Anyone have experience with home audiophile equipment on board

I'm all ears haha! on experiences with better home stereo gear on board, to be used inside a 40 to 50 foot vessel. Specifically how does it hold up, down to the speaker cabinets and drivers. Any experiences positive or negative would be helpful. I would rather not be limited to marine gear, but if anyone has had a great experience with anything in particular let's share.

mike66 said:

I'm all ears haha! on experiences with better home stereo gear on board, to be used inside a 40 to 50 foot vessel. Specifically how does it hold up, down to the speaker cabinets and drivers. Any experiences positive or negative would be helpful. I would rather not be limited to marine gear, but if anyone has had a great experience with anything in particular let's share.

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The PO of my boat had a very home audio system installed, surround sound in the saloon (completed with a massive sub-woofer) as well as remote stereo speakers in the pilothouse and fly bridge. The sound is good but... it is an energy hog. To listen to music we have to run the generator or use the inverter. It produces a fair amount of heat and takes up a lot of space. It has held up well to being banged around but it is well secured.

I would much prefer a 12v system. It would be a lot more efficient with electricity and whil I really enjoy music, I don't listen to it with the volume cranked up on the boat.

We had high end Denon gear on board, as well as a mid-range Samsung home theater combo and they both did just fine. Ditto the home TVs and major appliances. They were all safe and sound inside the boat, just like waterside home. On the other hand, I wouldn't put such gear outside or otherwise directly exposed to salt water.

A few decades ago, I did a study on warranty and extended warranty claim experience for a couple of major electronics retailers. Out of personal curiosity I ran the numbers on zip codes next to oceans and the GOM. No significant difference compared to national norms.

I have a Fusion 12V system connected to Sirius sat radio. Sound quality is excellent. The only problem is that Fusion is owned by Garmin, so I know from other Garmin equipment that tech support is non existent. However, my Fusion worked OK right out of the box.

When I first bought my boat back in '76, I had a 2300 Marantz receiver and Bose speakers wired throughout the boat for almost 10 years. It functioned well, but it was 120v so we had to run the generator when away from the dock. Never tried to run it on the inverter.

It was really overkill and eventually the automotive/marine industry caught up and makes some really nice stuff now days. If the receiver is going to be in the cabin an automotive unit works fine. But flybridge speakers need to be rated for outdoor use.

Just remember your neighbors won't enjoy your music like you do. So be careful with your volume levels in Marinas and anchorages where other boats are present. Unless you're having a marina wide dock party like Attitudes and Latitudes Pirate Festival in Anacortes last weekend
Toga-a-a-a

Whoops, sorry I got carried away!

I'm looking at accuracy more than volume....there are always headphones when I need to crank it up. Just thinking some B&W speakers, media player and a 50 to 100 watt clean amp. I would think an sine wave inverter could handle the load. Maybe a top automotive amp coupled with high end household gear would do the trick. I'm not the type who wants the synchronized underwater light show.

The small cube speakers with a midsize subwoofer seem perfect for a boat.

Top of the line Auto stuff is great today.

Call Crutchfield and tell them your desirements.

Sure at home the tube type sets (Fisher 800) are better sound than digital music , but digital is OK on a boat, as it is in a car.

The speakers are key, .

We had a little difficulty with the turntable stylus jumping especially on the 78's

Chrisjs said:

We had a little difficulty with the turntable stylus jumping especially on the 78's

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Really? My 45's were fairly steady.

And I'm exploring how to refit my Sonos speakers to work on 12vdc ...

lots of hits googling sonos+battery

I have an Akai system I bought in Japan while in the USN in 1970. It's been on several ships & boats for years and this boat for 6 years. 4 big 4 way speaker cabinets, component amp, tape and current cd/dvd player. Ditched the record player years ago and rarely use the tape. Usually powered thru the inverter. No issues except for drive belts in the tape drives. I live where it rains a lot. Salt air. 47 years old.

Tapes, wow. At least not 8-track amirite?

Recently had to explain cassettes to my kids when we came across a collection at a charity auction.

And they thought CDs & DVDs were so 20th century.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/t...turntable-w-discovery-cable-2017-08-03-analog
Maybe this won't jump, in fact maybe stabilize the boat.