Stereo Keeps Cutting Out

Hey, new to the forum and looking for some help on my 2010 21v worlds edition. I've been having some problems with the stereo cutting out since we bought the boat. It is all still factory installed components (MB Quartz, Kicker amps, speakers and sub). The stereo works fine when the engine is off, I can crank it up and it does not cut out and operates fine. I thought it was maybe an issue with a short or maybe drawing to many amps or my amps over-heating, so I had it checked out by a local stereo specialist, and they said everything appeared to be fine and they could not replicate the problem or find any issues with the wiring when it was at the shop. It only seems to happen when we are on the water, under power. The stereo will just cut out. It appears to still have power and everything, the dislay still showes the current song (that is supposed to be playing), but no tunes from the speakers. As soon as I flip off the stereo button (on the right side panel with the other switches: bilge swtich, interior lights, etc.) it will come back on. Sometimes it happens often and repeatedly, other times it may not happen for a while, but will eventually cut out at some point. I am really puzzled by this and is frustrating since we can't listen to any music while we are out cruising or riding.

Any advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated. It is especially frustrating since I can't replicate it until we are on the water. I guess I may just have to take my stereo guy wakeboarding!!

Please let me know if you have had any similiar problems and what you did to correct the issue or if there is anything I can try to isolate the source.

How long does it play before the problem occurs?
Are the batteries charged up?
Have you checked all the power and ground connections?

If the head unit doesn't blink and stays on, it's something in the amps or batteries.

Ive seen and fixed a lot of the Skier's Choice boats. Most of it's been pretty scary, so there's no telling what's going on.

What's your location?

I had a similar issue with my 2010 sun sport and has the same mbquartz system...come to find out after talking to skiers choice it was the software on the supra vision, there is a upgrade I installed and all my stereo issues were solved....

I would look to see what software version is currently installed and call your dealer or SC and see if it is the latest software.

Just a thought...good luck

Oh and welcome to the forum...

I had the same problem with my kicker amp... it is therminal protection... It is getting hot and kicking out instead of burnning up... how many speakers are on the amp... mine had 6 speakers and the sub....I changed all of my stuff out and went with all f6 ailpine amps and the problem is fixed.... I think they were asking to much out of one amp....

It is highly variable and the time before it kicks out depends.....It may be fine for 15 minutes or so or it may kick out just after a few minutes or seconds after hitting the throttle. The batteries appear to be fine and fully charged, I am not having any other issues with the boat or any other electronics that may indicate a bad battery. I would have thought that if it was a heating issue or if the amps were being overloaded, then it would also cut out when the boat is not runnig as well? But the stereo works fine in the driveway!! I do think my sub and the six interior cockpit speakers are on the same amp though.

I like the software suggestion and may try that next. The problem seemed to get better when I turned off the automatic volume adjustment when you reach a certain speed. I thought that had maybe corrected it, because it didn't happen for a little while after making the change, but now it has raised its ugly head again. So frustrating!!

I'm in Indianapolis and my closest dealer is about an hour away.

How many amps does the boat have? Id more then one, are the speakers driven by all amps going quite or just the speakers from one particular amp? When the problem occurs, take not of the amps' power indicator light and red trouble LED. On the Kicker amps, the logo will be lite up under normal conditions. On the power cable end of the amp, there should be a green LED that's illuminated when all is good and a red that will light up when there is a problem. We need to if the red trouble light it coming on or if the amp is powering off. This gets us going in the right direction.

When you're driving the system may be louder than when you are just idling. Just throwing that out there....

It could be a internal issue in the amp... Mine did the exact same thing.. it would sometime quit when playing it really hard and sometimes we could just be on a evening cruise playing it easy... It pissed me off because of how much money I dropped on my 242 and it was only a few months old... I did not change much of the power wiring to my amps just the amps... I think they are asking to much of one amp 6 speakers and the sub.... It could be the way they have the 6 speakers wired probably 2 in series and the other 4 not in series... I was told by the Stereo Guy who has help me build 2 great systems in 2 different boats that this can cause a amp to heat up really quick... The next time it kicks out touch the surface of the amp and see how hot it is to touch. Another sugestion is to pull the RCA that is working the sub... This could be the power supply in the amp itself just not being sufficient...

Hope this helps I feel your pain

You can email or call SC and they can email you the current software, put in on a flash drive plug it in the USB port and follow the directions on the supra vision to install...pretty easy....

There are two amps in the boat, a smaller square one and a larger rectangular one. When the speakers cut out, they all go dead, no sound out of anything. We are going out on the boat today... so I'll check to see if the amps shut off or if the red trouble lights come on when the stereo kicks out.

Stoppage of music from all speakers would point to: voltage level at both amps, remote turn-on circuit from the head-unit or source signal from head-unit.

Wouldn't you know it, stereo worked fine all day yesterday and never had an issue. Not that I' m complaining, but hard to find the problem when everything is working as it should. I'll have to keep an eye on it and see if it happens again. In the mean time, may try the Vision system software update as that surely can't hurt anything. Thanks for all the replies.