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Like I posted I am thinking about upgrading the speakers on my 2014 R5. I have one speaker that I think is blown because it crackles some even when the music isn’t very loud. I am fine with what is in the boat currently but I really don’t know how to tune the amps correctly and they are pretty much set the same as when new from the factory. The speakers have good sound but seem to distort easily that is what I am wondering if the amps aren’t set correctly. I am open to replacing the speakers but don’t want to spend a ton of money doing so because the wife and kids seem to complain if the music gets too load... I have the stock RF head unit, I forgot to get the model number but it is the smooth surface one if that helps. I have a R150X2 amp that I think runs the sub and a R400-4D amp that runs the 6 speakers that I believe are 6” or maybe 6 1/2”, again I forgot to measure them. There are also 2 small tweeters on the top of the dash below the windshield.

What would you guys do to upgrade this system without emptying my wallet? I am open to suggestions on speakers and how to set the amps correctly. If anyone knows someone near central Minnnesota that is good at tuning amps correctly I would possibly be able to bring the boat to them to get it tuned??? Thank you!

Take it to an audio place and see if they can help tune the amps. See if the speaker is blowen.

After that see how you like it. If you don’t start saving for tower speakers or just new JL speakers.

I got tower speakers instead of transom speakers so I didn’t have to cut holes. They are way better and impactful than all the other speakers. Hope that helps

Can't tell but is that bottom amp gain set at 11. That's the issue if it is. Like aj said take it to a stereo shop. I have my own tuner and it's easy to do but a little of a pain.

ajcampen wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 8:27 pm Take it to an audio place and see if they can help tune the amps. See if the speaker is blowen.

After that see how you like it. If you don’t start saving for tower speakers or just new JL speakers.

I got tower speakers instead of transom speakers so I didn’t have to cut holes. They are way better and impactful than all the other speakers. Hope that helps

I don’t have a tower so nothing to hang tower speakers from so new JL speakers would be the only upgrade.

Big Block Power wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 9:46 pm Can't tell but is that bottom amp gain set at 11. That's the issue if it is. Like aj said take it to a stereo shop. I have my own tuner and it's easy to do but a little of a pain.

It will be next weekend before I can check but I think the gain is set really low on both amps, maybe even at 1??? I will check where they are set at this weekend.

If I do end up buying new speakers what do you guys recommend that would match up well with my amps power wise?

Snowman8 wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 2:09 pm

Big Block Power wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 9:46 pm Can't tell but is that bottom amp gain set at 11. That's the issue if it is. Like aj said take it to a stereo shop. I have my own tuner and it's easy to do but a little of a pain.

It will be next weekend before I can check but I think the gain is set really low on both amps, maybe even at 1??? I will check where they are set at this weekend.

No 1 looks to be set around 6 hard to tell can't see a dot. Also the hz for the sub should be around 80. Again looks set wrong but hard to tell. Not a fan of those amps.

Big Block Power wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 6:18 pm

Snowman8 wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 2:09 pm

Big Block Power wrote: Sun May 23, 2021 9:46 pm Can't tell but is that bottom amp gain set at 11. That's the issue if it is. Like aj said take it to a stereo shop. I have my own tuner and it's easy to do but a little of a pain.

It will be next weekend before I can check but I think the gain is set really low on both amps, maybe even at 1??? I will check where they are set at this weekend.

No 1 looks to be set around 6 hard to tell can't see a dot. Also the hz for the sub should be around 80. Again looks set wrong but hard to tell. Not a fan of those amps.

I will look into the gain settings this weekend, you are probably correct and I will back them down along with the hz. Yeah they aren’t very easy to tune because its hard to tell where the adjustment control is pointing. Like I said I haven’t messed with them very much since new.

Snowman8 wrote: Tue May 25, 2021 6:00 pm

Big Block Power wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 6:18 pm

Snowman8 wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 2:09 pm

It will be next weekend before I can check but I think the gain is set really low on both amps, maybe even at 1??? I will check where they are set at this weekend.

