Aquatic AV Bluetooth
& USB Waterproof
Marine Stereo AQ-MP-
5UBT
£300
■ http://www.aquaticav.comThis unit has an identical body and
dimensions to the simpler Aquatic AV
device, but is more fully-featured.
The screen, instead of a simple LCD,
is full-colour, and as such menus and
controls seem easier and more intuitive.
The internal drawer will just about fi t
an iPhone 6, and will charge and playback via USB – which
means you can leave
your device inside
and control the music
selection with it safely
charging within.
The sound, as above,
was somewhat brash,
with the mid-range
especially thin-
sounding, of
particular concern
with classical music.
That said, maybe there aren’t many
powerboaters (the intended market for
many of these) that will listen to classical
while blasting along in a RIB.
This is a full-featured piece of kit that,
as long as you have suffi cient room
to mount it, would give you some
decent audio.Aquatic AV Bluetooth
Waterproof Marine Stereo
AQ-MP-5BT
£165
■ http://www.aquaticav.com
Aquatic AV are an American company
who produce stereos for boats, hot tubs
and Harley Davidsons.
Both this model and the more up-market
MP-5UBT have the deepest bodies, with
the unit protruding 18cm behind the
panel – 3cm more than the next biggest,
the Fusion, which also has a drawer
inside.
The head unit is waterproof to IP55 –
which means that ‘Water projected by
a nozzle against the enclosure from
any direction shall have no harmfuleffect.’ It has a built
in 288W amplifi er, and
you can connect up to
eight speakers.
In use the buttons felt
fairly stiff, but were
intuitive to use. You can
remove the front panel to
reveal a drawer for your
media device. There’s also
a USB socket, which will
charge your device –
although only at 1A, which rules out
some larger devices. It also won’t play
back over USB – unlike its more
fully-featured unit (below).
You can play music via Bluetooth, and
there is an AM/FM radio.
The sound was somewhat brash, but
this was made up for by volume – the
unit was plenty powerful enough to
override any wind or water noise.Force 4 Compact
Bluetooth Marine Stereo
£99.95
■ http://www.force4.co.uk
This circular stereo head is designed to
be similar in size to standard marine
gauges and instruments. At only
105mm in diameter, it mounts in an
80mm hole – quick and easy to do
with a holesaw. It’s got a built-in
AM/FM radio, a USB input to
connect an iPod or fl ash drive
with mp3 fi les, and Bluetooth
connectivity. Max power is 4x40W,
and there is a line out connection
should you wish to connect an
external amplifi er.
However, we found it worked
perfectly well without an amplifi er –
while it didn’t have quite the power ofsome of the larger units, it went loud
enough to be heard over wind, water and
engine noise – an amplifi er would add
power if you want extra volume.
In fact, this was the surprise of the test. Its
sound was good, with clear vocals and a
nice tone, and a particularly good bottom
end. It was simple to use, with good, big
buttons, and waterproof, so can be
mounted in the cockpit, with the iPod or
phone safely down below in the dry.
Settings are limited – you can’t, for
instance, adjust the fader and thus switch
from cockpit to cabin – but you could
install a switch to enable you to disable the
cockpit speakers if required.GEAR
Aquatic AV Bluetooth
Waterproof Marine Stereo
Both this model and the more up-market
MP-5UBT have the deepest bodies, with
the unit protruding 18cm behind theeffect.’ It has a built
in 288W amplifi er, and
you can connect up to
eight speakers.
In use the buttons felt
fairly stiff, but were
intuitive to use. You can
remove the front panel to
reveal a drawer for your
media device. There’s also
a USB socket, which will
charge your device –
although only at 1A, which rules out
some larger devices. It also won’t play
back over USB – unlike its moreeffect.’ It has a built
in 288W amplifi er, and
you can connect up to
eight speakers.fairly stiff, but were
intuitive to use. You can
remove the front panel to
reveal a drawer for your
media device. There’s also
a USB socket, which will
charge your device –