Furrion speaker question

SeventyGTX · 05-19-2019, 07:25 PM

Our Wildcat has these puny 2" cube speakers in the ceiling and they pretty much sound like a 60's transistor radio speakers. I plan on going to 6.5" round speakers to replace them, but cannot seem to find anything decent that is 4 ohm like the current speakers. Lots of 8 ohm. Furrion and a couple other cheap brands are all I can seem to find that are flush mount and white. The head unit is a standard iRV Technologies unit.

My question, is are you folks that have the Furrion 6.5" round speakers happy with them? It will be a pretty good job to replace them and don't want to go through all that work for very little improvement. Otherwise, I am open to all suggestions. Thanks for any help or advice.

CincyGus · 05-19-2019, 07:42 PM

Here's a 5 page thread on speaker replacement of campers. Most of it is people complaining about the same thing your not happy with, the crappy sounding speakers.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...de-164597.html

gbaldwin · 05-19-2019, 07:51 PM

Forget it... Get BTooth speaker and never look back.

SeventyGTX · 05-19-2019, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CincyGus

Here's a 5 page thread on speaker replacement of campers. Most of it is people complaining about the same thing your not happy with, the crappy sounding speakers.

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...de-164597.html

Thanks, but I had seen that thread, and it didn't really address the 4 ohm speaker question. There were a couple of marine speakers in there that would work, but they look like car speakers with aggressive black grills which I don't really want. I was hoping to find indoor speakers with white grills that blend in with the ceiling a bit better. Maybe I'm just being a bit too picky.

RandK-M · 05-19-2019, 08:17 PM

Try Parts Express. They have just about any speaker you can imagine. I put Pioneer speakers in mine and used car speakers since they tend to be 4ohm. If you prefer white, you can always spray paint the grills. I didn't paint mine and left them black, but they were metal mesh and could have been easily painted. I've also found that marine speakers are often offered in white.

https://www.parts-express.com/

Ray

dward51 · 05-19-2019, 08:37 PM

They have a Dayton Audio 6.5" full range speaker that is 4 ohm. Just add one of their metal grill kits and spray the grill kit white before install.

https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-ps65lp-4-6-1-2-ultra-efficient-low-profile-full-range-driver-4-ohm--295-348

https://www.parts-express.com/parts-...black--260-422

Or the 6 1/2" Visaton marine speaker is 4 ohm and already has a white grill (and is water proof)

https://www.parts-express.com/visato...white--292-500

SeventyGTX · 05-19-2019, 09:22 PM

Thanks guys, I will check out all your suggestions.

I will also check on the Bluetooth speakers, but not sure how that would work with the TV. Time to do some research.

RandK-M · 05-19-2019, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

Thanks guys, I will check out all your suggestions.

I will also check on the Bluetooth speakers, but not sure how that would work with the TV. Time to do some research.

For Bluetooth, On my old camper that didn't have outdoor speekers, I used a Bluetooth 1/8" audio interface that plugged into the headphone jack of the stereo. That way, anything that could be played by the stereo could be sent to Bluetooth, including the TV sound. I mostly used it for music outside, but they can be used inside with some nice Bluetooth speakers also. You can get them very cheap on Amazon. I used one like this without problems for a few years:
https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Bl...s%2C136&sr=8-5

Ray

SeventyGTX · 05-20-2019, 03:11 PM

Well after 2 or 3 hours of research, I ordered a set of Rockford Fosgate R165x3 speakers. They are 4 ohm, have great reviews and $70 shipped for four of them. Most grills are those wild looking things that come with aftermarket car speakers. But these have conventional looking grills and I will probably paint them white to match everthing else in the ceiling. Should be a big improvement over those little flush mount cubes in there now. Not sure if I'm ready to take a jigsaw to my ceiling though...

RandK-M · 05-20-2019, 04:12 PM

Those look like they should be great! When I did mine I used a 5 or 6 inch hole saw, I forget which. It made a nice clean and perfect circle cutout. I didn't want to use the center pilot bit on the hole saw though, so I first used the hole saw to cut a hole in a scrap piece of plywood and held it against the ceiling as a guide for the hole saw. worked great and was really fast.

Ray

greggcowan · 05-20-2019, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbaldwin

Forget it... Get BTooth speaker and never look back.

X 10!

SeventyGTX · 05-20-2019, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandK-M

Those look like they should be great! When I did mine I used a 5 or 6 inch hole saw, I forget which. It made a nice clean and perfect circle cutout. I didn't want to use the center pilot bit on the hole saw though, so I first used the hole saw to cut a hole in a scrap piece of plywood and held it against the ceiling as a guide for the hole saw. worked great and was really fast.

