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So I got out in my new 2016 G23 for the first time yesterday. I ordered the base stereo with 6 in boat speakers and 1 10 inch sub powered by a JL audio 800.8 amplifier.
I was pretty impressed with the sound that it made, but immediately noted that the speakers were way too loud by the time I got much over 20 on the volume. The first time I took off, the auto volume went over 20 and my wife starts screaming to turn it down. It was starting to distort heavily. The volume knob goes to 40. I also noticed that the subwoofer was really weak. I had the exact same subwoofer in my Mastercraft, and after giving it more power, I became pretty pleased with the results in that boat, so I really felt it was capable of more. I also noticed a dreaded background noise at lower volumes.
So I climbed down into the amp compartment, and took a look at the settings. I am 100% convinced that the installer did exactly what I mentioned in another thread. They took the amp out of the box, hooked up the wires and walked away. The gains were all too high, and all of the channels were set to high pass. So my sub was in high pass mode and not even playing sub notes at all!
I turned down the gains, and my background noise was much reduced. Just tuning it by ear, it now is plenty loud as I get to the highest volume and is no longer distorting at max volume. The subwoofer really came alive! I forgot how much I was a fan of that little beast in my Mastercraft X45. It might be my imagination, but I think having an infinite baffle subwoofer in that compartment is better than a nice sealed box. It seems like the compartment absorbed the bass in a boxed sub, but magnifies the bass in the IB subwoofer. I may be totally off base here (pun intended).
I let my dealer know that I thought that was pretty lame. He offered to call the factory and find out what the settings were supposed to be, but I think I got it figured out.
Bottom line: your 2016 factory system may be better than you think. Especially if the sub output is suboptimal (pun intended again). Don't be afraid to tinker with the amp settings. When I was deciding which system to order, I was able to listen the the upgraded system with 2 subs, and I was not really impressed, so I did not order it. I wonder if a good session crawling into the amp compartment may have brought that one alive as well. There is a little cover on the amp settings, but it is really easy to remove, so don't do what I did and crawl down in there without multiple small Allen screw wrenches. It is not easy to get in and out of there.
I was pretty impressed with the sound that it made, but immediately noted that the speakers were way too loud by the time I got much over 20 on the volume. The first time I took off, the auto volume went over 20 and my wife starts screaming to turn it down. It was starting to distort heavily. The volume knob goes to 40. I also noticed that the subwoofer was really weak. I had the exact same subwoofer in my Mastercraft, and after giving it more power, I became pretty pleased with the results in that boat, so I really felt it was capable of more. I also noticed a dreaded background noise at lower volumes.
So I climbed down into the amp compartment, and took a look at the settings. I am 100% convinced that the installer did exactly what I mentioned in another thread. They took the amp out of the box, hooked up the wires and walked away. The gains were all too high, and all of the channels were set to high pass. So my sub was in high pass mode and not even playing sub notes at all!
I turned down the gains, and my background noise was much reduced. Just tuning it by ear, it now is plenty loud as I get to the highest volume and is no longer distorting at max volume. The subwoofer really came alive! I forgot how much I was a fan of that little beast in my Mastercraft X45. It might be my imagination, but I think having an infinite baffle subwoofer in that compartment is better than a nice sealed box. It seems like the compartment absorbed the bass in a boxed sub, but magnifies the bass in the IB subwoofer. I may be totally off base here (pun intended).
I let my dealer know that I thought that was pretty lame. He offered to call the factory and find out what the settings were supposed to be, but I think I got it figured out.
Bottom line: your 2016 factory system may be better than you think. Especially if the sub output is suboptimal (pun intended again). Don't be afraid to tinker with the amp settings. When I was deciding which system to order, I was able to listen the the upgraded system with 2 subs, and I was not really impressed, so I did not order it. I wonder if a good session crawling into the amp compartment may have brought that one alive as well. There is a little cover on the amp settings, but it is really easy to remove, so don't do what I did and crawl down in there without multiple small Allen screw wrenches. It is not easy to get in and out of there.
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