Upgrade RV Entertainment System

Second Chance wrote:
I'm a musician and audiophile from way back, so take what I say as one old codger's opinion. Anything intended/labeled for RV use (Jensen, Furrion, etc.) is basically junk. The units are cheaply designed and built with bottom-drawer components.

Amen :)

My camper has a POS am/fm weather band cassette player that I'm sure has two left over speakers from old transistor radios.

I'll be upgrading with Alpine, Hertz and JLAudio.

Should be an nice improvement.

Speakers are always a nice improvement but not enough power to drive them is what kills them.

Actually, the built-in speakers are the weak link. They are really rather terrible. The radio unit is not that bad if we could install better speakers. But the speakers really need a surround of some type or a cabinet. Just being mounted in the ceiling does not work too well. My next project is to figure out how to install better speakers with some type of surround in the ceiling.

I do have similar dilemma, although I am trying to salvage original "low mileage" 180W, 4-speakers stereo system originally build into ceilings.
I am not audiophile like 2nd Ch. but want to use the stereo for my laptop DVD.
So far the only option I found is FM adapter, but when it is giving good reception for dialog, it makes chaos from rock music.
Is really replacing whole stereo the only way to have decent sound from build-in system?

I recently redid my entire entertainment area for the third time!

I used this unit that I'm VERY happy with

Jensen JWM6A Bluetooth Capable Device. AM, FM, DVD, USB, HDMI. Streaming Audio from Bluetooth Enabled Audio Sources Devices

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01979UKMM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



Added a Winegard RFL-332 SensarPro and a mount for my XM radio



Added three switches above the XM radio, first one powers the Sensar and the other two are for future stuff

Below is a DC Volt meter, cigarette lighter jack and two USB charging outlets



A little "pocket below" is for storage of remote controls

Tizi wrote:
My Northern-Lite came with a dvd/am/fm system. The dvd player stopped working and it is old technology: no Bluetooth, HDMI, etc. Has anyone upgraded their entertainment system? What did you use and how do you like it?

Mine is not an upgrade, but the new NL have the most recent model Jensen with Bluetooth and HDMI. I have been pleased with it and there is an APP available from Jensen to control everything using your smart phone/tablet using the Bluetooth connection.

I'm a musician and audiophile from way back, so take what I say as one old codger's opinion. Anything intended/labeled for RV use (Jensen, Furrion, etc.) is basically junk. The units are cheaply designed and built with bottom-drawer components.

So, what did I do? Bypassed the built-in stuff altogether. Along with the Dish HD receiver and hard drive, I installed a "home style" DVD/Blu-Ray player and a Polk Audio sound bar with wireless sub-woofer. Everything is controlled by a single Logitech Harmony remote. All program sources are connected to the TV via HDMI and the audio output from the TV goes to the sound bar. This means that I have decent sound not only when watching a movie, but also when just watching satellite or OTA TV. I stream high quality FLAC music files from my tablet to the sound bar via Bluetooth. We don't listen to radio except in the vehicles on travel days and don't have a TV in the bedroom, so loosing those features was a non-issue for us. This approach may be a bit much if your RV sees occasional use, but for us - as full-timers - it was a must.

Rob

Sounds pretty cool. Definitely post up some pics and a review when you are done!

Our camper came with a cd stereo system and some rather crappy speakers mounted in the ceiling and outside. It doesn't sound very good.

I think we are going to upgrade on the cheap with some sort of decent bluetooth speaker(s) and use our phones where all our music is stored anyway. Bluetooth also allows us to bring the speaker outside, in the truck or wherever.