Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

OK, I'm down to my last accessory now.

Here is my Marine Stereo wish list:

1. Face plate grey or black (don't want white).

2. Internal CD player (don't want a separate unit)

3. Input for my Ipod (see #4 as I'd rather not get my pod wet).

4. MP3 capable (if it can play a disk of mp3's I might be able to do away with #3 wish).

5. Sirius add on ability and would control the add on Sirius unit
(If I'm paying $13 a month I want to be able to also use the Sirius add on it the car too).

6. Detachable face plate (I don't have room for a Gimble mount waterproof enclosure).

7. Marine grade (coated circuits).

8. Under $500

9. Would like black 6.5 speakers recommendations too, with water resistant cones (good brands, not Bose etc).

10. Name brands preferred (no Boss, Dual, Clarion etc)

11. Optional wireless remote would be nice.

12. 200 Watts preferred.

So there's my list.

Anyone seen one of these puppies around

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

I think you'll find this one is just what you're looking for, I have them in stock and have installed several, they work great and have the option of the external remote that can be installed most anywhere on your boat.

Kenwood KDC-232MR
Supersized Image:
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/grafika/products/car/velike/KDC-232MR_K-x.jpg

* Marine CD Receiver Detachable Faceplate
* Rotary Encoder & Jog Control Knob for Easy Operation
* 14-Segment FL Display(8-Digit, Scroll On/Off selectable)
* Maximum Output Power: 50W x 4 (MOSFET Power IC)
* System Q
* SIRIUS Satellite Radio Ready
* HD Radio Ready
* External Media Control — iPod Ready
* TEL Mute
* AUX Input with Optional Unit (CA-C1AUX or KCA-S210A)
* 1 Preout
* Marine Wired Remote Ready (KCA-RC50MR)
* Conformal Coated Main PCB

Wired remote:
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/products/ListProduct.aspx?k1=2&k2=45&k3=171&pr=2120

As for speakers i've had great luck with these:
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/grafika/products/car/velike/KFC-1652MRW-xl.jpg
(They are available in black, sorry don't have a photo of the black ones)

Are there rules against posting prices? Don't want to step on any toes if there are as I'd be the one selling these...

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

Looks good, thanks for the quick response. I searched all over but the units were either over priced or were missing some key features that I was looking for. I'll PM you for prices.

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

do you really need marine grade? i'm always afraid of getting ripped off cause my boat is in my driveway. dont want to lose too much $. but i get my stuff from crutchfield.com or audiooutfitters.com. hope that helps. also, you can always put marine grade connections on.

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

I've put a low end Sony automotive version in, has all your features for $140. I figure that by the time the humidity gets to any components, it'll be obsolete and I'll want something newer/better anyway. And if I always buy Sony, the connectors are compatable so removal/installation takes about 5 minutes.

My two cents.

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

For a Stereo at these price levels (less than $200) we are not talking quality stuff anyway . .

It's one thing if you put an automotive radio in a marine type enclosure, but IMO to just put it in a boat's dash in a marine environment I think the humidity will get to it a lot quicker. If it's a cabin cruiser and mounted in the cabin you could also get away with a regular unit.

Or a bigger boat than mine is like the Bayliner above.

In a car each time you turn it on (which is the 2nd thing we do after starting it) or if left on, it just goes on when you turn your key. This burns the humidity right off it every day. A boat only used on the weekends, under a cover, is always going to retain moisture so coated circuits IMO are a must.

No marine radio is waterproof, but at least they have coated circuit boards and a water resistant face plate.

I park my boat outside in my driveway. The detachable face plate deters theft. An expensive car radio is at least behind locked doors and most cars have alarms. No point in spending too much money to leave the unit (without the face plate) sitting in my driveway just under a nylon boat cover.

I trailer all the time and the detachable face plate is also a must for when the boat is parked in a restaurant lot or an overnight motel stays.

Moisture wise leaving a boat under the cover in a driveway is the worst thing IMO for electrical components as when the sun hits the cover it gets really hot in there on an 85 plus degree day. My covers not vented (yet) so I leave the back of it over the motor so air can get in. But that also invites kids to peer in and think about swiping stuff out of the boat if the see it.

Even over the winter months the boats still outside under a cover next to the garage, so I'll pull the whole unit anyway to lengthen it's lifespan.


I'm still pondering going with this unit . . . My Son suggested I check this link below out . . . But I don't want it bouncing around in the boat. It also uses 8 D batteries which makes it heavy and I'd have to keep it plugged into the cig adapter or it will burn through batteries. Built in I think is a better route for my needs.

But this Sirius is definitely cool and will read the satellite from anywhere there is sky. AM/FM is useless on most of the lakes I go on due to the high mountains.

