Stereo Upgrade

[Fishtales]

Hi,
I have the stock Kenwood KTSMP400MR / KTS-300MR and helm control. Looking to upgrade with something that can fit in the same locations (receiver, remote helm control and speaker sets (I believe 6" in the cockpit and 4" in the cabin bow area. What do folks have and what do you recommend?

Thanks,

 

[ElMar]

FUSION.

 

[Fishtales]

No others? I like Fusion, but would be interested in seeing some pics and getting performance info.....

 

[ElMar]

No others? I like Fusion, but would be interested in seeing some pics and getting performance info.....

I put the 650 in my Tiara couples to Simrad Evo3, 8” speakers in cockpit 6” on the bridge deck. Sounds great. Can Bluetooth from phone and even have an iPod hooked up.

 

[suzukidave]

fusion sells a "din cover" mount made of black starboard that fits over a standard car stereo sized mount hole and allows you to easily mount a fusion unit in a larger hole. i have one on order. they are about $15.

the main attraction of fusion is you can connect it to an nmea 2000 network and use your fishfinder on the same network to control the stereo.

 

[drbatts]

I have a fusion on my boat and I'm very happy with it. It has more features, and is a little more user friendly then my previous clarion.

 

[suzukidave]

on the other end of the scale my email flyer today tells me west marine has a dual branded bluetooth enabled marine stereo with 2 speakers on sale for $69, or $59 for just the head unit. no fishfinder control feature like the fusion, but with bluetooth it will work with phones.

 

[Fishtales]

Is there a difference between the UD650 and the 750? Seem to run the same price and specs look the saem. 750 has a color display. I'm guessing the 750 is the new model?
Does anyone have the helm remote? $200 but since I have the hole for the Kenwood remote, I'm guessing I should get it.

 

[drbatts]

Is there a difference between the UD650 and the 750? Seem to run the same price and specs look the saem. 750 has a color display. I'm guessing the 750 is the new model?
Does anyone have the helm remote? $200 but since I have the hole for the Kenwood remote, I'm guessing I should get it.

I have the 700, which is probably the older model. I'm. Not sure of the differences between the 2. I do also have the helm remote, which is a really nice feature. The display is clear and easy to read, menus and buttons are the same as the head unit which is also nice for use of operation. Since the radios are NMEA compatible I think you also may be able to control them through your chartplotter. However I'm not 100% sure on that one, maybe someone else on can answer that.

 

[Fishtales]

Yes, they advertise they are NEMA compatible and you can control via the chart plotter. Thanks for the note on the remote.

 

[Heartly Fishing]

I had a Fusion UD 750 and remote replace my Kenwood on my 305 Express. They fit in the same space and the remote went in the same spot, the installer cut the exisiting remote wire and spliced it, thus avoiding having to pull a new wire.

I also replaced the Helm speakers with JL Audio, what an AMAZING difference worth every penny.

 

[Fishtales]

Thanks... This sounds exactly what I'm looking to do.