Deep Cycle Marine & RV Batteries and 1 (start) Odyssey 12V 330CCA AGM Extreme Series Powersport Battery

 

[Travis242LSE]

Anyone else running 2 subs? I'm debating adding a 10" up front