Stereo Channel Out? Only bow and tower speakers working 2007 SANTE

[DaCo]

Just finished dewinterizing the boat and notice the (4) side speakers and subwoofer are not working. Only the (2) bow and (2) tower speakers. if i fade the head unit, i get nothing. checked all amp wiring and fuses and all appear ok. Anyone have similar issue or know of the culprit? Dying to get on the lake but this last lingering issue is driving me crazy. Thanks!

[EarmarkMarine]

Let's guess that the bow speakers are being driven by the internal source unit power, and that the tower speakers are being driven by a dedicated amplifier, and that the four cockpit satellites plus subwoofer (all the speakers that are not playing) are being driven by a four-channel amplifier. You would then focus on that amplifier. Check the amplifier fusing and all primary cables including B+, ground, polarity, and remote turn-on. All it takes is one loose or forgotten termination at either end. Verify that this amplifier is powering up per the status LED and that it is not in the 'protect' mode. Get out the amplifier manual and verify that all switch positions on the amplifier end cap are set as they should be just in case something got accidently brushed. If you isolate the issue to the amplifier and the above doesn't reveal the cause then mark every wire first (leave bread crumbs) and switch/substitute the equipment to confirm the problem. In these situations a $20 multimeter is worth every penny in ending speculation and narrowing the issue down quickly.

David

[DaCo]

David,

As usual, your expertise in this field is invaluable. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction and giving me a blueprint to troubleshoot. Much appreciated! Lemme triage this and see what i find. Will advise in the next couple days.

[SuperSquirt]

Here is another scenario puzzle for David... which might be similar to the above problem on DaCo's 2007 model. I've got a 2008 210 that came prewired for tower speakers and the 6 factory in boats. Over the winter, I disconnected my tower speakers which have a dedicated amp (pdx 4.150 bridged). My sub has a dedicated pdx amp and 4 of my in-boats have a dedicated pdx amp, with two on the head unit. So I took the boat out yesterday without the tower speakers on and pulled the fuses out of my pdx 4.150 (which I assume is the safe thing to do for a speakerless amp?). Anyway, only the port side speakers work as a result, nothing from the starboard side 3 speakers. I put the two fuses back in and the right sides works again?? My 4.150 only has two sets of speaker lines coming in and they are properly bridged. Strange

What do you think this could be a result of?
and
Will it hurt a PDX amp to leave on while no speakers attached?

Thanks

[EarmarkMarine]

S.S.
What few elements in the signal path are common to all three starboard in-boat speakers? If the bow starboard/right speaker, which is driven off the HU, was also out then that points to the HU, an ipod or cable supplying the HU. Restoring the fuses to a different amplifier for a different result may only be a coincidence to the fact you have an intermittent issue. Could be vibration, voltage induced, water that evaporated, etc. If the problem repeats, remove the left input to the sub amplifier to see if the sub goes dead too with only a right input.

David

[SuperSquirt]

Thanks David, I will have to try checking RCA inputs. It was just really weird that the starboard side all went out after turning off tower amp. I unplugged/plugged the fuses twice just to see, and sure enough it cut them off again.

I was curious if leaving the tower amp on while no speakers attached was safe or not?

[EarmarkMarine]

Thanks David, I will have to try checking RCA inputs. It was just really weird that the starboard side all went out after turning off tower amp. I unplugged/plugged the fuses twice just to see, and sure enough it cut them off again.

I was curious if leaving the tower amp on while no speakers attached was safe or not?

Amplifiers are on for long periods without being connected to speakers in many store displays. However, to be safe in a boat, if the wires are not terminated then I would pull the fuses.

David