Radio/speaker issues

f15pilot

hello,

the 2 speakers in the cabin work, but the 4 up top do not work.  It looks like everything is connected. I tried the balance.  Any suggestions?

J3ff

Your amp is trashed... same thing happened to me, I got rid of the amp and hooked directly to the head unit... (clarion m505).. works fine. Probably would need to put an amp back in the equation if I got a sub.. 

howardrams

But there is also for me a rather complicated setup (at least on my Sony with Quantum AMP) where you program the cockpit speakers to either be used as if they were a sub-woofer or full range speakers, plus all this high pass filter, low pass frequency stuff, plus balance...every season I have to get the books out and reprogram it to get sound out of the rear or cockpit speakers.  Everything reverts to factory settings when I store it for the winter.  

Cableguy Greg

The amp could be fine. Might be a blown fuse on the amp itself. Try that first.

Liberty44140

I had that issue, both interior speakers worked but all 6 outside didn't. The amp connection behind the head unit had come apart. Loose wire.

f15pilot

Thanks.  I will heading back down prob Monday.  Might have follow on questions. 

Cableguy Greg

What boat is it?

JLAS

@f15pilot probably you already have done this, but you mentioned balance instead of the fade function which what controls the front and back speakers. The balance is just left & right.  So before you replace your amp, you might want to check that on your stereo. 

f15pilot

Thanks jlas I will double check that.  Cableguy, it is a 2010 300 fiesta vee

davidbrooks

Definitely check power to the amp.  My amp will not power the speakers on the deck unless the generator is running or I am plugged into shore power.

Dream_Inn

One thing I thought was odd the other day.  When I got on the boat, I forgot the house battery was turned off and turned the radio on.  Well, it came on but only worked with the speakers in the cabin.  Once I turned the house battery switch, the amp kicked on and all was ok.  I found it strange that the radio came on at all, but it does tell a little bit about the wiring and that the amp is thru the house battery switch, while the radio itself is not.

JonnyM

davidbrooks said:

Definitely check power to the amp.  My amp will not power the speakers on the deck unless the generator is running or I am plugged into shore power.

To add... most amps have a power indicator light and it should be fairly easy to check here first.

f15pilot

Dumb question but how do I know my amp is on?

jme097

@f15pilot there should be a light that comes on when you turn your head up on. Its probably on the other side of the amp. I would pull those fuses on the right hand side of the amp and make sure they're good and also test for power at the amp as well. If you have power and the fuses are good (assuming rca connections are good) then your amp is the issue

MarkB

Check for voltage on the speaker outputs.  I'm assuming you changed the fader setting to balanced?

f15pilot

Ok. I'm not getting the light on the amp. I've replaced both 25 fuses on the amp and that did not help. 2 questions.   If I use a ohm meter to check power coming to the amp, what should it read?  If I need to replace, does anyone know of a good replacement?  I cannot find that amp anywhere?  

Wildboating

I assume you seen the led on top of the amp.  This is the power light you are looking to see if it is powering on.   Take a digital multimeter and set it to DC power.   The big red wire should see a constant 12v.   The blue wire should see 5v-12v of power only when the radio is turned on.   This is what signals the radio to turn on.   Check first to see that you are getting the 12v power.  Then make sure you are getting the turn on signal when the radio is turned on /off.  I am pretty sure you are going to find your fuse is bad or you have a bad connection.   The big red wire SHOULD have a fuse somewhere near the battery in line within 20" of the battery connection.

JonnyM

Also check that you have a good ground. I ran into this problem installing a system this weekend and I was ripping my hair out.  It is also very possible that the amp needs replaced but check to see it is getting power and ground first.

It looks like Sony quit making this amplifier.  There are a lot of equivalents out there.  Rinker used car amplifiers in the cabins of these boats.  Marine amplifiers offer a bit more corrosion resistance and shock resistance but you pay for that.  To match up you want to get a 4 channel amp around 600 Watts.  You can always turn the amp down if it is pushing too many watts.

Here are some marine amps that are out there.  https://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i2621_4-channel-marine-amplifiers.html

JonnyM

Wildboating said:

 The big red wire SHOULD have a fuse somewhere near the battery in line within 20" of the battery connection.

My 270's amplifier is factory wired through the battery switch.  It has its own breaker next to the battery switch that is listed "amplifier"

Wildboating

Johnny is correct, it can be a breaker or fuse.

Madcow

Wouldn't be the balance (Left & Right), would be Fade (Front & Back).

f15pilot

If I have a breaker. Would there still be something on the red wire?

f15pilot

That amp is discontinued.  Any recommendations?

trip_n

@f15pilot ...is the amp ... shot ?
the rest of your system sony  ?
any thoughts of upgrading ?
have to decide what you really want it to do....lots of choices

f15pilot

Hi trip-n. I'm still trouble shooting but it is starting to look like it is shot. I upgraded the speakers only. Deck and amp are Sony.  I wouldn't mind updating as long is it doesn't cost a grip. 

f15pilot

If the round fuse (shown above) is not popped out, could it still be bad?

Handymans342

Yes

trip_n

if your head unit is/was as old as amp and you have upgraded speakers
might be a good time to get new ... if your not sub n a nice amp and head unit somewhere around a half stack or a bit more

f15pilot

How do you remove the round fuse fuse from pic above

reneechris14

The ring spins off the fuse.