I'll have to go to Circuit City and check this one out, but I don't think it will fit in my lockable hatches anyway as I don't want to lug it around when I'm walking around a town or in a restaurant.


nurl=control/StoreItem.vm&ctl_nbr=2640&siId=1734022&catParentID=7871&scId=7871&oldParentID=7871

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

wcsparky05 said:

do you really need marine grade? i'm always afraid of getting ripped off cause my boat is in my driveway. dont want to lose too much $. but i get my stuff from crutchfield.com or audiooutfitters.com. hope that helps. also, you can always put marine grade connections on.

Click to expand...

My marine units aren't insanely expensive, in fact the the unit I suggested above can be had for about the same as the $140.00 Non-Marine Grade Sony that was mentioned.

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

I put a auto grade Sony AM/FM Cassette deck in my boat in 1984. About 4 years ago the cassette died, but here in the DFW metromess there are enough radio stations that I could live without the cassette (also, who has cassettes anymore anyway ). That radio was a $100 or so radio way back then and as tech stuff goes, we can still buy the same effective quality radios today for around the same price but they now have CD's. This past month I replaced the old Sony with a Wal-Mart special Dual that cost me $40.

Now here is the thing to remember about radios in the boating environment. You are in a very harsh and contaminated acoustical environment. While a boat is under way, there are more environmentally induced interference to clean audio that to spend very much money on top of the line radios are wasted.

That is my 2 cents anyway
Gary

====================
1983 VIP V-169-1700

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

UTgws said:

I put a auto grade Sony AM/FM Cassette deck in my boat in 1984. About 4 years ago the cassette died, but here in the DFW metromess there are enough radio stations that I could live without the cassette (also, who has cassettes anymore anyway ). That radio was a $100 or so radio way back then and as tech stuff goes, we can still buy the same effective quality radios today for around the same price but they now have CD's. This past month I replaced the old Sony with a Wal-Mart special Dual that cost me $40.

Now here is the thing to remember about radios in the boating environment. You are in a very harsh and contaminated acoustical environment. While a boat is under way, there are more environmentally induced interference to clean audio that to spend very much money on top of the line radios are wasted.

That is my 2 cents anyway
Gary

====================
1983 VIP V-169-1700

Click to expand...

Wecome aboard . . . I would agree with the underway part. When I'm under way I enjoy listening to the purrr of the outboard anyway. But when I'm anchored in a bay, I'd like to listen to a little quailty sound.

Wally World units . . . I couldn't do it

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

It's all boils down to your personal taste and what you do with your time on the lake. Normally people who spend their time floating around with friends or swimming behind the boat want a radio that is loud enough to hear when out in the water and with enough power they have a nice clean sound without distortion. While you don't have to spend 450.00 on a head unit and on the same token the cheapest thing on the market isn't likely to serve you well.

The best thing to do is talk to a reputable audio dealer and tell them what your needs are, take their suggestions then research the product and the pricing a little bit yourself.

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

I understand not wanting off brands but I have to question your classifying Clarion as an off brand. They make head units that go above and beyond your requirements (and above and beyond your price).

Honestly, for the $500 you are looking for you will either have to piece a marine / auto system together or go with Jensen. My Clarion Head unit is $175+ from the cheapest internet retailers................. Clarion is not crap and I defy you to prove better sonic quality on any head unit on a bowrider. Unless you are in an enclosed, acoustically defined space you will not be able to tell any difference in a head unit. You may be able to tell a difference in a set of speakers but why would you care? If you are a true Audiophile I am sure that your home system uses Denon at the least and B&W on the high end. This means that you spent at least $7,000 on your home system so there is no reason you would only spend $500 on your boat.

In plain english, get the cheapest head unit that fills your wants and then get some kick *** speakers............ Speakers make any system.

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

orion25 said:

I understand not wanting off brands but I have to question your classifying Clarion as an off brand. They make head units that go above and beyond your requirements (and above and beyond your price).

Honestly, for the $500 you are looking for you will either have to piece a marine / auto system together or go with Jensen. My Clarion Head unit is $175+ from the cheapest internet retailers................. Clarion is not crap and I defy you to prove better sonic quality on any head unit on a bowrider. Unless you are in an enclosed, acoustically defined space you will not be able to tell any difference in a head unit. You may be able to tell a difference in a set of speakers but why would you care? If you are a true Audiophile I am sure that your home system uses Denon at the least and B&W on the high end. This means that you spent at least $7,000 on your home system so there is no reason you would only spend $500 on your boat.

In plain english, get the cheapest head unit that fills your wants and then get some kick *** speakers............ Speakers make any system.

Click to expand...

When I grew up Clarion was sold in Kmart and was always a crap brand. Next you'll tell me how great Bose is . . . . Right

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

Some ppl just never understood the genius of Bose. The original 901's ? Come on! But the Wave radio? What were they thinkin?

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

Nice since we're talking stereos here I'm up for a new marine stereo. I'm rebuilding my boat and a stereo and speakers are on the list next.

