HiFi on a boat

[Neil Watson]

I’m not sure if you can get a 12v turntable so you would probably need an inverter. The voltage is probably fairly important to keep the speed right on the turntable so you might need to fit a decent inverter.
You could just get a Spotify subscription and a Bluetooth speaker or have a look at the Fusion marine stereo systems. I have one and it’s great. I have an iPod full of music that lives in the docking station inside the stereo unit. I also download lots of albums and playlists to my phone through Spotify in case there is poor phone coverage.

Agreed, but I guess I just love vinyl, although not all the time. I equally listen to Bluetooth / iPhone / Tidal. BTW, I think you can get a rechargeable battery turntable, but quality of sound isn't great. Thanks for the tip about the Fusion - I'll check that out.

 

[Neil Watson]

On the two boats I've owned in the past 15 years, I've installed car stereo systems with Kef Egg speakers. The earlier one was a JVC which actually had a DVD player on board - quite impressive through 4 speakers in the confines of a yacht lounge.

It does everything it needs to - AM FM DAB Bluetooth Aux Input. Streaming can be done via phone, or other bluetooth player, including Amazon Echo.

Keff Eggs! Nice!

 

[Neil Watson]

This probably doesn't answer your question but:-

About 3 or 4 years ago, I fitted 3 audio zones on our boat.
Each one consists of an amplifier, speakers and a WiFi interface box.
The internal (saloon) zone uses a Bose unit that was factory fitted to internal speakers.
But the external zones (cockpit and flybridge) use Fusion (car style) speakers and Fusion amplifiers.
The kit wasn't expensive and works really well.
The heart of the systems are the WiFi boxes.
These are the ones I bough but they aren't available anymore
DigiFunk® - WiFi Wireless Audio Music Receiver: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
But there are lots of these types of device out there - with more features now.
The ones that I fitted have been very reliable.
We play music from mobile devices.
Androids use a special app (which is a bit complicated to install) but iPhones just work using Apple's Airplay.

If you want a simpler installation, Fusion supply a complete system called their MS-BB100
Marine Black Box with Bluetooth Wired Remote & NMEA 2000
I helped a friend fit one on his sailboat last summer.
A really great bit of kit.

Great info, and thanks for the links.

 

[Neil Watson]

A plea from the heart to those who cannot put up with the sound of nature and wish to drown it out with "music".
A least when the young man drops off his girlfriend, who lives next door to you ,at 01.00 in the morning, most of the hideous cacophony stays inside the car and he will be gone in minute or two.
A boat is different.
Especially applies to owners of boats with flybridge speakers and Tentboats and those likely to be boating in confined waters.
Sound travels well over water, sometimes embarrassingly so.
There is nothing worse than the sound of somebodies "music" pounding out all over the surrounding area, be it " Grind" or even worse Ritt der Walküren , heard one peaceful summer evening ALL over a couple of meadows on the Thames.
Keep it to yourself

Newbies seem especially prone especially on the trip back to home marina .
Having collected the boat, got under way ,checking nothing is overheating/falling off and hopefully going in the right direction, the first impulse seems to be to find the radio or CD and turn up the volume.
Next time gonna to find the fuse and quietly throw it over the side before departure.
Grumpy Moi ?

Agreed about keeping the noise down and not upsetting others who want silence.

 

[Elessar]

I have a small boat and modest budget, but love carefully listening to music at times, and especially nicely recorded and reproduced music. I've ended up with a Bowers and Wilkins T7 portable Bluetooth speaker which I run from an extensive collection of music stored on an I-phone.
View attachment 89693
I know that serious hi-fi buffs would sneer at Bluetooth etc., but to my ears (and I'm a music fusspot) the quality is way above the average. The sound from this tiny speaker (stereo but in one little box) is truly remarkable (and I have big B&W floor-standers at home to compare it to). It's not going to shake the crockery in the other boats in the anchorage, but is more the loud enough inside my boat, and can be easily picked up moved from the saloon to the wheelhouse or cockpit. I cannot understand how the bass, especially, can be so good out of such a tiny speaker (and I'm a bass player, so that is what I'm often focusing on when listening). It has a nice solid carrying case (at extra cost, IIRC) and gets taken home between trips.

What makes me laugh is people who sneer at other people’s solutions.
Some people spend silly money on hifi and argue about the subtle improvement that those extra £000s brings.

Most people can’t tell the difference. And if you can’t then who’s the idiot? And those portable solutions can be jolly good.

I was involved in building a listening room once. It cost 100s of £k for a small room with controlled and even reverberation and a listening space in the middle surrounded by visually opaque but aurally transparent cloth. This is so the clipboard wielding audio nerds couldn’t have any preconceptions about the speakers they were about to hear. With some surprising results of course.

Anyway I digress.

In my first channel crossing in a mirage 28, pre GPS so dead reckoning only. Tiller pilot on and for some of the trip we listened to some music.
After a while we realised we’re heading due east. Crikey. For how long? Where were we? We quickly took off the obviously faulty tiller pilot. The compass in which was thankfully nowhere near our loudspeaker..........

Remember if it sounds good it will be heavy. And you know what the weight is.

 

[LBRodders]

If anyone else on YBW has hooked has record player on board I will eat my hat! Well played ?

Particularly if it is on gimbals..

 

[longjohnsilver]

I have a small boat and modest budget, but love carefully listening to music at times, and especially nicely recorded and reproduced music. I've ended up with a Bowers and Wilkins T7 portable Bluetooth speaker which I run from an extensive collection of music stored on an I-phone.
View attachment 89693
I know that serious hi-fi buffs would sneer at Bluetooth etc., but to my ears (and I'm a music fusspot) the quality is way above the average. The sound from this tiny speaker (stereo but in one little box) is truly remarkable (and I have big B&W floor-standers at home to compare it to). It's not going to shake the crockery in the other boats in the anchorage, but is more the loud enough inside my boat, and can be easily picked up moved from the saloon to the wheelhouse or cockpit. I cannot understand how the bass, especially, can be so good out of such a tiny speaker (and I'm a bass player, so that is what I'm often focusing on when listening). It has a nice solid carrying case (at extra cost, IIRC) and gets taken home between trips.

I also have one of those excellent B & W Bluetooth speakers and can confirm it really is excellent. Unfortunately mine is sitting unused in Spain

On my boat here I use a small Bluetooth amp, a Tangent Ampster BT 11 bought from Richer Sounds for about £120, along with a pair of small speakers Q acoustics3010 about £100. My tv is connected by a optical cable. All this is powered by a small inverter. So far I’m extremely pleased with the excellent sound and ease of use. The small remote is great.

i originally bought a Tangent to use in Spain, I was so impressed by it I bought the new improved version for the boat. I’d happily recommend it to anyone.

 

[Reality61]

Hi
Fusion, Kicker and Rockford Fosgate are the marker leaders in most medium sized boats, followed by the expensive blaupunkt for the big cruisers. Lots to choose from it boils down to costs I would think. Have fun looking is half the fun anyway.