Need help w/ 97 ski nautique radio upgrade

[tyzac]

Looking to switch out my stock stereo (Clarion M5275) in my 97 ski nautique.
I've tried doing a search on the forum and came up with nothing.
I have to apologize because I don't have a lot of knowledge in the products or installation, but it's possible that I could do this work myself with the proper direction (?)
I was looking for more/better sound and the capability of using an ipod
Also looking for a signal booster? I hardly get any reception
Where do I start?
Where would I buy/order parts from?

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!
Mike

[east tx skier]

On my 98, since stock, it has had the following upgrades.

New Tuner/Deck (single DIN ipod compatible car deck). It's under the plastic cover. I have never had problems using a car deck.
5 channel Amp for cockpit speakers and sub (upgraded from a four channel and bridged two channel to save space).
four new cockpit speakers. I went with polk DB651 in the front and component in the rear since the previous owner had already cut holes for component. Top mounted the speakers rather than remounting behind the grill cloth.
Previous owner upgraded the speaker wire.
8" sub (Polk MM840). in a small slant box mounted on the hump under the bow. It's a good sub, but you may be looking for more thump.
relocated driver's speaker from kick panel to custom pod under the throttle pointing at the driver.

[tyzac]

thanks for the info!
sounds like quite a bit of work
not sure if i would be able to do all that myself
i would love to be able to do it to save money
any ideas on cost?

[east tx skier]

I have not done a lot of stereo work outside of this. There's not a lot to it. It's just time consuming. If I had it to do over again, I might have made different choices as far as components go. But, overall, I've very satisfied with the setup.

Everything was purchased New in box. I would say that this is a fairly basic setup. Most of the big stereo guys on here would probably pull this out and start fresh. Works great for us though.

JVC CD/Ipod deck ($127 on ebay in 2007).
Infinity 5 channel Amp - about $250 on ebay.
Polk DB6501 speakers $75 for the pair on ebay)
Polk DB651 speaker ($50 for the pair on ebay).
Polk MM840 Subwoofer ($99 on amazon).
Sub Box $30 at a local shop. Volume correct for sealed enclosure for the MM840.
Wiring, probably $35 for everything from the speaker wires to the power wires and rca cables for the amp and various fuses, butt joints, etc.
Speaker pod. Probably $75 in materials.

[hourglass]

alpine makes pretty awesome marine head units. you could either get sat. radio and have great reception, or get the iphone or droid app and just use that instead of buying expensive brains for the h/u sat. hook up. terrestrial radio is no bueno. do you plan on adding new speakers?

[east tx skier]

Alpines do a very good job of cleaning up lower grade music files as well. I have an alpine media deck in my truck and it does very well with whatever I toss at it. My only complaint there is that the controls are a little less than intuitive. Unfortunately, most of these single din ipod decks are not ideal compared to the nice touch screen controls to which we've become accustomed.

I'd still recommend something with a CD player. Not so much for music cds, but for mp3 discs. You can get about 180 medium quality mp3s on a cd and not have to worry about dropping your ipod in the drink. Another option is to have a deck that is usb compatible instead of just ipod compatible. You can get flash cards really inexpensively these days. Copy all of your music to that and just leave it in the boat.

[tyzac]

I hope someone can give me some advice ??

Looking for help and hints for switching out the old stock (Clarion M5275) and installing new

It sounds like I have to do some wiring, soldering, etc. with the Clarion M309 anyways. So would I be better
off purchasing something other than Clarion? Plus I hear the controls for the ipod can only be done from the unit
not the ipod? Would an Alpine be better? Heard Clarion is better than others because they have been
in the marine part of it longer. True?
I was also going to do the additional hook up for satellite radio.

I'm was looking/hoping for easy installation

(Might do amp, speakers, etc at a later date)

Hints?
Pictures?

[east tx skier]

If you have a radio cover or don't mind installing one, a marine head unit is not necessary. This frees up your selection to any number of single din units. If you are going to add an amp and a sub eventually, best do the amp now to save yourself wiring up the head unit to the speakers, then removing the speaker wires wires and rewiring to the amp later.

