No Head Unit?

Ok I know it's been asked before and some have gone the route. I've searched all yesterday for a definitive answer but couldn't come up with one.
I just ordered th Wet Sounds Bluetooth Volume Control and now considering dropping my head unit altogether and putting in a WS-420sq. All we listen to are the phones hooked up so I'm not worried about CD,USB or even radio stations.

My question is can I run just the 420sq and BT-VT and not lose much in quality. Also will the 420sq fit the hole in place of the head unit in the glove box.

Speaker set up is stock Kickers in the boat and Wet Sounds on the tower plus an additional sub behind the observers seat. Currently has two amps but couldn't tell you brand or type as haven't looked to closely at them and they were there when we got the boat.

Sometimes it's a benefit to have a source unit, if it's the right source unit, to increase the voltage from the ipod/iphone before entering the EQ input. Other than that there is no real difference in the final audio.
Think the location through. A glove box mounted EQ isn't going to work for you. Once you eliminate the HU you also lose the dash remote control so you need the EQ master volume control at your fingertips. Plus, the Wetsounds has zone controls on the face that you'll constantly need access to, not to mention that this is the most feature packed EQ available.

One of the reasons I wanted to put it the glove box is because right now I have no dash remote to control the volume. So I'm constantly having to open the glove box in order to change the volume. It's a real pain that's why I'm buying the Bluetooth volume control. I just figured I could get the 420sq put it in the glove box, set it up the way I wanted, and close the door. Then run the volume control to the drivers side, that way I'm not getting up every time we switch riders to crank the music up or down it'll be right there by me.

Am I missing something as to the reason why you would need the whole equal by the driver?

personally, I would have ordered the WS420-BT

It's basically a 420sq with BUILT IN bluetooth. It also has a full din sized faceplate so you don't have the problems with the 1/2 din not filling up the spot where your headunit was.

https://wetsounds.com/media/products.../images/01.png

Yeah, it's more expensive than just the 420sq. But I think that integrated Bluetooth would be great instead of two units.

Here is my 420-sq that I use without a head unit. I did have to put in a switch to send a remote turn on lead to my amps though, as the WS420SQ doesn't have a remote turn on lead like most head units do.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w...803_161118.jpg

I would not locate the EQ in the glove box. You lose all the best functions of that device, zone control.

I'm basically looking for a way to simplify the whole radio. The pervious owner put in a sony xplod head unit and all the controls to set it just right are confusing. If I get the tower sounding just right then the cabin speakers sound like crap and vice versa. Maybe I just need a better head unit who knows I just like the simplicity and control of having just the 420 would offer.

Now I see why you'd want to split them up. Is there a way you can mount the 420 over by the driver? That's honestly the best. I have one and find myself turning up just the tower speakers, or sometimes I turn up the master volume. But it's quite common for me to need to drop/crank the volume when someone's surfing vs. when we're going to pick up a fallen rider.

I guess I'm lucky that I have my stereo location in my dash rather than glovebox.

I can put it on the drivers side. I guess since I already dropped the money on the volume control I was just kinda wanting one knob over there to keep it clean and only have one volume to control.
I don't mind turning all the volume up or down as long as I can tune the zones to sound just right at any volume together.

Once you mount the EQ high and tight under the driver's dash, whether over your right of left knee, it will only take you one day of operation before you thoroughly appreciate this location.
Btw, there are some functionality advantages to the EQ and BT broken into two parts. So its not a loss.

Where does everbody keep there phones and ipods on the driver side so they are protected? Do u use the cup holder or do u run a long 3.5 to the glove box?

Sent from my VS890 4G using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by gscharf

Where does everbody keep there phones and ipods on the driver side so they are protected? Do u use the cup holder or do u run a long 3.5 to the glove box?

Sent from my VS890 4G using Tapatalk

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I use a waterproof case and just place it to the rt between the windshield and the gauge panel.

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Originally Posted by David Analog

Once you mount the EQ high and tight under the driver's dash, whether over your right of left knee, it will only take you one day of operation before you thoroughly appreciate this location.
Btw, there are some functionality advantages to the EQ and BT broken into two parts. So its not a loss.

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I agree 100% that having the eq mounted on the drivers side is a great option. Operating the controls has just become muscle memory and I never even look at the eq.

So y'all think I should just leave the head unit even though I wouldn't really use it? My whole thought process of getting the 420 was to pair it with the Bluetooth volume control. But if I put the EQ on the drivers side then I wouldn't really need the volume control. The biggest and only real issue I have with my current setup is the basic ability to control the volume from the drivers side.

