Stereo recommendation

[queasy]

Any suggestions for a nice simple cd player? My 2003 Hurricane came with a real nice Sony, but my kids,wife and myself can't stand it. It plays great and has good sound, but it has too many little buttons which you forget do what, and you can barely read whats on them anyway. If this was in my house it would be no problem, but out on the boat all it needs to be is simple.

 

[clubmyke]

Re: Stereo recommendation

eclipse....though not the cheapest..very high quality.

 

[James B]

Re: Stereo recommendation

While Eclipse is good stuff, I personally have an Audiovox in my boat. Now I know what you are thinking, but hold on. I worked in the car stereo industry for 15 years, and of all the cheap stuff out there, Audiovox was, and in my humble opinion, is the best inexpensive car stereo. It is reliable, in that I very rarely saw an Audiovox unit returned non-functioning. A 40-watt in dash AM/FM/CD can be had for $120.00. If you are married to tapes, an in dash AM/FM/Cass/CD changer controller in $140.00 with a six-disc changer for another $120.00.<br /><br />Secondly, I would advise not purchasing a “marine” unit. From what I have been able to tell, the marine units are the same on the inside as the standard stuff, but they are 3 to 4 times as much. For $120.00 you can buy a new radio every year for 3 years and not spend as much as you would for a marine unit. BTW, my Audiovox is 5 years old, it has been rained on, splashed in, left in the direct sun, and it still works.

 

[snowshoe]

Re: Stereo recommendation

The radio/ cassette in our 98 Starcraft is not so good.--that's why we never play it. I'm not impressed with 'Marine radios' Rather listen to the sound of the waves lapping the hull.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Stereo recommendation

queasy, this ain't probably what ya wanted to hear. but i got a simple cd boom box for myself. i got me a old boat, and don't want to do up the dash. not to mention boom boxes sound real good these days and i can take it on the beach with me and not bother anyone but me cause i don't have to play it to loud. got me a sony sport water resisitant model for 99.99. sits up on the engine cover just perfect too. just a idea... jim<br />ps i agree,waves lapping against the boat are real good music too.

 

[rnsi]

Re: Stereo recommendation

James-<br /><br />I got a crappy radio on my boat, but that's just fine. My speakers are dead though. One's completely dead, and the one that works is ripped. I'll be replacing them soon. Is there a difference between "marine" speeakers and "regular" speakers? I'm not looking for concert hall sound, but just something that can withstand the elements on my bass boat.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Stereo recommendation

The cones on marine speakers are made of plastic or some other water resistant substance. The cones on regular speakers are made of paper and will fall apart if water gets splashed on them. The marine ones don't sound so great, but they last more than 5 minutes.

 

[rnsi]

Re: Stereo recommendation

Paul-<br /><br />Funny thing is, the ripped one makes noise...the one that doesn't look damaged is dead (and it's not the wiring). They are probably the origonal speakers (1986) but I've only owned the boat for a couple of years. <br /><br />Any particular brands I should look for or stay away from? I like cheap, but I want something to last for a few years.

 

[rnsi]

Re: Stereo recommendation

queasy-<br /><br />I would suggest a unit that supports MP3 playback. This way you can copy all you favorite songs to MP3 and burn you're own cd. This way you can get up to 10 or so hours of music on one cd. You won't have to carry a bunch of cd's on board that will get ruined.<br /><br />My 2c.

 

[Paul Moir]

Re: Stereo recommendation

I'm afraid what I posted above is honestly the complete extent of my knowlege of marine speakers. <br /><br />Mabey James can recommend something.

 

[BQMatt]

Re: Stereo recommendation

rnsi-<br /><br />A speaker with a ripped cone or surround cn still produce noise, it just usually sounds like paper flapping to a beat. If your connections are good to the speaker with no sound, either your head unit isn't sending that speaker a signal, or the speaker is just dead. (it happens, voice coils can break). I'm sure you've checked this, but your balance or fader isn't turned all to one way blocking the signal to that speaker is it? Anyway, you'll be buying two speakers anyway, since they're sold in pairs. My experience is in car audio, but I've seen auto speakers work just fine in a marine environment, provided they are protected from moisture. Even in a protected location, you might look for a speaker with polyproplylene or graphite cone, rather than paper. If they will be exposed to splashes or rountinely high humidity, go with some marine speakers. If you can, find a place that sells them and will let you listen before you buy. Then just trust your ears.

 

[red10]

Re: Stereo recommendation

im use pioneer 6.5 speakers and they are poly cone, i haven't had a problem with them yet, no corrosion.

 

[AEROCOOK]

Re: Stereo recommendation

Okay. <br />Here's a thought, though it may not suit your needs.<br />What I intend to do is go the local dept. store and spend around 50 bucks on a portable AM FM CD player and just leave it in a dry spot on the boat. Im no audiophile but in my opinion some of these cheap unts have remarkable sound quality given the cost. (better that a lot of the in dash stuff i have listened to)<br />I figure that if its kept dry, it should last a while and well, when it's pooched, I will spend another 50 bucks.<br />No insallation required makes me happy too.

