We're using a Bose bluetooth speaker with our iPods on board now.. our cockpit & locker configuration and layout below precludes installation of cockpit speakers. The Bose sounds great and seems fine with being outside, under the dodger if necessary or on the cockpit table when things are quiet. This is a portable unit, not 'installed'. You can even pause the track from the speaker when you're paired with the iPod.

Very pleased with it. we have the 'compact' model in the link below, but I see they have 'better' models too.

BLUETOOTH® Speakers | Bose

 

Better sounding than the new Bose stuff is hard to find.

However, Waterproof and floats that still sounds great?... https://ecoxgear.com/ecoxbt/ I simply move it inside or outside as needed. You can take a call on it as well. As far as battery life, it's great. Mine has been around the globe twice(ish) and seen plenty of use both on my boat in summer and traveling abroad in winter.

I'm actually thinking of an upgrade for myself https://ecoxgear.com/ecostone/

One good thing about moving the speaker outside as needed is that you can do things down below while the noise is outside, yet still here the music. I used to have internal and external speakers and it's impossible to hear down below if one wants to take a beverage order or listen for running pump, engine, etc.

At night, move the speaker down below and even if it's loud you are less likely to bother someone but your guests can still dance

 

I have a Nuu Splash. It works great for us. It's on sale at Amazon. Amazon.com: Splash Trail Edition: Electronics

 

I have an Altec Lansing Jacket that is water proof, sand proof and floats. Sounds really good and battery life is listed at 8 hours, so I expect to get around 5. Edit: one cool feature of this one is that it has a threaded adapter on the bottom to mount it to tri-pods or whatever you want.

Amazon.com: Altec Lansing The Jacket Bluetooth Speaker, Black (iMW455): MP3 Players & [email]Accessories@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com[/email]/images/I/41YYKZ1sGzL.@@AMEPARAM@@41YYKZ1sGzL

My friends just gave me a Cobra AirWave that is also water proof and floats but I haven't really used it that much.

https://www.cobra.com/products/wireless-products/cobra-airwave-box

 

thanks all for these ideas. I will have to do some more research before I add one of these to my Xmas list.

thanks,
Ron

 

I bought an Ayfee Waterproof(? - more like spashproof) speaker for about $40 through Amazon. There is no volume control on the speaker, but for $40 it works GREAT!

 

UE Boom 2 review - CNET

I have the original one. The UE-Boom-2 sounds even better. At $200 not cheap but fill my boat, fills my yard, we gave away the our stereo for the porch. The coolest feature is if you want to spend even more money you can pair up many of them and get stereo out of two or more UE-Booms.

 

My good friend has 2 UE Boom minis. They were awesome new, but now only have a 10 foot range to the BT source and one has a battery life of 1 hour after one year of use. My $60 Altec Lansing is out performing them in every aspect and is just as old.

 

I had the opposite experience.
My full size UE Boom is still kicking after over a year with long battery life. My Altec unit pre Bluetooth gave up before I was done with it.

 

I bought the Marley "Chant Mini" Bluetooth speaker this summer. My boat is a 22 so I don't need much but this little speaker is unreal. Somehow it actually has bass, a lot of volume and the sound quality is awesome (and its the size of a coffee cup!) It has a carabiner so I just move it around as I need it. Also, I've run it over a whole weekend and it didn't die. I have the worst luck with buying electronics so I'm still amazed at how great this speaker is.

The bigger Bluetooth speakers are even better and can be moved just as easily. I definitely wouldn't go back to a wired system.

thehouseofmarley.ca/audio-systems/portable-audio-systems/chant-minitm-hemp.html

 

We love our Fugoo. It's small, has good sound, excellent battery life and is waterproof/shock proof. It's also got a small rail mounting attachment so we can easily put it on the bimini frame or steering binnacle in the cockpit. My full review is here: A Sailing Rockstar - Fugoo Bluetooth Speaker

 

We have a large-size Jambox Bluetooth speaker aboard. Battery lasts about 9 hrs. Great sound and can be brought ashore. Not waterproof to my knowledge, but I don't often play tunes while sailing and tend to try to stay dry at anchor.

One big advantage of these bluetooth speakers is that guests can easily synch with their own smartphone and play their music too.

 

I have a Bose SLIII, love it. Had just bought another brand, took it to show a friend...who had SLIII, went home an ordered, gave $70 unit away. Sony has offered wired commander for years, I recently upgraded, mostly I demand an off switch at the helm.

