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Bluetooth Stereo

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 7:47 am
by Briand
I am looking to purchase a new car/marine stereo receiver for the F30. It will be in the Salon, and have a pair of speakers in the salon, a pair on the back deck and a pair on the bridge. I can turn any pair on or off from the salon. I need help on a couple of things, first of all do I want a marine stereo, or just a car stereo? Some new ones come with remotes, but a line of sight remote doesn't do much good if you aren't in the salon. A remote that worked anywhere on the boat would be great. Next question is bluetooth, does anyone have this on their boat, does it work well, is it worth the extra expense? I certainly do not want my phone calls coming out of 6 speakers for the whole marina to hear, not that I ever have anything exciting to talk about. I am far from an audiophile, just want good tunes and convenience, if anyone wants to suggest brand names that would be great. I am usually a Pioneer purchaser, but I am open to suggestions. How was this for an easy question on a cold snowy day in Cleveland, thanks for your help.

Re: Bluetooth Stereo

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:14 am
by Stripermann2
Personally, I would look at a car stereo. Up on the bridge, I have a marine grade stereo on the boat. If you're gonna have it out of the weather, you should be fine. If any speakers will be in the weather, then use marine grade. I love having bluetooth in my car. Not only for phone but for other smart phone apps. Pandora, Itunes, USB port, etc...I also have the remote which seems to work even when I'm not in direct line of sight, from quite a distance away.

Check out http://www.crutchfield.com/c_20/Marine-Audio.html They have marine stereos too.

I buy my stereo and electronics from them. Good prices, fast shipping and great service.

Re: Bluetooth Stereo

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 11:16 am
by gettaway
I believe you are looking for a stereo with an RF remote, the infared are line of sight.
There are a number of marine stereos that have a second control station as well.

Re: Bluetooth Stereo

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 3:47 pm
by Commissionpoint
I am going to be upgrading the sound system in my Trojan this year as well. So far I am pretty much hung on the Alpine model that is offered for sale in the Crutchfield link Jamie provided. The current one is an old non reverse tape deck Pioneer located in the far left hand top of the galley cabinetry wired to some ancient paper cone Kenwoods in the Stbd. side salon with a rinky dink antenna. It all has to go. How can I listen to my Grateful Dead bootlegs which I digitized last winter on the crap??!!

So its the Alpine, a Shakespere AM/FM 8 footer, and some better speakers so far. Of course I will post pics when its done. Good luck to you all considering the same type of upgrade.

Re: Bluetooth Stereo

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 5:22 pm
by jddens
I have 2 separate stereo's. One in the salon and one on the fly bridge. This setup work great for me. Usually there are just 2 of us aboard and we are mostly in the same area, flybridge underway, below when anchored so 2 separate units work good for us......John

Re: Bluetooth Stereo

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2013 10:22 pm
by jordan
I have two stereos also, one in the salon that has cd plus hooks up to my iPhone. This one is connected to a 4' antenna mounted on the radar arch. The one on the bridge is also compatible with the iPhone with a much smaller antenna. I get much better reception with the 4' antenna which is great when at anchor. When running the boat we are on the bridge and mainly plug the iPhone in to listen to down loaded music.

Re: Bluetooth Stereo

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 1:54 am
by TBone
On my F-32 I will be going with 2 stereos. 1 on the bridge, that will be what ever is on sale at West marine or the like. Usually they have the Dual brand, and it comes with 2 speakers for between 69 and 99 on sale.

On the aft deck area, I was planing on running a Fusion or similar head unit, with remote operation.

My Carver has a Kenwood head unit. The head unit is 3-4 years old now, you can still find them on ebay. No ipod integration, but it does have a full function wired remote. This is nice due to the head unit is in the cabin, and I ran the wired remote out to the the helm area. The remote was only about $15. delivered from ebay. I think I paid 139 for the head unit 3 or 4 years ago.

The bluetooth seems pretty cool for streaming music from your iphone or other bluetooth enabled device. I dont own an ipod,Ipad or iphone, although the wife has all three. It seems that every one has some sort of "i" device but I like the idea of bluetooth connectivity for the guy(me) that wants to connect with out the "i" device.

As for what stereo, if its inside the cabin, you should be fine with just an auto grade unit. Probably have all the same features for alot less cash. If mounting the head unit outside the cabin, 100% must be a weather proof marine unit.

Good luck
Tom

Re: Bluetooth Stereo

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 11:42 am
by lawyerdave71
Brian,

I have an F30.

I opted not to do a marine stereo. No wiring issues. No placement issues. No weight issues. No volt drainage issues.

I bought a Bose wireless bluetooth speaker that speaks to my Android phone and 20 gigs of music little sim chip. It was my best boat accessory purchase - EVER! The Bose speaker costs less than $300. Its portable so you just move it where ever you want it. Holds a charge forever (like 12 hours) and I always have spare cell phone battery.

Works with I-Pods and any mp3 bluetooth device. Guest can log on and play their tunes when they get tired of the captain's tunes.

When you get a phone call, the speaker mutes itself and then your phone rings as normal. Your calls don't go through the speaker.

It works AWESOME sitting in front of the windshield on the dash, floor of cockpit (the floor will vibrate), and in the cabin. The sound is terrific and bass sound is terrific.

On a good day, you can hear my tunes 150 feet away.

It gets so loud, you have no problem hearing it @ WOT and people on the bridge can hear it.

It is so good I am getting a second one - dont really need a 2nd one - just want one to be more louder and obnoxious!!