Nautique G23 stereo hiss

[CarbonC]

I have a new G23, and the stereo has had a hiss in it since I picked it up new in January 2015. I have taken it to the dealer, and they wanted to cut a ground wire off the alternator. I would not allow the cutting of wires, so they disconnected it properly and it did not fix the issue. Note: this issue is present with the engine ON or OFF.

I took it to the best marine stereo place in the area, they spent an hour on it and said that Nautique has used the best of components, but the amps are trying too hard to amply a weak signal. If the dealer warranties components, you will just have the same issue.

Since then I have spoken directly to Nautique customer support. They went out and looked at 5 production boats, and 4 of them have the same issue. I was also told that stereos were not always their strong point on surveys, and it just doesn't have that big of a priority.

I mentioned (via e-mail) - that if they are such a big customer of Polk, it is very likely Polk will have their field service engineering come to the factory and develop a resolve. No response.

For us, it becomes annoying when we are out in a remote area, anchor out, and the only noise that can be heard is the hiss of the stereo.

I also think the system sounds poor for what it is. If it were working correctly, it would be the best production installed system out there.

Does anyone have the same issue?

[a0128]

This is somewhat symptomatic as the result of too rapid of expansion and not paying attention to the details. I've seen many companies experience this as part of their growth evolution. With the recent acquisitions of Centurion and Supreme (not to mention the factory expansion, the PCM and Crusader engine acquisitions last year) it will be interesting to see if there is further slippage in quality or if they can get on top of these issues through key strategic hirings. Not sure whether Nautique uses Six Sigma in their manufacturing process or some variation of a continuous quality improvement process but they are probably at that stage where they need to consider incorporating such methods into their manufacturing processes.

Obviously this doesn't answer your question. Hopefully your solution is simple and easily implemented.

[Kenv]

CarbonC.....let me tell you my quick...well...kinda quick....story regarding this...and you can take it from there. I ordered a G21 in the winter and as always, I'm a big reader on PN. I saw a post that mentioned a G sold in Texas...from the same dealer as mine but in Austin but i'm in San Antonio. Great Dealer...Sail and Ski. He said he a hiss and he took it back to the dealer to diagnose the issue. He stated that the dealer, from what he could "remember"....replaced the head unit and it fixed the issue. There were several comments made to a thread on here back in Feb/March or so where others said they had the Same problem with the new G speakers/stereo and the hissing sound. OK....fast forward to April when my G comes in. I ordered the Level 3 system but in place of the stock tower speakers, I was having them install 2 Wetsounds Rev 8s. I go to look at the boat when it came into the shop but before the Rev 8s where installed and wired. I mentioned to my salesman and one of the knowledgeble shop guys the posts here on PN. My Salesman told shop guy....Hey...when we have John Doe come here to install the speakers and wire them....make sure they use a "filter" so the speakers don't have the engine hiss. Shop guys says....oh....he won't need to do that with this system since they...and I am taking that to mean Nautique....have corrected that issue with the stereo. I told him....look......put the filter on or leave it off...I just don't want these speakers making noise when I pick this boat up next week. He assured me it would be good. Fast forward to the first time I tried the stereo when I got it home....I DON'T hear a hiss when the engine is off. And DON'T hear a hiss when the engine is at idle or when running. There might be a TINY...and I mean TINY bit of hiss if you put your head up to one of the Rev8s...but only when the volume is low. So bottom line...I have a 2015 that does not have the hiss from what I am hearing. Whatever my dealer and the installer DID or DIDN'T do to the system I would have to investigate further to give you a 100 % answer. Hope this helps.

[David Analog]

Audio is not the strong suit of any boat manufacturer. It's not their specialty and few understand audio. Nautique has gotten much better. MasterCraft is pretty good. Some others are awful.
Polk Audio has no domestic engineering. Owned by an umbrella marketing company that imports alarms, audio and more, and no longer under the same ownership as the home audio line. The Polk brand is also licensed to other companies.

It would help to know if the hiss is present with the key 'Off' but the audio system 'On', if this is possible.

If the signal gain is too small, resulting in a higher noise floor, then line-level amplifiers have been successfully used when strategically located in the signal path.
Some hiss is normal on HLCDs. The compression horn tweeters are typically 10 dB more sensitive than conventional speakers. That equates to a 10 times power ratio in wattage terms and at minimum twice the audible level in acoustic terms. So they ruthlessly reproduce ambient noise levels along with everything else. The trade-off of 70 to 80 feet projection. However, usually the hiss level can be reduced below a distracting threshold without compromising dynamic qualities.

[xrichard]

CarbonC--where are you hearing the hiss? Is it from your tower speakers and are they horns?

