What is the difference between a car stereo and a boat stereo. The boat ones have coated circuit boards to prevent corroson, but would that matter in fresh water? Would a little water hurt a reg car stereo if you put it in a boat?

I think most boats use car stereos.. some are just a little more water repellent i think

well it depends on what your talking about, the head unit will most the time fry if you get any water near it, car speakers are somewhat waterproof depending what kind you get, car amps same as head unit, just take care of your stuff on the water and it should be aright, i have all car audio in my boat and it sounds amazing, there is alot more to choose from in car audio then marine. <BR> <BR>hope that helps

usually water resistant faces and epoxy coated circuit boards

boat stereos are always better.. hahahah my dad has like 3 grand in stereo on the boat but blew out the rear speakers in his truck and doesnt want to fix them... <BR> <BR>hahaha i know ur talking about the deck

If you can mount the stereo where it will stay dry then a standard car stereo would work fine. <BR> <BR>A lot of boat installations have the stereo out where rain, waves and just washing the boat would get water on the deck. For this application they make decks that have a sealed door covering the CD slot and keypads/controls that are reasonably water tight. You can't dunk them under water but a light spray won't hurt them. <BR> <BR>Another characteristic of many "marine" decks is the ability to install a wired remote. The IR remotes that are common on car decks generally don't work well in a boat for a couple of reasons: 1) direct sunlight tends to "jam" the IR signals and 2) when the deck is mounted out of harms way it is usually out of IR sight as well. <BR> <BR>

Thanks guys I ended up buying a marine Clarion M455. The stereo is mounted verticaly so it will be in direct sunlight and probably a few rouge waves.