Replacement for Jensen Entertainment Center

I had one I replaced on a previous MH that did exactly what you wanted. Can't remember the model but it was a Pioneer. I had no idea what I was was looking for, just what I wanted. Called Crutchfield and they provided a few units that had exactly what I wanted.

Given my requirements, I was limited to the units designed for RVs. I researched a lot of the automotive head units, and not a one has an HDMI(ARC) port. Many of them have analog video inputs for backup/side/etc cameras, but that's not acceptable for my application.

No one on this board or on ForestRiverForums could provide a brand & model of an automotive unit that met my requirements, though I received similar responses on both boards much like some of these replies.

I ultimately purchased an iRV32V2. This unit is currently in production and has up to date specs, and has fit the requirements nicely.

The only issue I've had so far is finding the random function when playing music CDs. Other than that limitation, everything is easy to use and easily accessible, with a couple of exceptions.

While researching this unit, there were three main objections:

1) Reliability, both infantile and adolescent failures
2) Very poor remote functionality
3) No adjustments for base, treble, balance

While I don't yet have a track record for the reliability, everything worked fine out-of-the-box, with the exception of the remote. More on this later, however...

If this unit fails over the next year or two (as did my Jensen JWM6A within a few months of life), I'll respond to this posting.

Regarding the remote, it was easy to determine the cause of poor performance. The aperture for the IR receiver was obscured with a small hole containing a tiny pink plastic filter. This filter was mounted on the finishing fascia, but if the remote was used any time the fascia was absent, all worked well, and from quite a distance. The issue is not the remote, it's poor fascia design.

As far as the lack of tone/balance adjustments, while the manual doesn't really mention how, it alludes to the fact that the volume knob is also used to select and adjust treble, base, L-R and F-R balances.

In fact, this is actually on of those multi-function knobs. To adjust other functions, just push it in momentarily. Initially, it appears not to do anything, other than change the display to say Volume:n (where n is the current level). Rotate the knob to reveal the next function - Base, then Treble, then Left-Right, and finally Front-Rear. Easy!

Changing the mode via the Mode button never displays the DVD or audio CD selections. Instead, just insert a DVD or CD, and the function and display changes to serve that function. The unit never searches for a missing CD or DVD if there's not one in the drive, unlike the Jensen.

While in DVD function, the "Menu" button on the remote is supposed to bring up the DVD menu, but I always get "invalid key" in that function. This is the second of two puzzlers, the other being the lack of a randomizing function for music.

Enough about the unit. You want installation pictures!

Bench testing:



New unit perched in opening designed for the Jensen:



New filler that was a dinette drawer face in it's previous life:



IR receiver fascia hole and removed filter:



Modification:



Unit mounted, facia not yet installed. The unit is in stand-by mode, clock displayed, but fairly dim:



I had to do some other work on the fascia to get it to mount correct, and snap into place. Once those minor mods were complete, then it all snapped together and looks good. Again, in standby with a dim clock display:



When on, this has a lot of blue lamps, which seems to be the current fad for automotive head units. Blue is the worst color in the world for night vision, but I guess they expect the cool kids with a billion blue lumens lives in the heart of the city - where it takes a lot of light to be seen....



This may be a minor distraction from that 32" TV a few feet away...



More pictures, as always: Entertainment Center

(Note, I also posted this reply on ForestRiverForums.com, in case you visit that site and thought you'd already seen this post!

BTW, the sound is much better than the Jensen. I had replaced the interior $15 Jensen speakers with a nice set of $200 Yamahas, as stated in my original post. The outside speakers were always muted, while the Jensen over-drove the interior speakers to the point of making them buzz at the peaks. The iRV drives both fairly equally, and the sound from the Yamahas is very pleasant.

Pairing with the phone is simple - select BT, and look for the iRV on the bluetooth list on the phone. Tap, and you are connected. The Jensen took a 12 step program, then would forget the pair in a day or three. I gave up.

The physical build quality of both the Jensen JWM6A and the 32" TV is very good, but the electronics and software rates far below physical build quality.

The iRV is not near as well built, as the silkscreening on some buttons are a bit crooked; the issues I had with the fascia as mentioned, and the rear power and speaker connectors were sub-par. After I mated them for the bench test, it took quite a bit of work to extract them, and that was with tools. The metal opening around the connectors was too small to allow the latch to fully unlatch. After coaxing them out, I snipped the tips of the catches so they could be extracted without issue in the future. The HDMI and antenna connections were fine.

The only Jensen product remaining is the in-dash double din, that failed a little over a year after we purchased the Sunseeker. I rarely used it anyway, the GPS map was very hard to read, as if someone designed the graphics on a 40" monitor, then didn't consider visibility on a 6" screen. It occasionally has a windows error pop up, so I understood the issue; it was based on some embedded windows OS. Probably CE.
(Remember windows ME, and NT? We used to combine the three - CE-ME-NT)