New stereo head unit for boat - any suggestions?

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philipm

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I want to replace the existing (car type) head unit which does not have Bluetooth and therefore can't communicate with my iPhone (which has my music on it).

I've seen ridiculously cheap ones on Ebay which seem to fit the bill.

Anyone have any suggestions?
 
beware the cheap ones...

My car type failed a few years back, so I replaced with a sony head unit from their marine range, the marine designation is supposed to mean that theyre more resistant to corrosion. It wasnt expensive at around £70, but did all the stuff I wanted , ie blue tooth . It lasted about 13 months before failing due to a corroded circuit board.

This was replaced with a cheap kenwood, also from their marine range, this also lasted about 13 months before failing due to corrosion.

The next time I spent a bit more (maybe £200, cant remember) and went for an unit from aquatic AV, this is a brand i hadnt heard of at the time, but after some research found that they were designed to be used in very wet environments, like next to hot tubs and on harley davidsons. This has now lasted 4 years and is still working fine. Its a lot better sealed than the other 'marine' units I tried.

I think fusion audio get good reviews, but I think at the time I wanted one, the cheapest was something like £600, and I dont think it fitted in a standard DIN slot. Everyone rates them as very good.

This is the aquatic AV unit I ended up with, it seems decent

https://www.aquaticav.com/where-to-...os/bluetooth-waterproof-spa-stereo-aq-mp-5bt/

and this fusion looks decent ,is a fair price and fits in a DIN slot

https://www.force4.co.uk/fusion-ms-...MIpY3PgqXP4gIVB7LtCh1gdw4sEAQYASABEgKLjfD_BwE

If I was buying today I'd probably go for the fusion, as I suspect the phone integration will be better than the aquatic AV
 
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My head unit is inside the cabin where I have a dehumidifier running when boat not in use so it shouldn't need to be particularly durable / waterproof down there? Similar to being inside a car I would have thought.
 
philipm said:
My head unit is inside the cabin where I have a dehumidifier running when boat not in use so it shouldn't need to be particularly durable / waterproof down there? Similar to being inside a car I would have thought.
Click to expand...

yep, you could be right, mine was located on deck, it never got directly splashed or wet, but was just the damp,salty air that killed it.
 
I would buy Fusion stuff.

If is not that dear, the units are small and sound good.

Personally I would avoid car stereo - the environment is salt laden and if the marine stuff we 10 times the price then sure - but it isn't!
 
I think it depends on where the head unit is mounted. Ours is in our saloon and as far as I know it's the original non marine (CD/DVD) one (JVC or Alpine, I can't remember) and is still going strong. I'd love to replace it with Fusion stuff but that would cost £300-400 I guess and we'd no longer be able to play DVD's on the TV.

Incidentally one of the Sony speakers has decided to give up the ghost. They've lasted 16 years too and will be replaced like for like at a cost of £50.

If we want to stream music to the cockpit then I just use some portable / waterproof Bose speakers.
 
I bought one of the ebay android head units over 3 years ago now.
It has a motorised flip out screen so runs navionics, as well as all the usual apps you may or may not want/need and I can stream music to it.
It also came with all the cables you'd need to connect it to a tv/camera/amp and all sorts of things that I haven't bothered with.
Routed to some 3 ohm speakers it sounds decent and I've had no issues at all with it. Performance per £, I'm very happy with it!
No point me trying to link to it, it's probably been superseded about 48 times by now, but it was just a generic Chinese non-branded thing.
 
petem said:
I think it depends on where the head unit is mounted. Ours is in our saloon and as far as I know it's the original non marine (CD/DVD) one (JVC or Alpine, I can't remember) and is still going strong. I'd love to replace it with Fusion stuff but that would cost £300-400 I guess and we'd no longer be able to play DVD's on the TV.

Incidentally one of the Sony speakers has decided to give up the ghost. They've lasted 16 years too and will be replaced like for like at a cost of £50.

If we want to stream music to the cockpit then I just use some portable / waterproof Bose speakers.
Click to expand...

Whats a DVD !

You can only buy them at jumble sales! I buy them for the car for the kids as Range Rover still see it a current technology ( How!?)
 
There are non-branded bluetooth / radio head units on Ebay for £12 so I think I'll give one a whirl.

If they don't last then no major harm done and I'll spend a bit more next time.
 
I just replaced an old Pioneer radio cassette in my cabin. It would be the original since 1994- Looks like a standard car type.
Still worked fine, but I wanted bluetooth.
Replaced with Halfords cheap Pioneer - about £70 I think. So far so good but only a few months in.
If anyone needs the wiring mapping from old school 1990's wiring to the modern stuff let me know, I have it written down somewhere.
 
Fusion 6 years and a few soakings and stll going strong. Didn't have bluetooth but a simple add-on plugged into the aux socket 3 years ago upgraded it (£60 at the time for a Fusion ad on IIRC or £15 for a no-name on fleabay etc.). If all you need is bluetooth consider just an add on on the aux input if there is one.
 
I have a brand new JVC Bluetooth head unit that I was going to use but now am going for a different setup. Putting a post in the for sale group. It’s a nice unit.
 
I got tired of the "good" units lasting a season in the sport cruiser cockpit, so I bought cheap from Halfords on the basis it will be replaced every year. Murphy crept in and the damn think has proved indestructible. It has no Bluetooth though. Just a USB port for a pen-drive. Murphy kicked out. The pendrive does not last long at sea before starting to corrupt. You cant win.
 
jcwads said:
I have a brand new JVC Bluetooth head unit that I was going to use but now am going for a different setup. Putting a post in the for sale group. It’s a nice unit.
Click to expand...

Let's hope your different setup includes three zones, a cockpit sub, and a lot of custom moulding and amplification! :D
 
I replaced mine with a £12 Chinese special off ebay, and im pretty impressed! Bluetooth works well and it has decent features! For £12 il not worry if it only lasts a year or 2!
 
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