 

[sergioy]

Re: Stereo recommendation

My 1975 Mark Twain has a radio that is probably just as old in it. It has an 8 track player. You can tell it was just slapped on there by some one along time ago, but it gets the job done. The radio plays just fine on the two 8" cone speakers it is hooked up to. Unless you are into high definition listening on the water I would take the cheapest option and not worry about it too much. By the way, the waves slapping the side of the boat is the tune that gets played 75% of the time on my boat.<br /><br />Anybody got any good 8tracks out there

 

[James B]

Re: Stereo recommendation

Rnsi-It sounds to me like your working torn speakers is blown and your non working speakers has a totally burned voice coil. As for replacement speakers, most name brand speakers are either polypropylene, or have a polly coating of some sort, and are water resistant. I personally have 6.5's Panasonics. They are $25 per pair. I have been unimpressed with the marine speakers I have seen. From my experience, the marine speakers are overpriced and underperform. I have never, and will most likely never buy a pair of marine speakers. You can replace the auto stuff several times before you will pay for a set of marines, and speakers are very easy to replace. Four screws and two wires. But this is just my opinion. <br /><br />I would stay away from Craig, Pyramid, Alpfine, Sparkomatic <br /><br />I like Pioneer, Kenwood, Audiovox, Panasonic, Sony, Clarion<br /><br />The reason most speakers are water resistant today is back in the old days (the 80's) all the speakers were paper. You put a paper speaker in a car/truck door, it rains, the paper gets wet, speaker blows, and the blown speaker is sent back to the manufacture as a defect. Polly solves this problem.<br /><br />Something else, you want the wattage of the speaker to match the wattage of the stereo. For example, if your radio is a 40 watt radio, you want 80 speakers. A lower wattage speaker is more efficient, and will do more with less power. I cannot tell you how many times I tried to talk people out of buying 200 watt speakers to hook up to a 20 watt radio. Think of stereo wattage as horsepower and speaker wattage as pitch. <br /><br />I have no experience with MP3's, as I have been out of the industry for 6 years, and MP3's had yet to enter the market. <br /><br />BQMatt is correct about the balance/fader and you want to make sure they are not turned all the way to one side.<br /><br />I hope this helps

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Stereo recommendation

Not what you are looking for, but here is my take on it.<br /><br />Take the thing out and leave it out, the last thing I want to hear on the water is 15 different stereos playing a different song only to see which one can play theres the loudest.<br /><br />If you must, follow Cook53s advice. I think I would outlaw stereos in boats, sound travels too well over water.<br /><br />Sorry, just my take.

 

[rnsi]

Re: Stereo recommendation

Thanks for the input.<br /><br />As stated before, I'm not a complete idiot, I just sometimes play one. The speaker is dead. It's not the balance. I have no trouble with the installation or wiring, I've installed at least a dozen stereo's on cars I've owned, and have worked in electronics for the last 18 years.<br /><br />My problem is the speakers really are not protected from the water or elements, and that power washer didn't help things much either. I didn't realize that most car speakers were being made of poly these days. Mine have always been paper (it's been a while).<br /><br />As far as sound quality, Sometimes I'd just like to drownd out the noise of pwc's. I'm not looking for great sound, just sound.<br /><br />I was thinking of marine speakers only because of the water resistance. I thought the coils were different too. Aren't the in-dash marine stereos also made to be more weather resistant? And I would guess that a marine cd would be more anti-skip than a car unit. Or is that just the advertising hype?

 

[Ralph 123]

Re: Stereo recommendation

queasy - they are all like that today. You're better off just learning how to do the things you want and making yourself a little instruction sheet to keep by the radio. After a while it will become second nature. Believe it or not, common tasks are usually straight froward once you get into it.<br /><br />

Secondly, I would advise not purchasing a “marine” unit. From what I have been able to tell, the marine units are the same on the inside as the standard stuff, but they are 3 to 4 times as much.

The major difference, in the real marine grade offering, is the circuitry is completely conformal coated. Think of it like a thick layer of epoxy that has no conductive properties and is a good thermal conductor (to dissipate heat). This prevents corrosion which will happen quickly if mounted in the open and you boat in salt. The CD portion is most likely better equipped to withstand vibration through dampening and a bigger read ahead buffer

 

[POINTER94]

Re: Stereo recommendation

The mp3 capablity is great. You can get a unit for around 120 bucks with a remote control. (Neat, but not necessary) I also recommend that if you have a mp3 player that the FM modulated transmitter is a nice $25 feature. I use it when I plug in a movie into my laptop and play a movie, the stereo then provides the speakers for the movie. I also raft off at beaches with my brother and we can then play the same music at the same time. <br /><br />I have a small pocket cruiser and I ran a separate set of speakers into the cabin. Two weeks ago while sleeping aboard I was able to fall asleep listening to the ball game. I run a panasonic head with polk audio poly speakers. Very full sounding without having that sound spill over to the boats around (speakers mounted low in the boat directed into the boat not out). Might even pass the Lube Dude test...

 

[queasy]

Re: Stereo recommendation

Ralph, I know, I've looked at different units and most have all those damn teeny tiny buttons. I can't understand why the stereo manufacturers continue to make them this way. We got a new Toyota Tundra this year and the stereo in it is great. Nice big buttons, easy to use, figured it out within 2 minutes. Yesterday we were out on the lake with friends and everyone of them kept asking "what are all these damn buttons for?" I'll probably stay with the Sony, like I said, great sound.