Hifi on a boat

[Oscarpop]

We are putting together our boat as a liveaboard. We were initially looking at putting a car hifi in. However it occurs to me that we have the space to put in a 240v hifi and run it off the invertor.

Can anyone tell me the ballpark Ah to run this? Plus are there any downsides to this idea, if the unit is secure.

Many thanks.

 

[rib]

for whats it worth...i have a ipod with hours of music on which i can add to or change.i can plug it into my boats system to listern to,i can plug it in to ear phones for use at night sailing/wal;king.and can even plug it into a set small speakers and take it to the beach for a party all run off 12v or batteries........im a happy bunny

 

[Flossdog]

I have a Sony car hifi on our boat into which I can connect my ipod. There is a huge amount of volume and the quality is excellent, at least to my ears - I am a classic music guy so don't like any electronic noises in the quiet bits!

 

[shaunksb]

Plus are there any downsides to this idea, if the unit is secure.

Many thanks.

Salty air seems to have it in for car hi-fi's and I would imagine domestic ones too.

A domestic one would surely use up a lot of juice even before the loss's from the inverter were taken into account.

Not such a problem if you run the generator all the time.


____________

 

[aluijten]

We are putting together our boat as a liveaboard. We were initially looking at putting a car hifi in. However it occurs to me that we have the space to put in a 240v hifi and run it off the invertor.

Can anyone tell me the ballpark Ah to run this? Plus are there any downsides to this idea, if the unit is secure.

Many thanks.

Genuine question:
What would be the upsides?

There are some really nice marine stereos available these days. The Fusion line is nice, not too expensive and very versatile. Alpine has a set, Sony has one, etc.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

Considering the wattage output required to create the sound level that is sufficient in a boat (which is less than a big house or room), there are no advantages to fitting a 220v unit that I can think of. They take up more space, use more power, and generally cost more.

As a live-aboard you will no doubt be keeping your boat interior dry and warm so there are no real issue with damp etc.

On the other hand, if you want a multi-room (sorry, cabin) solution then 220v is the way to go using something like Sonos which can piggy-back your wifi network.

 

[rosssavage]

Personal preference is for car stuff. I have a pioneer head unit with iPod input, hifonics mono amp driving two kicker 8" subs, jbl four channel driving mb quart 5" x2 and 6"x2 drivers with component tweeters. Sound is awesome, and with quality components it sounds as good playing adagio for strings as it does thumping drum n bass.

If you do decide on the 240v option, more info please! Are you thinking all in one micro system, or full on audiophile discrete components?

Have a look in the shops at the sort of kit you're after, it should all have power consumption in watts stamped on the case somewhere.

Car stuff is generally a bit tougher as its designed to be bounced around and cope with large temperature variations, but if it's quality you're after, the audiophile kit is so much more adept at faithfully reproducing all the nuances than car kit is.

 

[macd]

Salty air seems to have it in for car hi-fi's

Fitting car hi-fi in a boat pops up on threads at least once a year, and invariably elicits multiple responses that they work fine, and continue to do so for years. Mine certainly has.

 

[Stu Jackson]

+1

I still don't understand how folks keep thinking they can't use car stereos. If their boats are wet down below, they have bigger problems...

We have a Sony cassette tape player (YIKES! I still have a lot of great mixes), a cassette adapter for the iPod (yes, I know there are newer aux inputs, but they didn't make it with this radio) and a 10 disc CD changer (I know, the iPod should replace all those plastic boxes, but I only have a Nano).

It's been working very well for many, many years. I bought a powered subwoofer and the rig still only uses less than 2 amps at pretty high volume.

Working a domestic hifi system through an inverter makes little sense to me.

 

[noelex]

The power consumption of a 240V system will be much higher. The consumption will depend on the equipment, but 5-10X a car unit would be a ball park. There are also sound quality problems with an electrically noisy inverter power supply. The sound quality could be potentially better, If you get everything right, but there is much more improvement to be gained by using good speakers. If you have space (and weight ) to spare get some good quality domestic speakers and power them with a 12v amplifier and head unit.

 

[Ruffles]

Have a look in the shops at the sort of kit you're after, it should all have power consumption in watts stamped on the case somewhere.

Unfortunately the value marked on the unit is likely to be the maximum power consumed in use. Quite hard to find the typical consumption.

