twarble
Member
just wrapping up a new stereo install in my '08 45. really wanted some of the cool features available in the new electronics, and just a nice bump in sound quality. that, and i'm working on a swap for the navigation electronics, so integration there was also a driver...but in reality, i just like new toys. 
oh, and there were a bunch of ground noises coming through the system, and i really wanted to get rid of them.
my stock system had 4 6.5" speakers in the roof, and 2 in the arch. each of which also had a tweeter separately mounted. it also had a 10" dual voicecoil sub under the co-captain's seat. Kenwood all around including in-dash CD player, CD changer in the salon, Sirius/XM and iPod dock powered by 2 Kenwood amps, 1 six channel for the 6.5" speakers, and a small 2 channel for the sub.
since i am going with Garmin MFD's, i started with the Fusion head unit since it integrates so nicely with the MFD. but to yank the original head unit, i'd lose CH changer, Sirius and remote iPod mount/jack. at the same time, i just realized how much i had been paying for Sirius/XM, and that I could get most of their stations for free using the iHeartRadio app. so, the head unit and all the peripherals were out.
I settled on a Fusion UD750 because it gave me Zone control, and i've always wished i could lower the volume on the arch speakers (they point right in your ears) if we were hanging in the aft seats at the table, and I wanted to add speakers to the stern for when we're hanging in the water. i would need to be able to disable the stern. finally, you can tie a zone to the Bose unit in the salon which allows us to have the same music everywhere if we want. also, the remote control functions from Fusion-Link via iPad/smartphone was a big plus...and you can stream Pandora/iHeartRadio/GooglePlay via Bluetooth.
initially i looked at Fusion amps/speakers, but i found that people seriously recommended WetSounds. i went with 6 XS-650's in the stock locations, and a pair of XS-650RGB in the stern. i wanted the blue-lit speakers in the stern to match the courtesy lights and my boat name. since i had tweeter holes already drilled in the hardtop/arch, i filled them with JL Audio M100-CT-SG-TB tweeters. switched the subwoofer for a true free air sub the XS-10FA, and powered it all with two Sinister SD4's.
needless to say, nothing went easy, and almost everything required drilling, cutting or some other customization. that being said, it sounds awesome and looks even better! so much more clarity and the bass is amazing. don't think we could possibly sit inside the cockpit and crank it all the way to 11. but, i'm a big believer that volume is a lot like horsepower...better to have more than you need, then need more than you have. also, i got to remove a lot of gear which is always nice.
with regards to ground noise. one thing i've always believed in is a dedicated ground wire to the amps/head unit, so i ran a ground from the house batteries to the amps. amazingly enough, this didn't do the trick. come to find out, Formula uses a common wiring harness for all of the wires. this means that the speaker wires ran from the amps on the starboard side behind the couch, under the floor to the port, and up the compartment behind all of the breakers! they then ran back to the starboard behind the dash, and then on to their speakers. so, if you used the fresh water, turned on the LED's, or really anything, the noise was there. and it was much louder when i finished the upgrade because i basically quadrupled the wattage in my system. so, i had to run all new speaker wires for the entire system. bingo, no more noise.
so, now i can stream from any bluetooth enable device, i added a WiFi router to get the head unit online, and now i can control it via a dedicated iPad that stays on the boat. wrapped the iPad in Lifeproof gear and it's a floating remote. once i get the Garmin's installed, they'll serve as remotes as well. i have yet to add the Fusion remote MS-NRX200i which is mounted in the salon because it'll be powered by the Garmin N2k network. but when i do, it will also give me N2k data like speed, depth, or really anything i want to see down below. pretty slick. pretty curious to see whether the Fusion Link app on the iPad will also give me the N2k data. we boat in skinny water, so watching the depth change with tides is a bit of a hobby.
here come the pics...let me know if you have any q's!
oh, and there were a bunch of ground noises coming through the system, and i really wanted to get rid of them.my stock system had 4 6.5" speakers in the roof, and 2 in the arch. each of which also had a tweeter separately mounted. it also had a 10" dual voicecoil sub under the co-captain's seat. Kenwood all around including in-dash CD player, CD changer in the salon, Sirius/XM and iPod dock powered by 2 Kenwood amps, 1 six channel for the 6.5" speakers, and a small 2 channel for the sub.
since i am going with Garmin MFD's, i started with the Fusion head unit since it integrates so nicely with the MFD. but to yank the original head unit, i'd lose CH changer, Sirius and remote iPod mount/jack. at the same time, i just realized how much i had been paying for Sirius/XM, and that I could get most of their stations for free using the iHeartRadio app. so, the head unit and all the peripherals were out.
I settled on a Fusion UD750 because it gave me Zone control, and i've always wished i could lower the volume on the arch speakers (they point right in your ears) if we were hanging in the aft seats at the table, and I wanted to add speakers to the stern for when we're hanging in the water. i would need to be able to disable the stern. finally, you can tie a zone to the Bose unit in the salon which allows us to have the same music everywhere if we want. also, the remote control functions from Fusion-Link via iPad/smartphone was a big plus...and you can stream Pandora/iHeartRadio/GooglePlay via Bluetooth.
initially i looked at Fusion amps/speakers, but i found that people seriously recommended WetSounds. i went with 6 XS-650's in the stock locations, and a pair of XS-650RGB in the stern. i wanted the blue-lit speakers in the stern to match the courtesy lights and my boat name. since i had tweeter holes already drilled in the hardtop/arch, i filled them with JL Audio M100-CT-SG-TB tweeters. switched the subwoofer for a true free air sub the XS-10FA, and powered it all with two Sinister SD4's.
needless to say, nothing went easy, and almost everything required drilling, cutting or some other customization. that being said, it sounds awesome and looks even better! so much more clarity and the bass is amazing. don't think we could possibly sit inside the cockpit and crank it all the way to 11.
but, i'm a big believer that volume is a lot like horsepower...better to have more than you need, then need more than you have. also, i got to remove a lot of gear which is always nice.with regards to ground noise. one thing i've always believed in is a dedicated ground wire to the amps/head unit, so i ran a ground from the house batteries to the amps. amazingly enough, this didn't do the trick. come to find out, Formula uses a common wiring harness for all of the wires. this means that the speaker wires ran from the amps on the starboard side behind the couch, under the floor to the port, and up the compartment behind all of the breakers! they then ran back to the starboard behind the dash, and then on to their speakers. so, if you used the fresh water, turned on the LED's, or really anything, the noise was there. and it was much louder when i finished the upgrade because i basically quadrupled the wattage in my system. so, i had to run all new speaker wires for the entire system. bingo, no more noise.
so, now i can stream from any bluetooth enable device, i added a WiFi router to get the head unit online, and now i can control it via a dedicated iPad that stays on the boat. wrapped the iPad in Lifeproof gear and it's a floating remote.
once i get the Garmin's installed, they'll serve as remotes as well. i have yet to add the Fusion remote MS-NRX200i which is mounted in the salon because it'll be powered by the Garmin N2k network. but when i do, it will also give me N2k data like speed, depth, or really anything i want to see down below. pretty slick. pretty curious to see whether the Fusion Link app on the iPad will also give me the N2k data. we boat in skinny water, so watching the depth change with tides is a bit of a hobby. here come the pics...let me know if you have any q's!
