Accessories make for an important asset for your audio system. When it comes to your boat, some of the extras and add-ons are almost mandatory, while others are highly recommended. Following is a comprehensive outline for the most common gear and accessories you'll want for your water voyage. The items listed range from absolutely must to highly recommended. Getting them all, following the instructions and suggestions, you'll be ensuring yourself and your guests with a party that will rock the boat beyond your wildest imagination!

Let's list them briefly, after which we'll take a more in-depth look into each item.

• Receiver
• Speakers
• Amplifier
• Subwoofers
• Speaker Wire and Cable
• Satellite Radio
• Power Inverter

Let's have a closer look.

Receiver. When shopping for a marine receiver, you should be looking for a device with a coated circuit board, water-resistant faceplate, line-level outputs (meant for sending signals to external amplifiers), and satellite radio controls. If you're tilted towards perfection, some good accessories to add would be a waterproof faceplate cover and a watertight remote control.

Speakers. Like the rest of the marine gear, your speakers need special attention and protection against the harsh marine environment. We recommend plastic cones with rubber surrounds, and corrosion-resistant mounting hardware. The wind, water, and engine noise tend to compete with the music; so be sure your speakers contain enough power for you tunes to outsound them. If your speakers will be mounted near the compass, make sure they're magnetically shielded.

Amplifier. They should come with coated circuit boards, plated, non-corrosive connectors, and lots of power.

Subwoofers. Bass on the boat is a big deal. Your subwoofers should include plastic cones and rubber surrounds. Remember that mounting them on your boat could be a bit challenging, so enclosed subwoofers or free-air rated component subs will take you a long way in installing your subwoofers on mounting locations.

Speaker Wire and Cable. All wires and cables pertaining to marine audio systems should be tinned. Otherwise, they'll quickly corrode in salt-water conditions.

Satellite Radio. Since regular radio reception tends to fade the further into the see you go, a superior substitute like SiriusXM, with its up-to-200 miles reception capabilities, is an important boat companion. There's a variety of plug-and-play satellite radio-tuners, which you can simply transfer from your home or car to your boat. Alternately, get a marine receiver that is satellite radio-ready. All you need to do is add an external tuner, mount it out of sight, run the cable into the radio, and you're good to go.

Power Inverter. You're very likely to take one of those along with you on your boat. Just make sure that it comes with a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter, meant for protecting against an accidental shock.