Add Sound Bar for Jensen TV in older system

[Sagecoachdriver]

My 2016 Forester came with the 32" Jensen TV and a surround sound system and huge sub woofer under the jackknife sofa. The TV speakers have terrible sound quality and to use the Surround sound system I have to use the Jensen dash Radio/Navigation with CD and DVD. It's a hassle as we have the cabover draped with a comforter blocking the front driver and passenger area. To adjust the volume, I have to use a it's separate remote and stick my hand into an opening aiming at the dash radio. The dash radio gets very hot also if I try playing a DVD. Hate the setup. Newer Foresters have a separate system mounted in the dinning/living area. Would like to upgrade to something like that but rewiring would be a nightmare.
So I have been looking into adding a sound bar that would work off my 400 watt inverter that I also use for my Dish receiver. Maybe mount the sound bar or just lay it on the cabover bunk under or next to the swinging Jensen TV.
Has anyone with a earlier model Forester River class C done anything about the sound?

[dancort]

I added a soundbar to my 32" Jensen. Really helped the audio quality. I mounted the soundbar to the tv bracket with a couple homemade 1 /4" x 1" aluminum brackets. It sits on top of the tv.

[Sagecoachdriver]

Originally Posted by dancort

I added a soundbar to my 32" Jensen. Really helped the audio quality. I mounted the soundbar to the tv bracket with a couple homemade 1 /4" x 1" aluminum brackets. It sits on top of the tv.

Thanks, any chance you can take a photo and which brand and size did you buy?

[Mach428]

I added a sound bar to the bedroom TV that fits perfectly along the top.

[Sagecoachdriver]

Are there any sound bars that will work off the 12v dc?

[Mach428]

Not to my knowledge

[newRVer]

Sage,

Your 2701 did not come with a House radio? Our 2016 3011 did and I thought most if not all Forester models did but I guess not.

I agree, the Jensen TV speakers are barely passable when the RV is quiet let alone when the AC is running. Although, the 4 speakers for my house radio are not great either but they do provide a more room filling sound than just the TV ever could.

If I had to use the dash radio for all entertainment, that certainly would have been one of my first mods as that would more trouble than whats its worth which it seems is where you currently at.

If I was in your situation I would probably save the money on the soundbar and install a house radio with some good quality speakers and solve both issues at the same time.

[Tombsy]

Originally Posted by Sagecoachdriver

My 2016 Forester came with the 32" Jensen TV and a surround sound system and huge sub woofer under the jackknife sofa. The TV speakers have terrible sound quality and to use the Surround sound system I have to use the Jensen dash Radio/Navigation with CD and DVD. It's a hassle as we have the cabover draped with a comforter blocking the front driver and passenger area. To adjust the volume, I have to use a it's separate remote and stick my hand into an opening aiming at the dash radio. The dash radio gets very hot also if I try playing a DVD. Hate the setup. Newer Foresters have a separate system mounted in the dinning/living area. Would like to upgrade to something like that but rewiring would be a nightmare.

So I have been looking into adding a sound bar that would work off my 400 watt inverter that I also use for my Dish receiver. Maybe mount the sound bar or just lay it on the cabover bunk under or next to the swinging Jensen TV.

Has anyone with a earlier model Forester River class C done anything about the sound?

I have the same setup as yours and I use the surround speakers for the tv, I’ve upgraded the door speakers but I keep the fader mostly towards the rear when we’re parked. With my window shades I don’t have a problem with the remote except not being able to switch back and forth to the tv inputs.
I’m planning on upgrading to a Pioneer unit in the near future and they have some different remote options.
I hardly use the DVD player at all mostly a laptop connected to the HDMI of the tv.
But have you looked at IR repeaters for your remote?
Then you could have the sensor on the other side of the comforter.
https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_5258_PAC-IR-X.html

[Sagecoachdriver]

Originally Posted by newRVer

Sage,

Your 2701 did not come with a House radio? Our 2016 3011 did and I thought most if not all Forester models did but I guess not.

I agree, the Jensen TV speakers are barely passable when the RV is quiet let alone when the AC is running. Although, the 4 speakers for my house radio are not great either but they do provide a more room filling sound than just the TV ever could.

If I had to use the dash radio for all entertainment, that certainly would have been one of my first mods as that would more trouble than whats its worth which it seems is where you currently at.

If I was in your situation I would probably save the money on the soundbar and install a house radio with some good quality speakers and solve both issues at the same time.

My Forester was built in late spring of 2015. I believe FR made the upgrade to the House radio system just after summer. My Jensen dash radio is difficult to navigate thru the small touch screen and you have to be in the driver’s seat to set up. With the loud engine and road noise, we have the dash radio adjusted to the front. I would have to reset it for the surround speakers in the house every time. It would be great if I could install a house radio in one of the front overhead cabinets like the current models. But rerouting all the wiring from the dash would be a nightmare along with another roof antenna. Perhaps your idea of adding a house radio and new speakers would be easier.

[PenJoe]

Originally Posted by Sagecoachdriver

Are there any sound bars that will work off the 12v dc?

There are two types of sound bars. The first is self contained with high and low range speakers. This is powered via the HDMI cable. The second type has the high range in the sound bar, powered via the TV HDMI cable and the remote sub powered by 115V. You should be good using the first type-just won't have the thumpin' lows.

[Sagecoachdriver]

Got a Visio 29” sound bar from Amazon along with a mounting bracket. Installed it in a few minutes on top of the swinging cab over TV.
Wow! What a difference in both quality and volume over the TV speakers. I am powering it from either the 110v on shoreline power/ generator or it works fine off my 400watt inverter. Hardly draws any amps according to my battery monitor. Should have done this ages ago!

[jeff64]

I added a $59 best buy soundbar to my 24'' rca tv/DVD unit with a couple homemade aluminum brackets, works way better especially outside

[BBogey]

We hooked up a Bluetooth dongle to our walley box and got a small “quality “ Bluetooth speaker and its frigging fantastic!!!

I’ve just ordered a small gadget to make our non Bluetooth tv into a Bluetooth tv so we can enjoy watching DVD’s with volume that we can hear like when we use the DISH