Philwsailz, what manufacturer? I'm curious. I have a friend who is an engineer at Alpine and he didn't mention anything like that.
I ended up connecting the yellow wire directly to the house battery only. It's better than having a lobotomized sound system every time I go on it. I ended up buying the Pyle $65 sub amp which is more than enough, and I first tried using the existing starboard side cheap car speakers as subs, but they're just to low quality and have no excursion capabilities and can't handle any power. I can get them to supplement low end at low volumes, but I'll have to change them out. I found some 6.5" woofers I had laying around:
https://www.parts-express.com/goldwood-gw-206-4-6-1-2-oem-woofer-4-ohm--290-300
And they look like they might work a LOT better. I'll have to work on dampening the cupboard space above the closet (the doors rattle), but I think I can make this all work without buying a dedicated sub and using existing holes. But, if it still doesn't sound good enough, I'll consider getting one of the self powered ones, I like the kicker one you found.
Who is your engineer friend? I might know him...
Without messing up and spilling beans too early, know it is a well known brand that is rapidly growing their marine product offerings; marine gear designed and built by boaters. I just got back from the IBEX boat builders show where I saw working units on display for the first time.
There is no clock on-board, due to the lack of a permanent battery connection via the yellow wire, but every other saved memory setting is via eprom.
These units feature global AM/FM tuners, a weather-band tuner, Bluetooth with Apple and Android control, USB inputs with album art on a full-color sunlight-readable display. There are also standard AUX audio inputs.
The display has day/night mode, reducing light noise from the display for nightime use. It can be switched manually, or if a trigger wire is connected to your nav lights, it can be done automatically.
Each of the outputs on both models is 2-ohm stable. In non-geek-speak this means that you can drive 8 speakers if desired without the need for an outboard amplifier.
The upper end unit featuers dual USB inputs and dual AUX inputs and is Satellite radio ready. For the satellite radio, it will display channel info, channel art, and other data sent down from the birds in the sky.
The upper-end unit also adds second source/second zone, whereby from a single radio unit, (but with a small outboard amp attached to Zone 2 out) you can have a movie playing with audio through the stereo down in the cabin, while Jimmy Buffet can be playing through speakers in the cockpit. Both units can be controlled via several different optional remotes.
I am sure I am missing something but that sort of rounds ou the key features I noted. I think that they should be available for aftermarket sales sometime around April or May... I think... I am still waiting to hear more from the developers to see if they think they can have them ready by then.