I listen to XM pretty much exclusively. I don't usually bother with CD's on the water. I'm looking for a marine grade stereo that will have AM/FM (in case of emergency weather situations), and is XM ready. I prefer to hardwire the small XM satellite receiver rather than buy the xm receiver and wire that in. If it has a CD player that's cool too. I have a spare SkyFi I could use but I don't like the large plastic docking unit being exposed to the elements. Its a small 20' boat.

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

Big Keepers said:

Nice since we're talking stereos here I'm up for a new marine stereo. I'm rebuilding my boat and a stereo and speakers are on the list next.

I listen to XM pretty much exclusively. I don't usually bother with CD's on the water. I'm looking for a marine grade stereo that will have AM/FM (in case of emergency weather situations), and is XM ready. I prefer to hardwire the small XM satellite receiver rather than buy the xm receiver and wire that in. If it has a CD player that's cool too. I have a spare SkyFi I could use but I don't like the large plastic docking unit being exposed to the elements. Its a small 20' boat.

Click to expand...

Some marine grade units even have NOAA 24 hr weather broadcast for your area built in.

http://www.xmradio.com/weather/xmwx_partners_garmin-m.xmc

XM offers a service that broadcasts your local weather "radar" map right on a Garmin GPS/fishfinder screen. This is a cool feature and could be a lifesaver. I almost went for this unit until I found that the service was $29.95 a month! This should be a standard feature IMO for GPS/Fishfinders. You could view an impending severe thunderstorm heading directly at you when it's still miles away, right on your Screen.

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

I live on Long Island so we have a pretty good idea of what the weather will do for 24 hrs in advance. Anything beyond that is a crap shoot. I've read up on the Xm instant weather and all that but I prefer a free radio station to give me the weather if I happen to get caught. On the Sound you can see the front approach fairly easily and usually have about half an hour to scram if necessary. Plus my VHF has a weather channel for forecasts that don't imminently impact my boating.

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

Kenwood package came today. Did the installation with no problems

Need to give credit where credit is due . . . Bought the package from Sean from Pond Tunes as he suggested the package above.

Found Sean to be knowledgeable
The package he put together for me was "very" fairly priced.
And only a few bucks more for 2 day Fedex ($20) because once I'm ready to buy, I of course I want it "yesterday"
My package included the Kenwood cable adapter for my Ipod or any external device you want to use through the speakers.
Kenwood also has a pricier cable that will control the Ipod through the radio's controls but I mostly use shuffle anyway, so I went with the cheaper cable.
*Plays MP3's
*CD's
*Sirus ready
Looks great.
These Kenwood speakers are real nice too, they sound great, look great. Waterproof cones, heavy magnets and a large tweeter in the center.
Wired Kenwood remote which I mounted on the left end of the console.

My Wife's going to love that remote when she sees it tomorrow!

Thanks Sean . . . You Da Man

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

Thats cool! Pond Tunes is 30 minutes away from me so i'm going to order the Kenwood unit also.

Is yours the 50 watt per channel?

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

Gary H NC said:

Thats cool! Pond Tunes is 30 minutes away from me so I'm going to order the Kenwood unit also.

Is yours the 50 watt per channel?

Click to expand...

Yes, it's 200 watts (50 per channel). Most other units I looked at were only 180 (Sony etc).

Sean also sells an "add on" Kenwood Woofer with it's own amp to drive the woofer. I wanted to wait and see how bassy the two Kenwood speakers were going to sound. So far they sound fine for my tastes.
Too bassy and I'm only going to disturb other boaters nearby and the deep bass notes might cause rattling in my aluminum boat.

Have Sean order for you the flip up waterproof cover. It is recommended by Kenwood if you're going to spray down your boat or the unit is mounted in an area where it might get wet. My boat is an open one which I trailer, so I had him order the cover. And it's smoke color adds an additional level of theft deterrence from prying eyes.

I also saw in the manual an optional wireless remote but it's probably "line of site". It can fall over board and I don't know if it's waterproof.

I went with the wired model. It looks real sharp and can be installed anywhere on your boat. It's waterproof too. I'll take a pic of the remote when I'm on the boat.

I did notice Overton's has the Kenwood 235 model for $169 with an Ipod coonection right on the face plate. But for 13.95 the Kenwood adapter cable allows me to keep the faceplate cover closed if I desire.

Over all I think Seans price on the 232 model even with the extra cable if you use an Ipod is probably better than the 235 model. Other than the front Ipod connection I didn't see and difference in the specs.

Re: Marine Stereo . . . ready to buy!

Thats good. I already have a waterproof housing for it with the smoke tinted door.I have two infinity weatherproof box speakers already mounted.Just be switching out the radio itself.The JBL i have now was over 200 bucks and the tuner took a dump on it...of course its out of warranty