Sound system

RubiconAg

Active Member
Has anyone upgraded their sound system and if so, with what? I'm thinking about this, ours just doesn't put out quality sound, even compared to other "lower" quality coaches.
 

jpmorgan37

Well-known member
RubiconAg;

Do a search here on the forum. You will find that some of the members have done varying degrees of upgrades.

John
 

Taynton1

Member
I agree. I have never been satisfied with a Coby product. I thought about donating it to the charity trift store, but I don't want to down grade their inventory.
Anyway, I am in process of installing an older Bose 5.1 speaker system and a new Yamaha 5.1 reciever. I should be done tomorrow and I am sure the sound will be amazing campared to Coby.

MT
 

linuxkidd

Member
I put in my Pioneer VSX-816 7.1 Surround receiver. I'm only hooked up with 5.1 ( the extra 2 are for rear behind the viewer, and there's not a lot out there that uses it.. )

The VSX-816 ( along with many of Pioneer's other Higher end receivers ) has a feature called MCACC (or something like that).. Basically, you hook everything up.. Plug in a microphone that comes with the unit, and it starts sending test tones and thumps to each speaker in turn.

The unit takes the data it gains from this and adjusts each speakers EQ and Delay settings to get optimal sound. This method corrects for room size, speaker position, different speaker sizes, and each speakers ability to reproduce all tones accurately ( among others )...

I've gotta say. After adding this unit and a powered sub, the system sounds pretty darn good! I'd highly recommend trying this route before replacing the speakers all the way around.

The powered sub takes a line level signal. I place my sub in the "Desk" area of my Landmark Augusta. To get the signal to it, I removed the TV and the TV's Mount, then pulled one of the black "cover" boards off. This gives access to the wiring area. I then pulled the Electric Fireplace out which gives access to the lower portion of the wiring area. Using a wire snake, I pushed down from the top to the bottom and then pulled a length of Quad Shielded RG-6 for the signal wire. Lowes and Radio Shack both sell adapters to go from the Cable F Connector to Line level RCA connections. The Quad Shielding is VERY useful for this type of run because it resists interference from near by power wires quite well.

Well, that was a bit more winded than I expected.. But, there it is..

Hope this helps!
LK
 

frumbawa

Well-known member
We recently upgraded our Denon 5.1 system in the house with a 7.1 system. Was about to sell the 5.1 receiver when I ran across other posts about the Coby system. Since we were in the same boat, the solution was simple. The Denon 5.1 is now out in the Sundance and works great. I'm still on the fence about changing out the speakers. I can't make it too nice or the wife and kids will never come out of the camper.
 

DougLynne

retired Alberta Chapter Leaders
I was just starting to look into this myself today. I was looking for a DVD/Receiver combo just like the COBY is but can't find much. There are a few units, SONY, Yamaha and KiSS but I can't find a dealer in the US let alone here in Canada. Might hve to split and put separate units in.../Doug
 

Taynton1

Member
I have had all in one machines and in fact have a Yamaha unit now. When one thing goes down they all go down. Loose the remote and you're about dead. These are the reasons I am putting seporates in my 3490BH. A little more money in the start, but a lot more serviceable over the years.

Just my thoughts
MT
 

linuxkidd

Member
I gotta agree with Taynton1...

The other thing for me.. I'm a techie... I love technology and anything electronic. So, I like to go as close to top of the line as my wallet will let me. Which is one reason an all in one unit wouldn't work for me. I've got too much stuff that support HDTV outputs with Dolby Digital encoding ( Or DTS! ). I like my HD-DVD, my amazing surround sound.. My HDTV..

My current system is this:
Pioneer VSX-816
Sony 8" Powered Subwoofer
Toshiba HD-A30
DirecTV HR10-250 TiVo Based HD DVR
Wii (With component cables)
XboX (w/ Mod chip running XBMC )
AudioAuthority 1154A Component Auto Switcher
Olevia 32" LCDTV That came with the Landmark

Oh, and that's just in the Living room.. I've got another HR10-250 and a Pioneer DVD player in the bedroom...


All the above items that support networking are indeed hooked up. I have a lot of DVD Rips on my server that I pipe over the network through my XboX with XBMC and watch through the system. It works well at clearing all the clutter of DVDs ( We had over 600 when we started full-timing ). I may post pictures later if anyone is truely interested.

Oh, and those of you with the Colby system consider yourselves lucky. My unit came with a Samsung unit that only had 1 set of aux inputs. The Colby from what I've seen at least will process multiple inputs.

