How To Het Lossless Music To Head Unit, Worth It?

MonacoMike

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2009
14,721
Indiana lakes and Lake Michigan
Boat Info
2000 Cruisers 3870
8.2 Mercs
Engines
85 Sea Ray Monaco 197
260hp Alpha 1
With several streaming services offering lossless quality music downloads (including Apple) I am pondering how best to get that quality sound to my head unit. Will it sound that much better than going through Bluetooth? Can lossless really be delivered via 3.5mm jack? Any way to deliver lossless wirelessly?
 
Only way I know of is to stream over wifi to the headunit. A fusion ms-ra770 can do this. Honestly i cant tell a difference streaming from my iphone over bluetooth or wifi to my headunit.
 
Only way I know of is to stream over wifi to the headunit. A fusion ms-ra770 can do this. Honestly i cant tell a difference streaming from my iphone over bluetooth or wifi to my headunit.

I do have a very good JL M6 system that the sound is clear as a bell…
 
The technology advanced beyond the range of my own human hearing years ago. I suppose if you are a true "audiophile" it might be worth it. I've always been suspicious that much so called high-end audio is more of a vanity purchase than a value proposition. Either that, or maybe I could just never hear worth a damn. Either way, bluetooth is more than sufficient for my redneck ears.
 
The technology advanced beyond the range of my own human hearing years ago. I suppose if you are a true "audiophile" it might be worth it. I've always been suspicious that much so called high-end audio is more of a vanity purchase than a value proposition. Either that, or maybe I could just never hear worth a damn. Either way, bluetooth is more than sufficient for my redneck ears.

Seriously, I could have written that post a couple of years ago. But after listening to the M6 on a buds boat and now having an incredible system myself it is truly amazing to hear it. I have a friend that was very unimpressed with the talk of my system by friends.

We went out for a sunset cruise and played some loud stuff just messing around getting out, still unimpressed. Got out there and I put on some classical that I knew he would love and played several requests and before he got back was telling his wife he wanted to do that to his boat. None of us are audiophiles…
 
With several streaming services offering lossless quality music downloads (including Apple) I am pondering how best to get that quality sound to my head unit. Will it sound that much better than going through Bluetooth? Can lossless really be delivered via 3.5mm jack? Any way to deliver lossless wirelessly?

BT is crap sound compared to direct 3.5mm jack. Now it depends on the quality of what is sending the stream over the 3.5. But in general the 3.5 jack will supply a much higher quality sound then BT will. In general BT is not high quality, the protocol just doesn't have the bandwidth to carry lossless. The direct 3.5 mm jack is typically full spectrum sound in stereo only. USB would be your best sound as that can deliver sound with DSP as well. The only wireless way would be direct WiFi and not much supports that.
 
I do have a very good JL M6 system that the sound is clear as a bell…
Mike, I am currently installing a JL Audio M6 system in my 2002 510DA. I am installing M6 770’s in the hardtop pillars, M6 880’s by the salon door and the helm, and an M6 10”sub in the stock cockpit location under a seat. Would you have any suggestions as to amp(s) to power this set up, and a head unit? Appreciate any help, and excited to hear you are happy with your set up.
 
First off the bat, Wyle is the man with the plans. That said I first believe in amps and speakers being the same manufacturer as I believe they were built to work together by the engineers that created them.

You need way more power than I did, I have four 6.5 and two 7.7 speakers in an bowrider along with two 10 inch subs. Your speakers are bigger and need more power.

I have a M600 for the six speakers and a M600 mono for the two subs. It will hit 110db at head height in the center of the boat.

Your needs are likely far different than mine for your configuration.
 
First off the bat, Wyle is the man with the plans. That said I first believe in amps and speakers being the same manufacturer as I believe they were built to work together by the engineers that created them.

You need way more power than I did, I have four 6.5 and two 7.7 speakers in an bowrider along with two 10 inch subs. Your speakers are bigger and need more power.

I have a M600 for the six speakers and a M600 mono for the two subs. It will hit 110db at head height in the center of the boat.

Your needs are likely far different than mine for your configuration.

Wyle? Is he a member on the forum? Thank you for the info, I used to install car audio, but that was years ago and I not current on the newest products or theories.

what do you think of the JLAudio head units?
 
First off the bat, Wyle is the man with the plans. That said I first believe in amps and speakers being the same manufacturer as I believe they were built to work together by the engineers that created them.

You need way more power than I did, I have four 6.5 and two 7.7 speakers in an bowrider along with two 10 inch subs. Your speakers are bigger and need more power.

I have a M600 for the six speakers and a M600 mono for the two subs. It will hit 110db at head height in the center of the boat.

Your needs are likely far different than mine for your configuration.
Wyle? Is he a member on the forum? Thank you for the info, I used to install car audio, but that was years ago and I not current on the newest products or theories.

what do you think of the JLAudio head units?
@Wylie_Tunes
 
As to BT v's 3.5, ill take BT any day of the week. In the shop, I use the 3.5mm from my laptop to my sound board. However, when I have a customer in for a demo, I switch over to my phone and use BT. Moto G btw. BT has come along way in the past few years. While most receivers are using the same tech, not all phones and tablets are. I get a lot of complaints from apple users. They are amazed at the difference between their apple and an android. I use spotify on the highest quality setting with the playlist downloaded v's streaming thru the network or wify.

If you want uncompressed CD quality, USB is about the best, most viable option.