Ray

I thought about a hole saw, but have a jigsaw already. Plus a hole saw uses a 1/4" pilot and the hole for the existing speakers is about an inch or so. I imagine I could use a hole saw and move the pilot over a bit from the existing hole. I rented a 4" hole saw from the local Ace Hardware when I drilled the hole for the B&W turnover ball in my last Ram. I may see if they have the size I need for this. It sure would be easier than a jigsaw.

SeventyGTX · 05-20-2019, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greggcowan

X 10!

Honestly, I don't see any advantage with Bluetooth since the wiring is already there for the speakers. The head unit in the RV has BT and my phone is sync'd to that.

RandK-M · 05-20-2019, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

I thought about a hole saw, but have a jigsaw already. Plus a hole saw uses a 1/4" pilot and the hole for the existing speakers is about an inch or so. I imagine I could use a hole saw and move the pilot over a bit from the existing hole. I rented a 4" hole saw from the local Ace Hardware when I drilled the hole for the B&W turnover ball in my last Ram. I may see if they have the size I need for this. It sure would be easier than a jigsaw.

I think I got my 5" hole saw for under $20 on Amazon but I had use for it more than just the speaker holes. I know what you mean about the 1/4" pilot and the hole already there from the old speaker. The way around that is to take a scrap piece of wood, like 1/2" plywood and make a hole with the hole saw in that first. That way you can remove the pilot bit, hold the board with the hole in it firmly against the ceiling and use the hole in the board as a guide for the hole saw. Plus, without the pilot bit, you don't have to worry about going too deep and hitting the roof.

Ray

SeventyGTX · 05-20-2019, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandK-M

I think I got my 5" hole saw for under $20 on Amazon but I had use for it more than just the speaker holes. I know what you mean about the 1/4" pilot and the hole already there from the old speaker. The way around that is to take a scrap piece of wood, like 1/2" plywood and make a hole with the hole saw in that first. That way you can remove the pilot bit, hold the board with the hole in it firmly against the ceiling and use the hole in the board as a guide for the hole saw. Plus, without the pilot bit, you don't have to worry about going too deep and hitting the roof.

Ray

Wow, that sounds interesting. But man, I would still fear the board moving and wallering around and really scaring up the ceiling. Especially if I'm just holding it up there with one hand, using the drill in my other hand. I suppose I could practice on some osb I have lying around.

Reminds me of when I did my last hole in the turnover ball hitch in my previous Ram. I had a large hole saw in my tool box I thought it was a 4" I bought for my first Ram. I grabbed it, cut the hole, went to install the hitch plate under the bed and the hole was too small! It was a 3 1/2" hole saw that I thought was 4".

So, after a short panic attack, I grabbed the piece that was cut out and carefully tack welded it back into the center of the new hole. Then I went to Ace and rented that 4". With the old piece welded back in, I was able to used the original pilot hole again and cut the 4" hole.

SeventyGTX · 05-29-2019, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandK-M

I think I got my 5" hole saw for under $20 on Amazon but I had use for it more than just the speaker holes. I know what you mean about the 1/4" pilot and the hole already there from the old speaker. The way around that is to take a scrap piece of wood, like 1/2" plywood and make a hole with the hole saw in that first. That way you can remove the pilot bit, hold the board with the hole in it firmly against the ceiling and use the hole in the board as a guide for the hole saw. Plus, without the pilot bit, you don't have to worry about going too deep and hitting the roof.

Ray

Well, I got the Rockford-Fosgates yesterday, and today I went to the local Ace Hardware and picked up a can of Rustoleum 2X semi-gloss white plastic paint to spray the grills and they came out great. Tomorrow the 5.5" holesaw is supposed to be here from Amazon ($20.99) so I will have to get the nerve to cut those big holes. Can't wait for decent speakers to replace those little cubes in there now. Here are the grills I painted. I thought about leaving them black but everything on else the ceiling is white, so.....

RandK-M · 05-29-2019, 09:09 PM

Those look great, Nice job!

Ray

SeventyGTX · 05-31-2019, 11:54 AM

Got all four of them installed yesterday. Besides the sawdust mess in the rig, the install went well. Sound is much fuller than the tinny flush mount 2" cube speakers they replaced. There was plenty of room between the ceiling and roof for them. The IRv3300 head unit is far from a quality unit, but they still sound much better than before and well worth the less than $100 I have into them, including buying the hole saw. Being painted white, they look factory which was my goal...

RandK-M · 05-31-2019, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeventyGTX

Got all four of them installed yesterday. Besides the sawdust mess in the rig, the install went well. Sound is much fuller than the tinny flush mount 2" cube speakers they replaced. There was plenty of room between the ceiling and roof for them. The IRv3300 head unit is far from a quality unit, but they still sound much better than before and well worth the less than $100 I have into them, including buying the hole saw. Being painted white, they look factory which was my goal...

Looks great!

Ray

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