Upgrade Stereo/Speakers?

[JHC]

I have a 22MLE. Has anyone upgraded their stereo (Jensen) and speakers? No HDMI to the TV. The outside speakers are pretty lame. Inside ok.

[Schiefswret]

I have a 22MLE. Has anyone upgraded their stereo (Jensen) and speakers? No HDMI to the TV. The outside speakers are pretty lame. Inside ok.

Great question. The sound from mine is pretty puny also and although I understand why, I’d like to replace all 4 of mine but that upgrade has been very low on my list so I haven’t investigated yet. I can’t imagine that some nice decent speakers of this size could be too expensive. While I’m investigating I keep my eyes open for any other posts on this topic from someone who may have already thrown their OEM ones out.

[howson]

JHC and Schiefswret

One of my very first upgrades. Frankly, still don't listen to these very often as the OEM Furrion "entertainment system" is still in the trailer. Doesn't matter how good the speakers are if the source is awful. :(

Anyway, here's the details from my install (almost two years ago).

-------------------------------------------------

There are a few things I'm not thrilled with related to the JBL GX602 I installed.

1) One of the male connectors on the speaker is about 1/2 the normal size. I got the trailer's female wires connected to both speakers, but it's not a solid connection on that small pin. (I still need to fix this!)

2) The screws that attach the speaker to the ceiling go through the cover, (look closely at the picture of the JBL) so you have to hold both in place simultaneously. I prefer a snap-on cover or something like the OEM cover that rotates and holds into position once the speaker is installed.

3) It shouldn't be a surprise to me, but the boss is not going to be happy when she sees those black speakers in her ceiling. (I "forgot" to ask permission before installing.) Something tells me I'll be pulling the speakers right back down and spray painting the covers white. (They are still black--she's gotten used to them.)

Sound quality is like judging beauty--what someone thinks is amazing another will think it is just "eh". Are the speakers better? Obviously, yes. I got these for $49 on Amazon (they are "recertified") so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Below are some shots from the installation (starting with the OEM as installed):



After unscrewing the OEM speaker from the ceiling...



The JBL installed.



The JBL from a distance.




Howard

[Second Chance]

If you search this forum, you'll find a number of posts on this. Many of us have bypassed the OEM A/V system altogether and have installed good quality sound bars with wireless subs. Ours is a Polk Audio system. It gets everything from the TV via digital optical link. Everything going into the TV is HDMI, so the system is completely digital. When we want to listen to music, we either play it from a USB drive plugged into the smart TV or via Bluetooth from my Kindle Fire HD. We don't listen to broadcast radio, so no problem there.

Rob

[JHC]

JHC and Schiefswret

One of my very first upgrades. Frankly, still don't listen to these very often as the OEM Furrion "entertainment system" is still in the trailer. Doesn't matter how good the speakers are if the source is awful. :(

Anyway, here's the details from my install (almost two years ago).

-------------------------------------------------

There are a few things I'm not thrilled with related to the JBL GX602 I installed.

1) One of the male connectors on the speaker is about 1/2 the normal size. I got the trailer's female wires connected to both speakers, but it's not a solid connection on that small pin. (I still need to fix this!)

2) The screws that attach the speaker to the ceiling go through the cover, (look closely at the picture of the JBL) so you have to hold both in place simultaneously. I prefer a snap-on cover or something like the OEM cover that rotates and holds into position once the speaker is installed.

3) It shouldn't be a surprise to me, but the boss is not going to be happy when she sees those black speakers in her ceiling. (I "forgot" to ask permission before installing.) Something tells me I'll be pulling the speakers right back down and spray painting the covers white. (They are still black--she's gotten used to them.)

Sound quality is like judging beauty--what someone thinks is amazing another will think it is just "eh". Are the speakers better? Obviously, yes. I got these for $49 on Amazon (they are "recertified") so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Below are some shots from the installation (starting with the OEM as installed):



After unscrewing the OEM speaker from the ceiling...



The JBL installed.



The JBL from a distance.




Howard

Finally getting back to this mod. My speakers are 5.5". Are these JBL's 6.5"? If so, you cut the ceiling to make them fit?

[howson]

Finally getting back to this mod. My speakers are 5.5". Are these JBL's 6.5"? If so, you cut the ceiling to make them fit?

According to a quick web search, the JBL GX602 speakers are indeed 6.5". I did not need to cut the ceiling--they were an exact fit for the OEM speakers in my '19 315RLTS.

