4100 King Surround and Video Disapointment/ help

[CycloneKing]

4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

The Good:

Just purchased a 2014 4100 King. I must say this trailer is nicer than my 97' Prevost 44' Bus I lived in for 8 years. I am very happy with it as a whole and would not choose another brand or trailer, this thing is awesome.

Now the bad:

I realize how trailers work and I expect problems, especially after buying a $900k Prevost. I understand that these things will all have problems new and used.

I am extremely disappointed in Heartland and my dealer ExploreUSA Denton with the electronics in this trailer. Don't advertise it if it isn't going to work!

I specifically asked my dealer to make sure the TV surround system located in the side of the kitchen island was hooked up to either the TV audio out or sat audio out for the living room TV with preferably a fiber optic or RCA cable to make sure we can hear it over the AC. None of this was done. The DVD/Audio system in the kitchen island video does not reach the TV either.

I spoke to my tech doing the PDI before we picked it up and he sounded lost not knowing what it should have and blew me off saying he would handle it. I had the salesman include parts and installation of a Winegard Direct TV Travler auto sat dish so I assumed he would make sure it was all hooked up since he was already in there. For the $1k+ they charged to install the sat system that was "pre-wired" I assumed he would make a nice and neat install and look professional. Nope. He literally set the boxes for the sat and travler on the counter with wires wrapping around the counter and bunched up like a 5 year old threw it all up there and plugged it in. The dish only works about half the time. When I try to put it up or stow it with the auto it shows el motor failure or home failure about 70% of the time and I have to re-calibrate it every time to see if it will work.

I spoke to Heartland tech support before taking delivery and he pulled the vin and looked up the schematics and informed me it should have RCA cables from the side of the TV to the kitchen island surround along with video. REALLY HEARTLAND? $100K TRAILER AND RCA CABLES INSTEAD OF HDMI OR FIBER from the HD TV to the DIGITAL Sony surround sound? That is B.S. in a 2014 trailer.


When we took delivery and inspected the trailer the tech told me the cables were not run from Heartland and he didn't want to run them.

Anyway, after troubleshooting connections everywhere and attempting to correct the problem myself by removing the fireplace and TV, I have come to the realization that the RCA cables are simply not continuously run from the island to the TV area. I called my dealer and spoke to the PDI and Sat install tech who told me to take it to my nearest Heartland dealer and ask them to fix it under warranty because his shop was to busy to deal with it. I believe him because they were too busy to deal with it the first time when they spent 8 days with PDI and Sat Dish install.

Please help.

I don't want to take the trailer back there again. I don't want to find a new stealership to wait a month on cables. I would rather just fix this myself. My question is has anyone run HDMI, Fiber, or RCA cables from the island to the back of the TV area? Know what is involved to run them? I really dont mind working on it I just don't want to have to remove the covers under the frame below and mess something up. Is there an easy way to run the cables? Thank you for your help...

 

[danemayer]

Hi CycloneKing,

I can't answer the question on how the cables are run, but I can point you to our RV Audio Connections Illustrated Guide. It'll help you if the connections between the various pieces of equipment aren't straightforward.

When you get the audio connected from TV to surround sound, if you're using a Directv with DVR, you may have an audio delay if routing the receiver audio through the TV to the surround sound. Rather than do that, you'll probably want a digital audio connection from the receiver to the surround sound.

Here's a diagram of the connections on our Landmark (Sharp TV, Panasonic Surround Sound, Directv DVR).

 

[Mizmary]

Take out your kitchen drawers- you will see how the RCA cables are run and you can follow them to the plate by the TV. We have purchased the hdmi cables but haven't run them yet.

We feel your pain. We looked at several other blu-ray/receiver units but none will fit in the space. For right now we are leaving it as is.

 

[CycloneKing]

Thank you for the replies. I will update as I go forward. May be a couple days til I can get time away from the rig to work on it. I am hoping I can attach the digital cables to the RCAs and pull the RCAs through.

 

[oscar]

The A/V setup is mid 1990's at best. If and when I need better I will do it myself, and know it's done right and for the right price. Having dealers do ANYTHING is a dangerous proposition.

 

[scottyb]

The A/V setup is mid 1990's at best. If and when I need better I will do it myself, and know it's done right and for the right price. Having dealers do ANYTHING is a dangerous proposition.

+1. I will never take mine to the dealer for anything if I can help it. It will have to be a major blowout for me to do so.

CycloneKing, Welcome. It is nice to hear one of these compared to a Prevost. At least it sounds like your Surround is in the island. I have to contend with it being in the slide, above the microwave. I have not heard from him in a while, but Alaska Dodge was one of the earlier 4100 owners and he successfully added HDMI and digital audio cables to his 4100.

 

[Mizmary]

Re: 4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

I will have to look up that thread before we have a slow weekend and the DH gets an itch to upgrade. If anyone finds something to replace the DVD/receiver that fits in the island let us know.

I know he has considered replacing the speakers above the tv with a $300 sound bar. But that would require cutting the woodwork. So we haven't gone that route yet either.

