Music on board

My new boat has never had a stereo installed. It has no cup holders either, but that's a different topic. What I would love to have is at least one pair of speakers in the saloon and a good pair of outdoor speakers on the bridge or the Sundeck. I would like to be able to control the music from both locations so that I can, for example, kill the outdoor speakers while I'm at the dock, or choose a new station or a new playlist from the bridge while I drive.

Is this possible? What's the easiest way? I already own a few good speakers and I have access to some older but excellent car stereo stuff including head units and power amps, but nothing with MP3 capability or Bluetooth.

Yup. . . got to have some tunes going to be boating.

I updated my boat last year and my sons this year with new Kenwood marine stereos under $200 for each. The new stereos have it all built right into the radio, bluetooth, mp3, USB port, remote control, (mine still even has a CD player). We didn't bother with the CD player on my sons install. If you're not listening to a radio station, then we usually plug in an Android phone, I-Pod, I phone, etc. with the USB cable and charge your phone while listening to tunes.

The speaker sets, flybridge, main salon and aft cabin, can be individually muted or volume level adjusted. They make it real simple for you now days!!

Ditto on the Fusion! I am into my second i-Pod Fusion stereo, using Fusion speakers inside and out, and I love it. It will do far more than I ask it to, though it does have a few little software glitches. The older 600 series would not respond to the controls once in a while, you had to pull the fuse to fix it (couldn't get the on/off switch to work). The 700 series I now have has a tendency to turn itself back on after you shut the power down, but since it is on a breaker switch it's an easy fix. Very good, but not perfect!

Greetings,
Just thinking out loud but I suspect this may be overkill...

Sony and others have car sized units with a remote.About $100.

Locate the unit where you can shoot it from comfortable spots.

FF said:

Sony and others have car sized units with a remote.About $100.

Locate the unit where you can shoot it from comfortable spots.

Click to expand...

Not so easy on boats with a fly bridge.

Units with MP-3, bluetooth and remotes are so cheap it may make sense to just upgrade and ditch the units you have.

Now about those cup/beer holders..........

Greetings,
Beer holders?

Yup I was thinking of installing 5 more myself.

For out door speakers JL-Audio is the way to go. They can take the abuse, Paired with a Fusion stereo they'll sound just dandy.

We've used Bose 151 speakers for years on our boats. These are external speakers. If you want built in speakers (cut outs), look at the 131 series. It's hard to beat the Bose sound quality and you don't need a huge amplifier to drive them.

Outdoor Speakers | Bose

I have a small stereo with the 2 speakers in and 2 out doors. Yet I do not use it. My wife loves music which she listens all day long using her I-Pad transmiting the songs via blue tooth to a a Bose small set of speakers. Works everywhere in the boat and we only need to carry the speaker box. The Pad stays put inside.

In 2008, I installed a Sony XPLOD marine stereo with wired remote for the FB. We have full control on the FB as well as at the lower helm where the main unit is mounted.

For speakers we added 2 sets of Bose Acoustimass 3-speaker systems for the interior. One subwoofer is below the salon setee and the other is under the FB helm console. Four satellite speakers are mounted in the salon and 2 Alpine speakers on the FB. In addition to the stereo fader, I have a speaker selector panel which allows me to control on/off and volume on all speakers.

BlueTooth interface was added later with a Tunelink BT adapter. I also added an Aux Jack so I can plug in directly for non-BT devices.

BTW, all this is 12V powered and the subwoofers are passive subs...no need for 110V.

Today's stereos combine most of these features in one box so it's possible to have MP3/USB/Internet radio/BT/Aux Input all in one box. Much simpler and cleaner than I have cobbed together over the years, but my functionality is comparable.

Fusion with Poly-Planar speakers. The Fusion model I have has 3 zones. Big + for me - big print display - I can actually read it without glasses! Might just be an OF thing.

"Music" is fine if you keep it to yourselves. Most other people won't like "your" "music". Please don't play it in a marina.

manyboats said:

"Music" is fine if you keep it to yourselves. Most other people won't like "your" "music". Please don't play it in a marina.

Click to expand...

Not all music needs to be played loud. I like my music and will often play it in my covered marina slip. I turn off the outside speakers and it's hardly audible on the dock next to my boat. Move one slip away and it's unnoticeable.

Now when I'm on the hook, alone and away from it all, I've been known to crank it up and sing along. I promise...it's only when I'm alone! I would never subject my marina neighbors to that abuse.

