Jack,
I agree with other posters that the ipod
dock is unnecessary - your
head unit should have an accessory wire (an added expense, naturally) to attach your ipod directly to your
radio - it will charge as well.
Agree with Target as well that Pioneers sound good for the
price. If you go to best buy, your can listen to different speakers through the same
head unit. That should narrow things down in a hurry for you. The speakers I replaced are Pioneers and they sound good. They aren't waterproof and they're at least 8 years old, and they still sound as good as the day I bought them.
I wanted to upgrade my system to get closer to the kind of sound I get at home - but
music is a big part of my life and getting good sound is important to me, so I didn't mind spending the extra
money. I ended up getting an Apine PDx f4 amplifier with Mirage OMD -5 speakers. When I got the Mirage speakers I hooked them up to my home stereo and liked them so much that I kept them to use with my original home Ohm speakers and ordered a second set for the
boat. They're small, sound great and have a threaded hole in back to accept a mount.
When I wrote for
advice on speakers here, I got plenty of great responses. Nick from s/v Jedi was especially helpful, so maybe he'll chime in here for you as well. Best of luck with whatever you buy!