Product Substitution?

[sjb]

We are the new owners of a Solitude 382WB and have noticed there has been substitution for the HDMI Stereo/CD/DVD Entertainment System w/ App Controls. Our build sheet shows a Jensen JWM70A was installed but the unit is actually a Rockford Fosgate PMX-1 which doesn't have a CD/DVD/BluRay player or three zones of audio.

Has anyone else run into this?

John

[howson]

We are the new owners of a Solitude 382WB and have noticed there has been substitution for the HDMI Stereo/CD/DVD Entertainment System w/ App Controls. Our build sheet shows a Jensen JWM70A was installed but the unit is actually a Rockford Fosgate PMX-1 which doesn't have a CD/DVD/BluRay player or three zones of audio.

Has anyone else run into this?

John

GDRV-Megan -- John's VIN is in his profile. Can you find out the back story and answer this one, please?

John--welcome to Grand Design's Technical Forum. The forum's GD rep will chime in here soon (remember--today is Sunday!) and I'm sure there's disruptions that may slow her response.

One more thing, please consider adding your rig to a signature line. The "How To" is here: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/gdrv4li...-to-your-posts

[Ed & Cathy K]

We are the new owners of a Solitude 382WB and have noticed there has been substitution for the HDMI Stereo/CD/DVD Entertainment System w/ App Controls. Our build sheet shows a Jensen JWM70A was installed but the unit is actually a Rockford Fosgate PMX-1 which doesn't have a CD/DVD/BluRay player or three zones of audio.

Has anyone else run into this?

John

The Jensen JWM70A doesn't have blueray either. And the Rockford Fosgate PMX-1 has 4 channels. It looks like a change in build happened during your build. Does your entertainment system serial number match the unit you have installed? Not sure if the quality of the Fosgate is better or worst then the Jensen.

[sjb]

I stand corrected, the Jensen does not have BluRay ... meant to say CD/DVD ... the PMX-1 does not have that feature.

[TucsonJim]

It's unusual for the build sheets to be wrong. I'm guessing here... But I'll bet the Jensen failed during final inspection, and it was replaced by the Rockford without the build record being updated.

Jim

[GDRV-Megan]

We are the new owners of a Solitude 382WB and have noticed there has been substitution for the HDMI Stereo/CD/DVD Entertainment System w/ App Controls. Our build sheet shows a Jensen JWM70A was installed but the unit is actually a Rockford Fosgate PMX-1 which doesn't have a CD/DVD/BluRay player or three zones of audio.

Has anyone else run into this?

John

I show that you have a Rockford Fosgate stereo installed in your unit. I will double check with production on this, and let you know what I hear.

[GDRV-Megan]

I am a little confused at what you're referring to as the "build sheet". Everything on my end is indicating that you should have a Fosgate radio.

This is the new standard radio that we are using in our Solitudes. You do lose the CD/DVD player (Jensen never had a BluRay), however, it gives you almost 10x more power and sounds a TON better than the Jensen. It also does have audio zone control. This is a much better and more expensive head unit that pairs up perfectly with the Rockford Speakers we use in the Solitude. Here's the manual, if you'd like to learn more about the PMX-1.

[GDRV-Megan]

sjb my apologies - I forgot to tag you in my response. See above.

[sjb]

Thank you for responding. The literature for the Solitude and your website clearly state a CD/DVD as a feature. The model we viewed had the Jensen unit installed but our new-build doesn't. It is great to "hear" that the Fosgate will sound a ton better but we would like to enjoy great sound and watch movies too. Very simply we were let down.

[boyscout]

Thank you for responding. The literature for the Solitude and your website clearly state a CD/DVD as a feature. The model we viewed had the Jensen unit installed but our new-build doesn't. It is great to "hear" that the Fosgate will sound a ton better but we would like to enjoy great sound and watch movies too. Very simply we were let down.

Just a customer, not a shill for GD. I understand that getting what you thought you were getting is important. However as the owner of a Jensen system let me suggest that you are ahead.

Yes, you'll have to buy a Blu-ray player. You very likely would have done that anyway because the Jensen only does DVD and it doesn't do a great job of that. There's a very decent little Sony player that costs about $80 - I have one. It comes with a remote you can actually use - the Jensen remote is from another planet and not made for human use.

