Stereo Upgrade in my 2017 242 Limited SE - Complete!

[Rylee44]

I have not posted much on here over the years, but I have owned a couple of Yamaha boats since 2008 including a 2005 SX230HO and a couple years ago I upgraded to a new 2017 Limited 242 S E-Series. To be honest, when I picked up the new 242, I thought stereo sounded like trash at the helm. I added a Polk MM subwoofer and it didn't help much, so I read through the forum over and over, and added two tower speakers which helped a ton, just not at the helm and the tweeters in the tower still sounded terrible. I am not looking for the loudest system on the lake, but when we pull into an empty cove I want to hear it outside of the boat, without popping eardrums in the cabin area. I ended up planning out a few additions that I was able to install last weekend and I owe a special thanks to everyone for posting all of their installations, how-to's, pictures, etc. All of the information on the boards made this a stress-free process, and I thought I would share some of the pictures.

• Wet Sounds HTX-4 and HTX-6 amp's
• Wet Sounds 420BT Equalizer
• Kicker KMTC8 Tower Speakers
• Polk MM1040UM 10" Subwoofer
• Polk MM652's at the bow and swim platform, moving one set of the DB651's to the helm
• Kicker 8 and 4 gauge wire sets, fuses, battery terminals (BT4), and RCA's (KI25)
• 14 Gauge GSPower Marine speaker wire to go directly from the amps to all the speakers, bypassing the factory wiring

The new setup has the sound clean and clear, full of range, and can get very loud (just not the subwoofer, being a free-air). In fact, the factory tweeters in the tower sound great after the bow speakers are disconnected from the PA4A's amp!

-Ryan

 

[tabbibus]

Impressive. So do you use the connext for music anymore or do you control everything from the 420bt?

 

[Rylee44]

Impressive. So do you use the connext for music anymore or do you control everything from the 420bt?

I plan to use Connext still to control the volume... But when people want to stay in the boat and eat lunch and the kids want to swim with music I can turn off the "Boat" and "Subwoofer" but leave the "Tower" zone on... That will pump music out of the swim platform and towers. Since it's colder than a well-diggers butt outside (Tulsa, OK) I wont be able to try it out for a month or so on the water...

 

[Lion]

Sweet set up!

 

[ralphsmithiii]

Sweet setup, but I spy a GTR tucked in the garage.

 

[Rylee44]

Sweet setup, but I spy a GTR tucked in the garage.

Haha, thank you and good catch! That's my 2014 Special Edition GT-R that I barely get to drive...

 

[Rylee44]

Also... I only thought I was finished... I need to stop browsing this forum! Ended up adding the following this weekend:

• Kicker TB 45CWTB104 10" Tube subwoofer in the rear port side of the boat (unused space)
• Kicker KXMA4002 Marine Amp
• Kicker 8-Gauge wire
• ProMariner ProSport 20 Plus 3-Bank battery charger
• Will be adding a third battery next week - Most likely the X2Power Group 27M battery (unless someone has a better suggestion, it's C20 is 90AH) and put it as the house battery, run the two start batteries parallel.

 

[seanmclean]

How's that Kicker tube sub sound?

 

[Rylee44]

It sounded really good in the shop, not like there are two 12" subs in a sealed box or anything... but again, it was in a metal shop, out on the water will be the true test. I am able to unplug the Polk free-air sub easily, so I will be testing each individually this spring. I just couldn't help myself, knowing that it fits perfectly back there...

 

[rkim808]

Nice setup, I’m also thinking about adding a WetSounds 420BT so I can have some zone controls too. How did u support it in that location? Oh, and she’s a beautiful Yammy.

 

[Rylee44]

Nice setup, I’m also thinking about adding a WetSounds 420BT so I can have some zone controls too. How did u support it in that location? Oh, and she’s a beautiful Yammy.

The 420 is fairly shallow and does not weigh much, probably around one pound. The fiberglass where I installed it is very thick, so I have no concerns of structural or support issues.

 

[Mainah]

Very nice. I love the real world photos will all of the install tools and supplies in the boat. Yes it really does take all of that for those who have not done something like this. Love the labeler too. That kicker tube will really help with the very low end and add more punch. A tip on the polk "free air" (not a true free air) is that location lends itself well to be sealed up. stuffing some thick closed cell foam in the big gaps all around and the using spray foam will get a good enough if not great seal to make that thing perform better (.6 cu ft sealed is all it needs). I also believe after doing a bunch of reading on a dsp project that adding a high pass 35 or 40 hz for these Polks will really help them punch and will continue to update my thread on the dsp about that. One more tip is if you are getting noise first try giving the headhunt and the 420 a robust path to ground on the same battery as the amps then try shielded ram cables. If have a led controller make sure the controller is on a different battery than all of the stereo stuff.

As for the batteries moving them closer to the center line of the boat (against the compartment wall with help with the list they are prone to causing with all of the battery/amp/subwoofer weight on that side. No real need for a robust start battery with these boats but the house bank should certainly be powerful. Group 31 marine deep cycle or AGM will do the trick for the house with just one start battery preferably of the same chemistry but not a huge deal if they only combine with the engines on.

Love the black and red boat.

 

[rkim808]

The 420 is fairly shallow and does not weigh much, probably around one pound. The fiberglass where I installed it is very thick, so I have no concerns of structural or support issues.

Have u thought about adding a vent to the storage compartment where the subwoofer tube is? I bet it sounds better with the seat up versus with it down. Just was wondering.

