Fusion is D.O.A

JVM, have you tried to do a software update on your Fusion 650? When they launched the MS RA70N one of the things they touted was improved bluetooth range. I think the software update improved a bunch of stuff. Worth looking into anyway...
 
Bluetooth is a weak signal meant for line of sight, for approx 30 feet. Anything more, you are pushing thei bluetooth limits. That is why wifi straming is a game changer.
 
JVM, have you tried to do a software update on your Fusion 650? When they launched the MS RA70N one of the things they touted was improved bluetooth range. I think the software update improved a bunch of stuff. Worth looking into anyway...

No, maybe I’ll give that a shot in the Spring, nothing to lose, but I don’t expect much because the Fusion isn’t the only Bluetooth that I have trouble with outside the cabin so I tend to think the problem is more environmental than anything else. Same thing happens to cell phone signals inside the cabin if I’m in anything less than a solid 5 bar area.
 
I finally bought the SRX400 and installed it.

Some questions and issues:

My Clarion had 2 sets of red/white rca plugs. The Fusion only has one set labeled Line Out Zone 1, which I connected to the cockpit rca plugs. I am getting a subtle background noise from the speakers when the engines are not running, and a loud whirring noise when the engine is running. Do I need to wrap wire around the RCA metal connectors and connect to ground? I am asking this because I saw this online, but they connect it to a screw in the metal stereo case. The Fusion is plastic, so where do I connect to ground? The ground wire I spliced to the Fusion harness?

Also, there are 2 pair of wires labeled Zone 1 left speaker and Zone 1 right speaker. I assume I need to connect these to the cabin speakers rca wires. Should I cut off the rca connectors and splice the speakers to these 2 pair of Fusion wires? I assume the cabin speakers are not wired to the amp, but I don’t know if this is the case.

Thanks,

Jeff
 
I finally bought the SRX400 and installed it.

Some questions and issues:

My Clarion had 2 sets of red/white rca plugs. The Fusion only has one set labeled Line Out Zone 1, which I connected to the cockpit rca plugs. I am getting a subtle background noise from the speakers when the engines are not running, and a loud whirring noise when the engine is running. Do I need to wrap wire around the RCA metal connectors and connect to ground? I am asking this because I saw this online, but they connect it to a screw in the metal stereo case. The Fusion is plastic, so where do I connect to ground? The ground wire I spliced to the Fusion harness?

Also, there are 2 pair of wires labeled Zone 1 left speaker and Zone 1 right speaker. I assume I need to connect these to the cabin speakers rca wires. Should I cut off the rca connectors and splice the speakers to these 2 pair of Fusion wires? I assume the cabin speakers are not wired to the amp, but I don’t know if this is the case.

Thanks,

Jeff

I had the same noise issue with the Apollo 770 unit I installed. The only thing I did was pull the old Clarion head unit and replaced it with the Apollo 770, all wiring that previously gave great performance with the clarion, sounded horrible one the new head was in. I gave up and place a cheap $100 head unit in the dash and ran new twisted pair RCA cables to the amps. Sounded much better.

I tried grounding the RCA connector, running new grounds all the way to the battery and about 3 days worth of other things including getting a highly recommended (and expensive) audio installer out to get his solution...no success.

I like the PartyBus solution, but the newer Fusions seem to have noise issues.
 
I finally bought the SRX400 and installed it.

Some questions and issues:

My Clarion had 2 sets of red/white rca plugs. The Fusion only has one set labeled Line Out Zone 1, which I connected to the cockpit rca plugs. I am getting a subtle background noise from the speakers when the engines are not running, and a loud whirring noise when the engine is running. Do I need to wrap wire around the RCA metal connectors and connect to ground? I am asking this because I saw this online, but they connect it to a screw in the metal stereo case. The Fusion is plastic, so where do I connect to ground? The ground wire I spliced to the Fusion harness?

Also, there are 2 pair of wires labeled Zone 1 left speaker and Zone 1 right speaker. I assume I need to connect these to the cabin speakers rca wires. Should I cut off the rca connectors and splice the speakers to these 2 pair of Fusion wires? I assume the cabin speakers are not wired to the amp, but I don’t know if this is the case.

Thanks,

Jeff

I had to replace my old Fusion last summer when it died the afternoon before we had a bunch of people coming out on the boat. Ran to a West Marine and grabbed a 650 because it fit in the same spot.
Swapped out the remote the following week.
Looked briefly at the newer types while waiting for salesman at West Marine and sort of felt all the bells and whistles were above my pay grade so kept it simple. Was glad I stayed old school after reading Dave’s saga.
Sometimes it’s better to keep things simple.......
 
