MikeBaja232

One of the things that is causing me some greif is finding a head unit that you don't need a manual to operate on a daily basis. The Sony's are so full of bells and whistles to attract the kids that they seem too difficult to try and operating while underway.

I like the looks of the Alpine units and know they produce good sound, but how are they durability wise? Will they hold up to the moisture and pounding in a boat? How does the CD player do with the constant pounding; do they miss alot? Also, do they offer a waterproof wired remote; seemed like I had seen one a time back?

Mike

blown formula

I know someone earlier said to stay away from Kenwood, but I have three Kenwood's, all with Kenwood CD changers & remotes & in different boats. There has never been a failure and they certainly have lasted longer than two seasons. All are older than four years with no need to replace them yet. All have the reversing-hideaway face plates so there is no need to remove the face & hide it. I also am using some Kenwood amps, but only for the small end stuff- tweeters & mid's. Fosgate handles the heavy bass end. My speakers are Pyle's & Infinity's. No problems.

Audiofn

Clarion and Sony offer Wired remotes. Clarion is the only one that offers a water proof one that can be put on the transom or were ever.

Clarion is the only manufacturer that is main stream that is making TRUE marine units. By this I mean special coating on the circuit boards, and FULL waterproofe head units and so on. Companies like Sony and Jensen are just taking black speakers and painting them white and calling them marine. Alpines are certainly very good head units and they will last you a bunch of years. The most important thing to getting them to NOT skip is to make sure that they WILL NOT MOVE AT ALL in the mount.

Jon

Audiofn

Blown when I mentioned stay away from the Kenwood stuff, I only meant the amps. I think that there is a lot better stuff out there for the money I personally have had bad luck with Kenwood and failures, however I know lots of people that are real happy with it. But hell I have had great luck with Clarion and I know lots of people that have hated it so who knows really

Jon

Baja232

MikeBaja232,


Last summer I bought a Sony MPX-CD70 for my 1997 232 Islander and I love it. It plays MP3's, so I made a CD with about 150 songs seperated into about 10 "folders" and I put in 1 CD and I'm set for the day. It has not skipped once.

It has plenty of power for a "stock" setup and I just pulled it out to store it in the house for the winter.

Whatwever you get, make sure it plays MP3's (if you burn your own music).

I found it to be a hassle to change CD's all day, so having a lot of songs on one was my solution.

blown formula

Audio !! I understand! I would not use a small Kenwood for anything except maybe the tweeters. There are no heat sinks on that small stuff, and you need good heatsinks when punching out the bass. That's why the Fosgate amps. I have had real good longevity with the Kenwood head though & I REALLY like the automatic reversing (hideaway) faceplate business. I do not like removable face plates as I have had trouble with them before.