Fusion stereo

[mikedefieslife]

I'm looking at an audio system for my boat. I'm a little confused about Fusion. Is fusion a make or just a protocol for sending/playing audio?

Do other manufacturers like Sony, Yamaha etc.. make fusion amplifiers and servers?

How in sound quality terms is a fusion system likely to stack up against my Yamaha NX N500 speakers, that are basically studio monitors tuned to be a little more forgiving for home use?

I've noted that there is a fusion plug-in for Signal-K, unfortunately it's only head. I was hoping that there might be some software out there to run a fusion server on my Pi, and control it from my MFD.

[Sailmonkey]

Fusion makes a radio.

Imho the audio quality is fine, but our speakers a 4” and rusty.

[Stu Jackson]

My experience is that "marine rated" stereos are a marketing ploy. I've had three or four auto stereos on our boat in the last 21 years. By the time they wear out the audio technology has changed that you'd want a new one anyway (cassettes, CDs, Bluetooth...what's next?!?). Not worth the extra $$. Crutchfield is a very very good source.


The trick is to wire your system so the head end can be swapped without heavy duty wiring issues.

[Mabel Page]

Originally Posted by mikedefieslife

I'm looking at an audio system for my boat. I'm a little confused about Fusion. Is fusion a make or just a protocol for sending/playing audio?

Do other manufacturers like Sony, Yamaha etc.. make fusion amplifiers and servers?

How in sound quality terms is a fusion system likely to stack up against my Yamaha NX N500 speakers, that are basically studio monitors tuned to be a little more forgiving for home use?

I've noted that there is a fusion plug-in for Signal-K, unfortunately it's only head. I was hoping that there might be some software out there to run a fusion server on my Pi, and control it from my MFD.

Fusion makes a nice high quality stereo system. I can’t recall the price since it came with my new boat. As a musician and avid listener, I have no issues with it. It rocks the boat! I have not research the market though so can’t comment on wether or not there is something more cost effect and/or better. Mine is blue tooth with other modern features.

[muttnik]

Fusion is a (kiwi?) brand. They used to do car audio of the type beloved by folks who'd cruise the southend seafront in their subarus. I've got one of their early marine iPod units. It irritated the hell out of me that it would endlessly repeat an album with no way to say "play this once then stop". Apparently that's what car audio thingies do. Who knew? I never owned a car...

They have a stand with bored looking people near the big motoryachts at southampton boat show every year.

They seem to have been bought by Garmin:
https://www.fusionentertainment.com
...which may or may not account for the fact that they've worked with other manufacturers to define pgns to allow their n2k-connected products to be controlled from your MFD (not just Garmin I believe).

Not heard of the signalk connectivity but if folks can read the pgns off the n2k bus they're presumably convertible to SignalK.

[Tillsbury]

Yes, Fusion make slightly overpriced marine radios. However, they have some significant features that make them significantly better than the average car stereo. In many of them you can place your phone for direct connection (and charging, and keeping water off). They have sufficient inputs including Bluetooth. The one I have is middle-of-the-range, but has two amplified zones (with subwoofer output) and a separate line-level third zone. Having upgraded the speakers in my boat and installed a car subwoofer, the sound is excellent.

Being able to name the zones and control saloon and cockpit volume from the MFD at the helm is very handy. There is a range of extras such as remote controls you can place in other locations.