Speakers Crack at mid to high volume (anything over level 20)

This really sounds like a wiring problem. I would start from scratch, seeing as how it will be difficult to find the issue you describe. Also, if you can, solder your connections to the radio. If you used crimp butts they may not have been tight enough and vibrated loose with use of the boat. Hope this helps

Hello.... sorry to hear about your problem. Bass is the ultimate evil of coaxial speakers. You have a couple of options here, and this is just my professional opinion because I do not know what your lifestyle details, such as truck space needs, type of music you listen to, budget, etc. If you are looking for alot of bass, the best bet would be to use 2 external amplifiers, 1 for the interior speakers, and 1 for a subwoofer. You would then need to purchase an electronic crossover. With this setup, you can remove all of the low frequencies from the coaxial speakers and put them where they belong, with the sub. You will gain EXCEPTIONAL clarity and a very high volume before distortion level. Again it will depend on what your budget is and if you are willing to compromise on some cab space. The only other option you have at this point is if you are wanting to play your music at high volume levels, you will just need to reduce the bass level as you increase volume. I hope this has helped. Good luck with your venture!!

20 year car audio/video installer
Bay manager

Best bet is to take your boat to a qualified Marine Audio dealer (generally not a boat repair shop or marina), or to a good quality Car audio store that is insured to work on boats (separete insurance usually).
When it comes to boats, you need lots of power and speakers.
First thing to do is make sure what you have is properly installed. Then determine what is "distorting" .. is it too much base, purely volume or what.
Most boats we do (wakeboard style and river boats) we do: 40-75 watts RMS per speaker 4-6 speakers in boat 1 10" or 12" sub with 200-300 watts RMS Tower speaker if requested with 75-125 Watts RMS per speaker

You will be ok. The ohms on the unit are for the rca jacks for an amp. your only issue would be if you have really crappy factory speakers that peak at less than 20-30w. If you have am speakers then your fine with almost any head unit.

Hello jcox7704,

Your head unit is 50 watts X 4 channel maximum power and 21 watts RMS so it's possible that all you need is more power to the speakers. But even 21 watts RMS should be enough for normal speakers. Before investing in an amp, I'd check the speakers and their wiring. Measure the impedance (resistance) at the head unit side to see if they match up.

Hope this helps.

check to make sure the ohms rating on the speakers is correct. should be equal to or higher on speakers compared to receiver.

Hook the speakers in series to decrease your chances of blowing the amp and/or speakers themselves. And at high volumes make sure that the bass control is set for flat response.

Your head unit may not have a common ground for the speakers. If you have two wires for each speaker coming from the head unit, rewire the speakers for a floating ground, that means two wires per speaker, or use a floating ground adaptor. These radios now a days are NOT like the radios in the hay days of care audio. If you already did not cause any damage to your unit, you certainly will if you continue to use it the way it is hooked up now. Good Luck

check your ground, it could be that your antenna is the only source of ground, in which case the deck does not have enough power to stay on when it draws too much power. I've seen exactly what you are saying many many times. Ground it really reallly good.

I had this same exact problem when my last older Kenwood Marine stereo cooked itself while I had it up loud for a few weekends on the lake. (smelled like it had burned inside). I went out and bought a new Kenwood KMR-550u stereo deck. (I do not have an additional amp). I hooked it up to the exact connections where my older Kenwood stereo unit had been hooked up, as I never had a problem with this for the past three years until it failed after smelling of burning elelectrical. I had chalked the problem up to heavy rain we had one day. Every time I turned up the volume, sometimes up to 27 out of 35 possible, or 29, or 32, the stereo would suddenly shut off as if I had turned it off. After a few seconds the stereo would come back on, but unless I was quick enough to turn down the volume it would do it again right away. Of course on a boat, we were beached in a cove and the engine was not running when I encountered this. I searched the internet finding hundreds of similar complaints and several dozen theories of all types, but only a couple that pointed me towards the power (voltage) idea as the problem. I put a volt meter on the positive & negative wires powering the stereo. I watched as I gradually turned up the volume, the voltage on the power wire gradually decreased from 12.5 volts, down into the 11 range, and as it hit 10.9 or 10.8 volts it shut off typically around a volume of 32. The red power wire in my boat that never seemed to have an issue with my old stereo until it fried was determined to actually be inadequate for the power flow for the new Kenwood, and probably was the culprit of my failed older unit. I offer this sound advice: Run a new pair of positive & negative wires directly from the battery (with an appropriate fuse of course (the deck has a 10 amp fuse in it's back so I would use that at the battery) to the stereo. Check the voltage as you turn the volume up into the high 20's and low 30's to ensure you are still getting voltage in the mid to high 11-12 volt range. The stereo is designed to require a minimum of 10.8 volts to operate, and when it drops below that it protects itself and shuts down.