Music on board

Bkay said:

I've seen some discussion of music and entertainment systems, but have not really figured out what I want to do on a new build.

I'm a bit of a Luddite regarding stereo's and a bit tone deaf - so speaker quality is not a big issue for me. I don't listen to anything under way, but at sometimes anchor I like a little background noise. I don't listen to much music. Unless it's unusually good music, I'm more inclined to listen to NPR on FM radio than a local music station.

So I think my choices are an installed stereo that lets me plug in a thumbdrive or SD card, or run stored music off of my phone but still have FM capability. OR, some type of portable speaker with FM and bluetooth that allows me to do essentially the same as the installed stereo - but with more hassle storing it and keeping batteries charged, but less hassle replacing it when it eventually stops working or technology leaves it behind. Probably a portable system will be lower cost as well.

Any thoughts on installed stereo vs. portable? I should add, it's a small boat so having speakers wired throughout is not a requirement for me.

Something like these portables are the low and high end range of what I'm considering:

https://www.amazon.com/Sbode-Blueto...uetooth+radio&qid=1553779237&s=gateway&sr=8-2

https://www.amazon.com/Fusion-Enter...N=B01LXDANCR#HLCXComparisonWidget_feature_div

Thanks.

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Here is one of the very best and reasonable speakers for a remote and sound is amazing. If you don't know Klipsch, you are in for a treat.

https://www.klipsch.com/products/groove-portable-bluetooth-speaker

I love my Bose wireless speaker! Great sound, battery life and plug in. Small enough to move all around boat! Plug any device via aux cord or bluetooth.

Getawayfix said:

I love my Bose wireless speaker! Great sound, battery life and plug in. Small enough to move all around boat! Plug any device via aux cord or bluetooth.

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Just got my Bose. Pretty impressive! Imagine how nice it would sound if I had 20 year old ears instead of 60+ year old ears

Cigatoo said:

Just got my Bose. Pretty impressive! Imagine how nice it would sound if I had 20 year old ears instead of 60+ year old ears

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When mine arrived, I told my wife it was my new hearing aid.

Sbode Speaker Update

It's been about 10 months since I bought my first Sbode and thought I'd update those interested in this product.

I liked the 1st speaker so much that I bought another one for the boat. All was well for 7 months of intensive summer boat/dink use until the charging port failed. It was out of warranty so I bought another. A few months later, #2 charging port failure. Warranty replaced it then #3 failed. Finally, I got my money back from Amazon and picked out another model. Amazon was easy to deal with all along the way.

Today I got my new $25 Oontz Angle 3 by Cambridge Soundworks. It's much smaller than the Sbode at 2.5" x 5" vs. 2.5" x 7". It's sound is very good for my purposes but probably not as good as the Sbode. The BT range is better than the Sbode. I look forward to using it more on the boat and dink.



Oontz Angle 3 by Cambridge Soundworks

FlyWright, Thanks for the info. I ended up going with a bluetooth speaker as well. I upgraded phones and am now happy with the BT option rather than some built in system.

My speaker isn't great, but it's very serviceable and has FM built in. I'll probably replace it with something similar to what you have when I inevitably break the first one.

For the past six years I have gone with Sirus satellite radio. I have it on automatic renewal or I probably would have cancelled it this year. Guess I'll keep it one more year.

More and more I listen to my music library on my phone with a high quality bluetooth speaker. There are also many ad free, all music stations on the internet.

I have an FM radio on the boat that I have not turned on in five years, doubt if it still works. I can't stand the D.J.s and their endless "babble" and all the ads. If I need news I wait until I am in port and use my laptop.

pete

This is what we have. It’s an ammo box with two blue tooth speakers and charger built in. My nephew makes them and paints them any color you want. Ours isn’t waterproof but he can make it waterproof.

My boat was built with a stereo originally, 2 speakers in the salon and 2 on the bridge. Head unit is mounted into one of the sidewalls in the salon. All of the components have been replaced a few times at this point, but the basic layout is un-changed, as the mounting holes already existed. The current head unit is a couple year old Kenwood marine unit and a Fusion amp.

As far as music sources, during the season we normally use SiriusXM. While I'm working on the boat over the winter, it's in a metal building, so no signal for that or FM radio. So I threw a bunch of music on a USB stick and plugged that into the head unit.

For those worried about power consumption, at reasonable listening volume my setup draws about 2 - 2.5 amps, so not bad at all to have on for a decent chunk of the day.

I went with the Ryobi Bluetooth SKAA speakers. I can have up to 5 speakers playing synchronized music using either my Ryobi batteries or a/c power. The sound is great, there is a built-in FM tuner and since it uses the standard Ryobi tool batteries if they ever die in mid song I can just slap a new battery in and keep jamming. BTW there are cheap 100% compatible batteries available at Amazon which is where I bought the speakers. You can also buy them at Home Depot.

https://www.protoolreviews.com/tools/power/cordless/radios/ryobi-score-wireless-speakers/32871/

I downloaded my iPod onto an old iPhone so now I can stream my library via Bluetooth as well a use the SiriusXM app and free internet radio as a source. We recently rented a car in the Bahamas and brought the Ryobi along to use while driving and when we went to the beach for the afternoon.

As part of a larger remodel, I am having all the old holes filled and re-veneered - retired instruments, speakers, radios, etc. Have decided on no installed radio, speakers, or TV. All A/V entertainment will be BT Speaker driven from PC/phone/tablet and download content when within WiFi range. Feels good to cross electronic clutter off the list.