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Originally Posted by Rakkasan

So y'all think I should just leave the head unit even though I wouldn't really use it? My whole thought process of getting the 420 was to pair it with the Bluetooth volume control. But if I put the EQ on the drivers side then I wouldn't really need the volume control. The biggest and only real issue I have with my current setup is the basic ability to control the volume from the drivers side.

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The Wetsounds EQ has an in-boat zone level control, tower zone level control, dedicated subwoofer level control.....PLUS, a master volume control on the face. If you eliminate the HU you will give up nothing in the way of control but gain quite a bit via the EQ. On the other hand, it only requires one RCA cable set to use the tuner in the rare instance someone wanted it. You have a second Aux input on the EQ for the BT. You're covered.

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Originally Posted by gscharf

Where does everbody keep there phones and ipods on the driver side so they are protected? Do u use the cup holder or do u run a long 3.5 to the glove box?

Sent from my VS890 4G using Tapatalk

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I got another car dock for my phone and use the suction cup mount to the windshield.

You can also see my WS420-SQ with the 1/2 din pocket. So, if I really wanted, I could put a slimmer phone in the pocket.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x.../s800/dash.jpg

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Originally Posted by Rakkasan

So y'all think I should just leave the head unit even though I wouldn't really use it? My whole thought process of getting the 420 was to pair it with the Bluetooth volume control. But if I put the EQ on the drivers side then I wouldn't really need the volume control. The biggest and only real issue I have with my current setup is the basic ability to control the volume from the drivers side.

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Use the 420 where it is designed to be, within the driver's reach. As others have implied, once you get used to it, you will wonder how you ever lived without it (kind of like a garage door opener, I am old and did not grow up with a garage door opener). Now at my offsite storage yard I sit outside pushing buttons in the truck wondering why the door doesn't open.

Anyway, leave the HU or get one that you can plug in a USB or IPhone to. HUs are relatively cheap! Ours has the USB input and Sirrius, mostly we just have four different USBs with four different styles of music and switch them out. We just throw all our phones, extra USBs, truck keys and sunglasses in the glove box with the HU and let them bang around! Haven't had a problem yet.

If the HU doesn't remember the dock settings after the perko switch has been turned off then back on, you only have to set it once at the start of the day and it shouldn't take you that long. After that, use the 420 for all it's splendor!

I wish I had known about Zone control devices before!

Well i just got in the Wet Sounds Bluetooth Volume Control. I have an AUX plug already in the HU so I guess I'll just hook that up and see how it sounds. Might end up skipping the 420 all togeather and the only reason I was looking at it was to control the volume anyway and replace the HU.

I see the reason everyone keeps telling me the put the 420 on the drivers side but i think everyone was missing my original idea. The whole reason i was considering the 420 was volume control.
Right now i have to get up and go the the glove box and change the volume. Hence why i bought the Bluetooth volume control now i can hook it up on the drivers side and not have to move to change the volume. If I get the 420 and put it on the drivers side then i defeats the purpose of buying the Volume control in the first place. But if I pull the HU and put in the 420 and set it just the way i wanted(base/treble) and not worry to much about the zone volume just overall volume then that all I was looking for.

Hope that explains my thinking a little better.
Let me know if you think I'll just be waisting my money by going this route and not taking full advantage of the 420 because the the zone volume control which I don't know that I would use as much.

I think that what most of us that are WS420 lovers believe is that the ability to adjust the tower speakers seperate from the in-boat speakers is something that a lot of us value and use regularly. It's pretty nice to be able to crank up just the tower speakers for the rider. Or to just have the ability to adjust the relative volumes of the tower vs. boat vs. sub.

BUT, if you're really not going to use that functionality then yeah, the BT controller will likely acomplish your basic need.

If replace the head-unit with the WS-420 in the glove-box, yes, you are not taking advantage of what the WS-420 has to offer at all.

The WS-420 offer master volume control, head-unit offers master volume control, WS-420 offer 3 zone volume control, head-unit does not offer zone control.

The issue with the head-unit being located in the glove box, forcing you to get up and and adjust is, is a con you keep referring to. Putting the WS-420 in the glove box in place of the head-unit, has you still in the same boat, right?

So i would keep the head-unit, pass on the WS-420 and just go with the BT and you can use its volume control or your blue tooth music source.

Ok thats what I was kinda thinking. I would love the WS-420 or the WS-420 with bluetooth. Maybe I'll see how my curret setup will work this year and drop the cash for the 420 next year if I feel I can't get the best out of this setup.

Eventually, I see myself upgrading from my WS420-SQ to the WS420-BT. When that happens, I'll sell the 420sq and I'm sure plenty of others will be doing the same. I had thought about getting BT anyway and for me the full DIN sized faceplate will be something that will make my boat look a lot better.

I'm sure that when the time comes to sell my 420sq, that I'll post it on here. But I'm in no hurry because for the price differential between selling my 420sq and buying the 420BT, I'll be taking quite a hit...

I hear ya on the price difference. It would be nice if they would sell a face plate adapter so the 420sq would work better for you.

On a different note, I need a 3.5mm audio cable to run my Volume Control from the drivers side to the radio on the passengers side. I'm guessing it would need to be run through the center ski locker any ideas as to the lenght of cable I would need and brand/style i should go with or stay away from.

Thanks

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Originally Posted by Rakkasan

I hear ya on the price difference. It would be nice if they would sell a face plate adapter so the 420sq would work better for you.

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Well, the outward appearances of the respective units look similar enough that I was curious if I could just unscrew the face of the BT and put it on the SQ. they have all the same button locations after all...

https://wetsounds.com/media/products.../images/01.png

https://wetsounds.com/media/products.../images/01.png

So, I just called wetsounds and found out that the reason that the 420BT has a larger face is because they needed to mount an external BT antenna. You can actually see this oval for the antenna under the middle 3 buttons if you look close. So the faces aren't compatible.

He did mention that there's dash mount kits that they sell. However, the $100 that the in dash mounting kit sells for is the same price differential on the BT vs Non-BT so if I was to spend a c-note on the dash kit, I'd be kind of silly to not simply sell the 420sq and buy the 420BT like I already plan to do eventually...

I didn't find out what the exact dimensions of the 420BT faceplate is though, so I shot them an email to find that out as well. It'd be kind sucky to go on the assumption that the 420BT face would fill my DIN opening only to find out that it isn't tall enough or whatever.

https://wetsounds.com/media/products.../images/01.png

Well, Wetsounds got back to me and the faceplate for the integrated 420BT is 1 5/8" x 8" which means that it's smaller in height than a standard DIN sized opening (height on DIN from what I have found online is 2.11" and the DIN width is 7.2"

Thanks a lot wetsounds for making something that doesn't fit a standardized size. Lack of foresight if you ask me.

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Originally Posted by trayson

Thanks a lot wetsounds for making something that doesn't fit a standardized size. Lack of foresight if you ask me.

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Or revenue generator.........who will they sell their $100 custom mounting kit to if they used a standard size??? :D

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Originally Posted by mikenehrkorn

Or revenue generator.........who will they sell their $100 custom mounting kit to if they used a standard size??? :D

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^^^^^^ This.

Why not make your own custom fit single din faceplate out of a thin piece of ABS? Easy and cheap - any stereo place will sell you a piece big enough for $10ish.

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Originally Posted by bergermaister

Why not make your own custom fit single din faceplate out of a thin piece of ABS? Easy and cheap - any stereo place will sell you a piece big enough for $10ish.

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I guess if I can't have 1 single ws420 faceplate, then I'll go with how I have it setup now, with the pocket.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x.../s800/dash.jpg

BTW -- what is the red button next to the eq? Does that operate the passenger ejector seat?? :) :D

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Originally Posted by mikenehrkorn

BTW -- what is the red button next to the eq? Does that operate the passenger ejector seat?? :) :D

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Well, a normal deck has a power button. And a normal deck has a remote turn on lead to send a 12v+ signal to the amps to let them know when to turn on.

The WS420SQ *needs* a remote turn on signal to be sent to it. So bascially it's a switch that will provide that signal to the amps and to the EQ (since I don't have a Head unit). I suppose I could have tried to use one of my OEM dash switches, but for whatever reason, I didn't go that direction (maybe all the switches were used up or I didn't want to chase down what switch did what?) I don't remember my reasoning.

So, in summary, it's a master power switch that send the turn on lead for amps and EQ.

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Originally Posted by Rakkasan

On a different note, I need a 3.5mm audio cable to run my Volume Control from the drivers side to the radio on the passengers side. I'm guessing it would need to be run through the center ski locker any ideas as to the lenght of cable I would need and brand/style i should go with or stay away from.

Thanks

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Any suggestions?