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Old 05-21-2013, 10:29 AM   #1
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Concertone ZX500/Jensen AWM965 Swapout

Has anyone swapped out their Concertone ZX500 with a Jensen AWM965 (or similar Jensen product)? Would you be willing to give me advice as far as if I need a wiring harness from Jensen and so forth - like what wiring mods do I need to make? What has been the consensus on the Jensen product line? Are they making a better product?

Thanks!

Mike
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Old 05-21-2013, 10:35 AM   #2
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We made this swap. It was well worth the effort and money. The sound quality is much better. No hiss, crisper sound. I also replaced the ceiling speakers with Jensen 2-way speakers. That had less benefit than replacing the power unit but it did improve the sound.

None of the Concertone wires were marked. So, I started by turning on the unit and cutting 1 wire at a time to see what stopped working. Then, I knew where to connect that wire on the Jensen. One by one I went through all of the wires until I was totally connected to the Jensen.

There are 2 power wires for the Jensen, 1 always on and 1 switched. I hooked BOTH wires to the incoming power line from the trailer; since it doesn't have any switched power. Depends on whether you have a chassis with switched power or a trailer.
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Old 05-21-2013, 11:01 AM   #3
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Thanks Acadianbob, but my Concertone is totally dead, otherwise I would use that method!

Mike
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Old 05-21-2013, 11:41 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeinriley View Post
Thanks Acadianbob, but my Concertone is totally dead, otherwise I would use that method!

Mike
you can always do it the opposite way, find which is power coming from your trailer to the jenson unit and once you have power, find a speaker output. then just keep trying wires until you know what does what.
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Old 05-21-2013, 11:47 AM   #5
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I swapped out the Jensen CD player to the AWM975 so mine was more of an upgrade and it was plug and play. This does not help you but the it does come with a pigtail and instructions where each wire goes. Get the pigtail spliced into your original wiring and just plug into the unit. You should be able to Google for your Concertone model and find the manual so you can identify your current wiring.

I also swapped out the crappy/tinny Concertone ceiling speakers with Kenwood KFC-1652MRW 2-way's. Spent a bunch of time working with Crutchfield for what would fit. Okay, I did not by from Crutchfield but they were very helpful. What a difference! You do not need to have a crap load of bass like the kid's in their cars but you got to have some.
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Old 05-21-2013, 12:14 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by jeeplj8 View Post
you can always do it the opposite way, find which is power coming from your trailer to the jenson unit and once you have power, find a speaker output. then just keep trying wires until you know what does what.
Good point!!!!
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