We took delivery of our 2016 242 Limited S on Saturday

[RightStuff]

(1) The radio/speakers sound pretty bad. We're not sure why. Any ideas of what we can do?

Maybe you just have to tweak the stereo settings a bit (like adjust the bass/treb/etc)? Before I put in an amp/speakers I tweaked those quite a bit to get it sounding better than the factory defaults. That might get it a bit better, until you upgrade the stereo (because we all know you will!).

 

[Peggy L]

As for the radio, I think it should sound good as is to begin with. We will have to check again. To my husband it sounded like the speakers weren't connected right.

 

[Peggy L]

Maybe you just have to tweak the stereo settings a bit (like adjust the bass/treb/etc)? Before I put in an amp/speakers I tweaked those quite a bit to get it sounding better than the factory defaults. That might get it a bit better, until you upgrade the stereo (because we all know you will!).

We're not thinking of upgrading the stereo yet, lol! We did just buy a battery charger for the boat though.

 

[subysti]

Stereo shouldn't sound bad but an amp will definatly help. They should all be Polk speakers so make sure someone didn't swap them out with junk. Some water in the bilge is normal from the swim deck. I know on my first couple outings I had a lot of water come out but I think it's more from shipping and storage for a while without being drained.

 

[Peggy L]

Thank you. We will gave to check the speakers and see. Can't imagine someone would do that. They all looked like the good ones though. We will look closer.

 

[Peggy L]

Does anyone know if we have to register the boat with Yamaha or does the dealer do that? Where can we get a service manual for our boat? Questions, questions...

 

[Mainah]

@Peggy L - I just picked up my 2016 242 LS last week. Yes the cabin speakers sounded weak and the tower tweeters overwhelm them. The issue is that the stock din sized head unit just does not have enough power for an open environment like a boat not to mention 8 speakers. If you want to improve the sound you don't have to go crazy and change out everthing. The speakers are good quality and adding a good amp or two will help significantly. I am part way through a middle of the road install and @MattFX4 is doing an top end install from what I read. There are plenty of other audio mods listed here as well. Everyone will have their own opinion on the matter so if you do an audio mod figure out which is best for you. Also some folks disconnect the tower speakers and feel that it helps. It does suck to drop more money into something you just bought that that is boat ownership in general. Best of luck to you.

 

[MattFX4]

@Peggy L - I just picked up my 2016 242 LS last week. Yes the cabin speakers sounded weak and the tower tweeters overwhelm them. The issue is that the stock din sized head unit just does not have enough power for an open environment like a boat not to mention 8 speakers. If you want to improve the sound you don't have to go crazy and change out everthing. The speakers are good quality and adding a good amp or two will help significantly. I am part way through a middle of the road install and @MattFX4 is doing an top end install from what I read. There are plenty of other audio mods listed here as well. Everyone will have their own opinion on the matter so if you do an audio mod figure out which is best for you. Also some folks disconnect the tower speakers and feel that it helps. It does suck to drop more money into something you just bought that that is boat ownership in general. Best of luck to you.

My biggest complaint of the factory stereo is the tweeters in the tower. Personally I think they are overwhelming and too loud. They overpower the rest of the stereo, and it is such a high pitch frequency it bothers my ears. I am still waiting on a few of my cabin speakers to arrive before I start my install, but disconnecting the tower tweeters will be the first thing I do. I think the factory stereo sounds ok for what it is. The polk speakers are actually pretty good speakers. You could throw an amp on them and probably get better results than the head unit alone.

 

[Peggy L]

How do you disconnect the tower speakers? Or mute them?

 

[MattFX4]

I haven't done it yet, so not exactly sure the best way to do it. I did do a test last night where I cranked up the stereo to high volume, then stood under the tower and covered the tweeters with my hands. To me it sounded much better. I could actually hear the music instead of the very high frequency that comes from the tweeters

 

[OperationROL]

How do you disconnect the tower speakers? Or mute them?

They are easy to disconnect. Open the storage area on either side of the cabin and you should find the crossover attached to the wall closest to the engine. You can simply unclip them to disconnect. They probably figured a lot would so made it convenient. Mine have been disconnected for a long time. I may connect them again and put them on their own volume control. That way I can control their output.

 

[Peggy L]

Thank you!