Need new stereo receiver

[my99svt]

WHAT? I'm confused. You said you call yourself an audiophile, yet you like Bose products?
Thats like blasphemy!

I hesitate to actually recommend a specific unit due to the times we're living in. Products that were once recognized to adhering to quality standards have lost their morals. Many once recognized brands are compromised quality or even re-branded cheap inferior stuff with a recognized logo.

I once some time ago thought I'd have a better sound system by replacing a unrecognized stereo that came on a new boat with a Kenwood. The Kenwood lasted one weekend it had harmonic distortion throughout the entire power-band and at least to me and my wife it sounded like shit.

From there we went to our first Alpine unit on a boat. The Alpine performed well and sounded good even with the stock speakers that came on the boat, but being as we are we were seeking "more".

So off we go still trusting in name brands at the time and bought our first set of replacement speakers. The speakers we went with were "Bose Marine" and to be truthful the first set purchased sounded and performed really well. So well in fact the following year we purchased another set for the front of the boat. Well all I can say is something drastic happened somewhere along the time-span because the second set simply sucked. Note: Still have them and the box will sell cheap because they sound cheap. Fact is I found a cheap new set of speakers on Amazon that weren't labeled Bose that I know for a fact both are made on the same assembly line.

As far as what I currently have is another Alpine the IDA-X100M but the one sold now appears somewhat different from the one I purchased about four to five years ago. It's a great sounding unit in itself and we used it without an amp up to about two years ago when we added some more speakers. I've always found the Ipod controls clunky to say the least, but we get along OK until I manage to get to plowed and I've pretty well trained myself not to screw with it in "that condition" because I will regret it.

I think the most memorial moment I had with our system was last summer. We were tied off downriver to a houseboat partying with of an acquaintance of ours doing shots, lots of beer etc. and having a good time. Well as the evening went on he was continually turning the volume up a bit at a time and listening a bit and jacking it up some more. Over time I retreated some from direct frontage attack of anywhere near of being in front of any of the speakers I knew better it was loud and I don't mean a noisy loud more like front row concert loud where a person can feel your bones vibrate.

That darn fool stood out there for the longest time playing air guitar and enjoying the music. He finally retreated back to where I was and exclaimed he never thought it was possible to play music that loud on a boat a not hear any distortion what-so-ever. I knew then and there I had finally "got it right".

[evinrude2stroke]

A clarion CMD4 came with my pontoon. It has worked well and sounds very good. It is Ipod/MP3/CD etc. I still like to play CDS so having a cd player is important to me.

If I was to up grade I would get either the Clarion CMD6 or the Fusion with the CD player. The Fusion is a little pricey but has a little more power. Nice to have the head unit that you can use the controls to control your Ipod or Iphone. Also you may want to check for one that is bluetooth compatable as well

When I was younger Clarion is all I would buy for my cars. I thought they had great sound especially highs & easy to navigate controls. Im looking to change mine out this summer and will be looking at the Clarions again.

[Nusse]

Those days back when one would by a car stereo..... I remember it. Well, at that time I was all about Alpine.
Nowadays with all cars having special size on their stereos or integrated with the navigator/GPS and the rest of the car computerization it is more or less impossible to put something else then original in the car. I thank the gods there are still boats.

Bose.. Well, I would agree with a previous speaker (about speakers)... I would prefer Dali among others....
http://www.dali-us.com/

Who would buy glasses from Swarovsky when one can buy Orrefors. www.orrefors.us

[my99svt]

Bose.. Well, I would agree with a previous speaker (about speakers)... I would prefer Dali among others....
http://www.dali-us.com/

Who would buy glasses from Swarovsky when one can buy Orrefors. http://www.orrefors.us

Those are great, I'm currently using Paradigm in my home. For my vehicle I use Dynaudio. My boat however, I'm using the factory speakers not amped. My tower has Polk Audio because I got a good deal on them. My subs are 2 10" Bazooka tubes.
Sounds pretty good, but if something happens, I'm not out that much money

[Nusse]

Polk is great stuff too.

[Redneck_Randy]

You know what they say about Bose, No highs no lows must be Bose. LOL

[jrolin1]

This one is the most reasonable one with a wired remote. 80 bucks shipped! I have it hooked up to two amps. My front speakers are running on the head units amp. It sounds great. It replaced a JVC and sounds as good. Nothing was wrong with the JVC but I wanted the rear remote for sandbar days. It has pre outs for the front, rear, and sub. Pretty cool that it has weather radio also.

http://www.amazon.com/Dual-MXDMA8030-In ... arine+dual
I mounted the remote on the back of the toon for control when in the water.

http://www.dualav.com/marineaudio/mxdma8030.php

[Mosnowman]

I decided to give this one a whirl....I know Dual in the past has gotten some harsh criticism but I figure if it doesn't work out I'll try something else. The bluetooth , Sirious ready, ipod, and weather all in one was too tempting not to give it a shot. I am looking at a budget model with a little more kick that the Seaworthy Stereo that came with the boat. I'm putting this with 65w 175w peak speakers. Thoughts?

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... SJOERG9KSM

[curtiscapk]

10% discount with pontoon stuff

http://www.pontoonstuff.com/ipod-ready- ... tereo.aspx

[redbeard]

Thanks for all your input guys. That was the kind of info that I was looking for, I think that I am going to go with a dual. Price is cheap so if someone steals it I won't be out much, I guess for the price I can put one in every few years if need be. I did like the ideal of the wired remote on the outside of the boat never thought of that.