FlyWright said:

Now when I'm on the hook, alone and away from it all, I've been known to crank it up and sing along. I promise...it's only when I'm alone! I would never subject my marina neighbors to that abuse.

Click to expand...

I can almost hear you now. Unfortunately.

manyboats said:

"Music" is fine if you keep it to yourselves. Most other people won't like "your" "music". Please don't play it in a marina.

Click to expand...

In the Bahamas it's the exact opposite, a lot of people blast their music and not everyone likes it. I have my own little boom-box boat. I'm always happy to oblige to a competition to see who has the better system. Especially drunk captains, those are the most entertaining.

I guess we must be the "bad boy" party marina then.

Cap Santa, Anacortes, Wa. is pretty quiet in the winter months, but from May - October, the docks come alive with waterfront festivals, boat shows, hosting a number of different boating group rendezvous. The port hires musical groups to perform at the head of the docks, and at their waterfront park. Boater dock parties are common Heck. . . the port even has two 50' floating party docks that they rent out.

If you're looking for solitude. . . .This is probably not the marina for you!!

For example:
waterfrontfestival_for_wffpage


PS: I could do without the firing of the blackpowder cannon and the guy dressed as the town crier ringing his bell!!

Like FlyWright - that's why I have a zoned system: external, saloon, and master stateroom - fit the tunes to the moment and circumstance. Now, get off my lawn!

Portuguese said:

I have a small stereo with the 2 speakers in and 2 out doors. Yet I do not use it. My wife loves music which she listens all day long using her I-Pad transmiting the songs via blue tooth to a a Bose small set of speakers. Works everywhere in the boat and we only need to carry the speaker box. The Pad stays put inside.

Click to expand...

I have a similar solution for sound on my boat. I use a Klipsch KMC 3 Bluetooth speaker system which is very powerful and delivers high quality sound. It is A/C powered, but runs for hours on batteries too. In my small boat, I leave it on a shelf in the main cabin, or when solo, in the pilothouse. It is also easily used in the cockpit or even on the dock during docktails. I normally use my iPhone or iPad for music, but sometimes even my Grundig Yachtboy AM/FM/SW using a patch cord. No holes or wiring . . . it works for me. On a larger boat, I would certainly have an 'installed' system like others have described in this post.

manyboats said:

"Music" is fine if you keep it to yourselves. Most other people won't like "your" "music". Please don't play it in a marina.

Click to expand...

+1

Last year someone a few slips over had their tunes blasting away and then left to go up to the marina restaurant. Then the cd or player "stuck" and played the same few seconds over and over and over at high volume. This went on for more than an hour

Uncool.

I will further endorse the Fusion stuff. Very well thought out for the marine environment. I spent some time talking with them at CES a few years ago and was very impressed, both as a long time CE and mobile electronics veteran, but also as a boater.

Greetings,
Port Lucaya. About 5 years ago during spring break of all times. Shenanigans galore Saturday evening (buy a beer get a free shooter) by seemingly underage "students". Sunday AM.... "Do it to me one more time" on a loop playing for 5 hours at high volume in Lois Armstrong square until the previous evening's DJ could be located to turn the damn thing off.

sbu22 said:

Fusion with Poly-Planar speakers. The Fusion model I have has 3 zones. Big + for me - big print display - I can actually read it without glasses! Might just be an OF thing.

Click to expand...

I added the same set up this year and love it! I also have a wireless router on the boat with the fusion plugged into it. This allows me to control everything from an app on my iPhone (but I'm a bit of a geek). I have the 700 head unit in the lower helm with the wired remote on the FB but I seem to use the app more than the remote.

I too had the problem with the unit turning itself back on and gave them a call. Seems you just need to push the power button very briefly to shut the unit off, a long push puts it in "sleep" mode for a bit before it comes back on. Drove me crazy for a while when I would come back to the boat after a few days and the music was on!

I always keep one of these on board:
By Series | Taylor Guitars

Greetings,
Disco it out baby...

Wing - Dancing Queen - YouTube

I see your disco and raise you a Punjabi

Greetings,
Mr. d. I see your Punjabi and raise you a Punjabi with subtitles (NSFW-maybe)

Really Funny and Crazy Indian Video Translation Spoof - YouTube

Mr RT, that was hilarious! I fold. But perhaps for the next hand we could focus on the classics?