I want to add speakers and an amp that I can hook my iphone / ipod to directly, and then run speakers off of the amp vs. purchasing a rcvr deck which i really dont need the radio / cd player. I found some 5 year old posts where some people rigged and spliced but I imagine there has to be new marine amps set-up avaialble for this now to direct connect to ipod / iphone. Models / where to look?

I have a SonicHub that lets me dock my ipod and then I can control the ipod through my HDS unit. I've been very happy with that setup.

Many options avail for ipod/iphone playback through Marine deck. Google "marine audio and iphone"

I have researched and been unable to come up with good options: I dont want a deck- want an amp that has an aux or usb port that supports iphone / ipod that i can push speakers and play my device through.

You might consider a set of wireless speakers. My wife got me Logitech wireless speakers for Christmas. It's battery powered and connects to the iPod through Bluetooth. Works great in the garage and would probably be all you need in the boat.

Interesting idea hooking an iPhone directly to an amp. Haven't tried it but I don't know why it wouldn't work with a simple 6' headphone to RCA cord from Walmart. I wouldn't worry about it being a Marine model, keep it dry with some kind of enclosure and it should be fine. Find a friend with an amp in their car and see if it works with the cord.

I'm wondering if it could be taken a step further - run an Apple Airport Express on a power inverter and set up a wireless network on the boat to send music to the amp using Airplay from your iPhone anywhere in the boat without a cord. Research required to make sure an Airport Express can be set up that way and what it's power requirements are.

I ran a Sony car CD player for 15 years inside the center console of our saltwater bay boat and never had any problems with it. Replaced it last year to a Kenwood car unit with a USB and Aux jack for our iPhones and iPods. I kind of laugh at marine units because a car unit works fine if you keep it dry. I put both of them in an enclosure like this:
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/sto...;classNum=50204

I would try to use an appropriate size Tupperware or Rubbermaid container bolted down for the amp since you shouldn't have to get to any controls.

Use marine grade heat shrink connectors for all of the wiring connections.

I don't know where you are located, but there's a company at the Houston Boat Show this week that specializes in saltwater boat sound systems...

quoting this because "all you need in the boat" means different things to different people. Based on experience, we honestly believe we catch more fish when the music's playing on our boat - Bass, Trout, Redfish, Kingfish, Jacks and Sharks. Music is not "noise" and I think the harmonic sounds attract fish. We're the boat that turns the music up louder on our Bose speakers when somebody pulls up and casts or anchors too close when we're catching fish...

I've been tempted to add a Bazooka amplified subwoofer, but have concerns about power consumption from our batteries. Anybody have one? They do make a marine grade sub.

this could work with the amp set-up, i have a extra amp laying around at the house ill get it set up and see how it works out this weekend! update to follow! has anyone gave this a shot?