posted 06-20-2004 07:45 AM ET (US)            

They do sound good and seem to be good quality. Time will tell how long they hold up.

I purchased them due to the price. Speakers constantly exposed to the weather do not seem to hold up that well so I figured I will spend as little as possible.

No complaints, seem like a good deal.

posted 06-21-2004 03:21 PM ET (US)            

Thanks for the input. I placed an order for 4 Pioneer Nautica 2-way speakers today. They came well recommended as to quality of sound but they are a bit more expensive than the Dual speakers. It would be interesting to see how the two compare as far durability.

As for the head unit, I ended up going with a non-marine Sony CDX-F5700 behind a spray cover. I could not find a marine unit that had the same features unless I paid more than twice and found that a lot of the so-called "marine" stereos did not have any conformal coating on the circuit boards even though they were more expensive than basically the same unit from an automotive store.

I also got the 4-year service plan from Best Buy since the salesman said that it covered damage by heat and humidity as well as realignment of the CD if it got messed up by the boat's pounding. I told the guy that the stereo was going on a boat and he said that it didn't matter. We'll see if this holds true or not if the stereo goes bad in the next 4 years.

posted 06-24-2004 11:58 PM ET (US)            

I'm gtting ready to install a stereo on my Dauntless. What did you use for the "spray box" for the sony. Is it just a faceplate? I would be concerned about heat build up if it is a sealed box. Any pics of your instasllation would be appreciated.

posted 06-25-2004 11:55 AM ET (US)            

I just got all the parts yesterday and will be attempting the installation this weekend so I have no pictures as of yet. The spray cover I'm using is a SeaWorthy mount from www.boatersworld.com ($19) that has a faceplate and two plastic "legs" to support the head unit. This was the only mount I could find that offered some support and was not just a faceplate.

In the segment of "Ship Shape Boating" that I referenced in another post in which they were installing a stereo on a Nantucket, the host said that the side of the console may need extra support to take the weight of the head unit and recommemded using a mount that was through-bolted to the console with brackets to give the stereo more support. The mount he was using was nicer than mine but I could not find one like that and, even if I did, I would think it would be pretty pricey. (His budget on this project was well over 1K, which is more than twice what I'm spending.) I'm not sure how waterproof the faceplate of my mount is since the cover just snaps shut as opposed to others that have a latch.

As to your concern about heat buildup with fully enclosed mounts, it was mentioned in the show too so I decided to leave the back of my unit open to the inside the console. I'm a bit concerned about humidity inside the console, since I find that items left there come out wet. (Don't know if it's condensation or water from after-use washdowns.) Waternut, who also has an automotive Sony unit, sealed all the "holes" in the console except for the vent on the door (for fear of condensation). I don't know if I'll go that far or just take my chances and deal with BestBuy if and when it breaks. I will post pictures of my installation once I'm done.

posted 06-26-2004 09:46 AM ET (US)            

If you decide on the Pioneer speakers, the cheapest place that had them is:

http://www.audionmore.com/

They have them at $81 per pair. I think the price at West Marine was something like $130. I was concerned about their customer service because the only way to track your order is filling out a web form which sends an email to customer service and they had all these warnings about allowing at least 2 business days for your order to process (in other words, don't bother us). Despite this I got my order Wednesday and had only placed it Monday. That was a lot faster than I expected! In fact I got the stuff even before I had time to send in a query.