FUSION APOLLO SERIES STEREO

Fusion has broken trail in the area of marine entertainment systems for over a decade. Nonetheless it designed its new Apollo series stereos from scratch, and the result is a boat stereo that looks like no other. Not only that, but the beauty of the sleek glass bridge style of its flagship RA770 is more than just skin deep. On startup, for example, you’ll find a fairly conventional touchscreen interface for choosing tunes. But once you’re done with that the screen goes to a Gesture Mode that lets you pause/mute or replay/next with hardly a glance. The Apollo SRX-400 model also shines as cockpit and/or sleeping cabin auxiliary, in which everyone aboard can easily do their own thing or join in via a PartyBus mode that allows all stations to share controls and sources—sources that include all the regulars plus high fidelity protocols like optical S/PDIF and UPnP. (The latter has already helped Apollo earn Apple AirPlay certification.) All Apollo stereos use digital signal processing (DSP) to improve audio quality and even automate the tuning of Fusion speakers for different sound environments. The systems also support wired remotes and remote control apps, as well as integration with MFDs over NMEA 2000. Fusion even recently announced a waterproof, inexpensive and super thin wireless remote that can be easily installed almost anywhere onboard. Finally, all Apollo systems are easily updated over Wi-Fi, and Fusion clearly has a trail forward in mind in terms of software and related hardware. $649. Fusion Entertainment, fusionentertainment.com