LK
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
LK,

You know we gotta have some pics.

Also, how many DVD rips do you have on your server? On average, how much room does a movie take (in GB). And to watch a ripped DVD movie, are you saying you grab it via Ethernet off your server, through the XBox and out the video outputs of the XBox.

There are some really high-end Pro systems for audio and video content management but I'd think they'd out of reach of the average RVer. It would nice to have a friendlier (read: less $$) solution as RVers are all about space and weight management and to be able to have a few hundred movies at your finger-tips (i.e. on a couple of high-capacity hard drives) and be able to sling those movies to any TV set would be awesome.

Jim
 

Taynton1

Member
Just finished my alternative system hook-up. Yamaha 5.1 reciever $179, Magnavox DVD $35, Old Bose accustimass 5.1 (no power to sub), so Sonance power amp running one channel to sub.

Much better than Coby, wiith a lot more power and shake. True, would be more money but after spending about **** on the fifth wheel I couldn't handle the $89 total cost Coby System.

Just went to the local RV show today and most all these medium to high price RV's sport units like the Coby. Thank god Coby dosen't make RV appliances!
 
Last edited by a moderator:

linuxkidd

Member
Ok... :)

I'll get everyone some pix tomorrow.

As far as the movies... I currently have about 80 movies on my server. We have a ways to go before our entire collection is there. And honestly.. We'll end up get'n rid of most of the DVDs instead of ripping them. Just don't seem to watch many of them that often.

A feature length movie can be cut down to about 700 to 800 meg ( 0.7 to 0.8 gig ) of space using DivX or Xvid (both forms of MPEG-4 ) encoding. You still get GREAT video and great quality sound ( including Dolby Digital Surround ).

I have 1.2 TB of storage on my primary server ( that's 1200 GIG ). So... I have enough space to rip all my movies.. but I've got a BUNCH of other stuff on there right now.. Need to do a spring cleaning on it. :)

The solution I use is this. I store movies on the Server. I have a network connection into my XboX which runs XboX Media Center (XBMC). From the XBMC interface, I can browse through all of my MP3's, DVD's, Pictures, etc. When I find what I want to watch/listen too, I select it, or queue it in a playlist. XBMC then streams the content across the network from the Server. You can also store Movies, Games, Music, etc.. On the XboX Harddrive. With the XboX hacked, you can upgrade the harddrive up to say... 300 Gig or so.. Maybe larger. It's been a while since I looked at that scene to see what capacity it supports now.

It works quite well, but like any other homebrew/beta software.. there are occasional bugs to contend with. But, me being the eternal beta tester ( a title given me by my wife )... I don't mind so much. I enjoy the tinkering and playing.

The cost of the video side of the system:
Used XboX: $60
XboX Mod Chip: $40
250 Gig HardDrive for Modified XboX: $70

So.. for $170+S/H or so.. You can have a full blown media center. Add an older PC with a few high capacity drives.. and some time to convert your existing DVD Collection... You'll be the envy of the whole campground! :)

The other less 'hacking' / more expensive way to do the same thing. Buy an XboX 360 and load a PC with Windows Media Center Edition or Vista Home Premium (which has the new version of Media Center). Load all your DVDs/Music on the Windows system and the XboX 360 will act as a remote agent for the Media Center. If you go this route, you can also add a TV Tuner card to the Windows PC and have it record shows for you, then pipe them via the XboX 360 to your home theater system.. ( Or, RV Theater system as the case may be ).

Just a few ideas.. :)

LK
 

vrugt

Active Member
Yesterday I threw the coby unit out plus the so-called subwoofer. I replaced it with Onkyo TX SR304 (fits in the cabinet above the eventual fireplace in the 2008 3600RL). I added a Yamaha YST-SWO12 powered subwoofer. I used the subwoofer wire to pull the new cable for the Yamaha. i bought the Onkyo and Yamaha at Amazon for about $150 resp. $50 with free shipping to the RV Park. In anticipation I had already packed a Philips DVP 642 DVD player, inexpensive and easily hacked to be Region free.

I was not sure about the speakers but so far it all sounds significantly better. The Onkyo adjust its subwoofer crossover for small or large surround speakers.

I don't know why Heartland puts such a low quality system in what I consider a rather high quality RV. Placing the woofer behind a glass cabinet door is completely ludicrous...

I suggest that Heartland gives the buyer an option and provides the speaker wiring at least as a standard feature.

