New Stereo Advice Request
 

I'm giving myself a new stereo for the boat for Christmas; but, I need some advice on what to buy. Unfortunately, this gift has a limited amount.

I have a 1997 Baja 232 Islander and want to replace the head unit, add a power amp and probably a sub. I'm going to stay with my current speakers at the moment, but will likely upgrade later in the year - 2003 that is.

I like the Poly Planar MRP-60, but I'm having trouble justifing $400 for the head unit only. Marine rated head units are few; are they really necessary? Any suggestions for a head unit (AM/FM/CD) in the $300 range? Amp amp and sub suggestions please?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

Take a look at the clarion. I think it was one of the boat places (not Boat US) but maybe West or another that had them BELOW dealer cost!!!! Otherwise any of the clarion single din units will fit the bill. Another option is to get a cover and then you can use about any head unit you want to. Clarion also makes a fully waterproof head unit that you can actually dump water on and it is fine but that will get ya back up to the 400 buck range. All the clarion remotes have the remote jack so you can put in a guage size remote in the dash, or even on the transom of the boat. If you go with the cover then you can go with say a sony and still be able to do the remote.

For the amp get a QUALITY 5 channel and you will be fine. I use the Rockford the most to fit this bill. It has good power, does not use TONS of battery to run and is reasonabley prices for what you get. I am sure there are other options for you in your area. Stay away from amps made by Sony, Clarion, Kenwood, and the alike.

Hope all that helps

Jon

Thanks for the advice Jon. I already have a cover in the dash for the head unit; so you don't think I have to go with a marine unit as long as I keep it protected from water spashed in? What about moisture in the boat in general?

I like the Clarions; however, most of there offerings are the larger chassis and I really don't want to cut a larger hole in my dash.

If I have 100 W speakers (x 4), do I need a 400 W amp, plus the sub? I know you are in the business, what do you have to offer?

Thanks,
Mike

The moisture in a boat is not as bad as you would think. Clarion does make a single din (the size you have) CD head unit. I can not think of the model number at this time, HOWEVER if you go to their web site I am sure you will find them.

As far as the speakers go for amplifiers. What speakers do you have in there now? They may say 100 watts but that is probably MAX not RMS power. Ussually 25 REAL watts per speaker is good enough for most people. 200 or so to the subs

Jon

If I might ask a "stupid" question here.... I was looking at new stereos also.... I was wondering if anyone had any input on the new satallite XM ready radio's? Sounds like a great idea for a boat...

The Clarion Model is M5675-RET rated at 4x45 watts. Given that, why do I still need an amp?

The speakers are the factory Clarion CM262 coax; rated a 100W, 4 omhs impedance.

Mike

My brother just got the XM radio and it is cool. You can move it from car to boat to house if you want. Hey Mike. I have a Clarion Head unit with remote and 45x4 that I cannot use now and a stealth box by JL with two 10" subs. It is for under the back seat of an extended cab truck so it is low profile, injection molded and covered with tan carpet. I also cannot use this. Both are in excellent condition. PM me if interested.

The Clarion x series marine head unit ,that looks "big" actually takes a smaller hole, you can get a retro fit adapter from Clarion, you won't regret this head unit which can be found on ebay for about 185, as for the amp, the head unit does not put out that power rms, thats peak power it probably puts out 12-15 watts rms, and with the right amp you can block out the low freq. to the mids through the built in x-over, for example Phoenix Gold, an amp will be a 100% improvement, if the right one is purchased, I would recomend 1- 2 channel amp, and run your 4 speakers in 2 ohm stereo, and 1- 1 channel mono amp for the sub, for example a rockford 700s 2 channel and a rockford bd1000.1 1 channel, and upgrade your speakers later, remember, you can buy all this stuff on ebay for about half of retail, and no tax, Jason

what about kicker amps and subs

Think of it this way. Look at the size of the head unit that claims to put out 45x4 watts. Take a look at the same amp that claims to put out 45x4 RMS, why is the amp 3 timeslarger than the stereo that also has to play cd's, tuner and all the other functions. That rating on the stereo is when it is actually struck by lightning. Take a quality amp with less wattage than the head unit claims and you will get twice the sound. Don't skimp on the amp more wattage is better than not enough. Too little will often blow speakers before too much will. Distortion, especially on a boat is the killer! I have kicker subs on my boat and get many compliments. Good luck!

