head units

[Eric1687]

Im looking at new head units for my boat ill have the 6 speakers in the boat plus a sub and 2 tower speakers hopefully all amped. Anyone have any ideas of good head units ive always had pretty good luck with sonys. Id like to find one with blue tooth.

[Wylietunes]

Eric,

The marine options with built-in BT are slim, but there are a number if external BT receivers available that will connect via the head-units AUX input. There are quite a few automotive head-units with built-in BT, but many will not support the marine remotes.

With six in-boats, you will need an amp.

[ckracing]

I installed the Clarion M502 last season.
http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products/2012/marine/source_units/M502/us-en-product-hi_1259559425482.html

Very pleased with it. Bluetooth works great for streaming audio and placing / accepting calls. Having the phone ring thru the speakers thie first time was a little startling... Siri works great too, if you're an iPerson.
I also added this remote to my dash to make things even easier. All works great!
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_020MW1/Clarion-MW1.html?tp=61747&awkw=25830102265&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=6649877425&awdv=t

[suprasam]

I have had two Clarion's.....CMD7 and the 8. Those are my preferences.

[jonyb]

I've done a lot of the M502 and M303's from Clarion.

Another option is a WS-420 pre-amp, with their bluetooth input device. You would also have a second source input, and could use a 3.5mm auxiliary dash-mounted device.

[CornRickey]

I installed the Clarion marine last season with the wired, digital remote commander. I really like the setup but the water proof commander it's so un-waterproof it's pitiful. I ended up taking it apart and sealing it up myself. I like the system though. of options but not to complicated.

[Eric1687]

Are marine stereos and speaks really necessary ? i can see the sun being pretty hard on the speakers but the head unit is in the dash with a cover over it already.

[CornRickey]

if you want stern controls you have to get a marine version. If you don't then it isn't a concern.

[jonyb]

You can go without being marine grade, but if you're caught out in a storm, or the boat is in the rain, the cover could possibly leak.

Cornrickey, I've had one of those wired display Clarion remotes in a Can Am Commander before, and it was pressured washed once a week. Remote never failed or showed signs of moisture.

[Wylietunes]

Are marine stereos and speaks really necessary ? i can see the sun being pretty hard on the speakers but the head unit is in the dash with a cover over it already.

Marine head-units will have a conformal coated PCD and other more nobal metals to resist corrosion. Many have a stainless steel chassis as opposed to a typical stamped steel. The displays on most marine units are easier to see in the sub as opposed to an automotive head-unit.

Marine speakers may have an enclosed magnet to reduce exposure to the elements (rusting), tinned terminals and UV inhibitor in grill coating, surround and cone material. They will also be 100% composite cone as opposed to a laminated paper. Many of the top-shelf marine speakers also have a composite basket as opposed to stamped steel.

Although I have no issue with non-marine subs and amps when the application permits, I recommend marine head-units and speakers as they tend to get the most exposure to the elements.

[Sdc77]

My automotive Pioneer supports the marine Pioneer remote

[CornRickey]

I stand corrected. I had a car Alpine head unit and there wired controllers require a marine head unit. I believe the Clarion units are the same.

[Wylietunes]

Pioneer is one of the few that do. But, if the unit allows for steering wheel controls, there are a couple of simple non LCD marine remotes that may work.

[CornRickey]

there are some bluetooth adapter remotes floating around also.

[Wylietunes]

there are some bluetooth adapter remotes floating around also.

if they are like the Alpine wireless, they can be a tad slow to respond.

[Wylietunes]

I stopped bt Kenwood's booth at the CES. They are launching 4 new marine head-units. All have front USB and AUX (which im personally not a fan of), one did have rear AUX, 2 have built in BT. The difference between those 2 is one still has CD and the other is a shallow chassis and does not have CD. The one down side is that only the existing "700" unit will support the current LCD remote. These new units will only have a non-LCD remote.

[Ptownkid]

Cds...haha, why? Especially in a boat.

[jonyb]

Cds...haha, why? Especially in a boat.

I had a customer the other day that wanted to upgrade his early 2000's Clarion head unit to get a wireless waterproof remote. Since Clarion so graciously changed the remote cables and din plugs years ago, that meant he would lose his CD changer and display remote at the helm. He wouldn't have the thought of losing his CD changer....

[chris young]

Cds...haha, why? Especially in a boat.

Lot's of reasons. Primarily, sound quality. MP3 is a low quality format, and I for one refuse to pay a buck for one song with degraded sound quality. Granted, outdoors in a boat, sound quality is not going to be your main concern, but for those of us who don't do MP3s the radio and CD are our only sources.

