Stereo upgrade

PascalG

PascalG

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Considering a speaker upgrade... Right we have a basic stereo / 4 speakers set up on the aft deck. I d like to upgrade the speakers and add an amplifier and sub woofer

For guests who really like their music we ve been using a large Bose Soundock 10 which sounds really good but is kind of in the way and has to be brought in if it rains. It is the target sound quality and level we need to match or exceed. I find it hard to compare specs since I cant find any power data on the BOSE system

I m not going to replace the stero itself, since all we use is either an aux cable or AirPlay.

So... question: What size / wattage speaker would work, will two good speakers work or should we use four, what amplifier (channels, watts) and what subwoofer would work, without breaking the bank :). Would also like to have 2 additional speakers at the bow.

Keeping things dry and power supply is not a issue.
 
I have pioneer marine speakers on my boat with an alpine head unit that has high rms wattage. It sounds really good. Also heard good things about jl audio marine stuff. I have JL in my car and it sounds great with a JL amp.
 
If money is not an object then JL marine stuff is about as good as it gets. A slight notch below that consider Alpine (though probably at least JL's equal on the amplifier side). For all around value Bazooka is a good choice. I was a distributor of all of these brands and several more, such as Sony, JVC, Dual, Kicker, Cadence, save JL (and I was a retailer for them). We sold a lot of the Bazookas into the "performance" boat segment and wake riders where they took a tremendous beating physically and electronically and they were very reliable, and as a distributor that was a big deal to me. They sounded good in civilized circumstances too. A buddy still in the biz tells me the same holds true today. Sony is good but they have a limited line; I really liked their head units. I was very impressed by the Fusion products which I saw at CES, but I have no direct experience with them. I have a pair of old Poly Planar speakers that came with my boat that I have not been impressed with, but can't vouch if their current product is the same.
 
Pascal, are you looking for speakers for the "party crowd" ? this is important espcially if your competing for sound supremecy at the sand bar. I have an amplified speaker I got at sam ash, you can plug any media into it and it is VERY LOUD! the sound quality is suprisingly good considering it's an amp. when we are done, we unplug it and bring it in. for easier listening the kicker marine speakers in the aft deck do the job nicely. I'll text you a pic of the amp.
 
There is a good write up in the PANBO blog Pascal under the IP700 Fusion. I know you aren't looking for a head unit but many guys commented on the speakers and sub woofers they are using. It's good reading.
Bill
 
Thks george and bill

I guess my question is not really about brand but tech specs.

If i to put on 2 pairs of speaker and a subwoofer,do I need a 5 channel amp (like the fusion's) or can I use a 2 channel amp with 2 pairs on a channel and the subwoofer on the other? I vaguely remember something about being able to wire speakers in series and impedance doesn't change
... Or wattage doesnt change?

What power speaker would be good outside? Aft deck is covered overhead, open on sides and stern
 
Mario, Thks for lending me your external monster. Will try it on tinight's outing... I have it connected to an airport express for remote controlling and tested it, it s nice. Probably louder than the Bose but maybe not quite as crisp. We ll see what "A" says... :)
 
He likes it... Can you hear it across the fairway? It will be louder when we come back ! :).

But i still want to get a proper set up...
 
Go with a five channel amp and do it right. What is the current stereo head unit?
 
In my opinion, I would first look at speakers. They are speced at SPL at 1 watt; SPL= sound pressure level. Then look at their freq resonse and how much power can they handle. The thing to keep in mind is that you have to double the power to increase the SPL by 3db. So a speaker rated a 92db at 1 watt will be twice as loud as a speaker rated at 89db. Using the latter speaker it will require an amp to have 2x the power to deliver the loudness. Whether to choose a 5 channel or a 4 channel, bridgeable comes into play. A 5 channel amp will output to four speakers and a subwoofer. A 4 channel amp will output 2 channels to speakers and the bridge the other 2 channels to drive the subwoffer. How you hook up the four speakers, parallel or series, will depend on it the amp can handle a 2 ohm load. An advantage to hooking the speakers up in series is that they only get half the power. So if they can only handle 200 watts, you can drive them with a 400 watt amp; as 200 watts will be dropped accros each speaker.
 
People need this on the water? Really? Sad.
 
