242 stereo upgrade coming soon!

[Jasonsbiz74]

Love that white sport grille ! Cant wait to get my project rolling

 

[MattFX4]

how do you guys mount your amps? I need to go pick my boat up from storage, but I can't remember what types of surfaces are under the helm area. Do you attach to wall using screws?

 

[redthumper9]

Make an amp board of some sort. Some use King Starboard, others like myself used birch plywood and coat it in fiberglass resin. I then removed my starboard bow back cushion and screwed the board through the fiberglass (predrill, stainless screws and stainless fender washers) into the helm storage area. You can also through bolt it. I used a total of 10 screws and washers due to the weight of my amp board. You may find that 4 or 6 would be ample for your setup.

 

[MattFX4]

Few more speakers arrived today. Everything else should be here early next week. Then let the install begin!

 

[MattFX4]

Last 4 speakers delivered today. Been thinking about this upgrade, and my head is hurting. I hope I am not biting off more than I can chew here. I have installed car audio systems before, so have general knowledge. I am concerned with how the boat speakers are currently wired. Since I will be running an 8 channel amp, all 8 speakers with have their own channel. I am not sure if the current 242 speakers are wired this way. Also the thought of cutting holes in fiberglass for new speakers scares me. I also have to find a way to mount the amps...

 

[Jasonsbiz74]

The current wiring for the '15 242 is not not straight up, I cant remember how now ...there is a thread some place that explains how they are wired...I would try track it down. I plan on rewiring all the wires but I guess I should track it down too

 

[MattFX4]

The current wiring for the '15 242 is not not straight up, I cant remember how now ...there is a thread some place that explains how they are wired...I would try track it down. I plan on rewiring all the wires but I guess I should track it down too

Sounds fun. May be easier to run all new wires. I plan on disconnecting factory tweeters too. They are annoying.

 

[Bill D]

I think the only curve ball is that the transom speakers are wired in series with the rear cabin speakers. You'll just need new wires to them. @David Decker had a lot of good information in the thread below.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/proposed-yamaha-242-limited-s-e-series-audio-upgrade.8444/#post-151778

 

[Mainah]

Last 4 speakers delivered today. Been thinking about this upgrade, and my head is hurting. I hope I am not biting off more than I can chew here. I have installed car audio systems before, so have general knowledge. I am concerned with how the boat speakers are currently wired. Since I will be running an 8 channel amp, all 8 speakers with have their own channel. I am not sure if the current 242 speakers are wired this way. Also the thought of cutting holes in fiberglass for new speakers scares me. I also have to find a way to mount the amps...

@MattFX4 - Lots of diiferent ways to do this and many have posted what they did. Personally with the components are installing I would run new high quality wire to everything. 12 gauge to the sub and 14 gauge to everything else. I am in the middle of adding speakers, amps, and rewiring as well.

Here is what I did to cut the fiberglass and mount the speakers. Safety note: respirator (not a dust mask), googles, ear plugs, gloves, and a disposable paint suit are highly recommend by me when cutting molded fiberglass.

First I cut out 2" increased diameter 3/4" thick hdpe backing rings with a jigsaw on a circle jig that I made and pilot drilled the mounting holes. I cleaned up the inside edges with a detail sander. I then used the rings to template the front side of my masked mounting location, drilled two coutersunk holes for each backing ring for indexed set screws, drilled the speaker mounting holes in the fiberglass, and then mounted the rings to the backside using the indexed set screws from the front. FYI On my 2016 I just gave the top trim rings on the cup holders a turn and they will come right off to reveal three top mounted screws for easy removal of the cup holders so that you can see and get to what you are doing easier.

Note that the only holes in the fiberglass so far are the drill holes and the rings are now mounted behind. Next I drilled a hole to get a trim router bit started and used a trim router to cut the fiberglass which followed the rings nicely. Made a huge mess but i got perfect cutouts with no chipping and the backing rings are already in place and pilot drilled in line with the hull. I am going to apply a thin coat of epoxy with a brush to the exposed fiberglass edges. Perhaps this method is overkill but I like to only do things once and the backing rings will not only provide secure mounting but also reduce fiberglass deflection when the speakers are osciallting which will somewhat improve audio quality and amplitude. One other added benefit was that the backing rings ensured as a final check that I would not cut through anything that I did not intend to like the main wiring harness running down the starboard side or the throttle cables.

My amp board is in progress as well. I have used 3/4" HDPE for this as well and did a 1/4" round over on the edge to avoid sharp corners. I will do a full post once complete. Already taking longer than I expected :-( but no bandaids needed for me or the boat yet either

Good luck.

 

[MattFX4]

Thanks for the tips guys. Now just need to find the time to start. Good info @Mainah. Can't wait to see your finished project.

 

[MattFX4]

@MattFX4 - Lots of diiferent ways to do this and many have posted what they did. Personally with the components are installing I would run new high quality wire to everything. 12 gauge to the sub and 14 gauge to everything else. I am in the middle of adding speakers, amps, and rewiring as well.

