Stereo for my RV....

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Shelly_palmer
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Joined: August 3rd, 2017, 3:10 am

Stereo for my RV....

Post by Shelly_palmer »

Hi folks, glad to be a part of this forum. Mine is 1997 premier model. My question is can I set up a stereo for it.If yes, which would be the best one? Please help me...
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SMan
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Re: Stereo for my RV....

Post by SMan »

Welcome Shelly,

This forum has many people (most with more knowledge than me) that can help. A little more info could help. What type of stereo are you referring to 12 volt DC or 120 volt AC. The drivers compartment or the coach? What capabilities does it need? CD, DVD, USB, etc?

I removed my VCR from my 2004 and installed a "double din" AM/FM,DVD,CD that also uses my flat screen to watch movies. I'm sure others will chime in here.

Steve

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Steve aka SMan
2004 Premier V10
Shelly_palmer
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Re: Stereo for my RV....

Post by Shelly_palmer »

Hi Sman, it is great to know... I am looking for some trendy and modern features for my stereo which is to be needed for my coach...So I think USB is better. Share your thoughts. Is 120 V AC good enough?
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SMan
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Re: Stereo for my RV....

Post by SMan »

I am hoping others will chime in with what they've done in this area. If you are installing a system to replace your existing coach VCR/TV I would go with 12 volt especially if you will not be plugged into shore power. I am probably not the right guy to ask about trendy stuff :lol: but if you have a reputable car audio store in your area they would be a good place to go for ideas or suggestions. In my area we have a store called Car Toys that I have been happy with over the years. The system I installed works great to play CD's, use a USB flashdrive loaded with music, plug my ipod in, or watch DVD movies on it's small screen or the 12 volt 21" flat screen TV I also installed.

What type of system do you have in your Chinook now?
Steve aka SMan
2004 Premier V10
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Blue~Go
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Re: Stereo for my RV....

Post by Blue~Go »

I can't advise on trendy, feature-packed stereos, but I can give my opinion on a couple of things:

1) I would stick with 12-volt/DC units. Handily, most (all?) car stereos in the US/Canada are DC 12-volt units, since that's what US and Canadian cars run on, for the most part.

2) Most (all?) Chinooks have some of the power for the coach (i.e. living room) stereo coming from the start battery. That can potentially be an issue if you listen to it when parked (draining start battery). The only reason I know of to have it set up that way is to hold the station presets if/when you shut off the house batteries. So if you travel a lot (meaning presets are fairly meaningless), don't shut off the house batteries often (so you won't loose the presets anyway), or don't care, then having all the power come from the house batteries is better, to my mind. Start battery stays sacred (and I don't like things that you wouldn't think would be drawing from start battery but do). There are some previous posts about this here, I believe. I made this mod myself after being inspired by Bob Will's doing the same. It was not too difficult.

3) You probably already know this, but car stereos come in various "DIN" sizes. Single DIN is the typical sized stereo, that's relatively short vs. its length. Double DIN is the newer "tall" size that is what Sman shows above. Then there is the Ford dash steroo, which is like "1-3/4" DIN :? (but can be modified to be double).

4) As you allude to, there are various ways to get your music (vs. radio or satellite) to the player. CD drive, USB, SD card, Bluetooth, aux port, and probably more I don't know about. Not sure which is "best," but for me I just consider how I like to play/set-up music, and what other devices I have. Many have multiple ways. Some have an infrared remote, but I have found those to be not only line of sight, but "fairly picky line of sight" (maybe all are not as picky?).

5) There are also bluetooth stand-alone speakers you can use with a phone, iPod, etc. Various plusses and minuses to those.

I considered just using the dash stereo (and maybe having a power switch to go from dash to house battery bank) becaus having two complete stereos in a rig this small seemed silly, but for various reasons have so far not done that.

BG
1999 Concourse
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SMan
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Re: Stereo for my RV....

