Marine Audio

[Bobby Bass]

Didn’t see a site for marine audio so posting here.

I am buying a 2024 Bennington pontoon boat and looking to upgrade the onboard stereo system. Will be on a lake so freshwater instead of salt water use. The basic stereo offered has a Bluetooth receiver with 4 speakers. I can upgrade to a Rockford Fosgate PMX-2 receiver that syncs with my iPhone. I will stream with Qobuz. I can also upgrade with an amp and subwoofer. Getting their specs from the dealer. I will switch out the speakers myself when I get the boat but want the rest of the equipment installed by the manufacturer who has a 10 year warranty on everything onboard And only offers lighted speakers as a speaker upgrade which I don’t need.

Please Share your thoughts on my setup if you have any experience with marine stereo equipment.

 

[highfigh]

Will they install a Fusion stereo? Lots of bang for the buck.

A friend bought the first Fusion equipment I had seen and the sound was impressive- didn't sound like 12V audio, at all. He also bought their speakers and hasn't blown anything up, nothing has failed and he finally called me about one channel going out, but that came back after he unlugged/plugged in the cable. Not bad for more than 10 years in that boat, which survived Hurricane Dorian.

At this point, I'm not sure I would worry about the lights since they come with too many speakers already but you don't need to use them- I would be more concerned with the sound of the speakers than anything.

 

[TLS Guy]

Didn’t see a site for marine audio so posting here.

I am buying a 2024 Bennington pontoon boat and looking to upgrade the onboard stereo system. Will be on a lake so freshwater instead of salt water use. The basic stereo offered has a Bluetooth receiver with 4 speakers. I can upgrade to a Rockford Fosgate PMX-2 receiver that syncs with my iPhone. I will stream with Qobuz. I can also upgrade with an amp and subwoofer. Getting their specs from the dealer. I will switch out the speakers myself when I get the boat but want the rest of the equipment installed by the manufacturer who has a 10 year warranty on everything onboard And only offers lighted speakers as a speaker upgrade which I don’t need.

Please Share your thoughts on my setup if you have any experience with marine stereo equipment.

You know it is very bad form to play loud music on a lake from a boat. It really carries over water, and the rest of us don't want to hear it.

We had a lovely lake home in Northern MN for 20 years. People drifting round the lake playing loud music were are real menace. I would go out to them and remind them of the noise ordinances, and actually give them a pretty good dressing down. Lakes are for peace and quiet and NOT music.

 

[lovinthehd]

You know it is very bad form to play loud music on a leke from a boat. It really carries over water, and the rest of us don't want to hear it.

We had a lovely lake home in Northern MN for 20 years. People drifting round the lake playing loud music were are real menace. I would go out to them and remind them of the noise ordinances, and actually give them a pretty good dressing down. Lakes are for peace and quiet and NOT music.

Curious, how often were those dressing downs effective? I know what you mean, as an old school water skier hated the bloated wake boats and their usually obnoxious sound systems. I mean, we had a sound system, but it was just for us on the boat.....

 

[TLS Guy]

Curious, how often were those dressing downs effective? I know what you mean, as an old school water skier hated the bloated wake boats and their usually obnoxious sound systems. I mean, we had a sound system, but it was just for us on the boat.....

We all worked together and it was pretty effective. Our lake was connected to Leech lake, which is a huge lake, so we could direct them to go out miles from nowhere if they wanted to blast music. But even then it can carry a long way over water. It really does ruin the whole atmosphere of a lake to play music in earshot of anyone else.

I can say that the last thing anyone needs on a lake boat is a subwoofer. Anyone who thinks that is a good idea is a complete ass.

 

[Bobby Bass]

Will they install a Fusion stereo? Lots of bang for the buck.

A friend bought the first Fusion equipment I had seen and the sound was impressive- didn't sound like 12V audio, at all. He also bought their speakers and hasn't blown anything up, nothing has failed and he finally called me about one channel going out, but that came back after he unlugged/plugged in the cable. Not bad for more than 10 years in that boat, which survived Hurricane Dorian.

At this point, I'm not sure I would worry about the lights since they come with too many speakers already but you don't need to use them- I would be more concerned with the sound of the speakers than anything.

Thanks I haven’t heard of Fusion I’ll check it out.

 

[highfigh]

Thanks I haven’t heard of Fusion I’ll check it out.

Fusion is one of the largest OEM audio suppliers for marine manufacturers- they're owned by Garmin and if you have a compatible nav system, you can connect the Fusion head unit via NMEA 2000, to control it on the screen. Raymarine isn't just a plug n play brand, at this point.

 

[highfigh]

We all worked together and it was pretty effective. Our lake was connected to Leech lake, which is a huge lake, so we could direct them to go out miles from nowhere if they wanted to blast music. But even then it can carry a long way over water. It really does ruin the whole atmosphere of a lake to play music in earshot of anyone else.

I can say that the last thing anyone needs on a lake boat is a subwoofer. Anyone who thinks that is a good idea is a complete ass.

How many boats were built for wakeboarding and had two or four speaker cans facing backward? Yes, those are for whomever is hanging onto the rope, or wake surfing behind the boat.

