concertone

skidoonut · 10-06-2007, 12:20 PM

i just picked up a 2008 rockwood 2701ss in the middle of aug. i have had some minor issues. Had a small electrical fire in the wiring that goes to the side out for the microwave plug. i have also installed 9 new concertone units with no luck in getting the rear surround speakers to emit anything but static when watching a dvd. they work ok if listening to the radio. i have proved it to the unit because the speakers are ok in other modes. also a couple of the 9 units that had a wistle in the fm tuner, but only in the surround sound speakers. if i switched to outside speakers or the bedroom speakers it was clear. The dealer has been great as it is a friend of mine but i am getting upset. forest river is not fixing the problems in these radio's. when are they going to step up to the plate and fix this. i can prove it is the unit because i can bring a known good speaker to the dealer and hook it to a battery in the showroom. if i move the speaker from speaker wire to speaker wire, it has noise on the rear speakers. i hav edone extensive testing in the trailer and found multipul mistakes in the wiring but i have fixed them all and still have the touble and none of the troubles would cause my trouble. like i said i can make it do it on the showroom table. has anyone else had this much trouble??????

skidoonut · 10-06-2007, 12:25 PM

i just proved that the last shipment of 4 more radios defective last night. the owner (my buddy) of the dealership, wants to rent a truck and drive to rockwood and drive the truck right though the front door. rockwood better step up soon because i am getting p.o. i have a good temper but this is starting to make my blood boil.

RAC · 10-08-2007, 01:38 PM

Concertone....what a joke. Can't wait for mine to blow up so I can put in a real system.

gofast! · 10-08-2007, 02:00 PM

I just took delivery of my 08 and the system worked perfectly.

skidoonut · 10-08-2007, 08:35 PM

have you found anything that will replace it with all the same functions or more??
i have looked but cannot find anything. let me know if you know of anything. thanks.

powerboatr · 10-08-2007, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skidoonut

have you found anything that will replace it with all the same functions or more??
i have looked but cannot find anything. let me know if you know of anything. thanks.

yeah really let the secret out
my concerotne has been flawless except it gets hot and i added a 12v fan to push some cooler air into its cubby hole.
as a side note...forest river dont own concertone, they will send you a new one until either you give up or they run out, they fwd them back to concertone.
i went through several microwaves
its unfortunate these units have such issues, it aint just in forest river products either.

good luck, sorry to hear about the issues you are having

Rockinwood · 10-17-2007, 05:48 PM

My Warranty is about to expire and decided to contact my dealer about the Concertone and lcd tv problems I have been having. I work on consumer Electronics for a living . So I asked them if they could send one so I can install. I have recieved the new stereo unit and was happy to see it was an upgraded model old unit was zx500 and hummed remote didnt work only close range. The new Mod is a ZX600 I think, anyway much better quality, and sound quality is outstanding. I have not recieved the lcd tv yet But was happy to hear the upgraded lcd tv is a 19 inch not the 15 inch it originally came with. I guess they got the memo of how crummy the other units were from all of us fellow rvers. It would only be fair to recall for the ones who are over the year warranty!!!

skidoonut · 10-17-2007, 08:36 PM

i have tried 9 new zx600 models. all were junk. we have a call into concertone. they are taking 4 of the units to the testing bench to show the girl that tests them that they are no good. maybe i can get a good one now??
lol

rockwood06 · 10-18-2007, 04:44 AM

I have a problem with mine also, no tone control, I may change it out and install a Boses system, then my entertainment system will be worth more then my camper.

Rockinwood · 10-18-2007, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skidoonut

i have tried 9 new zx600 models. all were junk. we have a call into concertone. they are taking 4 of the units to the testing bench to show the girl that tests them that they are no good. maybe i can get a good one now??
lol

Holy Cow!!! Maybe I just got lucky, or maybe right when my warranty expires I will be putting in a real unit. From what I hear , I think Forest River Owns Concertone, you would think they would only concentrate in the trailer business and outsource the electronics (Not China or foriegn country) right here in the United States!!

2manytoyz · 10-18-2007, 03:25 PM

Per many posts on the Motorhome Magazine Forum, Forest River DOES own Concertone. There are no repair facilities. Either it is still under the 1 year warranty, or it costs $500 to replace the head unit. Countless people have had issues with it. No website online, must go through your dealer to swap it or buy another. No factory reconditioned units available.

My first one work for a couple of camping trips. Dead soon after. Audio would drop completely out, then work or drop out again as I changed channels or functions.

RVW was quick to send me a replacement, and paid for the shipment. I'm an electronics tech, so I preferred to do my own work. The new one works better (so far), but still isn't perfect. Still is a bit loud with the volume set at 1. Not a problem with the A/C running, but when cycled off, still a bit loud.

The TV tuner is a bit crude. Channels can be easily over-driven compared to neighbor's TVs.