Post by SMan »

Blue gave a great reply. I'll just add that to conquer the preset problem mine is wired to the coach and the off/on switch works like an ignition switch to turn the unit off and on and keep the presets (just like a car). I also added an Aux / USB port to the front to easily plug things in.
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Blue~Go
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Re: Stereo for my RV....

Post by Blue~Go »

SMan wrote:...to conquer the preset problem mine is wired to the coach and the off/on switch works like an ignition switch to turn the unit off and on and keep the presets (just like a car).
So do you have it so that it bypasses the "store" switch and is always "hot" on the house bank? Mine is wired to the house bank with both wires, but is *not* always hot -- so if I turn my house bank off ("store" switch in stock configuration/Blue Sea battery switch in my configuration), I lose the presets (I believe), and it will go through the start up sequence again. But, I don't turn that off very often (and when I do I don't want the radio able to take any power so that's good). But most of the time I'm not turning off the batteries ("store"), so it's all normal. No power from the start bank, and both wires to the house bank (but downstream of the main battery switch).

I guess come to think of it though, I can't really see why one would make that wire bypass any store switch on the house bank. Reason I say that is if you are plugged in at home you will have the "store" switch on, so you can be charging, and if you're not plugged in you probably wouldn't want that load? So maybe there is a reason I can't think of (certainly happens often enough!).
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SMan
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Re: Stereo for my RV....

Post by SMan »

No I do not bypass the store button. I usually am plugged in at home if only on a battery tender and have rarely used the store position. I may have used the power from the VCR when I removed it but to be honest I don't remember. Speaking of the old TV and VCR I have them loaded to take to our local electronics recycle facility. Man they are big compared to what I have now. :lol:
Steve aka SMan
2004 Premier V10
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Scott
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Re: Stereo for my RV....

Post by Scott »

It was mentioned in one of BG's earlier posts, but I think it's worth restating. The bluetooth speakers that I've heard/used can produce respectable sound. I don't own one, and by no means am I an audiophile, but I do have experience with a couple of the Bose units; they're pretty nice. You get full portability for outdoor use, no installation or coach modification required, and you have full liberty to choose which Chinook battery you're going to pull from (charge while you drive, or charge via coach bank if boondocking). Of course you need a music source like a phone or SD card, and if radio feed is important to you, then that could be a hurdle.

Just the same, Sman's setup is pretty slick, and I would probably consider doing the same if I had a VCR hole to fill. I just use the dash head unit with under-cabinet coach speakers (powered by crank battery). Music and audio books are on an SD card, and there's a little remote control, which works OK. I also have a pretty thirsty subwoofer, so it could get dicey pulling from the crank battery for hours and hours, but I really only use it when I'm cooking/cleaning or driving.
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Blue~Go
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Re: Stereo for my RV....

Post by Blue~Go »

Sman,

Okay, I thought you were saying you wired yours differently than I did. I also used the disused VCR wire for my second wire (that used to go to the start battery). So everything is "normal" unless I turn off my house battery switch. At that point the radio loses the power that (when it was attached to the start battery) it kept. But that's infrequent, and to my mind is vastly preferable to having a "sneaker load" on my sacred start battery. And anyway, the lost power is no different than what would happen if one disconnected the start battery (which happens from time to time doing projects or etc.).

All that said, mine's out now anyway. The original coach radio was a bit quirky, and although I bought another one I haven't put it in yet. The one thing keeping me from a Bose Soundlink Mini or similar is that I like to listen to FM broadcast radio. I have an iPod that gets radio, but annoyingly that's only when the headphones are plugged in (uses them as an antenna). I have read about a couple of workarounds, but ultimately just haven't decided whether to go back with the "car stereo" or a Bluetooth type standalone. Partly I guess it's because I don't listen to music as much as I used to. Either I'm an old curmudgeon, or the world is so noisy that I'd prefer peace and quiet when I can get it (or both? :lol: )
1999 Concourse
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