[Paul F]

I'm probably one of the few people to have the original stereo in my 1995 Talari 180.

It's time to get a unit that can I can plug in my daughter's MP-3 player and at least play CD's instead of cassettes. I haven't done this before because the only time I use the stereo is to listen to Cardinal baseball. Otherwise, I prefer the quiet, but the teenagers are staging a mutiny for tunes!

It's mounted at an angle under the dash in a fiberglass compartment and has the traditional (believe it or not) KNOBS on each side of the unit.

My question is, how much if any surgery will I have to perform on the enclosure to make a new unit fit?

[z275st]

When I switched from cassette to CD in my 1995 Talari 210 all I had to do was cut a rectangle to fit the DIN player, hook up speakers and power. When I cut the holes to add rear speakers, Mariah had already ran speaker wires to that area, they were probably used in the Z package. You can see the speaker placement in z275st’s 1995 210 Talrai.

[ShabahZ280]

Paul, believe it or not, you can still buy dial control radios. In fact, after I had my old Sea Ray 180's stereo vandalized due to an attempted theft, I replaced it with one of the cheapest radios I could find. I headed to the local Wal-Mart and found a $39 replacement that came complete with dial knobs, cassette deck, and MP3 Aux input jack right on the front. The aux in jack is what sold me. If playing CD's isn't essential, you could get by this way for super cheap!

Your application is a single-DIN unit, so finding a CD replacement should be a snap, and you shouldn't have to do too much surgery to get a new one in there!

Good luck with it, and keep us posted!

[Paul F]

The speaker wiring is prewired on all models, not just the Z series.

They are also prewired for speakers in the bow! (They thought of everything!)

I forgot to ask about wiring. Does the wiring on the stock stereo go to a single plug or will I be doing some cutting and splicing?

[Z 202]

You are not alone. I have the original "knob" style AM/FM/Cass stereo in my Shabah.

Soon to be replaced though. I came across a sweet deal on a new unit with USB input and a SD card slot, detatchable face plate, and dual RCA outs. It's sitting here on my desk, it'll have to wait until boating season for the install. My boat is waaaaay deep in a steel building 2 hours from my home.

Good to know about the pre-wiring. I currently only have the two speakers at the front, so I'll be upgrading those and adding some at the rear...

[mikeyt]

not only is it pre-wired for speakers in the bow, cockpit and rear area, each of the wires are also labeled too!! I damm near had an orgasm when i saw that.

[180diablo]

Hmmm that was a little bit of " TMI " from MiketyT there .....

But... I would have to agree with him the first time I crawled under my dash and noticed all these labels and then noticed the speaker wiring to the rear with more labels. I would like to take advantage of the rear speaker wiring.

PaulF: I still have the orginal " Mariah Premium Sound System" deck in my boat as well. It is a "Craig" tape deck, complete with missing radio tuner face plate to boot. I eventually found it when cleaning up randomly one day to the lower right of the drivers seat on the flooring.

Shabahz250 went the route I would like to go. Go for a deck with AUX inputs and bring an mp3 player on the boat. We rarely listen to the radio to begin with, because it usually interferes with talking to one another. We tend to talk a whole lot on the boat, talk about this, this cottage or that boat .. etc.

But I would like to change it over, just because. So I will keep watching this thread for more detailed information about how to swap it out.

[180diablo]

Originally Posted by Paul F

I forgot to ask about wiring. Does the wiring on the stock stereo go to a single plug or will I be doing some cutting and splicing?

I noticed that single wire coming off the back of the unit as well. After looking at some decks on Ebay with the wiring, they looked different.

I would be happy with something that is basically "plug and play". Remove some screws, plug the new one in, power it up.

[z275st]

It is going to be difficult to find a unit that will match older model wiring connectors. I think you will need to splice wires.
If you put in a common brand now you may be able to upgrade later with same brand without splicing.
My cabin has a Sony CD form 2001 and I am replacing with Sony CD w/ mp3, card slot, and USB. Old one will slide out and new one slides in with same connectors. True plug-n-play!

[mikeyt]

I think mine was probably similar. Someone before me replaced the original stereo with an old Sony and i replaced the Sony with a Pioneer DEH - 4900 model. I also got rid of the old & cheap t-bar type wire antenna and installed a Shakespeare AM-FM antenna that sticks to the side window glass & cost just under $50. It doesnt look like an antenna so it doesnt attract any attention and it performs really well. Anyway...whoever swapped the original unit & installed the Sony had to do some 'cut & splice' because i had to clean up some of those connections. I bought some plug style connectors & used those rather than tieing wire together or using marrettes so it would be easier to remove if needed. I also installed one of those waterproof stereo covers which gives the radio just a little more protection.