stereo

[jsbbritt]

Hello,

I just got a cd/am-fm radio unit.  My question is where have you found to be the best place to put the actual player.  I already have figured out the speaker locations.  Thanks for your help

[Tom Glennon]

I placed mine under the shelf by the chart table...
My ship's radoi is just above the electrical panel, with the stereo/cd player forward of that.  I bought a plastic housing from an auto sound store for about $10, and with very little modification, have it screwed to the underside of the shelf. Neat installation, as the wiring is right there for the electrical panel.  Then, just ran wires aft, thru the medicine cabinet, into the locker(s) of the cockpit, to the rear for outside speaker, and forward, thru the portside cabinet for the interior speakers.

[Stu Jackson]

Sorry to beat the FIND feature again.

Try this:

http://c34.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x?a=search&s=329609511&reqWords=stereo

[Sailor Vic]

Anyone have any suggestions where the best place to place 6 1/2" round speakers in the salon area?

Thanks,

Vic

[Philip Imhof]

Try

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=553.0

[Ron Hill]

britt:  Many of us have mounted the player unit so it backs into the rear of a hanging locker.  That way the"back end" of the unit is out of the way.  I'm a little different as mine backs into the rear of the Vberth hanging locker.  Britt says he already has decided on the speaker placement.  Yes, this subject has come up before.
Next to the stereo I also mounted a 12vDC and a 115v AC receptacle.  A thought.   

[Stu Jackson]

Replacement for old infopop reference above:  http://c34.org/bbs/index.php?topic=553.0

...which, I just noticed, agrees with Phil's idea above.

Got this from a search on "stereo"

[Sailor Vic]

Thanks all for the replys.

Ron,

Just so that I understand it a little better, you pulled a 12 volt line AND a 120 volt line at the same time and placed them in the port V-berth locker? With the radio, speaker and 12v and 120v facing into the salon?

Or was there 12volt and 120 volt wiring near there already?

Did I understand it correctly?

Did you find any other wiring or anything in the way in the wall between the salon and Vberth locker that I need to be aware of?

Did you then place the other speaker in the starboard locker?

Thanks a lot,

Vic

[David Sanner]

My stereo is mounted under the chart table with the front facing starboard.

It's an easy mount because there are no major holes needed but mounting it
there has has two problems. The first is it's not so easy to use there and
the second is if you sit at the chart table your knees can bang it getting in/out.

One other thing is that some stereos have remotes and if you mount it facing forward you
won't be able to use the remote by pointing it down there from the cockpit. (life's rough)

As far as speakers in the cockpit, I opted not to cut any large holes and mounted two
external speaker boxes in the corners on stern pulpit that are more or less out of the way.
(I actually used huge/wide tie wraps to secure them to the pulpit... works great)

My big question is who makes an inexpensive 12v powered subwoofer as the 6"
drivers in the external cabinets could use a little help.

[Ron Hill]

Vic : I pulled a separate 12vDC line for the stereo and another separate line for the 12v DC plug into the STARBOARD Vberth hanging locker. 
For the 115vAC receptacle power I tapped into the AC plug that's already in the Vberth.
My boat came with "0" DC receptacle wiring!!! 
The wiring I added follows the factory wiring and used the same hole (which was big enough).
All of my speakers are external and mounted in the 4 corners of the salon.   

[captran]

Both the stereo and vhf were mounted by the Previous owner to the left of the electrical panel.    The wood panel is easily unscrewed but the fiddles and attached wiring  keep it from being able to pull it all the way out, and it's a bear to reach in to the back of the unit (I have a loose speaker wire).  But it is convenient and out of the way.  I have the sliding drawers from the project page, which was a much needed increase in storage for cruising, so the hanging locker idea wouldnt work there.  Speakers are opposing eachother, on in the fiberglass "bulkhead" , along the setee seat bottom, and the other under the table along that seat bottom/bulkhead.

[Jim Price]

I mounted my stereo in a cutout near the top of the hanging wet locker above the nav table.  This allowed easy access to rear of radio and short runs to wiring panel.  The radio is above the hanger rod in the locker so it still is functional as a locker.  Speakers are on each side, forward salon, tucked under deck above storage shelf.  I have external rail mounted speakers on stern with wiring running through watertight deck connectors and wiring running along port side through head to wet locker.  Not too hard to run wire in that area.

Only note of caution that has been discussed in past threads - radio will get interference when in port and battery charger (Truecharge 20+) is doing its thing.  I think this is due to the proximity of charger to radio (Charger is under nav table).  If I want radio instead of CD's, I simply cut off battery charger and all interference clears up.  Needless to say, this is not an issue when I am away from the dock.

[Sailor Vic]

Thank you all for your replies.

So far I have ended up purchasing and installing the Navpod Speaker Pods w/ MA7500 Speakers from www.jandhproducts.com. 

Cost was $181. which includes shipping.  They shipped them the day that I ordered them and I got them the next day.

I haven't installed my stereo yet and so can't say how well these MA7500 speakers sound, but I can attest to how good that the pod/speakers look and fit.

Those pods and speakers look like they were specifically designed for the boat and I'm really thrilled with the look.

I decided to return the 6 1/2" round speakers that I had planned on installing inside. I dreaded the thought of cutting big holes and decided that I just wasn't going to do that.

I found some Bose (expensive at $299 at West Marine and I consider Bose over-priced for what you get) speakers that are 4 1/2" high, and they fit so perfectly above the empty space in the forward salon cabinets in my MKII.

I had 4 1/2" to squeeze them in and the Bose speakers are 4 1/2" tall so I opened up my wallet and just "went for it" and they really look good there and seem like they also belong there.

I've ended up cutting the rectangular space for the car radio in the wooden panel below the electrical panel. 

The stereo fits well and looks good being there, and so the whole job so far "looks" good.

I'm not done with the job (still have electrical wiring to do for the stereo) and so can't say how all will sound, but I can say that all looks like it belongs there.

I am going to install a basic Sony car stereo.

Only $129. at Best Buy, comes with AM/FM/CD. But all that I really cares about is having an MP3 port and this model had that.

I use an ipod type player (I own both Iriver and Rio brand's of MP3 players) and I can't ever go back to playing CD's. :-) :-)

Will consider adding the electrical plugs, etc per suggestions.

One thing I'd also like to mention.

As I was doing this project, I found 3 different areas where Catalina (at the factory) forgot to add nuts and washers under deck mountings! 

Catalina, if you're reading this......that really sucks.! I call that poor workmanship or poor quality control!

Imagine stanchions with bolts going down but nothing holding them below. Outrageous!   

Since I've also had to tighten all of my stainless clamps one week after getting the boat last year (since one of water lines blew off), and finding stanchions without nuts and washers to hold them down, it makes me wonder where else Catalina has forgotten to add nuts and washers. Places that I haven't discovered yet or can't get to? 

As I was crawling around for many hours I did feel that the basic design of the Catalina 34 is very good and well thought out overall.  Overall I love my C34 and I love this group. 



Thanks a lot for all suggestions/ideas as it really helped me to chew on all possibilites, and to end up where I am with this project.



Vic 

[willie]

http://www.pc-land.com/simplelife/simple_life_dbase/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=13&posts=12

Just in-case you want some more ideas...