CD Player/Radio

My advice would be don't buy a CD player unit but get a radio unit in to which you can plug an Ipod. An Ipod has a much lower power draw than a CD player (no moving parts) and also can hold your entire CD collection in a small and very light unit. An Ipod is a real winner for a boat system. If it sounds complicated - well it's not. I'm a techno dinosaur but got to grips with the Ipod kit very quickly. It's worth the effort and having to deal with the monosyllabic techno teenagers behind the till in Curry's!

rob
 
I'm a bit biast having such a good system on board but if i were you i would go to Halfords, Sextons etc and get a package that includes head unit,amp and some good speakers.
Main thing is good speakers and matched to the stereo output. Only problem is power consumption.
OR
Don't know anything about these but my mate has just bought a i-player thingy and i must admit the sound is very good......its about the size of a shoebox.
 
anything from halfords ie... car stereo will be fine, as long as it's going to be mounted in a cabin and not outside in a rib /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Try to get one with as higher amp in as possible.... something like 4 x 45w or 4 x 50w, it will sound better.
 
agree entirely about somehting with an Ipod input. lots of new car cd players have these. can take the output from anything with a headphone out put so can use for example a laptop to (good for movies!).

Aldi and Lidl sometimes sell these for a fraction of the price of the highstreet. SWMBO got really good one from Aldi for her ditch crawler just before xmas. as well as headphone 'input' it has a USB port, and can read music straight from a memory card. It also has a flash (SD i think) card hole... and can read MP3's from a data CD...

would take issue with the 'more power = better quality' though, the real defining factor is the quality of the speakers. go for the biggest you can afford/fit, probably with a coaxial tweeter.

when wiring in, put a toggle switch in the 'ignition' feed, but usually there's another wire that should bypass this (i.e. straight to +ve, which draws next to nothing but maintains the memory for radio station presets etc.
 
Yup. I agree. Just go for a car radio with a socket for an MP3 player on the front. Then plug in your iPod, MP3 player or USB stick and you're away.

Something like this Sony CDX GT410U. This one does even have a CD player built in. I think this particular model is discontinued now but that just means you can get one even cheaper (£60 odd) on eBay. Sony seem to be good quality and excellent value for money.
 
We use a battery powered ipod docking station into which we can plug a portable Walkman type CD player. Gives superb sound quality using either the ipod or CD player. Added advantage is that it can also be connected to the laptop for better sound quality when watching DVDs. Final advantage is that there is no power drain from the boat's batteries.
 
The alpine one that has no CD and a colour screen (go to halfords) is superb for the money and controls the ipod very well.
Unfortunately waterproof remote controls are very expensive for alpine so you may wish to look at other makes if you want to control your music from the cockpit as I like to do.
This is a good website if you want a waterproof radio or waterproof accessories.
 
Apart from the iPod tip. It's good if the CD player can understand MPEG files, then you can compress a whole lot of music onto a few CDs.

I've got a car radio on board that takes a CD (with MPEGs), a USB port to an MPEG player, like an iPod, and a SD card slot (with MPEGs on it), so music storage gets even smaller.

I got mine from Conrad in Germany (they have an English web-site too).
 
Me ? I have a CD / MP3 compatible player + radio. It's a Roadstar but not the cheapo job - it's got plenty of power and can deafen the neighbours if you really want.
I see people advocating ipods etc. Agreed - but there is another way ......

FM transmitter jobs that plug into ciggy sockets. I have one that cost less than 20 quid, has remote control and takes up to 16Gb flash USB stick or SD / MMC cards. I set radio to frequency chosen on FM Tx and leave it ... present stick in it is 2GB and that gives near 13hrs of music. Got fed up with whats on it ? OK - record other MP3 onto the stick ....

I have no wish to change system now - it works very well.
 
I second the Aldi suggestion because they come with a three year warranty and their warranty service is brilliant in my experience - so if it only lasts a couple of years which my first one did (the cd bit failed), you get a free replacement! Plus they have a whole lot of inputs mp3, memory card etc.
 
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I second the Aldi suggestion because they come with a three year warranty and their warranty service is brilliant in my experience - so if it only lasts a couple of years which my first one did (the cd bit failed), you get a free replacement! Plus they have a whole lot of inputs mp3, memory card etc.

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My cheapy aldi car radio has developed an irritating click. Only when using the radio - other inputs are fine. I thought it was interference from the depth sounder but it appears to be a fault.
Did you just take it back to the shop or did you call them?
 
TIP for owners of cheapy CD/radios. The lights on them are always bright and always blue which ruins your night vision. If you wire the radios 'panel' connection to your 'compass light' switch (if you have one) via a 1kohm resistor the light will dim appropriately just when you need it to.
 
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