"I am currently installing a JL Audio M6 system in my 2002 510DA. I am installing M6 770’s in the hardtop pillars, M6 880’s by the salon door and the helm, and an M6 10”sub in the stock cockpit location under a seat. Would you have any suggestions as to amp(s) to power this set up, and a head unit? Appreciate any help, and excited to hear you are happy with your set up."

I do not subscribe to the theory that amps and speakers are made to work with each other so they need to be from the same manufacturer. A quality speaker will perform to its potential with quality power.

At a minimum, and if you wanted to stay within the JL line, the M700/5 is a good choice. If i wanted take it to next level, id suggest the MHD600/4 for the full range speakers and the M600/1 for woofer. Of the MHD750/1 and add a 2nd woofer.

Top shelf power, id go with the Wet Sounds SDX-4 for the speakers and HTX-1 for the woofer. Thats 185W rms for each speaker and 330W rms for the woofer.
 
There is no question that BT can be pretty lame, ok for newly produced digital music , but play old songs and they can sound awful.

There's no way you can set up eq to sound good on all tracks it's pretty mission impossible .

direct feed through that jack is the only way if possible

having kitted out my 240 Sundeck with some serious kit I've become and expert
 

Attachments

  • F8B739EE-A2D8-414A-BC53-14DF0FFED08D.jpeg
    F8B739EE-A2D8-414A-BC53-14DF0FFED08D.jpeg
    114.8 KB · Views: 65
Agree that speaker drivers and amps are not matched. I guarantee no engineer does anything like this. The marketing department is a different story.

Be aware that the op amps driving the 3.5mm in most phones have seriously degraded in the past years as components have shrunk and more high speed digital logic has been crammed in. I can clearly hear a difference between my phones Bluetooth and 3.5mm analog out with Bluetooth being much better. My wife can't hear it, but I am pretty picky and it's pretty obvious to me. I also won't listen to Sirius due to their horrendous sound quality (low bitrate). Again, many people can't hear it.
 
I can attest that no engineer designs an amp to the speaker, it's not even possible, other then supporting different ohm ratings (2, 4, 8) and frequency's of the speakers. The amps themselves support frequency ranges, crossover settings, bridging and THD (total harmonic distortion) and SNR's (signal to noise ratios etc.) and other settings like that. The THD of an amp is one of the biggest things to look at, there are no name amps that sound great because of low THD and and more constant RMS power ratings. Some of the newer amps have DSP built in and can be adjusted via app's like Fusion has.

Personally I think trying to accomplish the sound quality being discussed here in a cockpit of a boat is crazy. Way to much to distort the sound, just open air is enough to loose anything over 20Khz, not to mention engine noise, waves and everything that goes along with that. Thats not to confuse loud with sound quality, "car speakers" as it were can not produce the same quality sound that you can achieve in your "living room" setup.

One thing I have done is connect a Sonos connect (supports most streaming apps) to my fusion head via optical cable. I then control that from my phone and tablets on the boat. This omits all of the BT and 3.5mm jack issues. That coupled with the right amps and speakers and it sounds pretty good.
 
As to BT v's 3.5, ill take BT any day of the week. In the shop, I use the 3.5mm from my laptop to my sound board. However, when I have a customer in for a demo, I switch over to my phone and use BT. Moto G btw. BT has come along way in the past few years. While most receivers are using the same tech, not all phones and tablets are. I get a lot of complaints from apple users. They are amazed at the difference between their apple and an android. I use spotify on the highest quality setting with the playlist downloaded v's streaming thru the network or wify.

If you want uncompressed CD quality, USB is about the best, most viable option.

"I am currently installing a JL Audio M6 system in my 2002 510DA. I am installing M6 770’s in the hardtop pillars, M6 880’s by the salon door and the helm, and an M6 10”sub in the stock cockpit location under a seat. Would you have any suggestions as to amp(s) to power this set up, and a head unit? Appreciate any help, and excited to hear you are happy with your set up."

I do not subscribe to the theory that amps and speakers are made to work with each other so they need to be from the same manufacturer. A quality speaker will perform to its potential with quality power.

At a minimum, and if you wanted to stay within the JL line, the M700/5 is a good choice. If i wanted take it to next level, id suggest the MHD600/4 for the full range speakers and the M600/1 for woofer. Of the MHD750/1 and add a 2nd woofer.

Top shelf power, id go with the Wet Sounds SDX-4 for the speakers and HTX-1 for the woofer. Thats 185W rms for each speaker and 330W rms for the woofer.

Gotcha…so with that speaker combo you’d prefer the wet sounds amps, vs the JL Audio amps…is there an option for me to add a subwoofer in that combination? Or maybe running the 880’s up front eliminates a need for an additional sub?

Any thoughts on the Jl Audio head units? Thinking MM100?
 
Gotcha…so with that speaker combo you’d prefer the wet sounds amps, vs the JL Audio amps…is there an option for me to add a subwoofer in that combination? Or maybe running the 880’s up front eliminates a need for an additional sub?

Any thoughts on the Jl Audio head units? Thinking MM100?
One thing to consider is that Fusion is owned now by Garmin and their Apllo head units are NMEA2K so you can control/view everything on your MFD's assuming you have garmin. JL unit is really good too but the Fusion 770 Apollo is the top of the line out there today.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,950
Messages
1,422,863
Members
60,932
Latest member
juliediane
Back
Top