All HLCD speakers will hiss to some degree. It's the nature of the beast. The ideal is to have hiss low enough that it's not very noticeable at low/no volume and unnoticeable as the volume goes up. Generally, the higher the gain setting on your amp(s) or anything in front of your amps (e.g. WS420), the more hiss you'll hear.

An easy fix is to turn the gains down--but that comes at the cost of reduced max volume if you set the gains lower than their optimum. However, in my experience, systems are typically setup the other direction: the gains are set too high, the amp will clip at higher volume levels and you'll hear hiss at low volume. This gives the appearance of a louder system--except the higher volume levels aren't usable.

I use an SMD Distortion Detector to set the gains on my amps. I almost always turn the gains down a bit from their optimum in order to reduce hiss. The speakers still get enough power to get louder than I'd ever play them.

[CarbonC]

This occurs regardless of engine state. Running or stopped. It's most apparent in the internal speakers. If you move around the boat, it comes from all. What I don't know, is if I turn the head unit off will it go away.

My Tigé didn't have the problem, and it was $50k cheaper...

Inline signal amps might be the resolve. This came up at the stereo place I took it to. But- they said take it to your dealer, you have a brand new boat, they should make it right.

[David Analog]

Some limited hiss may be expected from HLCD tower speakers but definitely not from in-boat speakers. The stereo place makes a good point.

[chpprpilot]

I have a 2015 G23 with the level 3 stereo and have had an alternator whine when the engine runs and a crackling hiss through the bluetooth from day one. I've had it back to the dealer twice to fix the issue but it remains.

[nyryan2001]

pilot-

A WS420 or an Exile ZLD will help this.... they provide a higher.... MUCH higher level voltage input into the amps.... so as a result you can gain your amps down some for the same level of sound... and when you lower you amp gains you lower the noise and garbage that's introduced into the system.

If those are too complicated or pricey... just throw an Arc Line Driver to ramp up your RCA volts into your tower amp. that alone would be a huge difference... lower amp gains = less noise.

[darrell211]

Nautique has a fix for this it moves the engine ground wire and the stereo ground wire. PM me your cell number or email and Ill see if I can find a copy. Just did it works great.

[CarbonC]

The dealer wanted to cut my ground wire off the alternator.. I said, please remove it using the screw. They did, and no change to my problem.

Also - this weekend I was out and shut the stereo off at the head unit, hiss went away.

[MLA]

If the noise is indeed "gain hiss" and lowing the gains resolves, then adding a pre-amp line driver will improve the output while maintaining low amp gains. But, if the noise is anything else, a pre-amp line drive may very well amplify it, not reduce it.

[Tallredrider]

I use an SMD Distortion Detector to set the gains on my amps. I almost always turn the gains down a bit from their optimum in order to reduce hiss. The speakers still get enough power to get louder than I'd ever play them.

Said another way, I prefer to adjust the gains down to the point that I can have my volume up 100% without overdriving the speakers. Some people call that 'kidproofing' or 'drunkproofing' the stereo. You don't want a person of little judgement turning up the volume all the way and blowing a speaker. There is a chance that I might be missing out on a tiny bit of volume, but it is at the expense of safety.

[Duke]

I have the same issue of stereo hiss or fuzz through the speakers on a 2016 G23. It is very annoying especially at low engine speeds when the stereo becomes more heard than the engine. This has been a problem since day 1. I have had the boat in being serviced at the start of the last 2 seasons and twice at the end of the last 2 seasons. It is now the start of the 3rd season and it is still not repaired. No one seems to know what the problem is but Nautique basically acknowledges that the issue exists. It is brutal when you spend that much money on a boat and a stereo issue sours your feelings. I feel like the effort to get to the bottom of it is not supported very well. Dealers are not getting the support or answer and Nautique contracts out the design of the stereo system to a 3rd party. So a bunch of people are involved with no action. It is now the start of the 3rd season and I took my boat in 6 weeks early to make sure it is fixed this year. In addition to the stereo hiss the stereo head unit scrolls through the source choices randomly. So rather than stay on FM radio if that is what you choose to listen to it will move from FM to AM to XM to IPOD etc and not stop on any 1 source. The plan now is to change a wiring harness which may or may not correct the fuzz but I am not sure how a wiring harness will correct the scrolling of my source selection. If the harness does not fix anything then they are going to replace the head unit. Not sure why this is taking 3 years to do but its pretty frustrating. My boat is located in MT so our boating season is really only 2-3 months long. I hope for a
miracle but I have very little confidence

LOVE THE BOAT ITSELF BUT WHAT A WASTE OF TIME CHASING THIS STEREO ISSUE AROUND !!

[jondavis08]

Same issue on my 2014 210. Been told it’s the head unit and that’s why Nautique made the changed to JL from Polk. It’s annoying but I’ve chosen to just deal with it


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