I put together my system last year which includes
Sony CD head unit with access tech wired remote, 4 Kicker marine 6.5" speakers, an 8" Bazooka sub, a 50X4 clarion amp and a fosgate 160s amp for the sub. Everything bought cheap and totaled around $750.

Face it, everyone plays the stereo loud when we are running. Loud means you are using the maximum power available. The problem is, in a 100 watt amp there is only 70 watts that is really usable before distortion starts to set in. Distortion is what blows speakers, not total power. A small amp of 45 watts is more dangerous to a speaker than a 100 watt amp is & the speaker will live longer and sound better with the larger amp. Also do not undersize the wiring going to the amp or speakers. A wire that may carry 5-10 amps may need to carry instantanious current surges far greater on the "sub" side of the system. Subs will consume 80% of the available power, leaving little for the mid & hi range speakers. This is why "seperates"- tweeters, mids & woofers and bi-amping/tri-amping is so popular. Bi-amping is usually sufficient for most of us using a seperate amp for the subs only and the head unit or smaller amp for the mids & hi's.
A small tutorial from an ex-sound production guy.....
Oh yeh, I nearly forgot... buying 100 watt speakers to replace 40 watt speakers will not make a system louder or better !:rolleyes:

Re: New Stereo Advice Request
 

If it were me and I were going to upgrade in a couple stages, I'd do the amp & speakers first, and replace the head unit last unless it is just total junk.

If you get a new amp, chances are your stock speakers won't be able to handle it and could even damage the amp. You'll get the most sound improvent (quality & volume) by running your existing head unit into a quality new amp and speakers. The next step would be a sub & amp, then the head unit last.

And I would think you'd need a minimum of 45 watts RMS per speaker to even hear the thing at WOT. Maybe a little less if you have a windshield I guess.

"...Maybe a little less if you have a windshield I guess".

That brought a little chuckle...:D

I've got the Clarion CMAS-2 receiver in my boat. It comes with a wired remote. It is a Marine unit, but is NOT waterproof. It is a standard size unit and 45watts x 4. That = an RMS of 23 watts x 4. I was very impressed with the it. I'm not even running an amp. I have 4 Babb 6x9's that I got from Audiofn(thanks Jon). It sounds excellent and people can't believe that I don't have an amp and sub hidden somewhere.
Best part is the head unit with remote is $299.99 at Overtons.

Be careful on the amp you buy , Just make sure it is rated rms and not peak;)

Griff glad you are happy with it. Sorry it took so long to get ya the stuff :(:(

Amps are rated in so many different ways that even those of us in the industy have a hard time figureing it out.

First there is regulated power supplies: These will put out the same power out of the amp regardless of voltage into the amp.

Second NON-Regulated power supplies. These will put out more power as the voltage goes up. Competition cars will often times run at 18 volts or more!!! Of course the inverse is if you turn off your engines you can loose 20% of the output capability of the amp.

There is what we call RMS Power: What the amp will put out all day long

There is Peak output: Often times what I call (and others) the IHBL (if hit by lightning) rating. This rating is what the cheaper amps use to make it sound like you are getting a good deal. Often times a 25 watt competition amp will blow away a 600 watt peak rated amp.

There is the rating at a given ohm load.

Then to top it all off there is the rating at a given distortion level. This distortion level is chosen often times by the builder and you will find that the more "quality" builders are much more strict about the level that the amp "fails".

For boats IMHO the regulated power supplies are better along with a VERY efficient power supply. The efficiency of the power supplie is the second most importand thing. The more efficient it is the longer your battery will last with out the engine running. From there it all depends :D:D

Jon

I have deals on Rockford Fosgate, BAAB speakers, Bazooka tubes, Rockford tubes, and more. The deals that I have are leftovers from a factory authorized tent sale that we held at my Tampa store last week. I have deals that are too low for me to print on an ad bearing the vendors name per our dealer agreement. Everything is brand new and A quality. Simply email the model you need pricing on to [email protected] or call me at my office at (813)882-8477 Monday thru Saturday 9 to 6 EST

If you are looking for a deal, now is the time to take advantage of end of year deals on car, marine and home audio products.

Andy Buzz

Sony CDX-CA700X
 

For Christmas, my wife bought me a Sony CDX-CA700X. It was very reasonable.

Anyone know a CD player that dosent seem to stop playing cds right after 2 seasons? The jensen is dead :)

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

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. :D

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

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 :D:D

Jon

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.

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.:D 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. :eek: