Living Space Sound System Options?

[Powertour]

Anyone installed a sound system in their rig & if so how'd you tackle that project?

Every trailer I've owned came with some sort of sound system for the living area.... they may have not been good, but there was something to work with (or outright replace). Not this Class-C, other than the in-dash radio with 2 WEAK speakers in the front doors there's nothing to pony off.

[DrewE]

Most (practically all) dash radios would have outputs for four speakers: the front ones in the doors, and rear ones that may be going nowhere. Connecting into the rear speaker outputs is one not too hard and not expensive way of getting some music back in the RV.

Mine (older Coachmen) came with speakers in the overhead cabinets above the couch connected to the dash radio. I replaced the speakers with ones that are a bit better and had not fallen down into the bottom of the cabinet from their proper cutouts.

[Bordercollie]

We just bought two Bose Wave4 music systems at 1/2 price from QVC and HSN and are thrilled with the sound on CD and FM radio modes, AM is OK. The AC power cord is also the FM antenna. They also have alarm clock features. If you have AC available where camped, or an inverter, playing CD's is my recommendation. FM and AM reception in the boonies may vary a lot. The unit is relatively small and easily portable but the sound is great, I didn't believe the ads for years. I am also playing You Tube music videos through the Bose using an add-on Bluetooth Wavecast receiver ($25) from my amazon Flame tablet,( WiFi needed for that) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

[bobndot]

ZVOX sound bar ?

Here is one rvnet thread about using one in a class c,

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/22515760/print/true.cfm

[Bobby_F]

I'm installing an older Bose Acoustimas 2.1 speaker system w/ sub, pointing back from the bunk area, powered by a Yamaha AV receiver, hooked in to a cd/dvd player and my TV. Powered from the inverter, obviously. Home theater/music system. Basically just moving one of my home systems in.

At least, that's my plan, which is why I'm commenting here. I'm looking for opinions.

Overkill? Dumb-sounding? Should I just stick with a 12volt car system for sound? I do like good sound, and I think my solar will keep up.

[Healeyman]

Powertour wrote:
Anyone installed a sound system in their rig & if so how'd you tackle that project?

We have a Bose Wave Radio Sound System

https://www.amazon.com/Bose-Multi-CD-Changer-Platinum-Compatible/dp/B004JO1ZO8/ref=sr_1_5?hvadid=780...

that sits in the center of the cabover of our Class C.

Works well and sounds GREAT!!!

Tim

[GKAbbott]

Powertour wrote:
Anyone installed a sound system in their rig & if so how'd you tackle that project?

Every trailer I've owned came with some sort of sound system for the living area.... they may have not been good, but there was something to work with (or outright replace). Not this Class-C, other than the in-dash radio with 2 WEAK speakers in the front doors there's nothing to pony off.

If you want to continue to use the in dash unit, install a DPST switch to switch the ignition sense wire(probably red) along with the B+ wire(probably yellow) between the house battery and the chassis battery. This will require running wiring from the house battery to the switch.

There are probably rear speaker wires run and dead ended at the base of the "B" pillar.

[Bordercollie]

Sound bar is good for TV sound, we have ZVOX AV155. I like the idea of a separate AM/FM/CD player radio and speakers running off house batteries in rear area. Should have a remote.

[Powertour]

I think I might install a separate 12v car radio system back in the living quarters run off the house batteries.... a la like what was in 1 of my toyhaulers.

Decisions / decisions......

[AJR]

Sorry

I love the “Sound of Silence”…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAEppFUWLfc

Showing my age. Actually after my age. Born during the war.

Peace…

[mikeinaz]

ol' yeller wrote:
This will be my next project in my 2019 Entegra Esteem 29V. The sound system is very poor. The subwoofer sounds like a kid beating on a tin drum. The front speakers are awful and the rears aren't much better. The head unit is hard to use, difficult to program and the GPS (tom tom) is almost useless. There is no Sirius capability. The only good thing is the Apple Play but the sound is just bad.

I'm thinking I'll upgrade the speakers. Add some tweeters that are missing. Then I'll replace the woeful subwoofer. Adding an amplifier would help a lot. Then I'll consider replacing the head unit with a better quality unit. The documentation that came with the RV was woefully inadequate. I have no idea of what Sony unit I have as that information is printed on the underside of the head unit. My dealer is useless to help.

Yeah, I have an Entegra Odyssey as well! I put 4 way Pioneer speakers in the front and back, they has the widest frequency range of any speaker out there for under $200. They sound GREAT and were less than $50 per set. As I mentioned, I put in sound deadening mat in the doors and it really cleaned up the sound too. I stayed w/ stock size speakers in the rear as they sit right where my cabinets open and anything larger, the grills touched an opening cabinet door.

I went w/ a middle of the road Jensen head unit, more power than stock and much easier to use, I wanted an old school knob to turn for the volume so I could make easy volume changes w/out taking my eyes off the road. That stock unit was a push button that worked only half the time it seemed like. Lots of choices for head units.

[ol__yeller]

This will be my next project in my 2019 Entegra Esteem 29V. The sound system is very poor. The subwoofer sounds like a kid beating on a tin drum. The front speakers are awful and the rears aren't much better. The head unit is hard to use, difficult to program and the GPS (tom tom) is almost useless. There is no Sirius capability. The only good thing is the Apple Play but the sound is just bad.

I'm thinking I'll upgrade the speakers. Add some tweeters that are missing. Then I'll replace the woeful subwoofer. Adding an amplifier would help a lot. Then I'll consider replacing the head unit with a better quality unit. The documentation that came with the RV was woefully inadequate. I have no idea of what Sony unit I have as that information is printed on the underside of the head unit. My dealer is useless to help.

[mikeinaz]

I bought a new class c this year and was shocked at how bad the stock speakers were. Literally the worst sounding audio speakers I've ever heard. I ordered some new Pioneer 4x8 door speakers and a box of sound deadening material and in an hour, had the new speakers in and the matting installed inside the doors. HUGE difference in sound.

I then replaced the stock head unit w/ an aftermarket unit putting out more power and upgraded the rear interior speakers as well. Sounds great now.

I think you have some options, I would replace those horrible door speakers first, they are less than $50. for a nice set of speakers. Consider the sound deadening mat as well, some inexpensive stuff on Amazon that works very well. Like someone else said, you can run some wires to the rear underneath pretty easily (assuming your current head unit has rear speaker outputs) and put a couple outdoor speakers in as well as indoor if you want music inside, in the rear. If you dont care about music in the back, just add a soundbar to the TV.

[Second_Chance]

I replaced the POS Furrion unit with a Polk audio sound bar with wireless sub. All sources run through the Polk Audio system via the digital optical input. Sounds great!

Rob

[VA-Apraisr]

I'd either replace the stock system with an upgraded receiver/Bluetooth/Wireless unit and should be easy to replace door speakers and maybe add two speakers in the back section (just use undercarriage to run wires). I put in a Sirius system so I don't have to channel chase while going down the road. For TV, a soundbar is an excellent addition for the couch time.