Stereo Questions

D

DuckDogTitus

New member
I feel like maybe i'm beating a dead horse on this but I have some questions.

Are there any electrical concerns with a cd/mp3 player drawing too much juice?

What things should I consider in regards to speaker placement?

I'm not an audiophile, so I don't need the best sound, but I'd like something that I can enjoy over the drone of the motor. I'm thinking about just spending the money to have a good bluetooth enabled stereo headset installed. I am trying to eliminate CD's from my house since everthing is going digital.



last question... how bad is the electrical draw on a basic headset? Will I kill my batteries listening to music for a while at anchorage or while drifting/trolling on the kicker?
 
Dustin, why not a good Bluetooth speaker/docking station. I don't think I'd feel safe with a headset. We have an old wired Bose that we use with the iPad and iPod, works fine.
 
I would like to find an mobile audio receiver/player that broadcasts the audio on bluetooth. All the ones I have found only receive audio from some modile device (iPod, MP3 player, etc.).

With one the broadcasts I could get a bluetooth speaker (e.g. JamBox) and move it around the boat depending on where I want to listen (berth, cockpit, cabin, etc.).
 
ssobol":16uo6phi said:
I would like to find an mobile audio receiver/player that broadcasts the audio on bluetooth. All the ones I have found only receive audio from some modile device (iPod, MP3 player, etc.).

With one the broadcasts I could get a bluetooth speaker (e.g. JamBox) and move it around the boat depending on where I want to listen (berth, cockpit, cabin, etc.).
Click to expand...
Any smart phone will do what you ask. Load it up with tunes or use a wireless network or your data plan to run Pandora.
 
DuckDogTitus":oj14gqfa said:
I feel like maybe i'm beating a dead horse on this but I have some questions.

Are there any electrical concerns with a cd/mp3 player drawing too much juice?
Click to expand...
A typical car stereo will draw 0.5A to maybe 2A at reasonable volume. So if you have a battery rated at 200amp hours, it will take about 50 hours to deplete the battery to 50% with a 2A draw (not including other sources of current draw). So there isn't a huge concern about running the battery down too much from the stereo alone. Providing mp3 on a memory stick or via your phone will draw a little less power than spinning a CD.

DuckDogTitus":oj14gqfa said:
What things should I consider in regards to speaker placement?

I'm not an audiophile, so I don't need the best sound, but I'd like something that I can enjoy over the drone of the motor. I'm thinking about just spending the money to have a good bluetooth enabled stereo headset installed. I am trying to eliminate CD's from my house since everthing is going digital.
Click to expand...
When the boat is still, it doesn't matter as you can hear fine regardless of speaker placement. When it's moving, you're generally at the helm so speaker mounting in the forward two corners of the electrical shelf of there abouts works well.

DuckDogTitus":oj14gqfa said:
last question... how bad is the electrical draw on a basic headset? Will I kill my batteries listening to music for a while at anchorage or while drifting/trolling on the kicker?
Click to expand...
See above - not a concern.
 
I use A Bose Bluetooth speaker, it has a 6 hr batt life and will be moved around the boat where I need it. The iPhone can store a huge music collection,and there are apps for radio stations anywhere you can imagine
Sound quality will rock a small boat,and the best part is no holes.
 
Well, all the audiophiles have checked in and that's way over my head. However, rule #1 when installing a stereo in a boat, Keep the speakers away from the compass ! Like 3 feet if you can. BTDT.
 
Compass and GPS. Our Garmin unit specifically stated so in the install instructions.

I used a simple CD unit that is compatible w/ an I-Pod. Two round speakers from West Marine. Done. We hardly even use it.
 
Remember, the memory/clock function of the stereo draws current even with the unit turned"off". So, be sure it is not hot wired to the battery, but rather through the battery switch so when the battery(ies) are switched off there is no ghost current drain depleting the battery.
 
We used 2 small softball sized speakers by a company called Orb Audio. The amp is a separate unit the size of a small external harddrive. It is plugged into a phone using an aux out cable. Total system cost around $300.

The sound is better than most simply because the signal is not bluetooth and there is a dedicated class b amp. Up till now, we have primarily listened to music when connected to shore power. This is mainly due the to the fact that I do not know how much power the system draws.

