Audio On Your Boat Is No Longer An Afterthought
Published: Friday, August 3, 2018
By: Jordan Balbresky
When you hear the word “watertoy,” a lot of you may think of floats or PWCs. Or, maybe to you, it means a rod, reel, and a cooler full of frosty beverages. Maybe a wakeboard is the first thing that comes to your mind. Regardless of how you spend your time on the water, one thing that makes every activity much more fun is your favorite playlist. No matter how big your boat is, unless it’s a new build and of ample size with a built-in sound system, chances are your audio system is an afterthought — your smartphone, a portable waterproof speaker, or maybe even a car stereo installed into the dash.
Enter the team of audiophiles over at FUSION. Marine audio entertainment is their only focus and, in May, they launched a new line of products that set the bar for on-the-water entertainment so high, it’s out of this world!
The new product line is named the Apollo Series after the space program that landed men on the Moon, one of the greatest technological achievements in human history. Apollo is also, fittingly, the Greek god of music. Listening to music is a deeply personal and subjective experience and Apollo not only gives you incredible playback quality at any volume, but also a huge variety of sources and the freedom of a number of wireless control options. Building on FUSION’s industry-recognized, True-Marine design philosophy, the new Apollo Series is an incredible leap forward in technology.
The FUSION RA770 is the flagship of the Apollo Series, epitomizing creative design and technological brilliance. The world’s first purpose-built marine entertainment system with a one-piece glass touchscreen display, built-in Wi-Fi streaming, Digital Signal Processing Technology (DSP), and PartyBus capabilities, the RA770 takes marine audio entertainment to the next level. Featuring a beautiful, optically bonded, full-color LCD display, the RA770’s touchscreen makes trying to locate the correct button a thing of the past. Users can simply tap the screen to pause and play, or swipe through a playlist to find their favorite song. The stylish display blends perfectly with modern glass helms and is an attractive addition to any steering station. The FUSION Apollo Series also includes the SRX400, delivering a truly powerful feature set in a compact versatile form factor. Like the RA770, the SRX400 offers Wi-Fi streaming, DSP, and PartyBus functionality, without the touchscreen functionality.
For the pinnacle of sound quality, the Apollo Series harnesses the power of FUSION DSP, providing premium audio delivery to all speakers in any environment. FUSION’s system approach ensures every step of the audio chain is optimized through calculations by its audio engineers to deliver a technically superior listening experience — without the need for boat owners to have a technical understanding. Setting up DSP profiles is made simple with the free FUSION-Link app. With just a few clicks, boat owners can set up the preconfigured DSP profile to play high-quality audio customized for their ears and their specific environment. Precisely calculated loudness curves optimized for the human ear ensure quality audio delivery at every volume level — giving full-range sound whether the volume is turned all the way up or all the way down.
PartyBus is FUSION’s audio distribution network of the future — engineered for those who value freedom of musical choice, to play what they want, where they want. PartyBus gives you the power to command the party across the whole boat or quietly relax in a single cabin, regardless of others’ preferences. The power of PartyBus kicks in when users add more PartyBus-enabled stereos to their on-board entertainment system. Each additional PartyBus-enabled stereo gives the option to join Party Mode and play the same perfectly synced audio source through the entire vessel. You can also opt into Personal Mode and listen to available audio sources from the stereo in your zone of choice without disrupting Party Mode in the other areas of the vessel.
Offering more source options than ever before, the Apollo RA770 offers you the ability to play your favorite soundtrack via Bluetooth, Optical Audio (TV), Advanced SiriusXM, AM/FM radio, AUX, and USB. The world’s first marine Wi-Fi stereo, users can finally stream music from a mobile device via Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), providing the highest quality audio streaming available. With the built-in Wi-Fi, the Apollo Series can also wirelessly connect multiple Apollo stereos without running any cables, reducing installation time, cost, and complexity.
The FUSION Apollo RA770 and SRX400 feature a 4.3-inch and 2.7-inch display, respectively, are IPx7 rated for dust and water protection from the front when installed correctly, and include an internal Class-D amplifier. The RA770 has two RCA auxiliary inputs, one SPDIF port for TV audio output, one Ethernet port, one USB 2.0 port for phone charging and media playback, one SiriusXM port, and one Motorola antenna connector port. The SRX400 has one Ethernet port and one Motorola antenna connector port. Both devices offer multi-language support and include English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, and Italian settings.
Whether you are heading out on a RIB, bass boat, or a cabin cruiser, if you are looking to upgrade your audio entertainment system or are adding one to a boat without one, you should look no further than Apollo from FUSION. Find more at www.fusionentertainment.com.
About Jordan Balbresky
A former public relations practitioner serving the high-tech and consumer electronics industries, Jordan Balbresky recently returned to the agency world following a decade of hands-on marine experience. Living in the Caribbean and working in all aspects of the marine industry — from boat building, restoration and maintenance, to charter captain and delivery crew of sailing and motor yachts — Balbresky has a first-hand understanding of the outdoor and maritime markets. Fully immersing himself in the industry, he is a licensed scuba instructor, as well as master mariner and has lived on-board a custom-built schooner while skippering charters on boats of all sizes in the US Virgin Islands.
This article first appeared in the Summer Issue (Jul/Aug) 2018 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
tags: Electronics