As lifelong music affectionados and audiophiles, having good music is very important to my wife and I.

Car and marine audio equipment is typically rated for 4 ohms and has too much distortion. Mobile audio uses to many multifunction buttons so we utilize as many home audio components as possible.

For the main control and amplification, an Onkyo Micro CD Receiver is mounted in a custom flush mount panel. It powers the two Onkyo speakers mounted on the wall in the salon.

A Sunfire (Bob Carver) Junior 1500 watt powered subwoofer in the salon handles the bass down to 30 Hz. You have to hear the bass from this 9 inch cube. It goes lower than most 12 inch home subwoofers.

On the pilothouse walls and stateroom walls are Altec Lansing box speakers.

In the cockpit are Polyplaner waterproof box speakers. Only mobile component for weather resistance.

In order to have enough power and to be able to modulate volume separately in each area, the pilothouse, stateroom and cockpit speakers are each powered by separate Lepai amplifiers receiving their signals from the Onkyo.

For music, we have a 160 GB iPod Classic with 10,000 songs that have minimal compression. The songs are arranged in over a dozen playlists. We also listen to Pandora when wi-fi is available.

I installed a dedicated "stereo system". It allows CDs (antiquated technology) and AM/FM (won't work; no antennae). It does play off my phone, so I simply plug the phone into the hardwire and voila...that said...



If I had to do it all over again, I'd simply buy good quality, independent Bluetooth speaker and play music off my phone. It's portable and can be moved anywhere on the boat and is small and re-chargeable. I have lots of music downloaded onto my iPhone; no more CDs to store and carry. On a larger boat the ability to move it to where we want it would be nice.

In my 13' fiberglass tender, I have a Polyplaner 120 watt (@ 4 ohms) bluetooth amplifer and two Polyplaner box speakers built into the center console.

The music is on an iPod Nano.

Pete Meisinger said:

For the past six years I have gone with Sirus satellite radio. I have it on automatic renewal or I probably would have cancelled it this year. Guess I'll keep it one more year.

More and more I listen to my music library on my phone with a high quality bluetooth speaker. There are also many ad free, all music stations on the internet.

I have an FM radio on the boat that I have not turned on in five years, doubt if it still works. I can't stand the D.J.s and their endless "babble" and all the ads. If I need news I wait until I am in port and use my laptop.

pete

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I have a Sinus radio with BT, AM, FM and my DVD plays though too.
Oh I forgot, I also have a "forever" subscription. I think it cost me about $300 and I never pay again. BRAG BRAG
I do enjoy the Classic station with all the mysteries.

Bkay - own a 10 year old Fusion multizone (3) system. Excellent system. Used to have Sirius but didn't use enough to justify.

However, most of my listening on the boat is now off my phone (Google music or whatever you call it). Bluetooth it through Ultimate Ears Wonderboom speaker about the size of a large coffee cup. Sufficient fidelity to suit my boat listening. $60 solution + $9/mo Google subscription.

sbu22 said:

Bkay - own a 10 year old Fusion multizone (3) system. Excellent system. Used to have Sirius but didn't use enough to justify.

However, most of my listening on the boat is now off my phone (Google music or whatever you call it). Bluetooth it through Ultimate Ears Wonderboom speaker about the size of a large coffee cup. Sufficient fidelity to suit my boat listening. $60 solution + $9/mo Google subscription.

Click to expand...

Bluetooth dongle for the Fusion plugs into the Sirius antenna port, then streams from any Bluetooth device. My Fusion holds an iPod Classic, full library and Podcasts in there, but also streams from my iPhone, iPad, MacBook, or anyone else's Bluetooth device. Just an FYI

River Cruiser said:

I just bought one of these and after using it a few times I love it. Small excellent sound, I plan on using it on my center console.

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Glad you like it....I've had mine for over a year and I am very rough on it....still works great !!

FlyWright said:

It's been about 10 months since I bought my first Sbode and thought I'd update those interested in this product.

I liked the 1st speaker so much that I bought another one for the boat. All was well for 7 months of intensive summer boat/dink use until the charging port failed. It was out of warranty so I bought another. A few months later, #2 charging port failure. Warranty replaced it then #3 failed. Finally, I got my money back from Amazon and picked out another model. Amazon was easy to deal with all along the way.

Today I got my new $25 Oontz Angle 3 by Cambridge Soundworks. It's much smaller than the Sbode at 2.5" x 5" vs. 2.5" x 7". It's sound is very good for my purposes but probably not as good as the Sbode. The BT range is better than the Sbode. I look forward to using it more on the boat and dink.

Oontz Angle 3 by Cambridge Soundworks

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FlyWright: They have a better model that is still really cheap ( $31 ) and sounds even better: ( same link as in post #27 )

https://www.amazon.com/OontZ-Angle-...onics&sprefix=angle+bluet,sporting,162&sr=1-3

AKDoug said:

Bluetooth dongle for the Fusion plugs into the Sirius antenna port, then streams from any Bluetooth device.

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Thanks, Doug. The $45 solution!

Benthic2 said:

FlyWright: They have a better model that is still really cheap ( $31 ) and sounds even better: ( same link as in post #27 )

https://www.amazon.com/OontZ-Angle-...onics&sprefix=angle+bluet,sporting,162&sr=1-3

Click to expand...

I have one . I use it when working outside or in the garage etc. The rubberish ends and sides make it pretty resilient. I’ve dropped it and nothing happened. Good BT distance and the sound is OK, for what it is and cost.