Sound on Board -- Bringing it Up to Date

[Doug4bass]

My Fusion 750 rocks! Bluetooth or external dock. Add a dedicated sub to your existing speakers and you are good to go.

[Dockhead]

Thanks to everyone for all the different excellent suggestions, which really got the creative juices flowing.

In a flash of inspiration, I think I finally figured out the right solution.

I wanted to add an amplifier to my head unit anyway and upgrade the speakers, and it just occurred to me that 12v (and 24v!) amplifiers are available which have other inputs besides the RCA inputs used with the normal head unit.

Something like this:

Sure Electronics' webstore 2 x 100Watt 6 Ohm Class D Audio Amplifier Explorer w Bluetooth, Remote Control & MW 24V 120W Power Adapter

Only drawback is it has two channels; I need 4. A lovely thing with Bluetooth and also Toslink (!) inputs. A simple USB-Toslink adapter, and I have a digital, interference-free connection between my ship's computer and the amp.

Remote control! So I can mount it out of the way.

Seems absolutely perfect; now to find one like it with four channels.

[Doug4bass]

Not sure what you mean by "4 channels". You mean like the 8 tracks?

[Pizzazz]

I have been playing with digital audio for awhile. My thoughts:

1. Source is your phone (mp3, streaming, aptX is better but few people over 40 can tell the difference unless trained).

2. Quality amplification typically requires AC powered equipment. You can get away with automotive high end amps but those are expensive and require large capacitors.

3. A sound bar system/subwoofer in the main cabin is great for movies and quite compact.

4. For music you need quality non-amplified speakers driven by the amp in point 2.

There are no shortcuts to this approach if you want quality sound on a boat.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Doug4bass

Not sure what you mean by "4 channels". You mean like the 8 tracks?

Stereo is two channels. You need a four channel amp to do front and rear speakers like in a car. My boat head unit is four channels and drives four speakers at a time.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Pizzazz

I have been playing with digital audio for awhile. My thoughts:

1. Source is your phone (mp3, streaming, aptX is better but few people over 40 can tell the difference unless trained).

2. Quality amplification typically requires AC powered equipment. You can get away with automotive high end amps but those are expensive and require large capacitors.

3. A sound bar system/subwoofer in the main cabin is great for movies and quite compact.

4. For music you need quality non-amplified speakers driven by the amp in point 2.

There are no shortcuts to this approach if you want quality sound on a boat.

Sounds very convincing.

But I'm probably not going to be chasing "quality sound" -- like my father did in my childhood with his tube amps and so forth. Just "decent sound". My goal is just enough dynamic range without too much audible distortion to enjoy listening to a Mahler symphony.

But I was interested to see that a person who obviously understands "quality sound" is even discussing streaming over Bluetooth. I guess it means that with my lower standards, it wouldn't be a problem. That's encouraging.

[john61ct]

Can't say it enough, Bluetooth range limitations! Drives me nuts.

Wires or WiFi only, if the latter ideally a separate dedicated freq range from the general network.

Sounds to me that Sonos is audiophile enough for the OP, not cheap but solid stuff will be around for a long time.

[wholybee]

You mentioned you are open to a media server. Check out Plex. Install the plex server on your ship computer. Your Samsung TV likely has an app that will access it to stream music or video on the server. Android and iPhone apps are available also. Plus, in addition to content on the server, when you are in internet range the plex server can connect to other services for music/news/podcasts etc. All accessible from whatever device on board that happens to be in your hand. If you are the type that likes to hack devices, plex can be made to run on an inexpensive NAS device, and then your ship's computer doesn't need to be burdened with it.

[Pelagic]

[QUOTE=Dockhead;2456178]

What I didn't know is now I can't use the Ipod. And on top of that, the analogue headphone cable picks up a lot of interference running through the maze of wiring behind my instrument panel. So it's no good.
QUOTE]

I have recently been using this Samsung Bluetooth headphone with all my devices for music.

Very comfortable to wear, cuts out a lot of the ambient noise.

Interfaces well with my Samsung Smart phone and new Smart TV as well as laptop.

Range is good enough for a boat

http://www.samsung.com/us/audio/head...o-bn920cbegus/

[Pizzazz]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Can't say it enough, Bluetooth range limitations! Drives me nuts.

Wires or WiFi only, if the latter ideally a separate dedicated freq range from the general network.

Sounds to me that Sonos is audiophile enough for the OP, not cheap but solid stuff will be around for a long time.

There are two classes of Bluetooth devices, with 10m (33 ft) range or 100m (333 ft) range. Make sure you are using the right device for your yacht.

[DeepFrz]

Check out the Fusion options.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Can't say it enough, Bluetooth range limitations! Drives me nuts.

Wires or WiFi only, if the latter ideally a separate dedicated freq range from the general network.

Sounds to me that Sonos is audiophile enough for the OP, not cheap but solid stuff will be around for a long time.

Bluetooth range wouldn't bother me. I don't need a wireless connection for distance. Just for easy interference-free connections in a nav station already overrun with wiring. I wouldn't at all being limited to having the devices I'm streaming from right on the nav table, within a meter of the receiver.

Sonos looks very nice, but where would I put the units? Do they make anything in 5.25" car speaker format? I suppose I could power them over the old speaker wires.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by wholybee

You mentioned you are open to a media server. Check out Plex. Install the plex server on your ship computer. Your Samsung TV likely has an app that will access it to stream music or video on the server. Android and iPhone apps are available also. Plus, in addition to content on the server, when you are in internet range the plex server can connect to other services for music/news/podcasts etc. All accessible from whatever device on board that happens to be in your hand. If you are the type that likes to hack devices, plex can be made to run on an inexpensive NAS device, and then your ship's computer doesn't need to be burdened with it.

I already have a sort of media server -- the 2TB drive attached to ship's computer, and other devices networked to the ship's computer (but I don't really need to "serve" any media to anything else so far as sound and video can be handled by the ship's computer). The cheap Atom computer is actually designed for handling video and it is not burdened at all by this duty.

[jkindredpdx]

Creative Sound Blaster ROAR... USB, Micro SD, Aux In, and Bluetooth. Great sound in a rechargeable reasonably sized package. https://us.creative.com/p/speakers/sound-blaster-roar

[skippy]

we have added 5 Sonos 1 speakers to our boat. found out that sitting idle they draw 3.8 W a piece. Can't find numbers of when they are in use. Just ran into a situation of generator shutting down due to over draw and we think these little guys might be pushing it over the edge running all 5. What do others do when running on generator> what do you shut down and not use and how do you compensate for the lack of use of something- such as ice maker. Have friends that unload their ice out of the maker into their refridge freezer and cooler and shut the ice maker down. Sounds good but how much does it draw when you want to fire it up again and you need ice.
Does anyone keep a chart of items and their power use when idle or active? As I would think that this would be a good reference of what you can get out of your generator.