Need new Head unit for the boat
 

I have a single din old alpine in there right now and I’m looking to upgrade so I can have a remote at the transom and maybe somewhere else. The HU is located on the right of the steering wheel and the iPod has to use an RF transmitter so needless to say the HU has to go. I am currently looking at the Fusion, Alpine, and Clarion but if there are any other that can control the IPhone/iPod and have a remote then let me know. I guess I would just like people’s opinion on these. If you like them or wish you had a different one. I know not to may people are going to have the Fusion but it seams pretty good.

Fusion H
http://www.fusioncaraudio.com/austra...6-product.aspx

Fusion Remote
http://www.fusioncaraudio.com/austra...8-product.aspx

Clarion HU
http://www.clarion.com/us/en/product...392721052.html

Clarion Remote
http://www.clarion.com/us/en/product...392722120.html

Alpine HU
http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ida-x100m

Alpine Remote
http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/mc10


Thank you for your help.

I have the sony set up and it works pretty good, cheaper than the ones you are looking at... I think it's the CDX-60UI... Ebay for around $150 for the deck, and about $50 for the remote.

this one right?
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665801217

and this remote?
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665801227

i like how the other companies have an LCD screen on the remote.

i didnt even look at the prices that much, i should do that. Do any of the remotes function better than the other?

I'll chime in with one other piece of advice that I wish I'd done differently. I like to control the iPod via it's own controls, NOT the HU. Find a HU that allows you to switch to iPod control. Reasons:
- Everyone knows how to use the iPod controls, while HU's are all different. When someone else drives my boat and I'm in the water, it's not worth the frustration to explain how to select song's.
- HU control of the iPod is SLOW. I have way too many songs to efficiently navigate through to what I want.

^^^true. i need to do a little more research on them.


does anyone have there ipod or iphone connected with bluetooth to play music?

Alpine, hands down.

With an iphone I'd definitely go with bluetooth.

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Not the same modle number but mine looks like this:
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158RMX6....html?tp=13308
If price wasn't object and I didn't already some sony stuff that I wanted to hold on to I would have gone either alpine or fusion. But for the price the sony stuff works good.

I have the Sony too (CDx-m60ui). It is awesome. You CAN control the music via the iPhone/ iPod. This was a requirement for me. It works seemlessly. And you can add a transom controller plug n play. Nice long USB pigtail makes it easy to use. This charges the iPod/ iPhone too. If you use Bluetooth, you'll be using up the battery sending the signal to the HU. No big deal, but I prefer a wired connection over wireless/Bluetooth whenever possible. Also USB charges the Device. I had started my search intending to use alpine but couldn't find a model that allowed me to control via the iPhone.

I have the alpine. I can see how the poster above prefers ipod control on the ipod, not on the deck. Alpine ipod control is from deck, however, the control is very fast..no slow down at all.

For some reason, it does not get radio stations very well...but I may have some other issue unrelated to the deck. I don't have the remote, I do have the wireless black remote.

Not having a very good radio reception isn't much of a loss in my book.

To clarify what Derek mentions, on the sony decks with USB control of the ipod you can set it up to control from the deck or the ipod. So you can do it either way, not just one or the other. Also, again at least with sony, the bluetooth decks do also have usb, so you get the option to hardwire an ipod or use bluetooth. As long as the deck has a unilink input it should also be compatible with sony's marine remotes.

The clarion cz500 also looks pretty nice (4v preouts, ipod, usb, bluetooth) but I don't know enough about clarion decks to know whether that one is compatible with the marine remotes.