[JHC]

Great. Thanks. I really need to find an upgrade to the stock stereo. It's pretty lame.

[daemonic3]

I have a 2019 2800BH and I did audio upgrades.

1. The first thing I did over a year ago was to run the 3.5mm aux out from TV into the Jensen Aux2 input. That way at least we could put whatever the TV was playing into a 2nd set of speakers. The volumes are controlled independently

Then I got sick of how crappy it still sounded, so I did a couple more things:

2. The stock ceiling speakers were lame paper 1-way speakers. The official size was 5 1/4". I wanted to keep the white look so I ordered a pair of white 2-way kickers from amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I had to pilot and screw some new holes in the ceiling wood but everything fit nicely. I now can max both bass and treble and turn on loudness and the sound is much fuller and not as muddy (still not great since they are just 5 1/4" but WAY better)

3. I added a vizio soundbar and wireless sub. I specifically picked this soundbar that is 28" wide so it fits hidden behind the TV, and the sub fits inside either our bench or storage ottoman. You can see the post in this thread: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/interio...hind-tv-2800bh


The reasons I did not upgrade the deck? The wattage is "fine" for the speakers it is driving. As long as it has bluetooth and Aux2 in from the TV, that's really all I need. Sure, it plays DVD's but we have a very limited selection, and the video and sound is horrendous (composite video only) to the TV! Instead if we ever play a DVD, we always bring the Xbox one anyway, which is HDMI to the TV, and the TV is optical output to the soundbar plus stereo to the Jensen when it is the source. And when playing bluetooth music from phone, I will use dual pairing to send to both the Jensen and Vizio soundbar together from a phone.

[JHC]

Does the stock speaker outer ring twist off? I don't want to start prying and wind up damaging the ceiling. Time to replace the speakers.....

[JHC]

If you search this forum, you'll find a number of posts on this. Many of us have bypassed the OEM A/V system altogether and have installed good quality sound bars with wireless subs. Ours is a Polk Audio system. It gets everything from the TV via digital optical link. Everything going into the TV is HDMI, so the system is completely digital. When we want to listen to music, we either play it from a USB drive plugged into the smart TV or via Bluetooth from my Kindle Fire HD. We don't listen to broadcast radio, so no problem there.

Rob

Rob,

Do you have a small DVD player connected to the TV via HDMI? I too want to bypass the stock system. Also going to add a sound bar and wireless sub.

[Second Chance]

Rob,

Do you have a small DVD player connected to the TV via HDMI? I too want to bypass the stock system. Also going to add a sound bar and wireless sub.

Yes - a compact LG DVD/Blu-ray player (that we hardly ever use any more, anyway). I pulled an HDMI cable down from the upper cabinet for that and used the HDMI cable that was already in place from the OEM unit to the TV for the Wally for Dish TV. The audio connection from the TV to the Polk Audio sound bar (with wireless sub) is digital optical, so the entire audio system is digital. A bonus is that audio for the TV (when you're not watching a DVD) runs through the sound bar - unlike with the OEM system. I use a Logitech programmable remote to control everything so I'm not dealing with multiple remotes.

Rob

[JHC]

Has anyone come across a replacement stereo for the Jensen JWM41 stereo I have in my 22MLE? I really need to upgrade!

[Second Chance]

Has anyone come across a replacement stereo for the Jensen JWM41 stereo I have in my 22MLE? I really need to upgrade!

You just said above that you want to bypass it...

Rob

[ncitro]

Has anyone come across a replacement stereo for the Jensen JWM41 stereo I have in my 22MLE? I really need to upgrade!

I had installed a spare Denon home receiver I had laying around for a while, I wired it up to the factory ceiling speakers for rears and put a small center over the window valance and two fronts on top of the cabinets, then I put the outsides on zone two. I thought it worked well but the wife hated it so I pulled it all out and setup a sound bar connected to the TV and an Apple TV. I don’t use disks so no need for DVD. I reinstalled the factory radio just for FM. Outside I got an open box Apple Home Pod for chap that I keep out there. Then I can stream music either from the internet if available or my phone to either the sound bar via the Apple TV, the home pod, or both simultaneously. It works really nice and sounds decent.

[JHC]

You just said above that you want to bypass it...

Rob

Exploring all options. A replacement would be my preference and cleaner. I am thinking of talking to a local car audio shop. Replace outside speakers too. Those are pretty lame too.