I will try calling Fusion - Hope they have good tech support. We shall see.

They answered fairly quickly and were very helpful when I called them after discovering my old head unit was dead. Their answer wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but the guy I spoke to made some good recommendations for a replacement head unit and let me know about the adapter plate to use with the new remote when replacing the old one.
 
I worked with both Fusion and Cruthfield. Both good, Crutchfield very helpful beyond just the Fusion unit and looking at the whole system.

I want to like the new Fusion, but holding off...maybe Dani Lu might find a common thread between our boats and solve the problem
 
dtfeld - I got Fusion tech support on the phone and the noise problem is resolved. The issue was the Clarion amp gain was cranked up to the max. I backed it down and the system sounds perfect. I think the old Clarion did not put out as much power, so the amp setting that worked with the old Clarion, was set too high for the the more powerful new Fusion head unit. Now that I got rid of the Clarion and CD player, with the Fusion head unit being so small, my next project is turning that space into another storage cabinet. :)
 
dtfeld - I got Fusion tech support on the phone and the noise problem is resolved. The issue was the Clarion amp gain was cranked up to the max. I backed it down and the system sounds perfect. I think the old Clarion did not put out as much power, so the amp setting that worked with the old Clarion, was set too high for the the more powerful new Fusion head unit. Now that I got rid of the Clarion and CD player, with the Fusion head unit being so small, my next project is turning that space into another storage cabinet. :)
Having the same issue on my fusion will give this a try. Thanks!
 
And FYI if the noise over the speakers is a "ticking" sound then there is most likely leakage from the fish finder / sounder. The Raymarine DSM sounder control units emit quite a strong EM pulse and if your audio cabling is routed parallel any distance with the sounder power or transducer cabling it will come through the speakers. School of hard knocks speaking.....
 
I bought the Fusion wireless remote soon after I installed the SRX 400 and had trouble connecting it. I finally called Fusion tech support and found out it is not compatible with the SRX400. I guess Fusion wants to make sure folks buy the 770 unit. I wanted the wireless remote to replace the old Clarion remote. I am so bummed.
 
I bought the Fusion wireless remote soon after I installed the SRX 400 and had trouble connecting it. I finally called Fusion tech support and found out it is not compatible with the SRX400. I guess Fusion wants to make sure folks buy the 770 unit. I wanted the wireless remote to replace the old Clarion remote. I am so bummed.

Those wireless remotes are nice, but they don’t work with my 650 either.
My 650 replaced a Fusion and I had a wired Fusion remote at the helm, but naturally the new Fusion wasn’t compatible with the old wired remote or its wiring so I had to buy a new wired remote and run new wires.
Once I got going it wasn’t a big deal to run the new wires though.
 
I installed MS-755AV today but when I powered it up it had a blank display:mad:
I'll call Fusion in the morning and see what's up. Ive been told that the customer service is pretty good so fingers crossed.
CD
 
I installed MS-755AV today but when I powered it up it had a blank display:mad:
I'll call Fusion in the morning and see what's up. Ive been told that the customer service is pretty good so fingers crossed.
CD

I installed a DOA ms-av755 this spring on the new boat that was also doa. Garmin/Fusion said they would replace it, but suggested returning it to sender might be quicker. Since we’d bought through Amazon we actually got the replacement before sending the first one back. I mentioned the doa Fusion unit to the fellow who has installed navigation electronics and said it was rare, but did happen.
 
In my opinion, Fusion equipment is truly marginal as compared to other mainstream and high end audio suppliers. I LOVE their equipment from an integration standpoint, but over the past 6 months I had two speakers fail and one amp. They did replace the speakers as a gratis offer because it was technically out of warranty, however, it was a huge hassle. When the amp failed, I didn't even bother calling. Fairly confident it too was just out of warranty and I ended up getting a better unit for less money shipped via Amazon in 2 days or less.
 
Speaker failures are rare, even with entry level brands, unless grossly over powered or abused. With an amp failure and speakers failed, id bet the amp DC'd out and smoked the speakers. So root cause = one defective amp, speakers were collateral.
 
Speaker failures are rare, even with entry level brands, unless grossly over powered or abused. With an amp failure and speakers failed, id bet the amp DC'd out and smoked the speakers. So root cause = one defective amp, speakers were collateral.

Actually the sub channel blew on the amp and the front channel speakers blew. Totally different ends of the spectrum. Likely a mosfet or opamp blew in the amp. The speaker coil leads both broke.
 

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