Inboat speakers sound like poo all of a sudden

All of a sudden, last weekend, my inboats started sounding terrible. Lower volume, distortion, muffled etc... I heard it happen all at once. The amp is powered up and not in protect mode. The tower speakers and sub work as usual. I basically turned down the volume on my eq and continued with the day. Fried amp I guess? Any insight on what might be the problem? I don't typically run them too hard because you can't really hear them very well when the music is up loud. I usually have the volume less than half way on my eq for the inboat speakers.

4 Rev 8 tower speakers w/ ht2 amps
6 xs65i's inboat speakers w/ ht6 amp
1 soundstream T7.124 sub w/ soundstream P1.1200D amp
WS-420SQ eq

You have to begin the process of isolating exactly where in the signal path the problem is originating from.
So begin by reversing the EQ in-boat and tower zones via the RCAs.
Check the secureness and condition of the incoming RCA cable.
Check the ground of the in-boat amplifier. And measure the voltage under load across the amplifier primary power terminals.
Temporarily substitute one channel of the tower amplifier to an in-boat speaker, and substitute one channel of the in-boat amplifier to a tower speaker.
Unlikely to be the issue, but check to see that the tweeters of the in-boat speakers are operational.
Within 20 minutes or so, you should be able to isolate the problem beyond question.
Hate to see you pull the amplifier for service before it's confirmed as the problem.

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Originally Posted by David Analog

You have to begin the process of isolating exactly where in the signal path the problem is originating from.
So begin by reversing the EQ in-boat and tower zones via the RCAs.
Check the secureness and condition of the incoming RCA cable.
Check the ground of the in-boat amplifier. And measure the voltage under load across the amplifier primary power terminals.
Temporarily substitute one channel of the tower amplifier to an in-boat speaker, and substitute one channel of the in-boat amplifier to a tower speaker.
Unlikely to be the issue, but check to see that the tweeters of the in-boat speakers are operational.
Within 20 minutes or so, you should be able to isolate the problem beyond question.
Hate to see you pull the amplifier for service before it's confirmed as the problem.

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Agreed.........assuming all connections are good I may have fried the amp. Is this common for this amp? I don't feel like it works very hard as I never really tax the 6 inboat speakers.

No. It is not at all common for that amplifier to have an issue. While a failed amplifier is possible, usually when an amplifier is fried it goes into protect mode. So back to the diagnostic steps to isolate the issue.

Sounds like the tweeters on the XS65's could be blown. Play them at a low volume, put your ear up to them, then cover the tweeter with your hand. When you move your hand away, you'll notice whether or not the tweeter is playing.

If you've got the treble on the radio, or the "high" setting on the WS420 turned up, it's likely that's whats happening.

If that's the case, you can get replacement tweeters through a local dealer, and rebuild the speakers.

I'm planning on doing some troubleshooting this weekend. I'm hoping there is a loose wire somewhere. It happened all at once, so hard to believe all the tweets went out at the same time unless there was some sort of glitch or a piercing high that zapped them all at once.

Found a loose RCA on the eq. All is good now.

Happy ending!!! Yeah