Quote:
Originally Posted by sourdough
At one time I had looked into replacing the receiver (Jensen) and found it was very difficult to find something that would just fit into the hole with minor modifications. I did not want to reconfigure the entire cabinetry so forgot about it. Decided instead to upgrade the speakers. The Jensen units tend to publish their peak wattage per channel vs rms so they can be deceiving...and their outputs are pretty low which makes a more efficient speaker beneficial.
I upgraded the living area speakers to Kenwoods and it made a big difference. It is not an audiophiles dream but much better than original. Didn't worry about the others because none of them have ever been used. Wasn't worried about a sub or monstrous bass because we stay where there are other campers generally and an RV wall just won't slow down the noise and vibration.
I won't get into the quality of Jensen vs home units or even auto units. Most of the higher ends of both types have been really massaged for higher/cleaner outputs - but then again, the number of autos and homes far eclipse the number of RVs. That combined with RVs being constructed with the cheapest components to get by....you get the picture.
I had thought (and it might work for you) about just buying a smaller unit that didn't fit the factory cutout, take a piece of veneer or wood that closely matched the existing cabinetry grain, stain and mount inside the existing hole. Doing that should open the choices to some pretty high end auto head units with better specs. Or, just buy a home receiver and bypass the existing unit. We leave our blu ray player just sitting on the counter under the tv on non skid material and it has never moved; I suppose a receiver would do the same....if you have a counter under your tv.  |
Thanks for your insight. As much as I would like an awesome sound system for our RV, that's really not the reason we bought one. I was hoping to find something that sounded better than the Jensen and that also fit into the existing hole. After doing a little bit of window shopping I realized that I'm not going to be able to find an actual RV style stereo/DVD combo that will be up to my standards.
Upgrading to the Furrion stereo seems like I'd be replacing junk with fancier junk. Plus, with their prices, I think I'd be better off finding a decent double din head unit for a car and modifying the hole to make it fit. As far as subwoofers go, the short answer is no. I'm not looking to turn our RV into a bass thumping annoyance! I was 19 once. I had the subwoofers in my car. I was the one rolling around the neighborhood with my stereo blasting. Making myself look like an idiot because it sounded like my car was rattling itself apart!
I'm already planning on upgrading the televisions to a couple of TCL Roku TVS. I'll upgrade the interior speakers and replace the Jensen with a car stereo that will hopefully be user friendly. I'll have to modify the hole with a makeshift mount and hopefully, make it look presentable.