Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Wanted to ask if anyone has a good recommendation on a marine stereo head unit?

I've purchased two Kenwood (KDC-BT368) units within 2 seasons and they keep failing at roughly $100+/ea. I've looked around and others have had similar issues with this unit.

Has anyone had luck with a particular unit that might get me more than 1 season??

The requirements I have are:
- Single DIN
- at least 40w per channel (deck power)
- Bluetooth capability
- Preamp RCA output for sub and sub controls.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

Those little Infinity units that come on many new toons are real good. I think the entry model is just over $200. Mine has an amp and 6 speakers and it's really a good stereo, good sound and plenty loud for flying around if you want it to be.

I have had good luck with Clarion Marine units.

http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products-personal/marine/

Cool!

Thanks guys. I like the Clarion idea Bob! The M505 looks like it has the features that I need at around $150.

I would really like to stay away from JVC and Kenwood.

We had a west marine unit that took a lot of abuse. The biggest thing is to not get a cd player. That little slot is the death of most marine stereos. Dual makes the west marine units and a few others. The giveaway is the wiring harness plug being identical. Dual actually makes some good units under their own name and academy has them on super clearance prices right now.

while not a big name unit i have had a boss audio marine unit in use for 7 years and it also has a SD card slot


http://www.bossaudio.com/marine-products/in-dash/

"The biggest thing is to not get a cd player"

I would agree.

I have looked at Dual, but not in depth and just wasn't sure of the sound quality.

Here's something to consider. http://remotesthatfloat.com/zencart/

You have to have a wired remote ready unit to use one. I had a marine clarion w/cd unit in other boat, had no complaints.
The rf remotes works anywhere within 100ft of the boat. You can be on the beach or in the water and still control your tunes.
If that is something you're interested in, check the units it's compatible with. Not sure if all wired remote units are compatible.


Just found this on clarions site. http://www.clarion.com/us/en/products-p ... index.html

I decided to go with the Clarion M505.

Just got it installed yesterday and I have to say I'm pleased with it. Although the Kenwood had a few more options for customizing the sound and tuning the sub, the Clarion works and sounds well. Simple to use and easy to connect to with bluetooth. Now lets get more than one season out of it and I'm sold!

Thank you all for your help. Much appreciated.

The Sony head unit Bennington put in my pontoon is pretty marginal. A good set of speakers will go a long way to improve the sound, however.

I later saw my exact Sony CD unit in Best Buys--whopping $69. Boy, Bennington really steps out there when it comes to sound systems.

I'm not into the million watt big sound. I'm looking at the gauge style Boss because it has the NOAA weather band. Then I will put some decent speakers on it like Infinity.