Trying to put stereo in boat?

[443joshc]

I have a 1981 16ft. Sea Sprite that I would like to put a stereo in. I don't think I need to spend a lot of money but, I do want it to sound good. Needless to say I am looking for advice for wiring and maybe some pictures of how to hook it to my current wireing system. Its an 81 and still has the capsul fuses. I hope this helps. Thanks.

 

[Knot Waiting]

Re: Trying to put stereo in boat?

You'll get better results posting this in the Electronics forum. Lots of good help there. http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?f=23

 

[5150abf]

Re: Trying to put stereo in boat?

I am retarded when it comes to wiring and even I can get a stereo in so if I can get you certainly can, it is really easy, it looks like alot of wires but just deal with them one at a time and it is easy.

You will need a power source and a bunch of speaker wire. probably the hardest part will be cutting out the speaker holes and the hole for the head unit.

What ever you buy should come with instructions as to how to wire it and the only wires you should use from the boat are the power leads but don't just tap into something else, run a dedicated power to the stereo off a main bus line or directly from the battery.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Trying to put stereo in boat?

I have a 1981 16ft. Sea Sprite that I would like to put a stereo in. I don't think I need to spend a lot of money but, I do want it to sound good. Needless to say I am looking for advice for wiring and maybe some pictures of how to hook it to my current wireing system. Its an 81 and still has the capsul fuses. I hope this helps. Thanks.

Don't we all wish it was that way? Usually, you get what you pay for. I installed a CD player into my parents houseboat. It wasn't hard. Just follow the directions. The speakers or player should come with the wire you need unless you are putting the speakers some stupid distance from the player. It's all plug and play man, you can't get it wrong if you match up the wires as shown in the instructions.

You don't need to wire it some special way, just hook into an existing 12v source thats easy to get to with at least a 5amp fuse or breaker, maybe a 10 would be better. They don't pull that much current.

 

[xxturbowesxx]

Re: Trying to put stereo in boat?

I just did a setup in my boat.. buy automotive 6x9s with poly cones and they are exactly the same and save about 100 there.. i would buy 4 6x9s and install them with a decent head unit(i use auto parts they seem to last just as long If you protect them with a cover(about 4-5 seasons) I have 2 6x9s under the consoles in my 18' fish n ski and they are plenty... I use an amp/ipod and speakers.. I use my ipod as a head unit and it sounds great. I have a 175hp 2 stroke at at 60mph I can still hear it well.

Total cost for my setup was 100ish because i already had an ipod.

If you are interested in this setup you will have to buy an amp and the speakers.(if you already have a mp3 player) you then get a jack that goes from your ipod to rca and plug it into your amp.Use the presets in your ipod(rock,pop,ect) for EQ. I went even further and purchased an Airclick remote so i can control the ipod from my steering wheel.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Trying to put stereo in boat?

I went to bass pro, and bought a cd player, and 2 speakers as a package, for 180 bucks. And it sounds great.

One thing that did not come with it was the waterproof capsule you put the cd player in. It has a door on the front, and when you close it, it is water tight.

My speakers are circles about 6 inches in diamater.

The capsule was 60 bucks at west marine, it can probally be had cheaper thou.

 

[mudslinging79]

Re: Trying to put stereo in boat?

okay. your red wire is goes to hot, yellow is a constant hot for the pre-set memory, black goes to ground, blue is the power wire going out to an amp, and the speaker wires are color coded... purple and purple with a black stripe is the hot and ground for one speaker, dont remember wgich one... just follow the pictures of the diagram.
hit the marine stores for a waterproof "glovebox" for the cd player/radio, and speakers. the speakers should come with a pattern with the size of the hole you need to cut, or there are speakers that are in a little plastic box... just screw in a mounting bracket.

 

[soc45cer1]

Re: Trying to put stereo in boat?

This looks like it would be difficult but once you get into it its really easy. Your red wire is your switched wire (turns the radio on and off with the key). Your yellow wire is constant +12VDC. Black is ground. then you should have a purple & purple/black, green & green/black, white & white/black, and grey & grey/black. These are your speaker wires, the wire with the black strip is your negative lead and the solid colored wire is your positive lead. Just hook it up wire by wire and your good to go.