You can likely - I'm guessing at this - get the Blu-ray player's sound to come through the Fosgate radio and it might be great. A whole lot of Jensen owners have installed sound bars for watching TV to overcome the Jensen's shortcomings. I have a VISIO sound bar from Costco that cost less than $200, sounds amazing. Jensen's sound quality is terrible. I haven't heard the Fosgate but it's gotta be better because it could not be worse.

Again, I understand about not getting what you were told you were getting. But when you "enjoy" the Jensen in someone else's trailer some day you'll very likely agree that there was a silver lining in this cloud.

Welcome.

[Country Campers]

Not to say that it is right or wrong but there have been plenty accounts of the "advertisements" not matching the product. There are changes happening throughout the model years and also if there is a shortage of a product another may be substituted. When we looked and found the unit we wanted we talked about it for a couple weeks and then decided on the purchase. By that time the unit we saw was sold so we ordered one. At that time the dealer had a new one there that someone else had ordered. The new one had a few upgrades and changes that were very nice , glad we waited.
Hope it all works out for you. As boyscout has stated above you may be better off with what you have by his experience.

Brian

[howson]

sjb ,
I agree with boyscout . If you want to trade for the Furrion DVD system in my 315RLTS send me your address by PM. I'll pay shipping!

I'm kidding, of course. But I am serious when I say the Furrion player in my trailer is awful. It is yet another component I was forced to pay for that I am going to swap out as it is hit-or-miss if it will play a DVD correctly. Right now it's only used as a clock, and even that's up for debate. The "dumb" TCL television (while it has a decent picture) is another component on its way out.

[Dadeo6472]

Folks, these are all cheap radios. There are Fosgate radios and Fosgate Audiophile Systems. GD isn't giving us Fosgate Audiophole Systems quality in our trrailers. DONT be fooled by the brand name. There are also high quality Jensen systems (I have one in my boat), as well as the junky Jensen that is in my Imagine trailer.

Quite frankly installing a cheapo Fosgate that makes bogus power claims (only so much power from 12 volts folks) and can't play CDs, DVDs or Blurays is worse than installing a cheap Furrion or Jensen systems can play DVDs to the TV. For the last three weeks we were in places without cable, TV or good internet. We read books and watched DVDs during many days of rain and COVID-19 isolation. It wasn't the greatest picture and sound, but its only an RV.

All the GD sound systems I've seen are pretty low quality. And TCL as a TV brand is also pretty bad. GD puts them there because its a cheap way to market GD over other manufacturers: "Look we give you an "entertainment system" as standard equipment!" The bottom line is that these radios have gotten dirt cheap. They cost GD less than $100 a unit, plus less than $5.00 for each speaker.

The bottom line is that GD should not be installing any TV or radios at the factory. Did you buy your house because it had a TV and radio? Heck no! They should pre-wiring their RVs for a range of plug and play systems selected by the customer and installed by the dealer or a third party. At the very least GD should give us a choce of several levels of quality entertainment systems. But I doubt they will because installing a cheapo "entertainment system", even if it sucks, helps market these trailers over those who don't.

[Country Campers]

Dadeo6472

I do agree with your statements of "cheap items" installed in RV's , not only GD but all manufactures. I also agree with the "its only an RV". With that said it is highly unlikely that any manufacture will not install these items. Not every person that purchases an RV has the ability to install the perfect radio system after purchasing an RV , and they may not have the funds to pay an individual to do it for them. If they would install premium tv and sound systems the cost would go up and not every one would pay that. We use the tv sparingly as well as the radio in our unit and I would NOT pay for a premium package even if it was available. You make good points and I am sorry that these systems do not fit your needs.

Brian

[Dadeo6472]

Brian,
You seem to be making exactly my point, except that you overestimate the difficulty of installing different systems if GD prewired the RV for instalation. GD could be giving us some choices. For me, I want an upgraded system that had some bass and could play Bluray, DVDs, CDs, USB drives and have quality Bluetooth sound. That unit would cost between upwards of $500 and $1,500. For those who just don't care, they could skip it entierly, for those who want a basic system, the $125 Jensen or Fosgate is what they'd choose.

The problem is that I paid for a junky system which I now have to remove, and since GD didn't prewire the trailer with HDMI I have to find a way to run new wire thru the walls. Then there ar the speakers, which are of even lower quality than the stereo head unit. Like I said, I doubt GD paid $5.00 for mine. I can't figure out how to remove them because the grills don't seem to to be removable. They seem glued on and I don't want to trash the ceiling and exterior walls of my RV.