 

[Nitehawk79]

Re: 4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

CycloneKing I understand your pain of the 2014 4100...mine is hooked up but composite video to a 50" tv stinks at best...I plan on going in through the storage area and run HDMI from the island to the living room tv. Figure a 15 ft cable should work. Talked to the sales rep for my area and he told me they run RCA because it is cheaper....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[CycloneKing]

Re: 4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

I bought a Samsung 2.2 soundbar for the master bedroom. The sub fits in the hole next to the washer/dryer closet nicely and the soundbar mounted above the window below the TV perfectly and has a very nice full sound for under $150 from wally world.

I think the speaker above my TV and surround sound very good so I am just going to upgrade to a better receiver with HD inputs. I am going to be adding a better surround sound receiver (no DVD) in the island in the next week. I use my PS3 for video so I won't need a DVD/receiver combo. I am planning on running an HDMI cable for the PS3 in the island to the TV and an optic sound cable from island receiver to the back of the mini genie sat box under TV.

I don't have the specs in front of me but I am going to find a surround receiver with about the same power as the Sony that is in it now with better input connections (optics) since the Sony that is in it now only uses RCA cables in.

I will update with pics when I get this done in next few days.

 

[CycloneKing]

Re: 4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

CycloneKing I understand your pain of the 2014 4100...mine is hooked up but composite video to a 50" tv stinks at best...I plan on going in through the storage area and run HDMI from the island to the living room tv. Figure a 15 ft cable should work. Talked to the sales rep for my area and he told me they run RCA because it is cheaper....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Yup apparently the difference of $20 wholesale on a $100k trailer is worth the savings to upset almost every single owner who buys one. Absolute oversight in my opinion. These are the things that keep an owner from saying "I love everything about my trailer". Instead we say, "I really like my trailer, BUT!"

 

[Mizmary]

Re: 4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

I don't have the specs in front of me but I am going to find a surround receiver with about the same power as the Sony that is in it now with better input connections (optics) since the Sony that is in it now only uses RCA cables in.

I will update with pics when I get this done in next few days.

We will be waiting to see what you come up with. We have a blu-ray player we use instead of the DVD so we just need a receiver. Haven't found one that is as small as that one yet. We haven't looked terribly hard, but we have looked some...

 

[porthole]

Re: 4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

Get most of my cables here, quality at fair prices, some good info about cables too.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/

 

[sconnors11]

Re: 4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

I get all my cables here: http://www.Monoprice.com

Also, I'm using two of their TV mounts in my current rig. Cheaper and better built than most.

Been using them for years, since I used to install home theaters. Great quality for a great price. No vested interest, just a satisfied customer.

 

[CycloneKing]

Re: 4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

Progress!

2 HDMI cables run from the island nook to the tv.

My first attempt was to use the AV cables to pull the HDMI cables through. The holes the cables are run from under the island and the holes next to the plumbing in tv wall are too tight to pull that much cable through.

Before I accepted defeat, I pulled down the cover and propane lines under the trailer and looked for another way. I ended up drilling a new 1-1/2" hole under the drawers in the island and used an electrician fishing rod to push the HDMI cables toward the outside of the trailer underneath where I could reach them from the side between the cover underneath. I then used the rod to push through the floor under the tv behind the breaker panel and was able to tape the cables to the rod and pull them through under the tv area. They are run below the water tanks and back up into the tv area. Then I used gap foam to fill in the areas where the new hole went and the area under the tv that was not foamed from the factory.

I was also able to find a 5.1 surround with A/V HDMI switching. Yamaha made it for a short period of time and you can still find them online. The YMC-700, YMC-500 and YMC-S21 (comes with speakers and a YMC-500). It has 50x5 channels with a sub out so it is perfect to power the sony speakers that are already wired in. It measures about 12" wide so it will fit just fine and actually be pretty neat with only one power knob and IR control.

I have to wait the the end of the month to buy one and finish, my wife has capped me for the month at the $10k I have already spent on the trailer between down payment, parts, and a B&W companion hitch setup & linex.

I will update when I get it done.

 

[CycloneKing]

Re: 4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

Finally got the YMC 500. Found one one on ebay gently used for a bargain @ $175 best offer on a $400 listing.

It fits in the same space with enough room to put my PS3 on top of it for movies and games.

I left the Sony speakers and plugged in the HDMIs from PS3 and SAT Genie box and plugged all the speakers in aside from the sub. The sound is a lot better, louder and clearer than the crappy sony dvd/receiver it came with. The sony unit has power to the sub so the sub that is already in trailer is just a speaker. I plan on removing it and installing a self powered sub since the Yamaha YMC receiver I replaced it with only has a sub signal out.

Seeing as this is the only video/audio receiver on the market that will fit in the space we have, I highly recommend it despite the size advantage. It is a very good unit.

 

[travis_g]

Re: 4100 King Surround Sound and Video Disapointment/ help

Wireless HDMI might also be an option: http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i:aps,k:Wireless Hdmi