This to me was a better solution than a crappy sounding system. Guess I got spoiled at home and in the car to the point where I wanted nice music on the boat as well.
 
rogerbum":1bhdfe13 said:
ssobol":1bhdfe13 said:
I would like to find an mobile audio receiver/player that broadcasts the audio on bluetooth. All the ones I have found only receive audio from some modile device (iPod, MP3 player, etc.).

With one the broadcasts I could get a bluetooth speaker (e.g. JamBox) and move it around the boat depending on where I want to listen (berth, cockpit, cabin, etc.).
Click to expand...
Any smart phone will do what you ask. Load it up with tunes or use a wireless network or your data plan to run Pandora.
Click to expand...

I have a smartphone and can load it up and all that. But if I want to just listen to the radio in real time I either have to stream it through my phone (with the data consumption and good connection) or use a conventional FM mobile receiver and wired speakers. I'm just saying that it would be nice if there was a mobile receiver that could broadcast on bluetooth like my iPod, tablet, and phone does. Also, when I am out someplace in the boonies, I am probably going to have better FM radio reception than a good data connection.
 
We have a Dual stereo, AM/FM/CD, with an aux plug. We have a Sirius receiver on a bracket under the "electronics shelf, next to where the Dual stereo is located. The stereo uses 3 to 4 amps max. It is switched from the main console bus bar--thru a 5 amp fuse.

We have two about ~ 9" x 5" speakers mounted on the "A" pillar of each side of the front of the cabin of the C Dory. The stereo has output for "rear speakers, but we have never seen the need. We usually use the Sirius (which also goes home, and fits into its amplifier in the bedroom.)

We also have an i pod with several hundred hours of music on board, or use the Sirius plugged into a small Jawbone "Jambox", which is charged thru a USB port. (lots of sound from a small box). This can be taken up to the forward cabin for night music, or to the cockpit of sound there if we wish--or even ashore with the i pod.

None of this really gives audiophile sound--but the old ears don't hear as well as they once did, and any more expense would be a waste at this age...
 
I just removed our wired speakers. I still need to remove the CD player/radio, but that is inevitable. We have a bluetooth Bose Soundlink Mini that blows the wired speakers away for sound quality. The bass is amazing. The tunes are all on my iPhone. The CD player plus speakers on the boat are just obsolete! The Bose can also be connected through a wired auxiliary connection, which I usually use with the computer. I always connect via bluetooth with the iPhone though, works great and sounds great!
 
That's just a speaker, like the Big Jawbone Jambox. You still need something to receive or store music on that has Bluetooth connectivity. Sorry if you knew that already!

Charlie
 
To do over I would go blue tooth. We went with a pioneer head unit and some Kenwood marine speakers under the rear dinette seat. Originally we put our speakers built into our overhead panel
boat_and_kidos_506.sized.jpg

These were great for the times we were up and running but you had to basically blast out the cabin to hear it out on the cockpit while fishing. also when we installed the Lowrance point one for overlay and heading sensor this winter these would not allow it to calibrate and caused too much interference so for the time being they are removed and I will have to remake the wood cover this summer sometime. While removing I noticed how much they interfered with my compass also.

Now we only have the two Kenwood speakers and they can be heard both in the cockpit and in the cabin fine. And will probably just stick to having only these two speakers for sound. They are marine grade and have good sound quality.
photo_12.sized.jpg
We almost always have the stereo on and have not had a problem with draw or batteries going dead. Again blue tooth is nice we don’t do cd's, the head unit has a USB and aux on the front and we plug our iPhone into that. The plus being if you use USB it will charge phone while it plays (we use it this way when under power). thought I would throw a few pics in as drilling speaker holes to find out they interfere or don’t let sound travel well, then have to re-drill is a pain the holes are not small.
 
We use an original Jawbone Jambox - bluetooth from the phone or iPad, but most often with a cable to a portable (smaller than my phone) XM receiver. No holes to cut/fill, you can take it into the cockpit, or take it home with you. Easy.

XM_zpsf96771e5.jpg
 
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