My warranty just ran out, and if this unit fails, I'll install the JVC system I bought at Sears. It does all the same functions EXCEPT it has no TV tuner built in. Plays CD, DVD, MP3, has AM/FM/Weather tuner, Dolby sound, etc. Only $109 IIRC on sale. I planned on adding a VCR to this to have a tuner. So for about $200, I can replace the current system.

I will post pics/details about this system later...

Rockinwood · 10-18-2007, 03:34 PM

I also Wish that they would have come out with the digital/ analog tuner combination on the unit , beause the tuner will be useless in 2009 when analog goes bye bye.

skidoonut · 10-18-2007, 07:32 PM

i am very interested in the jvc system you are talking about. does it work on 12volts? . i see it has most of the functions. does it have the surround sound and ability to control the "a" "b" and "c" channels??? could you post some information please. i could care less about the tuner because i bought my own lcd tv. i put in a 20" lg lcd. i has its own tuner and also picks up the new digital signals great. i could not believe the picture when i was camping near detroit mich in sept and picked up 40 digital channels. i cannot wait till 09 when all has to be broadcast in digital. i have been searching for a reasonable replacement but could no find anything that has the functions and works on 12volt.

Rockinwood · 10-19-2007, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skidoonut

i have tried 9 new zx600 models. all were junk. we have a call into concertone. they are taking 4 of the units to the testing bench to show the girl that tests them that they are no good. maybe i can get a good one now??
lol

Ok so now I am PO, right after I bragged about my new POS Concertone, the kids were watching blues Clue the thud rattle, it sound like the DVD mech fell apart,Well this will be my third and they better cover this under warranty since my 1 year is about up!! UUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!! skidoonut you were right!!!

jwcgc29 · 10-20-2007, 06:38 PM

Agreed.....there is much chatter here and on rv.net about the "improved" ZX600 unit. Sorry...I have one that is 4 weeks old and it has tremendous static on all audio inputs...I have rewired the power and speaker connections (they use wire nuts with no solder...bad) and will return my unit for a warranty replacement as soon as I can get a reliable turnaround time. If the ZX600 is an improvement over the 500, I cant imagine how bad it must have been. Im not expecting much from the warranty replacement but will at least make the dealer and FR try to resolve the issue

2manytoyz · 10-21-2007, 09:16 AM

My coworker, now a retired friend, also has a Rockwood ('04), and his Concertone also died. He's taken the head unit apart and said is was disposable. So poorly made that it wasn't worth rebuilding, and no way he'd pay $500 for a new one now that his warranty has expired.

He was the one that replaced it with a JSI stereo (not JVC, sorry), 400 Watt, model JS5010. I bought mine at my local Sears, but you can probably buy them online as well. As mentioned in my earlier post, it lacks a TV tuner, so I planned on adding a VCR with it for this function.

I noticed Rockwood used quick splices behind my Concertone unit. Jeez I hate these things. Always had mixed results when these were used on trailer wiring, and ultimately had to replace them.

Here's a picture of the installed unit in my friend's Rockwood:

In these pictures, the Concertone head unit was still in place, though disconnected. He plans on making a matching wood frame with speaker cloth, to cover the hole. I would probably make a small instrumentation panel, with indoor/outdoor temp, battery voltage, line voltage, etc. (I am a geek ya know).

My S/N ratio is fine in the stereo/cd/dvd modes. But the TV tuner is junk. It is easily overdriven. The concept was an excellent one, but was very poorly built. I'm on my second unit, and my warranty just expired (camper is a year old this month). I already bought the JSI unit just in case, and have it in my garage, ready to go. I figure it's only a matter of time before the replacement fails. One of the button lights has already died, another one is twinkling.

When/if mine does fail, I don't have a shelf available like in my buddy's trailer. But the panel that the XM receiver is mounted in has nothing behind it. Wasted space. I'll cut that panel out, trim it, put in a shelf, and mount the JSI unit and a VCR:

Hope this has been helpful.

jwcgc29 · 10-22-2007, 09:17 AM

2manytoyz turned me on to an all-in-one unit as a possible replacement for the Concertone POS....wont fit in the hole but is a cheap alternative to going thru countless warranty replacements. I found many on e-bay for 20 to 50 bucks...they are certainly throw-away units if anything goes wrong, but that have to be better than the Concertone crap. Google JS5010 and see what you find. Should have mine this week and will see what it amounts to

skidoonut · 10-22-2007, 04:55 PM

only trouble with that unit is it appears to run off 110volt not 12 volt. it would be nice to have a radio when boondocking without having the gen running. has anyone heard of a 12 volt unit??

NorthernAvLover · 10-22-2007, 09:20 PM

Does this unit have a TV tuner?

skidoonut · 10-23-2007, 06:21 AM

2manytoyz said in his last post that it does not have a tuner.i don't care about the tuner as the "lg" lcd tv i put in has a tuner that works on analog and digital channels. i cannot wait till all channels are brodcast digital in 09. the unit 2manytoyz is talking about looks to be 110v. wish it was 12v.

You may also like: