replacing stereo

[blue eyes]

Need to replace our concertone,,have found alot of replacements out there,,Would like to know if anyone has the jensen amx 970 or 975! Can you please tell me if the hdmi video output is a necessary option..I don't know a whole lot about electronics and dont want to have alot of options that we dont use or need..Thanks,,

[BigTJohn]

I had the Jensen in a previous TT. Great unit, no problems. Mine did NOT have HDMI but I wish it had. If you have a good LED (very light) or an LCD (not as light) or plasma (lots heavier) an HDMI would be a good thing to have. It will have almost zero degradation of the audio/video signal from your unit to the tv results in better sound and video. Then again, it is an RV, not the Home Theater Room you wish you had. Just enjoy it and have fun.

[blue eyes]

as i said I am pretty bad with electronics,,but if it will help with the video and sound,,why not get..thanks for your quick reply I will order the one with the HDMI...

[Rsgtivr6]

The Jensen units seem to be pretty good. The AWM 975 is the best for the non touchscreen models.

[blue eyes]

that is the exact unit that we are looking at...dont need a touch screen for sure...thanks for your reply

[Herk7769]

Blue Eyes,

You did not say what was wrong with your Concertone or what model you had. In a 2006 camper it might have been one of the older models that had some issues. The newer ones are quite good and have features (like automatic weather alerts, 5.1 suurround sound, and 3 channel stereo outputs). Have you looked at upgrading your current unit with a later model?

[blue eyes]

Herk,
I dont remember at the moment what model we have, but it was the one that had more than a few issues,,,I havent thought about updating with a current model, thanks for that tip, I would like the weather alerts,,ours does have the surround sound and the 3 channel output,,The cd player is starting to do some crazy things, wont play a cd 2 times in a row,,and it just sometimes decides to do nothing...it also wont turn off unless we use the remote..We bought the trailer when it was a year old, and the original tv that worked with the unit wasnt even in the there when we got it. I was hoping that the replacement unit with the hdmi would be a plus..I will however, look into the concertone,,,I just remember reading so many posts about these units being troublesome,,and they were from folks that had newer trailers than our...Thanks for your advice, do you currently have the concertone unit in your trailer..? If so, are you pleased with it.?

[SaskCampers]

Blue Eyes,
We have a Concertone ZX700 in our trailer and it works like a charm. There are many satisfied Concertone owners out there and as with most things you never hear the happy customers sing praises it is just the unhappy ones we seem to hear from.

As an FYI the Jensen units do not have 5.1 sound or sub woofer outputs, just 3 zone stereo. I should point out they seem to be very nice units though as my BIL has one in their Spree trailer and they like it quite well.

[Rsgtivr6]

Take a look at this one if you want Concertone's big boy Concertone ZX800 DVD receiver at Crutchfield.com

[Herk7769]

I was looking at the Genesis manual for a different problem and learned a new trick. If your DVD or CD will not detect a disk there may be moisture inside the radio. This can happen if there is high humidity and you run the AC for a while. Moisture forms on the laser lens and the "disk inserted" sensor preventing correct opertaion.

To try and cook the moisture out; eject the disk and run the unit on radio for several hours. It may just work.

[blue eyes]

That is a great tip, I dont really think that ours is a moisture problem because it will play the cd for the first time perfectly fine, then if you would want to replay the same cd, it wont do anything..I appreciate your help,,I was also reading that the Jensen that we were looking at doesnt have the surround sound,,now I am stuck on that issue, I would take it that if the replacement unit does not have surround sound then we would not be able to use the existing speakers that we currently have?

[Herk7769]

Concertone ZX800 DVD receiver at Crutchfield.com

Is a great radio and there is one in my future, for sure.
It has the 5.1 surround sound on channel A and full stereo on B and C.
Weather band and 4 aux input plus blue tooth.
A learning remote control.
Many more features including HDMI High Definition.
$700.00 is a bargain for this 12VDC receiver.

Contact Tech Support for help and let them know you are interested in an upgrade if the price is right.
Concertone® Contact Us

[dezolen]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Concertone ZX800 DVD receiver at Crutchfield.com

Is a great radio and there is one in my future, for sure.
It has the 5.1 surround sound on channel A and full stereo on B and C.
Weather band and 4 aux input plus blue tooth.
A learning remote control.
Many more features including HDMI High Definition.
$700.00 is a bargain for this 12VDC receiver.

Contact Tech Support for help and let them know you are interested in an upgrade if the price is right.
Concertone® Contact Us

Have to disagree that 700$ is a bargain for this receiver. If you can live with a 120 volt system any brand name mini home theatre system receiver blows it away hands down and for less than 1/2 the cost. Many options out there if one can handle simple wiring hookups.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by dezolen

Have to disagree that 700$ is a bargain for this receiver. If you can live with a 120 volt system any brand name mini home theatre system receiver blows it away hands down and for less than 1/2 the cost. Many options out there if one can handle simple wiring hookups.

I did mention 12 volt receiver in there somewhere. Very small fishing hole and the ZX-800 is the Bubba of the pond.

[Rsgtivr6]

Originally Posted by dezolen

Have to disagree that 700$ is a bargain for this receiver. If you can live with a 120 volt system any brand name mini home theatre system receiver blows it away hands down and for less than 1/2 the cost. Many options out there if one can handle simple wiring hookups.

I would have to agree with Herk. For $700 you get a receiver with 3 speaker sets (nice for larger RV's with distant bedrooms and outside speakers), DVD player, a stereo, weather radio, alarm clock, USB connection for iPod and other MP3 media use, Bluetooth connectivity for media and calling, external AV inputs, and SD card reader. All that would be a lot of peripherals to a standard home theater reciever. You would be hard pressed to find that in many large recievers, let alone a small RCA or the likes home theater systems. If you don't have the need for all of this, then sure, the small home recievers are fine, but you pay to play with all the extra features and conveniences.

[pappcam]

Originally Posted by Rsgtivr6

Take a look at this one if you want Concertone's big boy Concertone ZX800 DVD receiver at Crutchfield.com

That's the same as the Genesis GT 3.0 I have in my 2012 Flagstaff.

It's a pretty nice unit.

[Herk7769]

I need to start a " I love my Concertone/Genesis" thread.

[Cinrock]

The USB connection is useless on Apple products. That's my only complaint with this unit, otherwise it's a real gem!

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Cinrock

The USB connection is useless on Apple products. That's my only complaint with this unit, otherwise it's a real gem!

Not sure what you mean. The USB port will charge iPhone, iPod, MP3 players, and Cameras and GPS (equipped with USB cables).

It will play files including MP3 and photos. It will not play an iPod using this port (though it will charge it). Use the AU1 port 3.5mm to connect your iPod, iPhone, or iPad to play your stored music.

The ZX-800 has a "stick size" limit of 8GB (also applies to SD Cards) and the format MUST be FAT or FAT32. NOTE to Windows users NTFS is not supported, so do not format your sticks or SD Cards to NTFS.

Prior Concertones were limited to 4GB and some even 1GB SD memory cards and sitcks in some early units. All were limited to FAT as well.

If your stick or Card is not working try a smaller capacity one.

The REASON is NTFS does not support "hot swaps" and you need to "eject" the USB stick with the "Eject Media Software" in Windows) rather than just yank it out. Yanking out an NTFS stick can corrupt your data.
FAT and FAT32 does not have that limitation.

[ProjectPro]

I'm hoping I get nearly as many features from my $298 Jensen AWM975 that I'm installing next week.