Audio System

We enjoy listening to music in general, and while listening while sailing is a particular pleasure. Based on the experience gained while doing audio installs on our other boats, here is an overview of what we did to add music to BlueJ.

The first choice was selecting a head unit, but for us that was rather easy. Because of their overall quality and  GREAT iPod/iPhone integration, we use Fusion Marine radios on all of our boats. On BlueJ, we selected the MS-RS200. This small marine radio has a direct iPod connector, and you can control the music via a scroll wheel and a huge display on the unit. It control two sets of speakers, and supports a wired cockpit remote and BT audio. As you can see in the picture above, the small size of the unit makes it easy to mount on the panel. The website for the unit is HERE.

We leave a 160Gig iPod classic on the boat, which has our full 27,000 song iTunes library on it. It is very nice to have your full collection of music with you. If we want to spend the entire day listening to Kate Bush, we will never have to hear the same some twice. Perfect.

The MS-RA200 has been replaced by the MS-RA205, which is very similar. A few years ago I did a YouTube review of the unit that covers most of the operational aspects.




For speakers, we mounted two sets. The first were a pair of rather ordinary 3.5 inch 2-way outdoor box speakers mounted on the forward bulkhead. The wire to them runs through the hidden wire conduit that starts behind the radio panel, and terminates under the mast base.

We had hoped that these would be loud enough to listen outside in the cockpit, but that was not the case. Too much of the sound was attenuated going out of the companionway. These outside speakers are a bit trickier, as they need to be small, waterproof, and mount out of the way.

In the end I went with a set of West Marine 3-inch boxes that mount via the included brackets to the back rails. The speaker wire runs down the starboard side of hull and out two small holes on the transom under the speakers. The sound is quite OK, and the speakers are out of the way.

One big advantage is that the Fusion radio picks up VHF marine channels.When we race, we leave it on the RC channel (72) and then we have RC audio in the cockpit, without having to worry about a handheld radio. Link to the speakers is HERE.

Thing you can add:

First up is Fusion BT adapter. This comes in two flavors, one that can control the remote audio device via the radio, and one that cannot. The 200 model only supports the latter. In either case it is great because you can stream HiFi BT audio from your phone directly to the radio, and control the music from your hand. It's like having a wireless remote. A great deal at around US$35. LINK.

Secondly is the actual Fusion wired remote. This is handy in the cockpit, or in a sleeping berth. The remote can be chained so more than one can be used, and they can be set up to control one zone primarily, but they can always take control of all speakers/zones, including a fast mute-all. A nice product, if a bit dear at around US$100. LINK.

This combination of gear make for a great audio setup on ANY size boat, let alone a small First 260. But its worth that.