 

[swatski]

Have u thought about adding a vent to the storage compartment where the subwoofer tube is? I bet it sounds better with the seat up versus with it down. Just was wondering.

I bet it does, but it could also let more engine noise in the cockpit.
For example, I notice that filling those rear storage compartments full (and keeping the seats down) makes for more quiet runs.

--

 

[Rylee44]

Have u thought about adding a vent to the storage compartment where the subwoofer tube is? I bet it sounds better with the seat up versus with it down. Just was wondering.

I gave her a nice coating of Rejex last week and took her out on the lake Friday for a quick picnic. Wow, the stereo sounds amazing compared to how it did and even the Polk db651's sound great! I didn't find any need to keep the seat lid open for better bass, it had plenty of volume and depth just over half volume. If anyone is out on Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma this year I'd be happy to demo it

 

[rkim808]

I gave her a nice coating of Rejex last week and took her out on the lake Friday for a quick picnic. Wow, the stereo sounds amazing compared to how it did and even the Polk db651's sound great! I didn't find any need to keep the seat lid open for better bass, it had plenty of volume and depth just over half volume. If anyone is out on Lake Tenkiller in Oklahoma this year I'd be happy to demo it

Nice, I have Polk Audio mm651um and I agree Polk’s r clean. Glad that ur system sounds great.

 

[Garyav16]

I have not posted much on here over the years, but I have owned a couple of Yamaha boats since 2008 including a 2005 SX230HO and a couple years ago I upgraded to a new 2017 Limited 242 S E-Series. To be honest, when I picked up the new 242, I thought stereo sounded like trash at the helm. I added a Polk MM subwoofer and it didn't help much, so I read through the forum over and over, and added two tower speakers which helped a ton, just not at the helm and the tweeters in the tower still sounded terrible. I am not looking for the loudest system on the lake, but when we pull into an empty cove I want to hear it outside of the boat, without popping eardrums in the cabin area. I ended up planning out a few additions that I was able to install last weekend and I owe a special thanks to everyone for posting all of their installations, how-to's, pictures, etc. All of the information on the boards made this a stress-free process, and I thought I would share some of the pictures.

• Wet Sounds HTX-4 and HTX-6 amp's
• Wet Sounds 420BT Equalizer
• Kicker KMTC8 Tower Speakers
• Polk MM1040UM 10" Subwoofer
• Polk MM652's at the bow and swim platform, moving one set of the DB651's to the helm
• Kicker 8 and 4 gauge wire sets, fuses, battery terminals (BT4), and RCA's (KI25)
• 14 Gauge GSPower Marine speaker wire to go directly from the amps to all the speakers, bypassing the factory wiring

The new setup has the sound clean and clear, full of range, and can get very loud (just not the subwoofer, being a free-air). In fact, the factory tweeters in the tower sound great after the bow speakers are disconnected from the PA4A's amp!

-Ryan

How think is the wood in the storage area where you mounted the AMPS?

 

[Garyav16]

I have not posted much on here over the years, but I have owned a couple of Yamaha boats since 2008 including a 2005 SX230HO and a couple years ago I upgraded to a new 2017 Limited 242 S E-Series. To be honest, when I picked up the new 242, I thought stereo sounded like trash at the helm. I added a Polk MM subwoofer and it didn't help much, so I read through the forum over and over, and added two tower speakers which helped a ton, just not at the helm and the tweeters in the tower still sounded terrible. I am not looking for the loudest system on the lake, but when we pull into an empty cove I want to hear it outside of the boat, without popping eardrums in the cabin area. I ended up planning out a few additions that I was able to install last weekend and I owe a special thanks to everyone for posting all of their installations, how-to's, pictures, etc. All of the information on the boards made this a stress-free process, and I thought I would share some of the pictures.

• Wet Sounds HTX-4 and HTX-6 amp's
• Wet Sounds 420BT Equalizer
• Kicker KMTC8 Tower Speakers
• Polk MM1040UM 10" Subwoofer
• Polk MM652's at the bow and swim platform, moving one set of the DB651's to the helm
• Kicker 8 and 4 gauge wire sets, fuses, battery terminals (BT4), and RCA's (KI25)
• 14 Gauge GSPower Marine speaker wire to go directly from the amps to all the speakers, bypassing the factory wiring

The new setup has the sound clean and clear, full of range, and can get very loud (just not the subwoofer, being a free-air). In fact, the factory tweeters in the tower sound great after the bow speakers are disconnected from the PA4A's amp!

-Ryan

Any particular reason you went with the tower speakers on the front rail? I'm getting ready to install some now.

 

[nessjosh]

Also... I only thought I was finished... I need to stop browsing this forum! Ended up adding the following this weekend:

• Kicker TB 45CWTB104 10" Tube subwoofer in the rear port side of the boat (unused space)
• Kicker KXMA4002 Marine Amp
• Kicker 8-Gauge wire
• ProMariner ProSport 20 Plus 3-Bank battery charger
• Will be adding a third battery next week - Most likely the X2Power Group 27M battery (unless someone has a better suggestion, it's C20 is 90AH) and put it as the house battery, run the two start batteries parallel.

I'm looking to put this same sub in my AR240 instead of doing a 10" Infinite Baffle sub. How did it work for you. Did it vibrate the seat and make buzzes noises, would you still suggest putting the Kicker 10" Tube Sub in that rear port side space or should I put a 10" in the Port Side storage fiberglass wall?

 

[NewBoater]

Awesome! What was the cost for the upgrades?