No 1 looks to be set around 6 hard to tell can't see a dot. Also the hz for the sub should be around 80. Again looks set wrong but hard to tell. Not a fan of those amps.

I will look into the gain settings this weekend, you are probably correct and I will back them down along with the hz. Yeah they aren’t very easy to tune because its hard to tell where the adjustment control is pointing. Like I said I haven’t messed with them very much since new.

If the gain is around 6 that's probably ok or close. Without a meter hard to say. I bought one when I did my system.

So on my amp for the sub I dialed the HZ back to just off the bottom guessing at about 80 like BB said. I left the gain around 3-4 because if I get it any higher the sub seems to distort with a song with much bass when the volume gets turned up above 25-30, max at 40 on my headset. I also am leaving the punch EQ relatively low because I don’t get much volume without distortion.

As far as the amp for the rest of the 6” speakers I have both gains set about 3-4 as well it was set at 1 and the punch EQ low as well. If I get the gains set much over 4-5 the speakers seem to distort easily. I am not sure where to set the HZ for the amp that runs the 6” speakers, can anyone tell me where the HZ should be set at for the 6” speakers? Right now it is set around 80-100, I am kind of guessing because it is hard to tell on the dial.

I did not change any of the switches on either amps for the X-over or the 2/4 switch on the amp for the speakers. Are they set correctly with the sub being set to LP and the speakers being set to HP?

For some reason this is this year I do not hear the speaker that sounded blown last year making any crackling noise at all. I guess it fixed itself in the winter..

I guess I am just looking for a baseline to start with on both amps and then just make small tuning adjustments.

Sounds like your settings are ok. 6 in boats I have at 100hz. You just don't want them lower than 80. Gain 3 to 4 sounds awful low but if your getting distortion that easy that's a issue. My head unit has 0 distortion all the way up i was very surprised. That doesn't mean it won't distort. Also depends what your listening to. But I think your ok. Tweak hz up a bit 90 to 100hz. I like this guy alot. I watched alot of vids. I bought this for when I did My system.

When I am listening to music I always use Bluetooth through my phone. I get quite a bit of background noise/hiss between songs. I think that I remember this being a common problem with my head unit though. I will be looking into buying the distortion detector that you suggested.

If I were to upgrade speakers what you you guys recommend that would match up with my amps? Is it possible to get 6 nice speakers for a couple grand and possibly even new amps if I have to? Then I suppose as long as I am replacing all of that I would need to upgrade my head unit too?$$$$ The thing I worry about replacing the head unit is getting it to fit in the OEM location without looking like it doesn’t fit.

This might be turning into a winter project! My daughter just graduated high school and her grad party is next weekend so I have not had much spare time lately! I was hoping to get a new fresh water impeller in the boat this weekend but other last minute grad party projects took precedence... hopefully I can hide in my shed next weekend for a little while to get the impeller in! Then I just need a weekend without other grad parties so I can get out on the boat!!!

Depending what you really want you can get. I have 5k in my system..
Don't buy the meter. Give me a yell when you're ready. Rental is cheaper. Lol
You can get left over speakers and so on. Creative has great deals on black Friday.
Go Jl or wet sounds. That my opinion. Your amps might be good enough except I've never been a RF fan. You can always sell what you have to offset some of the difference.

Big Block Power wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 8:10 pm Depending what you really want you can get. I have 5k in my system..
Don't buy the meter. Give me a yell when you're ready. Rental is cheaper. Lol
You can get left over speakers and so on. Creative has great deals on black Friday.
Go Jl or wet sounds. That my opinion. Your amps might be good enough except I've never been a RF fan. You can always sell what you have to offset some of the difference.

Thank you! I have always been a JL fan so I will probably go that route when I decide to go for it. I put a full system in my old Sea Rat about ~10 years ago and spent about $2500 so I suppose it’s double now...