2007 185 Sport Stereo Replacement

Drumbum77

New Member
Jan 20, 2018
16
Boat Info
2007 Sea Ray 185 Sport 4.3TKS 190HP
Engines
4.3L Mercruiser Alpha One 190HP
Hello folks,

So I'm sure this has been covered before, so I'm sorry if I'm beating a dead horse. I recently purchased my first boat and it is desperately in need of a new head unit/stereo. I've been looking around on Amazon and the reviews are extremely mixed. Nothing seems to be any good or even decent. Can anyone recommend a good head unit with a decent amount of power?

Thanks
 
Your going to get all kinds of opinions and there are others on here that are just plain experts in this area. I am assuming your headunit is in the glove box, so it's a 1dim unit, but probably have room to install something bigger if needed, plus no need to stick with a "marine" unit in a dry environment like the glove box. Here is the thing, in a boat your not going to find many, if any headunits that have enough power to really drive speakers and sound decent in an open environment like a boat. I am by no means an audiophile, but I like my music and want to be able to hear it even while underway. If you are going to invest $$, do it in your speakers, most of the big name headunits and amps are fine, just get the features you want - Bluetooth, remote, satellite etc.

When I upgraded my system last year, I wanted something mid range that sounded good, but was not looking to spend the $$ for a top end system. I went with a Pioneer head unit - no CD, bluetooth, USB input and remote control, I paired it with a 60w x 4 channel amplifier and 4 Polk Audio marine speakers. Did not put in a subwoofer thought I would see how it sounded and maybe add one later. So far I am very happy with the system and sound. It's not the heart pounding system the wake boats have, probably didn't cost as much as one of their speakers, but for a step above stock it's pretty good.
 
Yes it's located in the glovebox. Thanks so much for the info Bill. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on the Polk speaks and a decent head unit.
 
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Stereo stuff can be cheap. I just an unnecessarily pricey Kenwood DDX9904s double din for my Jeep, Android auto and Apple play, addend a dirt cheap Kenwood KAC M3004 amp for $110, and it blows me out of the vehicle with clear sound. I added four Polk 6.5 652's. If I had used a high feature single din, I could have paid $125 for the head unit, $110 for amp, and $120 for speakers. There's lot's of room to work on the boat, so $400 for righteous sound
 
Yes it's located in the glovebox. Thanks so much for the info Bill. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on the Polk speaks and a decent head unit.

Yeah another member here turned me on to the Polks, I went with the DB651's, a Pioneer head unit and a Pioneer 4x60w amp, a huge improvement over the original Clarion unit with two speakers and no amp. I thought a lot of bang for what I spent @ $400 for everything and installed it myself.
 
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I went with the Pioneer MVH-290BT head unit. Best Buy had it on a blow out sale for $39.99 :D It normally sells for $79.99. I also got a pair of the Polk DB651 speakers. The head unit install was super easy, but man oh man...what's the deal with the Clarion speaker grill covers???!!! :mad: Seriously, what is the trick getting these suckers off!!! I noticed a small screwdriver hole in the bottom of the grill and tried to pry open the grill, but was scared to death I was going to crack it. I also tried turning the grill to the left and the right. Just can't seem to get these puppies off!!! :confused:
 
My clarions were very old, but as I recal the grill twisted off - counter clockwise. I got the Pioneer MVH-370BT, not sure what the difference is, but have been happy with it.
 
Thanks Bill, I'll give that another try tomorrow. I let ya know little duck…they have really good reviews on Amazon. I'm not fond of the open grill style on the Polks, but we will see.
 
Thanks Bill, I'll give that another try tomorrow. I let ya know little duck…they have really good reviews on Amazon. I'm not fond of the open grill style on the Polks, but we will see.

Yeah, me too at first, but that seems to be the style with most marine speakers. Once I got mine installed it has been fine. The two in the cockpit are pretty concealed, but the two in the bow I think look nice - a nice as speakers can look anyway.

IMG_1121.JPG
 
Give us a run down on how those speakers sound when you get them installed.
Just an FYI, these are about an 8 year old model and retired by Polk 3 seasons ago.

My review. They dont stack up as a "marine" speaker when compared to just about any other marine speaker on the market. Need to step up into the UM and MM, or the new DB series, to find a better marine speaker.

Exposed magnet - rusts
open tweeter pole - allows water into the coil/motor
steel basket - rusts
spider is not synthetic - absorbs moisture, rots and fails.

Sound quality wise, the 1" dome tweeter is a bit bright. Thats ok running across the lake at 40 mph, but sitting still, there is a noticeable gap in the upper mid-bass to tweeter transition.

All in all, heck of a speaker for $75 p/pair, but then again, it was priced about right for what you get.
 

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