If you have the amp, a four or five channel, then you can just connect the head unit to it with RCA plugs, then wire your speakers to the front and rear channels (a & b) of the amp. Crutchfield makes some nice little connectors that are like butt connectors with screw on ends. I used them in a truck and they are real time savers if you are looking to splice into your old harness. Clarion, Alpine, JVC, Sony, Pioneer. They all do it a little differently on how you control the ipod. I have a Clarion in my car, an Alpine in my truck, and a JVC in my boat. I think, of the models I have, the JVC and the Clarion have the most intuitive controls while the Alpine has the best tweaking of the ipod files's sound.

On Amps, I like the size of the Alpine PDX series, but they are pricey. I have an Infinity 5 channel in my 98 Ski and it is a good size for $ for sound ratio. Has just enough power for four speakers and an 8" Polk MM sub. Good enough for me, but others prefer more power.

[harddock]

I replaced my Clarion cassette with a newer CD version. The speaker plugs were a little different than original and needed a splice job and the unit will work with an ipod. Installation was preety simple and fits in the original hole under the cover, (1998) -n
I'll admit it is no pylon thumper but it sounds better than a shower radio. For low $$ it worked for me.

Clarion M475 Ebay

[Blindaman]

Speaker Upgrade Questions for 1997 SN

I, too, am looking to upgrade my factory stereo in my 1997 SN. Did you need to enlarge the speaker holes for the Polk db651s? Did you remove the entire rail or install speakers with it in place? Did you make a custom box for driver side speaker or buy one premade? If pre-made where did you purchase?

How important do you feel it is to replace the speaker wire?

Thanks for any assistance and/or opinions on this matter.

[east tx skier]

I'm no stereo expert. So take this with a grain of salt.

I top mounted the DB651's. They fit in the original holes. I did not have to remove the pvc ring. Some have suggested putting an mdf ring under the vinyl. I did not.



I built the custom pod for my front speaker to get better positioning for the driver.



Here is a link to the gallery with pictures of the process. There is a thread about it on this forum, too.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dnortona...kerPodProject#

As for speaker wire, I don't know what CC put in the boat originally. My previous owner put in 16 gauge speaker wire, which I think does the job just fine. I have heard cheap speaker wire in home theater setups really start to pop. So I just opt for the better stuff. It's not terribly expensive. I added a few sections of pvc pipe under the bow, made a lengthwise cut on the pipe to give the glue something to grab to, and epoxied it in place. This makes it easier to run wires from one side to the other.

[jamiewilson3]

I just bought 4 new 651s for my 1997 and am debating doing top mount, instead of back mounted, like the original stock. Did you just cut a hole in the old fabric speaker grills and then screw through the vinyl?

Any more mounting details would be great. Thanks!

[Mikeski]

In my 95 SN I had a nice little system, but I would do it a little differently today. Since all the new boats have front loaded speakers I would probably upgrade the speakers and front load them. A nice simple deck with some power to the speakers will play just fine if you are mainly concerned with music while you are idling around or hanging out. If you want to hear it at cruising speeds you are going to need to introduce an amplifier into the equation. If you want it to sound nice and smooth (not tinny) you will need to add a subwoofer as well.

For decks I don't mind the Clarion units, they are OK, but there are lots of other options. Check out the M109 or M309 on ebay and buy the one that has the feature you like. I prefer to have a deck with a knob to control the volume. The 309 adds a set of RCA's and some features. I like Pioneer units for radio reception.

For speakers you want something with a lot of high frequency output. Polk db651 are good for the cost if you don't over power them and blow the tweeters like me. I think the grill looks good with my boat's silver finished trim. The 97 might look better with something a bit darker. I liked the db650 I had in my slalom boat until they were stolen.

For amps that little Infinity is a good choice. I have also had good luck with the old Clarion APX480, still run one in my truck. A 4 channel amp is adequate for most configurations in a ski boat.

For subs I had to run a pair of 8's between the hump behind the foot rest and the deck of my 95 because that all the height I had. I have also had a 10 up there in my current MB slalom boat. The pair of 8's sounded better. If you can fit a 12 in a small box I might recommend the Alpine Type R. It's a good sub for the money.

If you run the two front channels of the amp to the 4 boat speakers and the two rear channels bridged to the sub it should have pretty good output and balanced sound. If you are thrifty with the purchase you can probably buy everything and install it yourself for under $1k.

I might also recommend that you just give David at Earmark a call and pay his prices because his support is well worth every penny over the prices you would pay if you bought the stuff on ebay.