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Stereo unit replacment
KYSEAN
Member Posts: 121 ✭✭
I was thinking of replacing the stereo on my boat, not the speakers at this time. They seem pretty decent. How does one find a unit that will fit the same as the one that came with the boat. I've never done it before, hence the basic question. thanks, Sean
2012 Rinker BR216 5.0
Post edited by mvn on
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If its a single din, then any other single din will physically fit.
Do you have any remote displays? Those are what you need to make sure work with the new head unit.
Sean, I haven't done this before but if I had to do it I would make a template of the cut out and take it to a car audio shop. They may find a unit that will fit, but they also have frames that fit around the head unit to close up holes. I'm sure they can sort out your problem.
Boat Name: King Kong
"Boat + Water = Fun"
No remote displays. Please fill me in on what a single Din is? Thanks all
with no remotes any good marine radio will fit if you want you could upgrade to one with a remote. I did that on my old rinker one of the best things I did. Mine was placed on top part of helm so I could change it when I wanted too. Pretty straight forward instal either way you go
Any extra wiring with a remote?
Hey Sean,
Any single DIN stereo will fit as a replacement. I would shop for a CEA-2006 compliant car stereo and related components. This is a quality certification that requires car stereo manufacturer to lab test and certify the rated wattage output to be true. Only the best brands do this. Alpine, Kenwood, Sony, JVC, Fusion, Wetsounds, MBQuart, etc... all make great equipment.
There are many remote control options available for the aforementioned brands using IR, RF, or mounted and hardwired. A regular car stereo will fit the bill unless the stereo is in a harsh environment, i.e. center console salt water fishing boat with direct water contact, etc... They do have marine rated car stereos that have conformal coated circuit boards, but they are usually three to four times the price of a normal car stereo and not updated as often. I run a $139 Alpine UTE-52BT Bluetooth stereo in my boat with waterproof RF remotes, Alpine amps, Infiniti speakers and a JL sub. I am really happy with the system and it rivals the ones in my autos.
The wiring and mounting are pretty easy to do with a simple DMM, a few hand tools, wire crimpers and connectors. I am happy to help with the wire colors and connections if you want to install it yourself. Its really not that difficult.
The Crutchfield.com website is a good place to start looking for gear. I've been buying stuff from them for years and they have excellent free technical support when you purchase a product. The return policy is great as well.
-MW
2000 180 Bowrider, 135hp 3.0L Merc, 2.00 Alpha One Gen 2 OD, 14.5 x 19P prop
Regular weekender, trailer stored indoors, Southern Ohio
No extra wiring if you get a car stereo with IR, or RF remote transmission.
I chose the Alpine RF remote versus IR and hardwired. I hate drilling into the fiberglass to mount anything if I don't have to.
2000 180 Bowrider, 135hp 3.0L Merc, 2.00 Alpha One Gen 2 OD, 14.5 x 19P prop
Regular weekender, trailer stored indoors, Southern Ohio
Thank's all for the help. Now I need to talk the boss into letting me go shopping.
Also how many speakers do you have? Do you have a sub woofer? That will tell you how many channels the amp should have and if you need to bridge two channels for the woofer. Watch the impedence you create when connecting the speakers. You don't want (imo) to create a 2 ohm situation - too **** the amp (heats it up fast). 4 ohms is okay, 8 ohms is better. If the dealer is any good they can show you all that in under 5 minutes. MT
4 speakers no sub.
If you have properly rated power and speaker wiring, and a good quality CEA-2006 rated amp, it will run a 4Ohm or 2Ohm load no problem. All car and marine audio speakers are rated at 4Ohms. (unless you have a special dual voice coil sub-woofer that is rated at 1.5Ohms per voice coil) If you wire two 4Ohm speakers in parallel it creates an 2Ohm load. Two 4Ohm speakers wired in series give you an 8ohm load.
Since you have a simple four speaker setup, a quality 4 channel amp should do the trick. Depending on what amp you choose, you may have to install new power and ground wire from the house battery directly to the amp.
Can you list the make and model of speakers you have installed?
2000 180 Bowrider, 135hp 3.0L Merc, 2.00 Alpha One Gen 2 OD, 14.5 x 19P prop
Regular weekender, trailer stored indoors, Southern Ohio
Picture shows the unit we have. matched speakers came with it.
Nice looking unit. I have an MB Quart 660 - 6 channel amp in my 360 that runs 6 speakers and a bridged channel sub-W. It works great. MT
That's a single DIN, by the way. Double DIN is essentially twice as tall.
MB Quart is a quality German stereo manufacturer unfortunatly that unit is NOT an MB Quart original, they sold the right to use their name to another company who made those units ( so they told me). I just replaced the same unit on my boat with a Kenwood 558 BT it was only going into the 3rd season, it never was quite right from the start and I should have made some noise about it in the first year. The remotes slowly lost functions until the transom one quit completely this spring, the dash one had about 1/2 of the functions and the head unit was starting to act up. The unit did sound good when it was working.
bmax
I was thinking it was a 1.5 DIN but I would measure it before I ordered one anyway. Thanks, Sean
I like that Kenwood also. I've been looking at it.
Thats a bummer! You cant go wrong with the top main brands when choosing a suitable replacement. i.e. Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer, etc....
2000 180 Bowrider, 135hp 3.0L Merc, 2.00 Alpha One Gen 2 OD, 14.5 x 19P prop
Regular weekender, trailer stored indoors, Southern Ohio