My boat is 20 years old with the original stereo unit which has a 5 band graphic equalizer. A couple of years ago I upgraded the cockpit speakers to ones that are slightly larger, more efficient, and a better low freq response. The improvement was unreal. I don't get the thump that a subwoofer provides, but I don't need it as I don't want to intrude on other boaters. I would think that any big box store should be able to come up with a system that would deliver more than adequate sound. Granted, they will be looking at a system that would put the most money in their pocket and then try to justify the cost.
 
And I repeat: People need this on the water? Sad.
 
Mike, thank you for detailed info, very usefull

George, it's a pretty basic Kenwood, 3 year old, with aux input which is really all we use.

Kurt, I agree... But most guests get out there to party and sometimes they like their music loud! Right now we have Mario s monster in a corner of the act deck and they re happy! Obviously one of the criteria to pick a spot to drop the hook is at least 300' of empty space behind the boat, like tonight:

387083_433130783389475_1319597772_n.jpg
 
Well if you want simply the best in Marine grade heads with 2 built in amplifiers and the ability to add 2 additional amplifiers I would highly recommend the FUSION IP700. Reviews in the PANBO from real audiophiles (unlike me) really give this unit a double thumbs up. I personally can't believe the sound quality from changing the head to the FUSION IP700.
There do appear to be some problems with the NMEA2000 compatability with some MFD's but you can control it with a Smartphone application if you like. It has all the various inputs and outputs needed to build a really nice system. I really enjoy mine but I leave the high sound levels inside the boat. I'm not interested in annoying my slip neighbors or anyone while I am anchored out. I use my SIRIUS from the Garmin GXM51 WX/SIRIUS output controlled by any of my Garmin MFDs (SIRIUS control only so far).
Bill
 
I'd have to agree with Billy on the Fusion unit. We just install one with a wired remote and SIRIUS on the 32' express sportfish tender we tow and it's a great unit. I've put a number of Fusion products in over the last few years and I've been very happy with them.
 
RUN AWAY from Poly_Planar speakers.

I had a pair mounted under the gunnels, facing down, out of the weather that didn't last 3 years.

Last February I took them apart and sent a nice hard copy letter to the factory along with several photographs asking for an adjustment as they were out of warranty.

No one there ever bothered to take the time to respond to my request.

No answer, no acknowldegement, no nothing.

At the very least, I deserved a response.

I hought new speakers from thier competitor.

RWS (as an afterthought, the letter follows below)
=========================================

February 3, 2012

Poly-Planar, llc
1352 Charwood Road
Suite D
Hanover, MD 21076

Re: possible warranty coverage on MA 4055 speakers

Dear Sir,

I have been a Poly-Planar client for many years. In previous boats I have had great service from your enclosures and speakers, including a remote VHF speaker that has been in service for well over fourteen years, moving from boat to boat.

I have owned a pair of Poly-Planar coaxial MA4055 speakers for two years and nine months.. To minimize exposure to water and sunlight I installed them facing down under the gunnell as seen in the accompanying photographs.

Despite the installation precautions, I was surprised to find that after less than three years of service, the edges of the cones have disintegrated in both speakers. (see accompanying photos)

I brought the pair to my local West Marine retail store who advised that since the warranty period is only one year and these were now over two years old they were unable to provide any warranty coverage or credit. However they did suggest contacting you directly to see if there was any possibility to provide some sort of credit as in West Marine’s experience, these speakers generally provide far better service, and that something must be amiss with these to have such a dramatically short life.

I would be happy to ship them to you at my expense for an evaluation. Please advise if there anything that can be done.

I am looking forward to your response.

Best Regards,
==================================================
 
Capt. Bill in my opinion anything short of a home theater system will lose hands down against the FUSION IP700. I will admit there are some NMEA2000 issues yet to be worked out with the various MFD manufactures but as a multifunction head unit with 2 built in 2 ohm high output amplifiers and room to add 2 additional amplifers and zones it's an excellent unit. It also comes with numerous physical adapters for integrating virtually any I-Pod and has a direct USB dock connection. It in addition to the NMEA2000 connection and optional remote N2K display it also has a LAN connection to update it's software or play WiFi or LAN based digital streaming audio. It also contains a DVD player with video & audio outputs & inputs for connection to your video systems, gaming consoles etc... There are too many features and operations to list here.
I give this unit a 99 out of 100 when it comes to mid to small boat high quality marine rated head unit for audio entertainment.
Bill
 
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