Marine CD stereos

[sailorboy1]

My stereo died this weekend. In looking for replacements I wonder why I need a "marine" unit. My installation is at the nav desk and it doesn't get wet etc. Any reason I need a "marine" unit instead of a car unit (lot more choices)?

[nigel1]

I cannot see any reason for a "marine" unit.
The PO had an Alpine unit installed some 7 years ago, worked fine. I just replaced it with a newer version Alpine unit as the old one was not compatible with my Ipod.

[Macblaze]

I looked into this last year and could see no reason to go for a marine version in a sailboat.

We long ago ripped all of our cds for use on our ipods so I replaced my "marinized" cd player with a Sony Media player: am/fm, usb and 1/8 inch input. No moving parts and pretty cheap. I can afford to replace it several times if I have to.

Works great and we run it off our phones, laptops and a couple of usb sticks.

[captjcook]

I bought a "marinized" Sony...only visable difference from prior units was a piece of plastic glued over top ventilation slots...save your dough!

Sent from my LGMS323 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Stu Jackson]

I've been running car stereos on my boats for the past 35 years. No reason for anything else. My current one has lasted 14 years and still going strong: SONY with a CD changer and a GASP!!! cassette deck! I have a LOT of mix tapes!

[CAELESTIS]

I have an Alpine am/fm/cd/ipod/sirius radio with the Sirius antenna, instruction manual, etc that I would sell cheap. PM me if interested.

[sailorboy1]

Already ordered a new unit that was low cost enough that I wouldn't even have considered getting a used electrical item instead of.

[Dockhead]

Are your circuit breakers and other electrical gear at your nav table waterproof?

Well, that's your answer, isn't it?


I did, in my naivete, buy an Alpine marine version head unit for my boat, when I first bought her seven years ago. It has no CD drive -- just an IPod connection and USB port. I have tried to keep my boat as free as possible from any kind of optical disks, ripping media instead to portable hard drives, Ipods, etc. If I want to play music from some other source and don't feel like putting it on my crappy G1 IPod, I can just dump them on a thumb drive and stick it in the USB port of the Alpine. Works great.

I have been very pleased with this device, and it's still going strong. You could go with the non-marine version of something like that, which should be cheaper.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Are your circuit breakers and other electrical gear at your nav table waterproof?

Well, that's your answer, isn't it?


I did, in my naivete, buy an Alpine marine version head unit for my boat, when I first bought her seven years ago. It has no CD drive -- just an IPod connection and USB port. I have tried to keep my boat as free as possible from any kind of optical disks, ripping media instead to portable hard drives, Ipods, etc. If I want to play music from some other source and don't feel like putting it on my crappy G1 IPod, I can just dump them on a thumb drive and stick it in the USB port of the Alpine. Works great.

I have been very pleased with this device, and it's still going strong. You could go with the non-marine version of something like that, which should be cheaper.

I got a unit that does all that stuff including being satellite ready, plus still has that old fashioned shiny spinning CD reading thing. Is was pretty cheap in my mind.

[Cheechako]

Nope, no reason. At auto stereo prices it doesn't make any sense anyway. I bought a marine unit once. It didn't last as long as the auto units I bought later on.

[Emerald Sea]

We have a Fusion "marine" system installed. It was replaced after a year old - dvd didnt work correctly. Im not overly impressed with it and dont think Id buy another. But it fit the mounting hole. Certainly the Fusion 'water resistant' speakers arent worth the box they come in and we had these replaced on our helm after 6 months - in this case, not Fusions. This is only my experience.

[ullar]

Good quality car unit will indeed do fine on a boat. What I like with my Pioneer is the possibility to play music from SD cards. The card is totally engulfed in the unit so there are nothing sticking out of it like with USB drives. What I miss is the possibility of playing high quality FLAC compressed files.

On a little bit different note if anyone has a nice HiFi setup on their boat that would be interesting to discuss.

[ranger58sb]

Near as I can tell, our original stereo radio tuner/CD-player was a car unit, fitted into a chassis that includes an extra additional slide-down cover for the face. Subsequent replacements -- and I think it mostly doesn't matter what brand -- have fit perfectly into that chassis.


Our exterior "marine" speakers have given mixed results, mostly because they're less protected (mostly from rain) than the head unit is. But they weren't particularly more expensive (that I noticed) than any other speaks of the same size...


Like many, I've ripped all our CDs to MP3s, played with an iPod connected to one of the on-board stereos -- either via USB to the bridge unit, or simple headphone cable to the surround-sound system in the saloon.


-Chris

[frank_f]

I might be wrong here but I thought the marine units used silver solder on the boards to reduce corrosion in a salt air environment. I also thought the components were military grade rather than consumer.

As I said, I could be wrong. It's not like it would be the first time today.

[Blue Stocking]

Love my 8-track !