Replace Boat Speaker Wires

feb · 05-05-2016, 09:50 AM

I have a 17 year old boat that has the original speaker wire in it. The head unit is a typical Sony unit, about 4 years old. I've recently replaced all 4 speakers with some Infinitys. I'm not an audiophile and don't need to crank my music. I just want to listen to the radio/CD from time to time. But even with what I have, the sound is very tinny and hissy. Its more annoying to listen to it than not.

I'm wondering if I it would improve my situation if I replace all of the speaker wire with 18ga. It wouldn't be too difficult to do but not sure if it would even help.

For the boats age, its hard to justify a completely new setup so I'm looking for a Band-Aid .vs. a facelift.

Any advice?

Thank you.

AC2717 · 05-05-2016, 09:57 AM

replacing the speaker wires and good tight connections to the speakers will correct most of the problem.
you might be getting that noise because the speaker wires cannot handle the output of the stereo or the speakers are trying to draw too much, or both. I also have no doubt that there is corrosion in the wire under the plastic insulation.
Spend the couple extra bucks (really all it is) and get marine speaker wire and watertight connections, I would go even as far as solder to the speakers. with all the bouncing around they still come loose with tight connectors.

Also make sure you have good connectors to the wire harness

MAXUM · 05-05-2016, 10:03 AM

If your getting white noise you may not have an inadequate ground too for the head unit. If you are using the factory wiring... it may have a floating ground. I'd try running a temporary ground back to the battery and see if that helps clean up the noise.

Winnisquamer · 05-05-2016, 11:31 AM

Call Matt at Supreme Marine in Gilford and talk to him.. Had issues with my stereo last summer that neither myself or my dealer could figure out (10 speakers,2 amps, 2 batteries and a subwoofer) he talked me through as much of it as he could and then when I finally needed him to come by and button some stuff up I wasn't comfortable with he was there in a day or two.

Dave R · 05-05-2016, 01:24 PM

If all 4 speakers sound the same, odds are very good that the speaker wire is not the problem. If you have your heart set on new wires, run them to the closest speaker first and see if it does what you hope it will. I think you'll find no discernible difference between the 17 year old wires and the finest speaker wires money can buy. Audio frequency electrical signals are not exactly a challenge to transport...

Tinny sound is most often caused by settings in the head unit or improper speaker mounting. If you have played with bass, treble, loudness etc and cannot get the sound you want, the problem may be a lack of enclosure for the speakers. Are they mounted to an enclosed structure or are they open to the cockpit on both sides of the speaker cone? If open on both sides or the enclosure behind them is too big or too small, they will not be able to reproduce bass very effectively. You can fix this by making a properly-sized enclosure for each speaker or by adding a subwoofer and setting the head unit up to send everything below 150 or 100 hertz to the sub rather than the new speakers you just put in.

MAXUM · 05-05-2016, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winnisquamer

(10 speakers,2 amps, 2 batteries and a subwoofer)

Holy stereo batman

Bet that rocks....

Dad sold the C * C · 05-05-2016, 02:54 PM

Yes it does

If it's one of the 2 boats I'm thinking of

8gv · 05-05-2016, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winnisquamer

Call Matt at Supreme Marine in Gilford and talk to him.. Had issues with my stereo last summer that neither myself or my dealer could figure out (10 speakers,2 amps, 2 batteries and a subwoofer) he talked me through as much of it as he could and then when I finally needed him to come by and button some stuff up I wasn't comfortable with he was there in a day or two.

It would seem that a set up like that could get you home if you ran the tank dry.

Winnisquamer · 05-05-2016, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 8gv

It would seem that a set up like that could get you home if you ran the tank dry.

Hang a towel from the tower and we're sailing home. Each speaker adds 10hp!

feb · 05-06-2016, 06:41 AM

"If open on both sides or the enclosure behind them is too big or too small, they will not be able to reproduce bass very effectively. You can fix this by making a properly-sized enclosure for each speaker "

I think this is a part of the issue, they are mounted on the sides of the boat with probably 3-4" behind them. I will look at squeezing in an enclosure behind it.

Also, great suggestion to replace 1 wire first and test it.

Thanks for the help.

Dave R · 05-06-2016, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by feb

"If open on both sides or the enclosure behind them is too big or too small, they will not be able to reproduce bass very effectively. You can fix this by making a properly-sized enclosure for each speaker "

I think this is a part of the issue, they are mounted on the sides of the boat with probably 3-4" behind them. I will look at squeezing in an enclosure behind it.

Also, great suggestion to replace 1 wire first and test it.

Thanks for the help.

This might help you design the enclosure:

Woofer Size --- Enclosure Volume
4" ======== .25 - .39 cubic feet
6" ======== .35 - .54 cubic feet
8" ======== .54 - .96 cubic feet
10" ======= .96 - 1.8 cubic feet
12" ======= 1.8 - 3.5 cubic feet
15" ======= 3.5 - 8 cubic feet

Aim for the high side of the volume recommendation if at all possible and make the boxes out of something dense. Anything you can do to avoid parallel surfaces inside the enclosure will help too. Parallel surfaces support standing waves and will make the frequency response less flat. Most boxy home speakers avoid this by adding insulation to the inside of the enclosure to stop standing wave forms. Adding it to an irregular box would not be a bad thing. Don't have to go crazy with it.

There are commercially available marine speaker enclosures. Might find something perfect...

thinkxingu · 05-06-2016, 03:44 PM

Don't bother with doing anything but a simple square box, but do add pillow poof to prevent standing waves and increase effective air space.

Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk

BroadHopper · 05-06-2016, 10:05 PM

18 gauge sounds pretty small. All speaker wires from the factory in my Formula are 14 gauge. I am running a 200 watts (50x4) head unit to 4 DC Gold 6.5" speakers (300 watts max speakers). Sounds pretty sweet to all who heard the audio system.

thinkxingu · 05-07-2016, 05:42 AM

Size of the wire depends both on wattage and length--for mostly short boat runs, 18 is fine. Were I to replace it, 16 would be my choice. For 50 watts, 14 is excessive, but the capability to expand is built in.

Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk

05-05-2016, 09:50 AM	#1
feb Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Meredith (Winnisquam) & Nashua, NH Posts: 209 Thanks: 25 Thanked 20 Times in 17 Posts	Replace Boat Speaker Wires I have a 17 year old boat that has the original speaker wire in it. The head unit is a typical Sony unit, about 4 years old. I've recently replaced all 4 speakers with some Infinitys. I'm not an audiophile and don't need to crank my music. I just want to listen to the radio/CD from time to time. But even with what I have, the sound is very tinny and hissy. Its more annoying to listen to it than not. I'm wondering if I it would improve my situation if I replace all of the speaker wire with 18ga. It wouldn't be too difficult to do but not sure if it would even help. For the boats age, its hard to justify a completely new setup so I'm looking for a Band-Aid .vs. a facelift. Any advice? Thank you.

05-05-2016, 09:57 AM	#2
AC2717 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Maynard, MA & Paugus Bay Posts: 2,521 Thanks: 747 Thanked 344 Times in 257 Posts	replacing the speaker wires and good tight connections to the speakers will correct most of the problem. you might be getting that noise because the speaker wires cannot handle the output of the stereo or the speakers are trying to draw too much, or both. I also have no doubt that there is corrosion in the wire under the plastic insulation. Spend the couple extra bucks (really all it is) and get marine speaker wire and watertight connections, I would go even as far as solder to the speakers. with all the bouncing around they still come loose with tight connectors. Also make sure you have good connectors to the wire harness __________________ Capt. of the "No Worries"

05-06-2016, 10:05 PM	#13
BroadHopper Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Laconia NH Posts: 5,508 Thanks: 3,116 Thanked 1,089 Times in 783 Posts	18g wire 18 gauge sounds pretty small. All speaker wires from the factory in my Formula are 14 gauge. I am running a 200 watts (50x4) head unit to 4 DC Gold 6.5" speakers (300 watts max speakers). Sounds pretty sweet to all who heard the audio system. __________________ Someday may never be an actual day. Last edited by BroadHopper; 05-07-2016 at 06:54 AM.

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05-05-2016, 10:03 AM	#3
MAXUM Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Kuna ID Posts: 2,755 Thanks: 246 Thanked 1,942 Times in 802 Posts	If your getting white noise you may not have an inadequate ground too for the head unit. If you are using the factory wiring... it may have a floating ground. I'd try running a temporary ground back to the battery and see if that helps clean up the noise.

The Following User Says Thank You to MAXUM For This Useful Post:
AC2717 (05-05-2016)

05-05-2016, 11:31 AM	#4
Winnisquamer Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Winnisquam Posts: 408 Thanks: 72 Thanked 115 Times in 73 Posts	Call Matt at Supreme Marine in Gilford and talk to him.. Had issues with my stereo last summer that neither myself or my dealer could figure out (10 speakers,2 amps, 2 batteries and a subwoofer) he talked me through as much of it as he could and then when I finally needed him to come by and button some stuff up I wasn't comfortable with he was there in a day or two.

05-05-2016, 01:24 PM	#5
Dave R Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 2,974 Thanks: 246 Thanked 736 Times in 438 Posts	If all 4 speakers sound the same, odds are very good that the speaker wire is not the problem. If you have your heart set on new wires, run them to the closest speaker first and see if it does what you hope it will. I think you'll find no discernible difference between the 17 year old wires and the finest speaker wires money can buy. Audio frequency electrical signals are not exactly a challenge to transport... Tinny sound is most often caused by settings in the head unit or improper speaker mounting. If you have played with bass, treble, loudness etc and cannot get the sound you want, the problem may be a lack of enclosure for the speakers. Are they mounted to an enclosed structure or are they open to the cockpit on both sides of the speaker cone? If open on both sides or the enclosure behind them is too big or too small, they will not be able to reproduce bass very effectively. You can fix this by making a properly-sized enclosure for each speaker or by adding a subwoofer and setting the head unit up to send everything below 150 or 100 hertz to the sub rather than the new speakers you just put in.

05-05-2016, 02:54 PM	#7
Dad sold the C * C Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2014 Posts: 273 Thanks: 119 Thanked 62 Times in 40 Posts	Yes it does If it's one of the 2 boats I'm thinking of

05-06-2016, 06:41 AM	#10
feb Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Meredith (Winnisquam) & Nashua, NH Posts: 209 Thanks: 25 Thanked 20 Times in 17 Posts	"If open on both sides or the enclosure behind them is too big or too small, they will not be able to reproduce bass very effectively. You can fix this by making a properly-sized enclosure for each speaker " I think this is a part of the issue, they are mounted on the sides of the boat with probably 3-4" behind them. I will look at squeezing in an enclosure behind it. Also, great suggestion to replace 1 wire first and test it. Thanks for the help.

05-06-2016, 03:44 PM	#12
thinkxingu Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 5,942 Thanks: 1,153 Thanked 1,962 Times in 1,212 Posts	Don't bother with doing anything but a simple square box, but do add pillow poof to prevent standing waves and increase effective air space. Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk

05-07-2016, 05:42 AM	#14
thinkxingu Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 5,942 Thanks: 1,153 Thanked 1,962 Times in 1,212 Posts	Size of the wire depends both on wattage and length--for mostly short boat runs, 18 is fine. Were I to replace it, 16 would be my choice. For 50 watts, 14 is excessive, but the capability to expand is built in. Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk