2017 R5 speakers stopped working

[kevinsteen]

Hello - this is my first post on the forum. I have a 2017 Cobalt R5 (I am the second owner - bought it in 2020). Original owner and I have only used it in fresh water. It has the upgraded stereo system with 2 amplifiers & 8 speakers (no tower speakers and there does not appear to be a subwoofer). Speaker configuration:
2 in the bow
2 in the front area of the cockpit (1 next to helm and one next to seat near the head)
2 in the rear area of the cockpit (1 on each side of the rear seat)
2 on the swim platform under the rear facing seat

2 amplifiers located under the lift up bow seat in front of the helm.
2 batteries and a battery switch
Transom control unit for volume and switching the source / input (looks like the control unit at the helm)
Speaker selector switch next to the door to the head that has 3 positions (Cockpit / Both / Transom)

All of this came stock from the factory - all of this was ordered as part of the original boat build by the first owner. No after-market items were installed.

Stereo and speakers worked fine from the day I bought the boat with the exception of the following:
With that speaker selector switch in "Cockpit" position - only the 2 bow speakers shut off. In the "Both" position all 8 speakers worked. In the "Transom" position the behavior was the same as "Cockpit" - 6 speakers were working vs just only the 2 on the transom.

2 days ago all 8 speakers stopped working: I started the boat and the garmin screen gave me the following message within 5 seconds of starting the boat: "Voltage Regulator Mismatch".
- The display on the head unit is on - it says "Connected to Kevin's iPhone".
- I can scroll through all the different source options.
- Both green power lights on each of the amps are on / glowing green.
- All the wires going into the amps are firmly seated / connected.
- I crawled under the dash of the helm and there is not a breaker (these are the newer fuses with built in "circuit breaker" switches.
- I opened up the fuse box located inside the storage area behind the lift up seat in front of the helm and reset the stereo breaker (pushed the small red "button" on the fuse) and I also pulled the fuse out and re-inserted it.
- Under the helm I see the thick black cable going from the head unit into the wall in front of the helm. It was thick in one spot (like it had an inline fuse). I opened it up - it was a multi-pin connector. No corrosion inside - I reseated it firmly.

I am NOT an electrician but I have installed car stereos (speakers and amps previously) and have a high end home audio system so understand how preamplifiers, cross overs, etc work.

Any advice? Seems to me it is something that took out all 8 speakers at once like:
- bad ground at the battery
- Voltage regulator mismatch fried the amps (even though they still have power maybe it blew the amps so that no signal is coming out?)
- ...

Thanks in advance!!

[kevinsteen]

Additioal notes:
I changed the source to "FM" and also "AM" to see if I could hear "static" in the speakers - no I could not.
I used a USB cable to connect my iPhone to the head unit (there is a USB port and an auxiliary port new the spearker selector switch). I changed the source input to "USB" and the display said "connected to Kevin's iPhone) - still no sound out of speakers. There is no "mute" button on the head unit that I can find. When I press the "sub" + and - buttons on the head unit nothing happens / still no sound out of speakers.

[stifflkd]

I think you need to find the cause of the Voltage Regulator Mismatch as it sounds like everything went south after seeing the message. Do you see the message after you isolate the amps from the batteries by releasing their breakers.

[kevinsteen]

CORRECTION: The speaker selector switch labels are "Bow / Both / Transom". I6n the Bow position - back when the speakers were working - only the 2 speakers in the bow came on. When in the "both" position all 8 speakers came on. In the "Transom" position 6 speakers came on - the 4 in the cockpit + the 2 on the swim platform.

[jhnmdahl]

First thing I'd do is take a voltmeter and touch it to the power inputs of the amplifiers to make sure they receiving 12.5v or more (probably 13.7v or so with the alternator running, between there and 12v with the engine off). If not, check wiring and check the battery (or haul it out and have a local marine shop test it) to make sure it's charging sufficiently. If it's no longer charging to 12.5v or so, a lot of things will stop working.

Second thing I'd do is take a little speaker and connect it to the line output from your head unit to make sure the amplifiers are receiving a signal. If they are, do the same to the amplifier outputs right at the amp.

If both those things check out, report back, and please keep us posted on the resolution. Thanks,

John

[AsLan7]

.
Hey Ks...so glad you found us my friend.

Great advice above. I would also go down those roads.

Btw, we have many other audio enthusiasts on the forum. What are you running at home?

And welcome aboard mate.

.

[kevinsteen]

Hi - thanks!!

The head unit has no speaker outputs on the back - it only has that thick mulipin cable coming out the back end of it and that thick cable disappears into the wall between the helm and the storage area under the flip up seat in front of the helm.

There are no speaker outputs OR RCA outputs on the back of the head unit.

[kevinsteen]

I think you need to find the cause of the Voltage Regulator Mismatch as it sounds like everything went south after seeing the message. Do you see the message after you isolate the amps from the batteries by releasing their breakers.

I only received the Voltage Regulator Mismatch error message once. It has never appeared again and I have started the boat 5 times. But I agree from that moment I saw the message all 8 speakers never worked again - so something in the electrical system is the issue. Is there a cross over in the boat? There are two amps - wondering if there something upstream from those 2 amps / between those amps and the head unit that has failed or was "blown" by some sort of voltage issue?

[kevinsteen]

Tried to post picture in .jpg format (small in size - less than 100kb) but got an error message.

[kevinsteen]

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[stifflkd]

Hi - thanks!!

The head unit has no speaker outputs on the back - it only has that thick mulipin cable coming out the back end of it and that thick cable disappears into the wall between the helm and the storage area under the flip up seat in front of the helm.

There are no speaker outputs OR RCA outputs on the back of the head unit.

The unit on your dash is not the head unit. It is only a wired remote. The real head unit with the RCA's is most likely mounted below the passenger bench. You will need to go into the head and look under the floor towards the back.

[stifflkd]

IMG_1726.jpg[/attachm[attachment=2]IMG_1725.jpgIMG_1723.jpgIMG_1722.jpgent]IMG_1726.jpgIMG_1726.jpg

Question. You show your battery position in the off position. Is it in that position and the display on your remote is on?

[kevinsteen]

When the battery is in the “off” position the radio / “remote” unit does not come on. I just happened to take the picture that way.

[kevinsteen]

Found the Rockford fosgate head unit - thank you !!!

[kevinsteen]

Does that head unit have a subwoofer output ? I have a subwoofer speaker (see picture) but not sure if that has a separate amp ?