Here is what I did to cut the fiberglass and mount the speakers. Safety note: respirator (not a dust mask), googles, ear plugs, gloves, and a disposable paint suit are highly recommend by me when cutting molded fiberglass.

First I cut out 2" increased diameter 3/4" thick hdpe backing rings with a jigsaw on a circle jig that I made and pilot drilled the mounting holes. I cleaned up the inside edges with a detail sander. I then used the rings to template the front side of my masked mounting location, drilled two coutersunk holes for each backing ring for indexed set screws, drilled the speaker mounting holes in the fiberglass, and then mounted the rings to the backside using the indexed set screws from the front. FYI On my 2016 I just gave the top trim rings on the cup holders a turn and they will come right off to reveal three top mounted screws for easy removal of the cup holders so that you can see and get to what you are doing easier.

Note that the only holes in the fiberglass so far are the drill holes and the rings are now mounted behind. Next I drilled a hole to get a trim router bit started and used a trim router to cut the fiberglass which followed the rings nicely. Made a huge mess but i got perfect cutouts with no chipping and the backing rings are already in place and pilot drilled in line with the hull. I am going to apply a thin coat of epoxy with a brush to the exposed fiberglass edges. Perhaps this method is overkill but I like to only do things once and the backing rings will not only provide secure mounting but also reduce fiberglass deflection when the speakers are osciallting which will somewhat improve audio quality and amplitude. One other added benefit was that the backing rings ensured as a final check that I would not cut through anything that I did not intend to like the main wiring harness running down the starboard side or the throttle cables.

My amp board is in progress as well. I have used 3/4" HDPE for this as well and did a 1/4" round over on the edge to avoid sharp corners. I will do a full post once complete. Already taking longer than I expected :-( but no bandaids needed for me or the boat yet either

Good luck.

@Mainah Any thoughts of where you are going to mount your amp board? I ordered 12 and 14 awg wiring today, so I think that's the last piece before I get started.

 

[Mainah]

@Mainah Any thoughts of where you are going to mount your amp board? I ordered 12 and 14 awg wiring today, so I think that's the last piece before I get started.

@MattFX4 - I am mounting mine over the helm opening behind the factory controls at the top of the opening. I left 6 inches at the bottom to access the diagnostic connections and to run all the wire from behind the board through chamfered holes for each wire for built in wire management and a clean install. Your amps may be too big for this location. In which case others have mounted the board to the opposite side of the helm compartment behind the starboard bow seat back. I used a fish tape to get the port bow speaker wire pulled around the anchor locker and zip tied to the existing harness that is there. For power and port speakers to the stern of the day head I ran the wires next to the the shift/throttle cables under the fuel tank access floor panel as there is a channel that that feeds under the helm. I zip tied to the factory harness at all points to keep the wires wrangled. I ran over 100 feet of wire in total and that does not include the tower or the swim deck. Hopefully I can start connecting it all up at the board on Saturday and finally hearing it will aleave the cramping from being in that helm area for an extended period. I will post photos once complete. My best tips for running the new wires are gloves, full length shirt, and pain killer for being contorted (ibuprofen, beer, whiskey).

 

[MattFX4]

lol ok. I'm sure beer will be part of the installation process when I get started. Post plenty of pics when done. I ordered 100' of 14 awg speaker wire, but that may not be enough. Think I order around 12' of 12 gauge for the sub. Hopefully that will be enough. I need to get my hands on a fish tape too. Thanks for the input!

 

[Mainah]

lol ok. I'm sure beer will be part of the installation process when I get started. Post plenty of pics when done. I ordered 100' of 14 awg speaker wire, but that may not be enough. Think I order around 12' of 12 gauge for the sub. Hopefully that will be enough. I need to get my hands on a fish tape too. Thanks for the input!

You did not specify where beer would be in the process?

 

[MattFX4]

For all you guys with 242's with tower tweeters, I did a little test tonight with factory stereo. I cranked up the volume and then put my palms over the factory tweeters to block them out. It sounded much better. I'm definitely going to disconnect them when the new system is installed. Not sure what Yamaha was thinking but those tweeters are too much.

 

[OperationROL]

They are easy to disconnect. Open the storage area on either side of the cabin and you should find the crossover attached to the wall closest to the engine. You can simply unclip them to disconnect. They probably figured a lot would so made it convenient. Mine have been disconnected for a long time. I may connect them again and put them on their own volume control. That way I can control their output.

 

[MattFX4]

ok cool, I saw the crossovers in the storage compartments today.

 

[Mainah]

@MattFX4 - My mods were put on hold as it was 75 and sunny here on the mid coast of Maine so we spent some time on the boat. I did finsh mounting the amp board and connecting the power so here are a few photos in case they help. Still a few hours to go on another day until complete but as you can see everything is at helm and just needs connected up and adjusted.

 

[MattFX4]

@Mainah wow that's sweet! Very clean install. What are the two circuit board looking things in the center near the top?

 

[Mainah]

Those are programable relays for my push button start/stop system.