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2011 VLX receiver question


southernfried

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Finally going to tackle the wire jungle behind my amp wall/panel in my 2011 VLX. It has the rockford unit but I can't find a model # on it. Was going to look it up and figure out how many subouts it has, etc. I may even replace it.

Curious if someone knew offhand the stock receiver? Whatever it is, it's tied to this black box(which I believe has the sub outs, etc).

picture of box i'm talking about, it's to the left of the amps.

https://imgur.com/a/LK3zlWL

 

EDIT - DISREGARD, after searching for 15 minutes i found the model #

Edited by southernfried
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The dreaded “Black box” (upper left corner) will either be a RFX-3000 or possibly a RFX-5000. My 2010 had the 3000 in it and as I recall 2011 had some upgrades. The receiver might be a RF MR 5 BB, was on my 2010. Once again things changed in 2011, but the in dash, (if so equipped) radio touch screen should have the model number stenciled on top center mass of the screen.

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thanks for your reply! so the driver side radio is model RFXMR5BB. 

so i see you have the wet sounds rig too. can you describe your install/layout? you use the wetsounds to control the volume/zone, does that go to the RF receiver above at all or do you also have one of these black boxes on the other side of boat? i suppose what i'm asking do you have to connect the wetsounds to the black box? and did you have to buy a new volume controller for back of the boat also?

Edited by southernfried
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wdr, i saw this post about your install:

I did make some “L” brackets out of aluminum for 3 of the 4 corners. I attached the 420 to an HDPE base. I secured the 2 front brackets to the sides of the HDPE base and to the bottom raw edge of the fiberglass helm. This was the bottom exposed edge of the helm when looking up into the dash. I predrilled those holes for the screws so as not to split the helm. The 3rd inboard screw was secured to the side of the carpeted helm panel. No exposed screw issue because the screw was behind the upholstered pass through panel. The 4th corner I did not worry about because the other 3 were “OCD secure”. I ran my 420 straight to my RF black box. Those inputs were marked and easy to plug up. About the only issue I had was trying to get the AUX to work for when I ran my IPhone off of the 3.5mm jack. I had to consult with the resident expert on here to get that figured out. Thanks again to @ MLA for the advice. Keep the new RCAs away from any power source and well shielded. And for gods sake, strain relief the RCA connections or you will be chasing radio gremlins forever! Good luck

can you elaborate what strain relief RCA cables? radio gremlins? assuming static?

Edited by southernfried
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The electrical connections on the black box were my biggest challenge on my 2010. ALL of the wires, electrical or RCA that were connected to it were rolled up into big heavy coils and flopping around at the connection points. With the weight of the wires and the constant bouncing and rolling the connectors would come apart enough to intermittently work or completely stop working. When I installed the 420 I went OCD on the connectors. I used electrical tape on the junctures and then used “P” wire loom holders on both sides of the connections and screwed them to the amp board to isolate the connectors and remove any weight from that point. I did the same thing for the rest of the wires to separate the hot wires from the RCAs. I also had issues with the lame glass fuse holders for the main power (red wire) and the memory and clock power wire (yellow). I replaced those with 20th century blade fuse holders and never had a problem again.

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  • 4 months later...

@wdr I picked up a ws420bt and want to know if you used the original Rockford head unit with the ws420?  Do I abandon the black box unit and use the Ws420 that includes Bluetooth or can they complement each other?  Let me know your thoughts.  Right now I have the Rockford unit with an exile bt adapter on the aux.  Thanks in advance.

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I had the 420 w/o the BT. Should be the same plug and play operation. I left the factory installed RF equipment in place. The 420 just bypasses the factory HU setup when you plug it into the BlackBox. With the exception of the remote RF sub control knob which I left on max volume, I controlled everything through the 420 via 3.5mm cable plugged into my phone. Make sure to shield and segregate the audio cables from the power cables to avoid any noise issues. There are a number of members on here who are more informed audiophiles than me that will chime in I am sure. Good luck. 

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  • 1 month later...

Looking for advice on my winter project.  Currently have the rfx-mr5bb black box with wireless bluetooth on the aux of the black box.  I want to remove that bluetooth and use the bluetooth that comes with my new ws 420BT.  Anyone done this?  Do I remove the black box and head unit and not use anymore?  What about my transom control? I need to see if any speakers are powered off the black box as well.  I have 8 speakers in the boat with a sub and then the tower rev 10s.  I want to be able to have the speakers in the boat be lower than the tower speakers.  Right now to get the tower speakers loud enough I have to blast people out who are in the boat.  

 

@chief What did you mean by this?  "The 420 just bypasses the factory HU setup when you plug it into the BlackBox"

 

Do I use the aux out of the 420 and connect to the aux in on the black box?  What volume will work in that case?  Do I reroute all my amp rca connections to the 420?  My sub also already has a min and max control.  Thanks in advance!

 

thumbnail-136.thumb.jpeg.baa5ae0791ca223796dfecd1912653fa.jpeg

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All amp RCA’s run through the 420.

right now I believe all rca’s are coming from your black box to your amps

in my 2014 I chose to bypass the Rockford head unit and the black box and just use Bluetooth or the 3.5mm aux input, because of the ground loop problems the black box introduced to the stereo.

if you want to keep your factory Rockford integration you will need to run 1 set of rca’s from the black box to the Input on the 420 and then run RCA’s from the 420 to each of your amps. As far as volume control with this set up you will have 2 sources (Rockford head unit and 420 knob)

personally I am of the opinion that in 2017 model year and prior the stereo should be isolated from any factory integrated audio. You are just asking for ground loop gremlins. 

run all 12v + and B- from distribution blocks to power any audio equipment (amp, EQ, remotes etc) they should all share the same +/-/ remote 12v 

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  • 9 months later...

Is there a setup you recommend for a 2012 23 LSV?  I hooked up a BT dongle and like you said i'm getting lots of ground loop issues. Considering just replacing the head unit and black box but not sure if that is a big project.

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