Marine amp with Bluetooth capabilities on a cruiser

[Mithril Bham]

I am on the same quest. Try contacting Crutchfield. You can find them online. Good tech and good prices.

[Tim francis]

I’ve been busy going through the new to me boat and am just now getting back to this thread. There’s two speakers in the cockpit. Assuming water resistant marine speakers and four of these in the cabin. The other pictures are the speaker wires bundle. There’s 14 speaker wires so maybe there’s another speaker onboard I don’t know about yet. So I’m still looking for a six or 8 channel Bluetooth amp to hardwire into the dc panel on a breaker. I’ll look into the above recommendations now.
Mahalo for the replies

[CarinaPDX]

Using a car stereo will give you a front/back fader which you could use for cabin/cockpit speakers; this allows for muting the cockpit when in harbor so as to not annoy the neighbors. Many car stereos are designed for 4Ω speakers, so it would be possible to parallel two 8Ω speakers for each output. The extra speaker wire might be for a sub-woofer. If it were me I would trace every wire first and locate each speaker, identifying the impedance and power rating for each. Also, keep in mind that + and - needs to observed or one speaker could cancel the sound from another (sort of). Mark every wire with speaker ID and polarity (e.g. Starboard Saloon +). Then decide how to hook it up. Right now nobody can help with just a bundle of wires, and I wouldn't recommend hooking them up until you had a diagram.

More generally you should make a wiring diagram for the entire electrical system: it will save you a lot of time in the future and you will learn the state of things in the bargain. It is not unusual to have hidden electrical problems so don't just assume all is well. I think most people I have recommended this to have thought it too much work, but then went on to waste a lot of time troubleshooting every time something was installed or a problem occurred. It is a worthwhile investment.

Greg

[Tillsbury]

The Fusion units do have features you won't find in most car stereos. Lots of inputs, named zones for saloon/cockpit/cabin so you don't have to fudge things with a fader. Being able to control the stereo from the helm mfd is pretty handy too.

[Tim francis]

Greg, I agree on hidden issues and getting a diagram. That’s why I’m paying a marine electrical engineer 80 an hour to come out next Friday. I’m asking him ahead of time to look at the electrodacus manual and I’m asking him to allow me to watch and learn and I think it’s worth the extra money to pay him to write up diagrams I can put in my log book.
Thanks everyone for the replies.
Tim

[CarinaPDX]

While you are working with him on the wiring diagram consider labeling the wires. I bought a Brother P-Touch label machine and used it to make labels on the fly; after putting them on the wire it is necessary to wrap them with clear tape as the adhesive is not as permanent as you may like.

Greg