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Upgrading TV and Audio

Jbracey0
Explorer
Explorer
Hi! I am new to the forums and new to the RVing life! We are buying our first motor home this week a 2002 Bounder 35S. We have been looking at RVS for a while and we will be doing a lot of upgrades to this old one. We are shopping around for new dinette, couch, chair and cabin chairs and replacing all the flooring and painting walls and cabinets etc. Since we are going to be gutting it I also want to make some tech upgrades. Does anyone have any experience with having large tvs installed? It's a hard subject for me to find for RVS but I was thinking maybe ceiling mounting a swing arm large 55inch for the bedroom.

We stream everything at the home or digital hard drive so we don't have to bring the discs. Does anyone have tips for syncing all of the audio and tvs together? Example: audio over the speakers in the rv and all the tvs playing the same video? I know it takes some hardware to calibrate the lag I just need to know where to start. Thanks!
18 REPLIES 18

Jbracey0
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks for the info! I completely forgot about wireless hdmi! The model is a 2002 bounder 36s. It has a TV in the driver's back rear where the whole back wall is a wardrobe. It has a 19 inch I think in the cubby but all the space behind is empty. I was thinking about putting the hard drive and an Xbox back there. I was thinking about putting the wall mount or large swing arm for that side wall where there is just a window. I would go to the ultra light 4ks so the mount would weigh more than the tv.

There is also a slide and when you put the slide out there are a couple of cabinet doors with a large mirror on the wall that connects to the bathroom with existing outlet on that wall. I have seen newer models that have a TV there instead of a mirror too that I thought about swapping. We plan on most of our trips to disney campground which does have hookups.

D_E_Bishop
Explorer
Explorer
Changing out the TVs is pretty simple, "IF" you can find a couple three ceiling joists to attach them to. In my opinion a 55" class is pretty big and heavy to attach to a motor home ceiling. Also the ceilings are often curved to match the exterior and they don't have an attic space so fishing an HDMI cable is going to be a chore.

We had a 1990 Bounder 27D and I ended up running the cable under the house and then thru the toe kick space under the kitchen cabinets and past the fridge and space heater. It was not easy and I wouldn't do it again. I only did it so when the DGKs were with us we could watch the same recording on both TVs. Now that they are older they don't go with us much anymore and with the Winnie and the living room slide we really don't use the bedroom TV, there is plenty of seating for four.

I would go wireless if I were to do it again. My time is worth the $300 cost of a full 1080 HD system.

I have no info on your current or proposed sound system but HES(home entertainment systems) are not cheap and the wiring is again a problem. The wireless transmitters are A/V so a sound bar and bass may be easier than a HES.

You don't have to buy equipment on ebay, but it is a go to place to see what is available. I bought all my stuff to sync my TVs and BluRay DVD player online at ebay. I don't think you'll be finding a 55" class set with a wall brick, so you'll be using an inverter unless you're in campgrounds all the time. All this stuff adds up and may require additional batteries if you dry camp.

Just some things to think about.
"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to go". R. L. Stevenson

David Bishop
2002 Winnebago Adventurer 32V
2009 GMC Canyon
Roadmaster 5000
BrakeBuddy Classic II

Mandalay_Parr
Explorer
Explorer
I have two TV's synced together using a HDMI splitter. My sound is wired into my home theatre surround sound system.
I also use a TIVO DVR for both OTA and cable.
Jerry Parr
Full-time
2005 Mandalay 40B
Cat C7 350, 4 Slides
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2004 CR-V Toad
jrparr@att.net
602-321-8141
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ncrowley
Explorer II
Explorer II
Many of us have replaced our TVs. If you do a search on the forum, you will find threads that have information and pictures of how it was done. In our case, we put a wall mount arm in the cabinet. The TV is slightly wider than the outside of the cabinet which may not be large enough for you. I remember threads where people have installed a ceiling mount where the TV rotates down from the ceiling.
Nancy
Newmar Northern Star