Installing a new Stereo
First thing was to decide what kind of unit to buy.
After looking all over and seeing big name stuff for $350 to $450 and then finding stuff for $150 to $250 that was good but didn't have all the amenities I wanted I ran across this Dual Stereo. CD, CD-R, MP3, Weather radio, and iPOD (or other portable MP3 device) plug in for $200. Good deal I thought! And it was. Sounds great.
OK, now where do we put it?
The more I thought about cutting in to the cabin to install this thing the worse I liked the idea and so finally decided a watertight case was just what I needed. So I bought one for $60 I think and then realized it would screw in under the first step down to the cabin perfectly. Very cool! Not even an extra screw hole in the fiberglass! The battery compartment is right below so I drilled a 3/4 inch hole in the wood cover to that, encapsulated the wiring in some plastic conduit and it was all clean and pretty!
Unfortunately................
There was no getting around a couple of holes for the 6x8 triaxials. As you can see I put them as far forward in the main cabin as I could, one on either side. It hurt but I think they look good and they sound really good! These are "Boss" speakers for about $90 a pair.
I'd had enough .............
Of sawing my boat so decided to go with two more speakers in their own box. I've seen where people have attached them to the aft stanchion but I want to keep those as clean as possible so found what I was looking for at the "Dual" web site in these that you see for about $65. I bought plenty of speaker wire and attached plug-ins so I can take them through the aft port hole if I want or just out the companionway to the cockpit.
And the last addition to my stereo is a corded remote from Dual.
At first I thought, "corded?, no way! got to be cordless", but it's got a lot of cord and is powered by the player so no batteries. Does EVERTHING. I had to drill a small hole in my player box to hook it up but will add a rubber grommet to seal it again. $65.
Where's my new Buffett CD?
So now I'm jamming away to some great sounds with a totally weatherproof quality stereo for a little less than $500.
