Marine Stereo Installation

[FLembo18]

Frank/Ray,

How did you run the power to the spot above the mirror? Did you have to cross it over from the other side?

Thanks,
Jim

Jim,

My Perko switch is located on the Starboard side aft locker area, near the bottom of the cabin ladder. I ran the POWER wire (fused) forward through the starboard lockers through the sink/stove locker and by placing a square plastic conduit with the sticky side against mirror, it's hidden behind carpeted daggerboard enclosure in that small space between mirror and daggerboard, up to above sink area. You'll see the 2nd exact conduit ( aft speaker wire run in this photo) ... it's located in the corner, right behind red radio, and runs from top sink/stove area up to starboard fiberglass then aft to rear speaker. I used Valspar plastic paint (Lowe's) on both conduits with color that is almost exact to color of carpeting. Hope this helps.

(CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE)

One more thing, I fuse any add-ons w/Ground right to the back of the Perko switch with EZ access under the seat locker lid. It's a lot less PITA , unless you want to get real fancy and add another fuse panel, I chose to do it the EZ , but just as effective way... I get fuse connectors at Radio Shack.
Frank L.

[SRQBob]

"Might it be possible for you to provide some pictures of your set up?"

Sorry, I don't have any pictures... But, there is actually little to see. The power amps are just electronic "bricks" to which you connect output (speaker) wires and input (from your mini-plugs) wires.
Here's a link to some pictures of power amps (I just did a quick search... I'm not endorsing this site or their products!):
http://tech.pronto.com/mpm/shop/audio-4 ... +amp&site=
I bought a small (by "thump-thump" car standards!) 4-channel amp (so each speaker would have a channel... but, you probably don't need 4-channels, you can probably run pairs of speakers from each set of output terminals) at an auction site (Ubid). I paid about $40 and that was ten years ago... still works great.
As I said, I fastened the power amp to the underside of my table. But, since there are almost no controls on the amp (you control volume, fastforward, pause, etc. from your mp3 device) you can mount the amp almost anywhere that's dry and has some ventilation.

[RobertB]

I used the Jenson Marine stereo that comes with:
- a large base unit that is mounted out of the way where it can get ventillation (mine mounted to the ceiling in the rear berth)
- a remote control unit (about 4x5x1 inches) that I have hanging below the top shell bottom edge above the table
- an optional remote control unit (about 2.5 inched diameter) mounted in teh steering pedestal.

[renzoreba]

Very nice stereo setups from posters in this board. I am currently upgrading my 1997 26X, one of those upgrades being the stereo. Just last night I pulled a web of spliced cables (spliced cables don't belong on a boat, much less in the bilge.) They were in very poor shape and truly a miracle they didn't catch fire. I am upgrading its 1997 Dual stereo to a Jensen JMS7010. It has more amp draw so I decided to at least closely inspect and upgrade wiring as necessary. Upgraded the switch board to a BEP CSP6 Water Proof Panel - 6 way, with a switch current rating of 20 Amps from the previous 10 amp switch rating. Main panel (new one, were old one was) on the port side close to the companionway, aft side of sink table. Moved the old panel to the starboard side aft panel of ice box for low draw wiring (head fan & ventilation system, cigarrete lightning connection, and head LED illumination). That old panel now draws from a 12 gauge tinned marine cable with protective jacket (previously it drew from regular 16 gauge marine wire), which runs below the aft berth through a very small hole right under the companionway door, just aft of the middle ballast tank valve. Very difficult to find in this older models. Replaced all speaker wires (4 speakers) with Karma Cable twisted 16 gauge speaker wire. I am keeping the original configuration of the speakers. Cockpit speakers are Bose 151 (from 1997 though, still sound good but could not handle a crank in volume with the old stereo - hoping new speaker cable improves sound as old ones were in very poor condition). They are mounted on railmounts facing towards the bow. Below deck speakers are located above the V-Berth facing aft. There is sound convergence this way. Where the sound converges I am installing a subwoofer, 200 amps. Great improvement, considering that I now have a USB and AUX jacket below deck, and a wired remote in the cockpit. Will post pics when done.

[Whipsyjac]

Sorry for my ignorance, but I see from these pics some boats had a galley at the mirror by the head. What years were these? Are there line drawings of this? It's an interesting layout for sure. was there a fold down table or something?

Now really off topic, does this possibly have anything to do with an M owner telling me that he'd have bought an " if I had known..." known what?


Sorry this is on the verge of a hijack.

Willy

[Jim Bunnell]

See thread http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... =9&t=18366 for discussion of details and photos. Briefly 2003-2005, table inserted into slot below countertop - some variance in table year to year. Several differences between M and X - for my money the biggest is the "head room" in the head (X is taller). They are all compromises.

[Divecoz]

We Have the 05 M. The galley is , port aft.. But we do as well, have the mirror behind the forward starboard dinette seat.. Above the mirror is an area as shown by, Doupirate, bottom of 2nd page in this thread. I mounted my stereo and 2 speakers in there. It was an EASY install and the sound quality is fine. No one is ever down there when we are sailing or for that matter moving, so I do not blast them out of site. Mine too has a remote which we keep when sailing , up at the helm..

[Whipsyjac]

Thanks Jim,

Ah the Pros vs the Cons...is anything "All Good"?

Interesting set up to be sure. My BIL had a settee like that on his Chris Craft and I always found myself on the forward tip of the settee resting my weight against the table. If I sat back proper I felt like I was a Mile from my plate.

We haven't got a permanent stereo yet just USB rechargeable mini speakers. Plenty of sound at anchor/dock. Need extension speakers on the VHF since we are always in close proximity of shipping and ferries in the Southern Gulf Islands there's non-stop "Securite" calling. Nice to know when 25million pounds of displacement is going to run across your bow at 20knots before your broaching on the bow wave with your crew in hysterics(just a little story I heard from the son of a newbie sailor).

How do you like your VHF/FM splitters?

Willy