Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

My 2010 boat has a Jensen MSR2007 head unit. Not sure of the amp model under the helm, but it is a small Jensen amp. I replaced the original Jensen 5.25 speakers with Polk MM521s and their crossovers. A few months ago, my front right speaker would cut out intermittently. I checked and double checked the connections (at speaker and at back of head unit and at amp), and could find no explanation. Now, the sound has deteriorated further, and on other speakers, the actual recordings (I play an ipod via an aux cord) have lost whole audio tracks, i.e., no vocals on the right speakers.

With this information, does it sound like the problem is my head unit or my amp, or something else? I would like to replace one but not the other if possible. Is there a way to isolate the problem for the answer? i.e., using a voltmeter? As you can probably tell, I am not electronically inclined. Thanks.

I don't have anything fancy with amps and crossovers but I have similar problems all the time using my aux input. I cant remember which unit is which but I have a Boss and Jensen head unit one on my boat and one on my back porch that's wired to a 12v power supply, both are their "marine grade" systems. Neither one of these is very old but both of their auxiliary input ports are dang near shot. Every time I use them I have to wiggle my cord, take that how ever you want, and hit a sweet spot to make everything sound good. I have tried all kinds of different cords and while some work better than others I am sure the ports in the head units are shot. That's my 2 cents but of course if you can play the radio or CD and they sound bad as well it throws my comment out the window!

My next sound system will only consist of a AM/FM receiver and Bluetooth! I want the least amount of open air access to the unit as possible!

Can't tell from the information you are giving us. You could try another input into the amp to narrow it down. Does the amp take rca inputs?

A couple of thoughts...

1 - Does it act this way while stationary? Have you tried it out on the trailer and not moving. Looking to see if you have loose connections.

2 - Is it acting this way on ALL sources (AM/FM, Sirrus, etc) or only on an Aux Input Source plugged into the head unit?

3 - If yes, I think that unit has an option to plug the Ipod direct into the Amp (if you got the Amp with the Jensen Head Unit) thus bypassing the head unit. If you plug the IPod direct to amp and it works perfect then you have a Head Unit Problem or your input cable is bad. If it is still acting up then you have an amp and/or speaker problems.

4 - Do you have a WIRED remote hooked to the unit? If so, try to disconnect it and see if the issue improves.

Thanks for all the ideas. I will go and work on these things over the weekend to see if they shed light on the problem.