Those are bad enough, but if the lake has mosquitos (jet skis), it's a bad day/week/month/year at the lake.

 

[MrBoat]

You know it is very bad form to play loud music on a lake from a boat. It really carries over water, and the rest of us don't want to hear it.

We had a lovely lake home in Northern MN for 20 years. People drifting round the lake playing loud music were are real menace. I would go out to them and remind them of the noise ordinances, and actually give them a pretty good dressing down. Lakes are for peace and quiet and NOT music.

I've had to build ski arches and towers around speakers (usually some kind of oversized 'cannon' of a speaker). Whole time I was thinking about the importance of stealth when fishing, which is most of the reason I am there, personally. If they didn't make excellent IEMs and headphones, then there would be more room for an excuse, if one has to listen loudly, and especially with genres of music that can be considered 'controversial,' which many are, beyond that of a whisper.

There's a time and place for it, but I personally just don't enjoy music so much when it annoys someone else. Is why my loud system is indoors, and I am mindful in the wee hrs of who might be hearing it.

There are often times, long spells in-between that I can finally get on the water. Thankfully I have places to get away from the yahoos because Tampa Bay is large enough. Not so much on lakes though. Best time to fish is on Sundays, because the same mouth-breathers that eff it up for others, are TV sports fans as well, at least during football season. Super Bowl Sunday, I can almost guarantee having the bay mostly to myself, or as far as I can see, most of the time.

Best times on the lakes here is normal weekdays. Only people that can really be found out there then is retirees and they well understand the "shut-up and fish" rule. We were there likely playing 'hooky' from work, and we damn sure didn't want to rile anyone.

 

[MrBoat]

Didn’t see a site for marine audio so posting here.

I am buying a 2024 Bennington pontoon boat and looking to upgrade the onboard stereo system. Will be on a lake so freshwater instead of salt water use. The basic stereo offered has a Bluetooth receiver with 4 speakers. I can upgrade to a Rockford Fosgate PMX-2 receiver that syncs with my iPhone. I will stream with Qobuz. I can also upgrade with an amp and subwoofer. Getting their specs from the dealer. I will switch out the speakers myself when I get the boat but want the rest of the equipment installed by the manufacturer who has a 10 year warranty on everything onboard And only offers lighted speakers as a speaker upgrade which I don’t need.

Please Share your thoughts on my setup if you have any experience with marine stereo equipment.

Bennington is a well built pontoon. I repair busted pontoons sometimes, and can pretty much tell the worst from the best. That's a nice ride.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Bennington is a well built pontoon. I repair busted pontoons sometimes, and can pretty much tell the worst from the best. That's a nice ride.

Bennington does make a nice pontoon for sure. There are more than a few others, but they’re always solid. As someone who lives on a lake, my opinion, fwiw, is I don’t really care when people are cruising around with their music up. It usually doesn’t last long as they just keep moving. Annoying? Yeah but not for long. What DOES drive me bonkers, is when I’m sitting out on the hook somewhere and a boatload pulls up 100’ away and throws the hook out, and turns up some crap that’s louder than my own radio. I do have a sub and 6 clarions, but I’m always respectful to those that I might annoy.

 

[Bobby Bass]

Ordered my boat. Upgraded to the Rockford Fosgate PMX2 stereo in the console. Has a mosfet internal amp rated at 25 watts at 4 ohms with a max of 50 for 4 speakers. Better Bluetooth to stream Qobuz through my iPhone which I can charge on the console. 6 kicker blue ice speakers with Lights onboard Including 2 in the aft that were part of a package With a light up Bennington sign. I don’t care about the lights but my kids liked the package which included the expanded sun deck. Didn't go for the amp or sub. there may be a separate amp for the 2 aft speakers with 6 running off the stereo which has an output for the extra pair. The salesperson didn’t know even though he has the same setup. Will be better sound and an easier to use setup than I have now and Bennington covers everything for 10 years with full replacement, no prorating. Can’t wait for spring!

 

[cpp]

Marine audio, well its nice to have for a party barge but quality is always impacted by the weather ( wind) and other noise. Bennington, nice well made pontoon boat. Enjoy

 

[Bobby Bass]

Thanks looking Forward to listening since you can’t demo unless you test drive the same setup. It will definitely be an upgrade from the pair of Alpine speakers I have connected to my Sony in-dash receiver.

 

[ebrartin]

For marine audio purpose i use a Kemimoto marine sound bar. This probably the best sounding Soundbar with the most bang for your buck!Superb quality and crystal clear sound with deep Bass! My wife yelled at me from inside the house to turn it down! LOL

 

[Bobby Bass]

For marine audio purpose i use a Kemimoto marine sound bar. This probably the best sounding Soundbar with the most bang for your buck!Superb quality and crystal clear sound with deep Bass! My wife yelled at me from inside the house to turn it down! LOL

lol if you get that kind of feedback you should be all set. When I was a kid my Dad told me my music was too loud and now my kids tell me the same thing. I’d listen to them but I can’t hear them over the sound of my music.