Fusion Apollo stereo using existing Bose lifestyle system

[Havana Shamrock]

'So I had someone one ask if I could draw up a little diagram of how I connected my fusion Apollo stereos to work with my interior Bose Lifestyle system. It’s actually very simple to do
I have an Apollo 770 on the bridge that supplies the bridge and cockpit with whatever I’m playing on it I also have an Apollo srx 400 in the salon since the Bose wasn’t Bluetooth capable
And I wanted partybus mode (you can link both Apollo’s to play the same source) in the interior either using an Ethernet cable or over WiFi if you have a router onboard. yes You could just run a pair of rca’s from the 770 to the Bose but then I couldn’t isolate the music the way I wanted or have 2 seperate sources playing at the same time. so here’s a basic drawing of how I get music from the bridge to the salon and forward stateroom. Hope it helps

 

[Skybolt]

I am confused, wouldn't be the first time. But why not have the 770 in the salon and run a zone to the bridge and a zone to the cockpit. Then control the 770 with an erx400 remote on the bridge and possibly an nrx300 in the cockpit. Then plugging the Bose into the 770 directly. I do this with a Fire tv through an hdmi switch that has audio out, but basically the same thing. I guess your saving yourself the hassle of routing the wires from the salon to the bridge?

 

[Havana Shamrock]

Sure that would work I needed to replace the clarion on the bridge so I installed the Apollo not thinking about the salon music. The wiring was a simple Ethernet cable from the bridge to the salon then rcas across the salon As I said I now have 2 head units that I can play 2 Bluetooth sources. There’s always 2 ways to skin a cat I guess. It works great for me

edit: doing it the way you describe you’d have to extend and run all the bridge and cockpit speaker wires to the salon when installing the head unit inside with the Bose. On our boats it’s a real PITA this way may not be for everyone but it gets me everything I need for full boat audio.

 

[dtfeld]

Do your Furuno MFD's have the ability to control the control both Apollo head units? I have 2 Fusion heads, an Apollo 770 and a MS-AV755. Both show up and are controllable from my Axiom. Its pretty slick.

The only issue I have is I ran a TOSLINK fiber cable from my TV to the Apollo 770, and if I have the PartyBus feature turned on, I have about a 1 second delay between the onscreen dialog and the audio.

 

[Havana Shamrock]

I do not have the srx 400 connected to the mfd’s I didn’t see the need and also didn’t think of it. If I’m on the bridge I’d just use the 770 it’s connected to 2 furunos and a 9” Axiom that I use for FLIR. I may drop a nmea2k cable to the 400 so I can control it from the cockpit remote Cockpit has a nmea2k fusion remote so basically I can control the 770 from 5 different sources. I still use the Bose for tv audio which is very rare.
Most of the time I control volume, song, etc from the fusion phone app anyway.

 

[Skybolt]

... I may drop a nmea2k cable to the 400 so I can control it from the cockpit remote Cockpit has a nmea2k fusion remote so basically I can control the 770 from 5 different sources. ...

I didn't think the SRX400 supported N2K? It doesn't show as a connection in the manual. Does it show up as a controllable zone on the 770? If so that's awesome and I might have to re-think my setup. But though it was only controllable through the party bus or by the ERX400 remote?

 

[Havana Shamrock]

Actually no it does not support nmea2k so there goes that idea.

 

[Skybolt]

Actually no it does not support nmea2k so there goes that idea.

Their new remote the ERX400 can be used. It also supports party bus. That may be an alternative.

https://www.fusionentertainment.com/marine/products/remote-controls/ms-erx400

Question - Does the SRX400 show up on the 770 as an available zone or is it only available through party bus?

 

[Smokeio]

Thanks for sharing. I am struggling to try to come up with an overall solution, what to upgrade to from the original Clarion system on the bridge with remotes and use the existing Bose system. I normally only use one source and it’s usually Sirius. Your drawing gives me some ideas to consider. Thanks.

 

[Havana Shamrock]

Their new remote the ERX400 can be used. It also supports party bus. That may be an alternative.

https://www.fusionentertainment.com/marine/products/remote-controls/ms-erx400

Question - Does the SRX400 show up on the 770 as an available zone or is it only available through party bus?

Good question, I’m not at the boat and don’t remember I’ll be there right after the new year and I’ll check.

 

[spikedaddy99]

Joe, I just added a bluetooth adapter via RCA plugs to one of the outputs (I think the AUX output) on the Bose.

22.95 on Amazon. M

Mike

 

[Havana Shamrock]

Cool