Use Smart TV as Stereo "head unit"?

dtfeld

Water Contrails
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Jun 5, 2016
5,519
Milton, GA
Boat Info
410 Sundancer
2001
12" Axiom and 9" Axiom+ MFD
Engines
Cat 3126 V-Drives
Happy New Year to everybody!! Getting back to the project list after the holidays. I bought a new Samsung 32" smart TV and I've been reading up on stereos, cockpit TV's and streaming to the boat. Got me thinking.

Can I use the smart TV as the "head unit"?

I can stream Youtube TV, Sling TV, Amazon Prime, Amazon Music, Itunes, Pandora, XM Radio and Spotify to this TV. I already have a Plex server on board as well. I have access to a huge amount of content. Why not just run a RCA cable to the amp and use the TV as my head unit? This would allow me to have 2 zones running independent inputs, and easily add a 3rd if desired.

Anybody doing this?? Pros and cons you can think of? Any technical hurdles that would be deal breakers??
 
Is this a 12 volt tv? Or 120 and you’ll be running a generator when you are not on shore power? I connected an iPhone to the original clarion unit and use my navigation iPad as the control from the helm.
 
No reason you can't do it. Are you thinking just at the dock or sole head unit?For me it would have to be a 12v tv. Only downside I can think of is adjusting the settings may he a bit cumbersome.
 
I installed an inverter for this purpose and generator on board so power is not a concern. I agree that adjusting settings could be cumbersome.

The other option is to run everything back to a head unit or black box stereo, but most marine stereos have limited input options. Location of all the components and getting wires/inputs as well as having decent Bluetooth/wifi range is another consideration.

Have considered the Fusion 300BB or on the more exotic level an alpine PXE-0850S sound processor to handle the different input switching and volume control.
 
First thing I think of is sound quality we really enjoy music, on the boat, home, cars etc the TV will not give great sound quality compared to a head unit.
I believe you can "cut" the brick of most TV's and run them on 12vdc
 
If your Samsung is like mine it is a 19v unit. If you want to do this you would need a step up regulator to run off the batteries. (Note that some are AC input with no brick - that would be different)

As far as using it as a "head" unit as long as you have matching outputs from/to the to the stereo inputs it should work. Can't comment in quality.

If the TV is in your cabin it will make your viewing experience much better but it may be a pain to control the TV from the cockpit (or vice versa).

-Kevin
 
I think I should have named this Cockpit entertainment system...

TV power source not an issue. I'm more looking for a 1 stop entertainment system for the cockpit, something that was easy to use.

My cheap and dirty thought would be to run a (very long ) RCA cable from the back of the TV to my cockpit amp located in the cabin, but not certain I could control the volume with the TV and/or remote. I think Ill test this option as I have a long RCA cable.

The other option I cam up with is this...https://alpine-usa.com/product/view/advanced-wireless-digital-signal-processor-pxe-0850s

It has a remote bluetooth dongle (for streaming from start phones) , a SPDIF input from the TV, and a very nice remote to control it all from the helm.

Capture.PNG
 
I stream to my theaters at home...mostly Youtube. Sound quality is great, but obviously has to do with your download source...4G, wifi, etc.

You shouldn’t have a problem using your smart tv with an hdmi, ir, or rca to the amp as long as you can get power as mentioned.
 

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