Boat Audio -Troubleshooting Speakers

[mjr119]

Okay so I have 6 interior speakers, 1 10" subwoofer, and 4 tower speakers. my tower speakers are not hooked up, previous owner said that when he hooked them up it kept blowing a fuse on the amp so he left them unhooked.

Anyways, Im not too worried about the tower speakers right now (I am trying to cross 1 bridge at the time). My main problem is that only half of my interior speakers work at the time. When I balance them all the way left and all the way right, each side works on its own, but not at the same time. What could be causing this problem? Im not sure if my speakers are wired thru the amp or just the head unit.

Is there an easy, definitive way to tell if a speaker is blown or not?

Thanks!

MR

[kaneboats]

Did this guy ever fix anything or do any maintenance at all? I hope you got a great deal on this boat.

[mjr119]

The boat was pretty rough when I got it haha. I got a smokin' deal!

[MLA]

mjr,

Am I reading correctly that all the in-boat speaker work when the head-unit balance is centered?

If so, then it sounds like just a matter of a couple of RCA cables in the wrong spots if theres an external amp, or some of the speaker leads are not wired to the corresponding left or right chnls of the external amp. Theres no harm in having is wired as it is as long as the balance is centered, other then you dont have true stereo. On the other hand, theres not a ton of music produces these days with a high degree of stereo.

[mjr119]

All of the speakers do NOT work when it is centered. Only half of them work. But if I shift it to the left, the left speakers work, and to the right, the right speakers work. Centered, either the left or the right speakers work (cant remember), but not all at the same time.

[MLA]

All of the speakers do NOT work when it is centered. Only half of them work. But if I shift it to the left, the left speakers work, and to the right, the right speakers work. Centered, either the left or the right speakers work (cant remember), but not all at the same time.

Ok, if you manipulate the fade and balance, can you get all the interior speakers to play? Granted, not all at the same time, but the point is to make sure they all function as some point through fading and balancing. There is no way that the speakers could work left and work right and not work centered. Center balance is 100% or equal, output for all speakers. If the speaker plays when either left or right fade, it has to work centered. Fade and balance are just variable resisters, they are not ON/OFF.

You have a strange issue.

[mjr119]

Yes they all work separately. But not at the same time. I do not know anything about audio wiring or speakers. Im thinking that it may be a head unit issue. Im going to swap it out for a head unit that works properly and see if that remedies the problem.

[mmandley]

If you dealing with someone elses problem in the stereo you need to start from step 1.

Disconnect everything from the amps.

Now run your RCA from the head unit to the amp.
Then chase each speaker wire so you know where it is going.
You might even have to pull each speaker and make sure they didn't jump the 2 cabins together at the speaker location.
After you have all the speakers figured out, you can begin connecting them to the amp.

If you still have Fade issues then you have a setting in the deck, a bad RCA, or an amp issue.

Thats where I would start at chasing down your problems.

[mjr119]

Thanks, Im going to start over like you said. I think that is the best solution.

[kaneboats]

He's right. I guarantee you will find some stuff that will make you want to choke someone. You will also know every piece in your system and know what goes where and that it's all done right. No substitute and a shorter process in the long run compared to never being sure about any part of it.