Stereo Recommendations?

BakerActed

We want to get dad a stereo for our 19' Scout flats boat and didn't know if anyone had any recommendations or any stereos we should stay away from. We want an Ipod connection, AM/FM and 4 speakers. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Baker

Jagsare1

My personal opinion after putting stereos in over 15 boats is to find a car stereo that you like and has all the features you want and enclose and protect it as well as you can. I have never had to replace a stereo because of corrosion or getting wet or anything. I buy less expensive but with as much power as I can get. For the speakers, I see boat speakers as throw away because whether you get cheap or expensive, they all corrode. I have had good success with Pyle speakers. They are dirt cheap and sound fine. I am a believer that on a boat, I want sound quantity over quality. I am not putting $1000+ into a boat system that may have to be replaced in 12-18 months.

catfishin

I know what not to get ...... Sony !!!!

Boattronics

You can get away with one of the cheap car stereos if you have the room to install one of those bulky boxes that completely seal the unit inside of it, with a flip down cover on the front. But on your 19' Scout, real estate is precious and I would install a time tested marine stereo that looks more at home on a nice boat like yours. Also, you may want to add a wired remote some where, which is only an option on the marine stereos. (A popular option is a remote located near trhe transom to adjust the stereo from the water while chillin' at the sand bar)
You cant beat the Clarion Marine C series, the latest being the CMD6. But, based on your post, I would say the the best option for you is the Fusion model IP-600 that you can stick your I-Pod directly into. That way your I-Pod is protected from the elements, and you wont have any unsightly wires connecting your I-Pod to your stereo, and it keeps it charged. It also has am/fm and the ability to run 4 speakers, with a more effecient class-d amplifier built in. This stereo can stand the elements 24/7 and so far I havnt seen a single bad unit.
As for the speakers, I recommend JL Audio, but that is because they sound the best and hold up better in the elements than the others. But, they are more expensive.
Did you know West Marine will match internet prices? Go on Bizrate.com, and enter your model of the speaker you like, hit enter, and it will search the web for the lowest price. Print that out and take it into West Marine. Then, add the extended warranty program. That way, if they crap out 3 years from now, you walk into the store, anywhere in America, and they replace them on the spot, no questions asked. Me or any other retailer can touch this, it is by far the smartest way to buy right now.
As far as cheap speakers go, I suggest you listen to them in the store and compare the cheap ones with the better ones. If you like what you hear, buy them. But the only brands I would recomend are JL Audio, Clarion, Fusion or Pioneer, based on how Ive seen them hold up after installing thousands of them over the last 15 years.
Oh and I agree, stay away from Sony! I hope this helps! Let me know if I can be of install assistance, I will beat any others price by a significant margin and garuntee satisfaction!

madashell

Jagsare1 wrote: »

My personal opinion after putting stereos in over 15 boats is to find a car stereo that you like and has all the features you want and enclose and protect it as well as you can. I have never had to replace a stereo because of corrosion or getting wet or anything. I buy less expensive but with as much power as I can get. For the speakers, I see boat speakers as throw away because whether you get cheap or expensive, they all corrode. I have had good success with Pyle speakers. They are dirt cheap and sound fine. I am a believer that on a boat, I want sound quantity over quality. I am not putting $1000+ into a boat system that may have to be replaced in 12-18 months.

Im the opposite. I enjoy music and you cant do it with crappy speakers. Quality sound is a priority and quality speakers deliver that, home or boat. You can put sub-par speakers on a high grade box and all you get is garbage and visa versa. I think there is a good balance but Im not gonna try to save a nickle on speakers and get a bunch of "noise" from them, when I just spent $30k to $250k on the boat. I wanna enjoy my "noise".

Jagsare1

madashell wrote: »

Im the opposite. I enjoy music and you cant do it with crappy speakers. Quality sound is a priority and quality speakers deliver that, home or boat. You can put sub-par speakers on a high grade box and all you get is garbage and visa versa. I think there is a good balance but Im not gonna try to save a nickle on speakers and get a bunch of "noise" from them, when I just spent $30k to $250k on the boat. I wanna enjoy my "noise".

Don't get me wrong, my stereo sounds fine but I don't think you would confuse it with a $1000+ system. Not sure what kind of boating you do but we fish in all kinds of weather and there is absolutely no way to keep speakers dry with walls of salt water coming over the boat in big seas and if I have to replace a speaker, I don't want to be replacing $500 speakers.

To the OP, take my advice or not, doesn't matter, but it has worked well in over 20 years of boating in a salt water environment. In that time, I know what works and what doesn't.

Hook, Line, & SINKer

I just put in the Fusion MS-IP600G with 4 Fusion MS-FR602 speakers and it sounds awesome. Just did it last week so I cant speak for longevity but like Tony mentioned the iPod goes completely inside of the head unit. Looks pretty well protected. If you buy the head unit from West Marine they throw in a pair of the speakers.

Boattronics

You made a good choice, good quality stuff. Nice to stick your I-Pod in the unit and forget about it right?

With West Marine's price matching policy, you can get good stuff at normal cheap stuff prices, lol. The added protection plan you can get? Hmmm lets go over that again. Say one of your speakers crap out 2 years from now when you are in the Keys on vacation. No sweat, just walk in the local West Marine and they replace it on the spot. Seems like a no brainer to me! Turn it up, who cares if you blow them right? Get some more for free! No need to be afraid and buy the cheap stuff!

BakerActed

Tony, PM sent. I've read lots of good thing here and have heard great things from friends.

Captain Brian

The Fusion deck will only play music off your iPod or iPhone. It will NOT play Pandora or iTunes match or any source that uses a cell or wi-fi signal if inserted into the deck. It will play it through a USB connection though, but defeats the point of having a stereo that you can insert your idevice into. Just a minor detail that I don't think should be ignored.

Also, I would stay away from Fusion's multi-zone amp that I ended up using. Just this week mine started cutting out with the volume turned down, and then even with nothing plugged in (keep in mind this thing is supposed to shut off completely when no source is detected) it started humming and popping pretty bad. Was afraid it was going to blow my primo JL Audio speakers! I sure wish Fusion made their 200 series deck with a class-d amplifier. The 600 series would eat up way too much space on my skiffs console.

I'll second the recommendation of JL speakers though. You'll pay at least a hundred bucks each speaker but they will last the longest and sound the best! Very good bass response for their size too.