[Eric1687]

Im thinking about redoing the whole system in my 01 launch the 6 speakers in the boat plus a sub and 2 real nice tower speakers what would be the best set up such as kind of speakers sub and tower speakers? amp set up ? also im planning on putting in an extra battery and beefing up the alternator.

[Wylietunes]

Im thinking about redoing the whole system in my 01 launch the 6 speakers in the boat plus a sub and 2 real nice tower speakers what would be the best set up such as kind of speakers sub and tower speakers? amp set up ? also im planning on putting in an extra battery and beefing up the alternator.

For in-boats, I like to suggest a true marine speaker as the in-boats seem to take the brunt of the splash and direct sun light. There are tons of quality built marine in-boats, all with their own look, sound and price range. Getting a chance to demo them is a huge plus, but theres hardly any "bad" choices.

Subs, all it takes is a mild 10" woofer with a little bit of power to fill in those missing low end notes that the small in-boats will not reproduce. So unless you are a bass-head or listen a lot of hip-hop, a big sub with tons of power is not needed. So its really up to your personal preference. The best sub is the one done right. Cost wise, theres typically not much price difference between a 10 and a 12 within the same brand and model and they can typically be driven with the same amp power. So if space permits, the extra surface area of a 12 can be a plus. But the boat will typically drive the shape and size of the enclosure, thus influencing the the driver choice.

Tower speaker will fall into to main categories, projecting to wake range with an HLCD or near-field sound quality for surfing or party cove listening with a traditional coax. The best compromises are going to come from the larger HLCD,s like an 8" or 10", or something like the 6 pod Kicker "6-Pack" which has 4 6.5" mid-bass drivers and 2 horns. The tower setup will typically consume the majority of the budget. So figuring out what your primary and secondary listening goals are, will help get you down the right path.

Amps. I strongly suggest Class-D amp for the efficiency and small footprint. Once all the speakers and subs are chosen, the amps will fall inline. Dont overlook adequate cabling and circuit protection and all the other install incidentals that go along with the install.

[Ptownkid]

Lot's of reasons. Primarily, sound quality. MP3 is a low quality format, and I for one refuse to pay a buck for one song with degraded sound quality. Granted, outdoors in a boat, sound quality is not going to be your main concern, but for those of us who don't do MP3s the radio and CD are our only sources.

Higher bitrate mp3's are not all that bad, especially outdoors and there are other lossless formats. Physical media in a boat or a car just makes no sense to me anymore.

[92SupraComp]

I'll just say that we had a mid 90's car stereo in our Supra with car speakers from early 2000's and it worked great until last summer. Best CD player we ever had, super scratched disk, no prob. It was JVC. Two of the speakers wouldn't work so I tore apart the unit and re-soldered a bunch of joints and got 3 of the 4 working... Tried fixing it again but ended up ruining it :( Ordered a new Pyle Marine radio and the 4th speaker still didn't work, turns out the speaker wire was crap. ERRR The car stereo barely had any corrosion on it and still worked fine, sad that I ruined it. The Pyle doesn't play CD's as good... The speakers are still in good shape and work fine, even though they cheap best buy coaxial car speakers. And that comp has been put away wet, baked in the Texas heat under full sun with the cover on (yes, it got extremely hot in there), and sat out during the winter for 8 years. Now its stored in our barn like it used to be.

And for our Martinique, all 4 of the cheap original kenwoods were completely rotted out and the tape deck had no guts haha. In 2012 we installed a Crunch 1600W x 4 channel car amp, Pyle PLCD33MR Marine Radio and Kenwood car 2-way 4x10's in the back and kenwood car 5-way 6x9's in the front. They are treated cone woofers placed above where they would get soaked by water and after 2 summers so far in great shape. Also, even with no sub, system sounds amazing. Blows away the $2,000 Blose system in our 2007 Chevy Suburban, for only a $300 budget build! (goes to show how much bose sucks! haha)

[Wylietunes]

Got word on Friday that JVC will be releasing the marine KD-X31MBS head-unit and there will be a marine wired remote for it as well. It is a digi media player, so no CD/DVD player, but it will have built in BT and is SAT ready. Works with Pandora and iHeart. One thing about it that doesnt appeal to me is the front USB and AUX.

[jonyb]

Mike, do you carry JVC in your store? I'm expanding, and considering carrying them. I already sell Kenwood, and will have Alpine. Ive been kicking around Sony or JVC. Just wondering how well the JVC line does in car also.

[Wylietunes]

One of my distributors carries JVC. I dont typically do cars/trucks, so I dont install any other head-units other then marine in boats. We have used a few JVCs over the years for those rare occasions when I will do a car or truck for a friend or good boat customer and have had good results.