www.iFourWinns.com

Ok, it's cold and snowing here so I wanted to do some spring planning.......

I have the factory Sony CDX C5005 FM/AM Compact Disc Player in our 2001 328 Four Winns. We replaced the four factory Sony speakers in our helm area with four new Polk DB651 speakers this past season.

I would like to replace the factory Sony head unit with a new stereo unit that I could simply slide into the existing cut out and use the existing wiring harness as is if possible? There are four speakers in the galley area and four speakers in the helm area that the existing Sony unit powers.

Since my boat is currently under shrink wrap I can't pull the Sony unit out, but I was wondering if the factory installed an amp with the factory unit or is the unit itself powering all 8 speakers?

Any suggestions on a decent replacment for the factory Sony?

Thanks,
Mike.

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

I did pretty much the same thing, sans replacing with Polks' on our 268. Bought a Sony HU at Best Buy
for just over $100, that had the Aux input on the front panel for plugging in mp3 player and we also plugged
the TV in to it for better movie sound. It was plug n' play for me, took less than 10 minutes, and the sound
improvement was quite noticeable.

One thing though, the new HU would not work on the existing Access Technologies helm remote. The newer Sony's
don't seem to have the same comnnection on the back panel. At least the one I got did not. But the new HU had
a small handheld remote which worked well. Not sure what brand helm remote on your 328.
In fact I took the Sony out of the 268 when we sold it, and put the old one back in so the helm remote would
work for the next owner. Still have it in original box.

Not sure if there was even a factory option in 2001 for an amp. You would know if you had one by the shear volume
output by all those speakers. If you can swing it, add a Sub and an Amp (if you don't already have one) and you will
have a nice sounding system.

_________________
One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

I have a helm remote and a transom remote (for swimplatform use) for the existing factory Sony head unit, but I find they do not function very well. Having a small hand held remote would seem like a decent alternative to replacing the two existing fixed remotes.

I'm not very familar with how interchangable (or not) wiring harnessess would be between say a Sony, Alpine, or other brands of HU.

I don't think I would mind sticking with a newer Sony HU if I needed to only look at Sony's to use the existing wiring harness. Adding at least a basic amp would seem worth while to me. Think I might need to talk with an installer for some further suggestions. The output of the amp would have to split into the 8 speakers. Not sure if a factory wiring harness for the amp would come ready for eight speakers or whether you just need to sort it out and connect them yourself?

What model of Sony HU did you purchase?

Thanks,
Mike.

_________________

Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

It's an el-cheapo (like me) but did the job fine. CDX-GT330 You can surely find a much better one, and someone here probably knows what
one to recommend. I can't use it on our Monterey without changing the wire harness and everything, so it sits on the shelf in
my basement with only 6 months of use in it's life. I'll probably give it away on Craigslist and use the money for a Kenwood
that is plug n' play on our boat.

_________________
One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

One our 268 I just had the stereo where i wanted it. I went with alpine and they have an rf wireless handheld remote

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/rue-m1rf/

There transome remotes are also wireless.

just got it where i wanted it, then upgraded the boat!

_________________
Jeff

'14 Cruisers 380 Express "Simon Sez"
Merc 8.2 Mag MPI 380
DTS B3X, (x2) Axius Premier


(SOLD)
'08 V318
Merc 350 Mag MPI 300
DTS Seacore, B3 (x2)

This is EXACTLY what I have done with my H200...time to start over

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4