Hatteras Sound System

[Skip]

We are interested in overhauling our installed stereo system rather than installing a new speaker system. Has anyone tried to work with the "stereo Level" control- which is very "scratchy" in volume when you turn it? Can they be cleaned/overhauled, or should we just buy a new speaker system. I would appreciate some opinions.
Thanks
Skip

 

[MikeP]

Usually if you just keep twisting those knobs back and forth, the scratchiness will disappear. Failing that, you can spray some Corrosion X into the pot and this time moving the knob back/forth WILL eliminate the problem.

I thought about "improving the boat's stereo a few years ago but decided there wasn't any real need for it. It sounds good enough for what it is. We added a pair of Poly Planar speakers on the back deck but that's the only thing we did.

 

[REBrueckner]

All that knob likely does is control volume...balance..it has little to do with the quality of your speakers....you can always get another potentiometer but if your speakers have poor sound qaulity you will not have achieved much...
and as Mike posted, spraying and rotating might remove the oxidation causing the scratchy sound....that's pretty much unavoidable in a damp marine environment....

 

[MikeP]

You could certainly buy some better speakers but if you want to put them in the original locations they will have to be the same size which limit's the "improvement" you would hear, assuming the original speakers are in good condition. By now it is likely that the foam surrounds on some or all of them has rotted away to nothing. The two speakers in the guest room had done that though the rest were OK. I just put in new surrounds for a few bucks. It's not difficult.

I am a serious audio nut at home, with a fair bit of "classic" equipment but, for some reason, have no particular interest in having "great" sound on the boat. I thought about putting one of my speaker systems on the boat but I didn't want to take up the floor space and, as I said, I just couldn't see any point in it.

So the boat is oem except for the fact that all the music is supplied by an Ipod.

 

[Skip]

Thanks Mike and Rob for your comments. I am going to try and overhaul the sound system this summer!
Skip

 

[Trojan]

MikeP hit the nail on the head. The in boat speakers SUCK. The volume pots can be helped. Spray it with Dioxit. Great stuff for any electric connection. That's all I use when I rebuild any radio equipment for people.

BILL

 

[Skip]

Where can you buy dioxit?

 

[stormchaser]

FYI, at least on a 53, the small speakers are 4" and the large ones in the salon are 6". I'm in the process of replacing the small speakers but for the salon I wired up my good Polk Audio home speakers.

 

[Skip]

Thanks Dave

 

[MikeP]

"I'm in the process of replacing the small speakers but for the salon I wired up my good Polk Audio home speakers.'

I didn't realize Polk Audio made any good speakers...


Sorry, couldn't resist!

 

[stormchaser]

I love Polk and get tons of compliments from guys who are real audio heads. But these are older speakers...no clue what their new ones are like.

 

[sandspur1966]

I found I never used the OEM stuff because rarely did aperson in a stateroom want to listen to the same thing as a person in the salon etc.

I installed a flush mounted Plasma in the Salon and wired it into a Bose Lifestyle system with two speaker groups. One in the Salon and one on the aft deck. I used their cube speakers and subwoofer in the salon and flush mounted exterior speakers outside. all the equipment is hidden in cabinets and I have an IR repeater so the remotes work anywhere in the those areas. I also put a hard-wired IPod dock with its own remote in the salon so anyone can just pop their own ipod in which is also hooked up to the TV so you can download movies and TV shows from ITunes.

I put an in-dash system up on the fly bridge and a stand alone system in the master.

I left the 3 other staterooms alone but eventually plan on at lease an ipod dock/stereo unit in them.

over-kill i know.

 

[MikeP]

Sounds like a good setup!

We very seldom have quests so we don't care if they want different music or not, they're stuck with what we like!

I like the oem setup because no matter where I'm working on the boat, I can hear my playlist. If my cell rings and I actually hear it (I almost NEVER have my cellphone anywhere near me), I can turn down the sounds in that area with the oem volume control.

Again, I would never claim that it's good sound but as far as we are concerned, it's good enough. I wouldn't bother putting my old (1973) AR LSTs on the boat, or even my fairly new (and not nearly as good) Thiels or Magnaplanars.