 

I have multiple bluetooth capabilities aboard. First, just some portable bluetooth speakers for fun beach side. Then I bought a bluetooth receiver (charges via internal lion battery via microusb) and plugged that into the aux of my head unit on jendai. Its a poor mans bluetooth enabled head unit. Lots of fun. I *WISH* bluetooth could do true stereo but unless your speakers have some capability (UE Booms do), connecting one bluetooth source to multiple listeners is still a chore. Maybe bluetooth 4.0 will fix that.

 

I'll throw in, I've got the Bose Soundlink Mini Bluetooth speaker as does my GF. Spent hours in Bestbuy trying them all. absolutely the best sound. Its LOTS of high quality sound for in the cabin or on deck. I use mine at home and travelling in the offseason. Its not waterproof.

 

All,
Let me open this thread up again and ask, doesn't a Bluetooth Receiver (like a Sony Bluetooth Marine Receiver at West Marine) mean that it will broadcast to Bluetooth Speakers or does it only connect to a Bluetooth source (stream music from your Iphone) to wired speakers? Obviously I could just stream music from the Iphone (etc) directly to the speakers. But if I have music on a usb stick is there a receiver that I can plug it into and stream music to the Bluetooth speakers?


thanks,
Ron

 

All,
Let me open this thread up again and ask, doesn't a Bluetooth Receiver (like a Sony Bluetooth Marine Receiver at West Marine) mean that it will broadcast to Bluetooth Speakers or does it only connect to a Bluetooth source (stream music from your Iphone) to wired speakers? Obviously I could just stream music from the Iphone (etc) directly to the speakers. But if I have music on a usb stick is there a receiver that I can plug it into and stream music to the Bluetooth speakers?

thanks,
Ron

Yes they do make what you are looking for. Amazon sells some with USB playback, but I can't vouch for the quality.

 

All,
That seems to be the case. I spoke with a Sony rep concerning their marine receivers and he indicated that the Bluetooth capability is limited to the source streaming music to the device. The speakers are wired to the receiver.

I purchased and ECOCARBON waterproof speaker. So far I am pleased with the volume, the sound and the ease of connecting to my iphone as the music source.

I have a blank spot at my Nav station where an old Loran display used to sit. I suspect that space will be filled by a tablet computer of some sort which will have bluetooth capability to stream music to at least this speaker, among its other functions.

thanks again,
Ron

 

I would like to add a Bluetooth transmitter to our TV, so that I cold use our Bluetooth speaker with it. It would have to come out of an audio/out port. Anyone use one of these or know a good brand? They seem to require power too.

 

We just bought an Altec Lansing "Boomjacket": BoomJacket | Altec Lansing

Waterproof, floating, shockproof, sand proof, you name it. Forty hours run time on a four hour charge. It's a speakerphone, it'll charge your cell phone, it pairs automatically in seconds .

It's brand new, so I can't speak for its long term ruggedness or reliability. Good sound though; not quite as pristine as the Bose on display next to it, but louder. And the speakerphone has excellent clarity. We love it so far.

Interestingly, it's two-sided. The bass comes out of the back, treble and midrange come out of the front.

 

All,
These bluetooth speakers are all very competitive in terms of features. The ECOXGEAR speaker is also has two sided speakers, has a USB charging port, and aux input (plus a flashlight). I have not compared it sided by side with any other bluetooth speakers, but for a bang around speaker it seems very nice, loud and clear. So far I have only used it by the hot tub!

Ron

 

I removed the radio and speakers from my 1983 oday...it screamed the 80's! I now use my blue tooth devices and a bose bluetooth speaker..sounds great and doesnt use any battery power

 

Sounds totally rad, oh my gosh gag me with a spoon......

Hey better than my 1975 sparkomatic duel knob unit without even presets! I bought a $20 Bluetooth indash at Wally world will see how that lasts, just hate pulling the working unit out!

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

We have the 'Lifejacket' speaker and it is not only waterproof, they say it floats.
We love ours, no ifs ands or buts about it.

 

One of the impressions you should take away from all the responses so far, with people being very happy with a wide variety of brands, is that bluetooth speakers are, in general, a successful technology with a lot of good choices with good sound and battery life.

I've used a mini Jambox at work for a year or two now (heavily) and have been really happy with it, and most people I know with all kinds of other brands usually have been very happy with theirs as well.