Music Problems - Help

[Project_Mayhem]

Just before launch a friend helped me do some organizing and cleaning. Unfortunately he accidentally knocked the speaker wire loose, it shorted and fried my Kenwood headunit. I had one of these little amps lying around and figured it's worth a shot. As it turns out, this little credit card sized amp is actually louder and more efficient than the Kenwood since it's a Class D. Amperage draw at idle is insignificant so it's on whenever the batteries are on. I plan on installing a buck boost converter to increase the power output (higher voltage results in higher output from amp) so I can hear it over engine noise. I'd buy another one of these in a heartbeat. Cost was about $15

 

[DArcy]

Just before launch a friend helped me do some organizing and cleaning. Unfortunately he accidentally knocked the speaker wire loose, it shorted and fried my Kenwood headunit. I had one of these little amps lying around and figured it's worth a shot. As it turns out, this little credit card sized amp is actually louder and more efficient than the Kenwood since it's a Class D. Amperage draw at idle is insignificant so it's on whenever the batteries are on. I plan on installing a buck boost converter to increase the power output (higher voltage results in higher output from amp) so I can hear it over engine noise. I'd buy another one of these in a heartbeat. Cost was about $15

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I have an old Bluetoothless stereo that I want to replace and I was thinking of trying one of these. How do you like the sound quality? The only thing is I still like to listen to the radio sometimes, so I would miss that. I am using Spotify more and more though.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I have an old Bluetoothless stereo that I want to replace and I was thinking of trying one of these. How do you like the sound quality? The only thing is I still like to listen to the radio sometimes, so I would miss that. I am using Spotify more and more though.

Sound quality is good, much better than expected, as long as you don't push it to it's limits. It accels at speech and vocals. I have two 8 ohm speakers connected to it so I'm getting about 12w per channel. I believe this is rating is RMS and not peak. My speakers are in the cabin hence the reason I want to increase the power. Bluetooth functionality is great in the cockpit. It was a little spotty up at the bow. I leave the knob on full volume and adjust from my phone. No noticeable background noise when doing this. It's a much simpler system and I no longer have to leave the tiller to make adjustments. Overall I'm very happy with it. Im kinda glad the old one fried

You could probably connect both amp outputs to the same set of speakers so long as they aren't on at the same time. If your radio has a line out you could connect it to this amp's line in. The latter is a much better way to go

 

[jssailem]

Thanks P M. I just spent an hour down the rabbit hole looking at all the options for small form stereo amplifiers from China on Amazon. There are some incredible small format units with minimal power demands and marketing hyped performance.

I have no idea how to begin to compare the options or reliability of a $29 unit the size of a deck of cards that produces 100W on 2 channels.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

With the advent of chip amps I imagine that the designs are becoming more standardized between different manufacturers. Why go through a ton of R&D when you can use a chip manufacturer's sample design with minimal modifications?

To get the full power you'd need to boost the supply voltage. The rating of 12 watts RMS seems accurate if not conservative to my ears. We originally had this installed in a commercial setting as a temporary solution for a month or two. Client reported that it worked without any hiccups

 

[Tedd]

Car stereos today are designed for our grandchildren who can easily figure them out. Not for our generation.

It comes down to what you grow up with. Sit one of your grandchildren in front of an old-style car stereo with mechanical station-selection "memory" and see how long it takes them to figure that out.

 

[Tally Ho]

Update: I think I found a suitable stereo for my boat. It only has features I might use and no useless features that only complicate the controls. It is not a cd player but it utilizes blue tooth for music streaming and remote controls. That blue tooth is NOT used for hands free phone calls. An ap for your cell creates a remote control for the stereo. Menus are simple and it is designed for marine use. It is made by Garmin under the brand name FUSION. The model I am buying claims to be a standard DIN1 size to fit in the available hole in my boat. There is a less expensive model that has all the features I need but it is smaller and would require more installation work to fit. I will try to post a link. Fusion MS-RA70

https://a.co/d/ixaQknw

No CD player though ;-(.

looks solid and I think Fusion has a good reputation.

Greg