2 issues - Engine Noise through Tower Speakers & Intermittent Speaker Shutting Off

[carcrz]

So I finally got around to swapping out the house battery with the same battery previously used (interstate Deep Cycle 24). I put everything back EXACTLY how it was before. We rode around for about :30 and now I've got a whine in the tower speakers when the boat is running. Any ideas how I can track it down?

Also, I've noticed that the tower speaker on the port side has been cutting out intermittently. We noticed this at the beginning of the season. Any ideas?

All wetsounds gear that came with it.

[IDBoating]

WRT the intermittent speaker: We don't use our sound system much at all, but I have noticed while working on other things that many of the audio connections are loose or poorly crimped. An especially bad example was the 8 gauge power cables running from the amps to the battery... they were connected back at the battery with crimp-style butt splices but literally fell apart in my hands when I removed the batteries for the boat's first winterization. I mean, every single one fell apart - both wires fell out of both butt splices. (I fixed it by stripping, tinning, and soldering the wires so there will never be another problem there!)

Based on my experiences, I'd check for poorly assembled wiring.

[carcrz]

So the input RCA's going from the head-unit harness to the amp were loose at the head-unit & off at the amp. Problem 1. Put them on & it worked great... until I messed with it more. Out of curiosity I adjusted the gain & bass just a little. Now I have a consistent clicking noise in the starboard speaker. Annoying would be putting this lightly.

youtube

of speaker sound

no clue how to upload a video here. The search function was no help either after 4 pages. Beer probably isn't helping anything either.

[chpthril]

On the kicker zx450.2, the gain needs to be about the 3rd hash mark. The x-over freq dial needs to be on the 3rd hash mark, which is about 100 Hz. Did you make any adjustments to the Syn-6?

[carcrz]

nope. I didn't touch the Syn-6 at all.

[chpthril]

Ok,

With the zx450.2 tower amp gain nearly 75%, this can easily allow the engine whine to be amplified, so get that adjusted back down.

The single tower speaker cutting out could be speaker, wire connection at the speaker or the amp, the amp chnl internally or the RCA cable or source unit. If it quits all together, or long enough to trace it down, will give you a better chance. An internal amp issue or an issue in the signal upstream can also allow in that unwanted noise. What I find odd, is that the noise was not present before the battery swap. I would double and triple check those battery connections for a cable thats loose in its terminal or corrosion. Also inspect the boats main grounds good.

[carcrz]

The whine started shortly after we went out on the water. I don't think it was related to the battery since it worked fine for a little while before doing it. I think it was due to putting a bag in there at the wrong angle & caught the RCA's. Since I DID find loose RCA's on the amp last night (actually 1 disconnected), I think that was the source. It stopped as soon as I pushed both ends of the RCAs where they were supposed to be.

The clicking in the video started after that. I checked a few of the wires to make sure they were tight & I turned the gain & bass dial 1/4 turn to the right. Now I'm stuck with it. I suppose I may have wiggled something else loose in doing so. I don't think it's a speaker issue since it was fine pre-tinkering. I think it's amp/head-unit issue. Whether it be wiring or something internal I don't know at this point. The dials are currently set mid-way as they were pre-tinkering. Still no dice. Will check more tonight/tomorrow morning.

[carcrz]

Are there any setting on the head-unit that I need to be aware of & adjust?

[sa0303]

I am having the same engine noise issue coming through the tower speakers. I checked the ground wires and the rca cables. All seem to be tight. Any other ideas of how to get rid of this? All wetsounds equipment. Turn down the gain?

[carcrz]

I am having the same engine noise issue coming through the tower speakers. I checked the ground wires and the rca cables. All seem to be tight. Any other ideas of how to get rid of this? All wetsounds equipment. Turn down the gain?

The whine or the clicking? With just the whine, both ends of my RCA's were loose. As soon as I fixed that problem all was well... for the time being anyway.

[chpthril]

Are there any setting on the head-unit that I need to be aware of & adjust?

for testing and tuning, I prefer to have all the head-unit EQ setting flat and loudness off. After that, very minor adjustments to the bass and treble are ok.

[chpthril]

I am having the same engine noise issue coming through the tower speakers. I checked the ground wires and the rca cables. All seem to be tight. Any other ideas of how to get rid of this? All wetsounds equipment. Turn down the gain?

Tight is great......if all is connected in the right spot. Give us a run down on what all equipment you have, especially is any of it was installed AFTER the boat left Tige. Is there an EQ, was a dual battery set up installed, ect. Was the amp and tower speakers done by the dealer?

[sa0303]

Tight is great......if all is connected in the right spot. Give us a run down on what all equipment you have, especially is any of it was installed AFTER the boat left Tige. Is there an EQ, was a dual battery set up installed, ect. Was the amp and tower speakers done by the dealer?

I bought the boat used. It's a 2012 rzr. All wet sounds from the factory. It does have duel batteries. It has a pair of rev 10's on the tower. The engine noise is really bad coming out of the rev 10's. any help would be great. Thanks.

[chpthril]

Being all Wet Sounds doesnt mean it was all factory installed. Many Tige dealers order boats with base system and then upgrade to the customers liking when a deal is penciled. 1st thing is to make sure all the audio gear is sharing the same battery source. With a dual battery setup, its possible that the tower amp is connected to the a different battery from the rest of the system. Check all the RCA connections at the amps and the head-unit. Next step would be to double check the amps gain settings, specifically the gain.

[carcrz]

So Chpthrl, it turns out that you were partially correct in the battery/speaker issues being related.

1. I changed the house battery - exact swap. Added dual-battery charger (10 house/2 cranking).
2. Whine in tower speaker - found cause to be loose RCA's at both ends of connection
3. New clicking noise through tower speakers.

This is probably the easiest repair that I've ever made to the boat. Get this... unplug the charger. No more clicking. I assume that I'm hearing the current going into the batteries, then traveling through the power cables, amp, & speakers. Since the battery probably never had a full charge before the swap, I never had the issue.