What kind of stereo in your boat?

[ICHTHYDEMON]

I've been thinking about adding a stereo to my boat and am I wondering what way to go.

I've thought about buying a nice "marine" stereo and speakers. I've also thought about buying a cheap stereo and speakers. My reasoning with the cheap stuff is that some people claim even marine grade stereo stuff won't last more than a few years.

What did you do?

[foxer]

Cheap portable Emerson. Why cut more holes in the boat

[Jettin' Fool]

I bought all the stuff off e-bay and different Internet sites and saved quite a bit. I put the deck in the glove box. I bought Marine JBL MS9200 6x9's that will go into the bench seats and a couple of Poly-Planar MA-7500's for the back of the boat that are bracketed under my rear glove boxes.

I went with a Marine deck with built in SIRIUS radio tuner. I highly recommend this route as I get crystal clear signal whether I'm out in the ocean, up at the high lakes, or deep in the Rogue river canyon!

Love my SIRIUS!

JF

[IDWITHELD]

Pioneer removable face stereo: $200
El-cheepo 6-1/2" 3-way speakers: $59

Breaking the silence when solo fishing: Priceless

[Tinman]

Fishing gives me the chance to get away from the constant bombardment of TV, radio, internet, cell phones and computers. For that reason, I prefer not to have music aboard.

[backlash442]

Depends on where you are fishing. If you are going offshore I wouldn't bother unless the speakers are flush mounted. Either that or you don't go out when it's a bit sporty. Speaker I had mounted on to my hard top snapped at the knobs that hold them in place after less than 2 years of pounding. Lucky it didn't hit anyone when it came off. The other speaker never did snap off but the screws were bent so bad you couldn't unscrew it.

[Shaker-King]

I have a marine grade Kenwood that was on closeout at West Marine. The speakers are the small self contained cubes from WM also. Watch for sales, the speakers go on sale for 30-40% off, often. I needed a box to put the stereo in so I could mount it on the dash. The box came from Bass Pro.

There are pictures of my install, in an Alumaweld Intruder, in my gallery.

[timinthegorge]

Portable C Crane radio. Best long-distance radio reception, no holes in the boat, no monthly fee (as with XM or Sirius), can be used anywhere, and stays in my electronics bag when not in use.

Can't steal it if it ain't in the boat..... :smirk:

[miike]

yes, high end marine grade stuff isnt very trustworthy. i bought a pioneer mp3 cd player from the internet for $130. try bizrate.com
when i bought the boat, it already had round 3 way pioneer marine speakers. these still sound great, but they are in a very protected place. then i got a pair of crappy $80 WM 6x9s that actually sound great for under seats at transom. sometimes theyre submerged and still work later.

a polyplanar box will protect the stereo, 60 bucks at WM. remove the blue gasket when you install, it only makes the unit fall apart.

i planned on replacing this stuff after a couple seasons, but it all still works.