Compact Marine Stereo with Bluetooth Audio Streaming

Most marine stereos have small vents on their cases to allow a way for moisture to find its way in. In some limited instances, it is possible for moist air to be drawn into the vents when the air inside the stereo cools down after being turned off. Direct sunlight on the front can draw this moisture up against the screen, causing fogging - but turning on the stereo will speed up the moisture removal.

Fogging is not abnormal, nor will it harm your stereo as it is built to withstand the moist marine environment.

Current consumption of Fusion marine stereos:

Fusion stereos have a standard voltage rating of 10.8V to 16V DC unless otherwise stated.

All figures are for individual head units only, not a system. Numbers can be added together to calculate the system current consumption.

Amplifiers will contribute significantly higher current consumptions.

All marine stereos with 4 amplified speaker outputs have been tested with 4 speakers attached and no USB devices connected.

All measurements are average, so measurements on other production stereos may vary. Values are subject to change without notification.

There are two main types of Antenna supplied for FM/AM reception in a marine environment.

The first is a "Ground Dependent" Antenna. This is designed to be used where the antenna base is in contact with a metal surface such as steel or aluminium that has a surface area of 0.5m² or greater. This is a ground plane and the antenna depends on it for reception signal strength, so if it is fitted on a vessel without this, you will get very poor reception.

The second is a "Ground Independent" antenna. This is suitable for non-metal vessels and where a ground plane is not required.

Ensuring you have the correct type of antenna for your vessel is something that is sometimes missed as it is not well advertised.

VHF splitters are another option, however we do not recommend them for metal vessels, as you will be relying on the short wire run from the stereo to the splitter which is generally inside the vessel, making reception limited.

There are 2 power wires and 1 ground wire that need to be connected for your Fusion marine stereo to operate correctly.

Both the red and yellow wires need to be connected to 12V and the black wire to ground/battery negative.

The yellow power wire is the high current supply wire. This needs to be connected to your battery using a cable suitable for carrying at least 15 Amps.

The red power wire is a switched input. When 12V is connected to this wire the marine stereo can operate. When disconnected, the stereo will shut down and remain off.

The red wire may also be connected together with the yellow wire if you are supplying power through a switch panel capable of 15A, or if a battery isolator is used to disconnect the battery when not in use.

The yellow +12v wire in some stereos provides power to the memory of the unit for presets etc. This only applies to Fusion's MS-CD80 as Fusion's 600 and 200 Series stereos are designed to save all settings when power is removed.

A simple way to try to locate on-board sources of interference is to use a portable AM/FM radio and point the aerial at different areas or electronic devices while in AM mode. You will hear the interference as you pass the source of interference. You can also eliminate interference sources by turning electronic devices off to test if there is a marked improvement, then work your way through your electronic devices to determine what, if any, are contributing to the issue.

There are a number of factors that can cause poor AM/FM reception in a marine environment. One of the most common causes comes from the antenna cable routing. When installing an AM/FM receiver on your vessel, spend extra time to investigate the optimal routing of cables, including any RCA cables. These should ideally be run away from any other cable and/or electric motors, or potential sources of interference. Power cables provide the worst source of interference, and can be in bundles of cables, so you may not realize they are there. AM reception requires a short antenna cable run for optimum reception, which is not that easily achieved on a lot of vessels, especially when using mast style aerials.

Check that you have selected the correct tuner region in the settings menu as the default setting may be incorrect for your location.

Yes. All Fusion head units that support Apple iPod/iPhone products will charge your Apple product while connected, even if they are not playing once they have initialized connection. This provides a handy back up charging solution should you not have a charger on board.

Yes you can connect both wires together, and directly to the battery, if you do not have an ignition switch or another 12V switched source. Keep in mind that the head unit will draw standby current while connected, making an isolator switch a good idea to include.