It is not clear to me where Heartland spliced the bedroom speakers into the living room speakers. The Onkyo provides for a 2nd set of stereo speakers and I want to use that for the bedroom. I am afraid I have to pull new wires for that.
 

vrugt

Active Member
Sorry, I forgot to mention that the Onkyo fits very tightly in that cabinet after I took the door off. The Onkyo still protrudes about 2 inches because the plugs in the back of the unit. When I am home again I'll find a solution for that, I am sure.
 

linuxkidd

Member
Hey vrugt:
If you check with RadioShack, you'll find they make right angle adapters for RCA and Coax connectors. This should go a long way to helping your clearance issues. I had to take my glass door off of the cabinet as well to get my unit in... But with the right angle adapters and some proper wire management, I'm certain I could get the additional 1/2" of clearance I need to put the door back on.

Truth be told though, I don't think I'm going to worry with it until I start traveling with the 5er. Right now, we're pretty stationary. These components generate a good deal of heat and heat build up is NOT good for electronics. Having the door on would increase the operating temp of those components significantly. I may end up with just some sort of support bar to keep things from falling out, coupled with a bit of velcro here and there... Should make things travel just fine without an actual door there.

LK
 

Taynton1

Member
vrugt

In my 98 BC 3490 the bedroom speakers are sliced to the right and left front living room speakers. Not my choice, but does work.

Hope that helps.

MT
 

linuxkidd

Member
I think he's actually asking for the physical wire splice location..

If it's similar to my Landmark, the 5 sets of Audio wires travel through a split loom tube under the slide. They go into the outboard on the aft side of the slide out. From here on is speculation....

My best guess is that they run straight up the wall from there and the bedroom speakers tap into the wires in the ceiling. I pulled down one of my bedroom speakers when I was working on the satellite wiring and the wires for that speaker seemed to run across the ceiling ( toward the Entertainment side of the coach ).

Let us know if you figure that one out! :) I had the same idea about setting them up as secondary front speakers w/ my Pioneer receiver but am not that driven to re-run wiring just to get proper impedance loading on the receiver.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Some thoughts on this...

Regarding factory speaker wire routing, from what I recall, the speaker wires likely go up the rear cap to the roof and through the roof trusses and drop off at the speakers. These days, I don't think the factory is running much wiring up the walls as it has to be done during the wall lamination process.

As for where the bedroom speakers splice into the system, my guess is in the ceiling at two of the living room speakers. Right - not ideal from an impedance perspective.

And an idea for letting out the heat generated by other electronics we put in the entertainment cabinets, at the 2007 Fall Houston rally, I snapped the picture below. The owner removed the door glass and inserted a wire mesh they obtained from the hardware store or other home improvement center. My camera flash added quite a bit of light. Under normal lighting, it does not appear quite as transparent. As a side note, they said the IR from the remote controls does get through the mess to control the gear - so that's a plus.

//heartlandowners.org/attachments/mesh_door_front.jpg
 

linuxkidd

Member
Very good point on the wire routing Jim... The wire on my Landmark definitely heads toward the rear cap once it's out of the slide out.

Great idea on the wire mesh too! I'll have to start watching around Lowes for something similar.

I wonder how hard it would be to use the existing speaker wires in the roof to pull new wire through... Really the only thing that would be a show stopper was if they zip tied the existing wires to the roof trusses or similar... Oh, the ideas they are a roll'n.. :)

I'd LOVE to pull some quad shielded RG-6 through there and pipe that down into the living room entertainment center. I could use 5 runs of it and send component HDTV signals with L/R Audio... Or.. I could add a few more speakers in the bedroom and pull wire for them. Have a switch in the living room to flip between runing the living room surround speakers, or the bedroom surround speakers.. Use an IR to RF remote sender.. and Viola! Watch anything from the front entertainment stack in the bedroom.. No need to have an additional DVD or Sat receiver in the bedroom..

Now, I know what some of you are thinking.. Why not just use an RF converter to pipe the existing video signals over a single coax as Channel 3 or 4... Well, the reason is that when you do that.. You loose the HDTV aspect of the signal. It becomes regular NTSC 480i. Not to mention that RF signals in general are not the best quality even at 480i. BUT.. If anyone knows of an inexpensive ATSC RF adapter.. Boy, that would be the cats meow... But the ones I've seen have a pretty hefty price tag!

Sorry for the long rambling.. :)
LK
 
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