 

[William_H]

Hi Fi

An intersting story is the history of music reproduction. In the 1950 and 60 s we had valve amplifiers which in the usual domestic radio produced about 4 watts of audio at about 5% distortion. This didn't matter much as the records were noisy and AM radio reception not perfect.
Come transistors and hifi. Even the cheapest amplifiers are now so perfect in distortion and noise that it is simply not worth consideration. ie no matter how much you pay you can't get better than perfect.
Power available at zero distortion is huge far more than you could ever use.
The sheer perfection of reproduction of digital music be it CD or memory means that the most limiting component of the system is the speakers.
Though many tricks are used to get good bass reproduction it is still down to size matters. Just what you don't want to hear for a boat. Speakers especially for cars are often made robust to enable them to handle huge power. This makes them so inefficient that you need huge power into the speaker to get enough noise.
Look for the efficiency or sensitivity rating for a speaker. A few decibels makes a huge difference in power needed for the same sound level. Usually bigger is more efficient.
IMHO opinion the speakers are the most variable and limiting component of the system.
So yes a car type stereo will be very adequate. Speakers built into bulkheads etc to provide a large baffle are your best bet. Don't buy a speaker in a box but rather fit it into a bulkhead. With good speakers you will find you are running the amplifier at about .2 watt. Any more will annoy the neighbours in the next county.

I always wanted to be a hifi salesman. The more you charge the customer the more he loves it because he believes he is getting better quality. Like the king's new suit of clothes he is the only one who really appreciates the quality. Pity he has to tell his friends how much he paid as the only way to impress them.

Spend your money on music or something more worthwhile for the boat. seasons greetings olewill

 

[rib]

bloody hell i thought this was about sailing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if your as good sailing as you are about music god help us........lol

 

[Stu Jackson]

I've always felt that many folks get the down below speakers backwards. They put them on the right and left (p & s) sides of the bulkheads. You can only sit in one place at a time down below, so you either get full left or full right sound. The balance gets immediately unbalanced because of your location.

We installed our speakers on the port side shelf we have, one forward and one aft. When we sit in the dinette on starboard we get the full stereo effect.

When we sit on the settee to port, we get the full effect plus the speakers are closer. It's like having headphones on without the weight!

With the self-powered low wattage powered subwoofer between them we have great sounds below.

Two simple West Marine 7" speakers under the helmsman's seat takes care of the cockpit. If I had to do over, I wouldn't cut the holes in the glass under the seat for safety purposes, and would buy outside speakers to mount somewhere, although the speaker placement keeps the noise "inside" the cockpit with less sound out to neighbors in the anchorage. Come to think of it, box speakers below the coaming level would also work if we could fit them in. So many folks have their damn boom boxes under their perch seats, but they're noisy neighbors when the sun goes down.

So, in addition to your question about components, it's like real estate: location, location, location.

 

[thalassa]

Bose Wave

We are putting together our boat as a liveaboard. We were initially looking at putting a car hifi in. However it occurs to me that we have the space to put in a 240v hifi and run it off the invertor.

Can anyone tell me the ballpark Ah to run this? Plus are there any downsides to this idea, if the unit is secure.

Many thanks.

If you want it to run from 240V, and want to have ease of installation, you can not go wrong with a Bose Wave system. True hifi from a unit with built-in speakers. And amazing sound, even in irregularly shaped spaces .
http://www.bose.co.uk/GB/en/home-and-personal-audio/wave-systems/wave-music-systems/

Downside: the price tag, but worth it.

That said, some music units are sensitive to the often not too clean current coming off an inverter.

Enjoy your music!

 

[PBrook]

I had an old cassette player in my previous boat for 3 or 4 years which always worked when I wanted it to. I never used the casette as I don't have any.
As I only listen the radio or iphone , I am considering some thing like the unit in the link below for my new boat. It has no CD player or casette player so no mechancial parts to corode which also makes it much shorter allowing it to find a home against the bulkhead.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CAR-HEAD-...itu=UCC&otn=5&ps=63&clkid=5115065421763792592

Just a thought but it takes up little space, is cheap as chips and draws less then 30mA
There is an even cheaper one with a removable face but I want as few connections and moving parts as possible this one seemed better.
Probably wouldn't impress an audiophile but then again boats tend not to have great acoustics (clang, ting, slosh, clang)

 

[Csail]

All ours is Alpine gear, good as long as its dry, inverter needed, think its 1800w. good sound.

 

[KAL]

I love my music too, and have a Sony car unit, with bulkhead speakers, iPod input, etc. always works fine.

Very boring cautionary note/plea though. We all must remember how easily sound carries over water and the close proximity of one's boating neighbours and therefore take the need for others' peace and quiet into account when fitting and using Hifi on board. In a small space, we don't need as many decibels so fit accordingly and save power (and potential embarrassment).

 

[RichardS]

[Pedant mode on]

As someone who experimented with Linn turntables, Quad amps and hybrid electrostatic speakers, I must point out that the term "hi-fi" could never be correctly applied to an installation in a boat. The acoustics onboard would always render high fidelity a technical impossibility!

[Pendant mode off]

 

[SAWDOC]

I always wanted to be a hifi salesman. The more you charge the customer the more he loves it because he believes he is getting better quality. Like the king's new suit of clothes he is the only one who really appreciates the quality. Pity he has to tell his friends how much he paid as the only way to impress them.

Spend your money on music or something more worthwhile for the boat. seasons greetings olewill

Brilliant - and so perceptive!