Missing speakers?

Happy Campers 79 · 05-30-2012, 09:00 PM

Our surveyor 220 has a jensen entertainment system. It has A, B, and C buttons for the speakers. A goes to the speakers in the kitchen/dining area. C is the outdoor speakers. WE were told the B speakers were for the bedroom area if we wanted to install them? Does this sound right? You can't tell where they would hook up, I can't find instruction, and where would you buy a matching set of speakers like the kitchen/dining area? Thanks for the help.

LadyWindrider · 05-31-2012, 08:31 AM

Moved this to Surveyor, maybe someone that has them installed will chime in.

First thing I would do is pull the unit, and see if there are any wires run for the "B" speakers. If there are no wires, then you will have fun fishing then through the walls and ceilings. Most campers with speakers in the bedroom have them located in the ceiling, near the foot of the bed.

acadianbob · 05-31-2012, 09:54 AM

I would ask the dealer or the factory if there are wires pre-run for the "B" channel. I would doubt it. It can be challenging to wire later. Good luck.

Happy Campers 79 · 05-31-2012, 07:05 PM

I don't get it...why have the button if there is nothing set up for it? We questioned a little at the dealer. They didn't know much.

dimurrrw · 05-31-2012, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Campers 79

I don't get it...why have the button if there is nothing set up for it? We questioned a little at the dealer. They didn't know much.

I guess it might be because they use the same hardware for all trailers, even those that don't come with the bedroom speakers. Your best bet might be to try to find pictures of your trailer online that show speakers in the bedroom. Then you would have a great basis for a complaint to FR.

mikewheel · 06-10-2012, 06:41 PM

I have surround sound with 3 speakers in front two in rear with the woofer. One of the rear speakers was making a popping noise. I checked to see if wires were tight and when I plugged it back up so sound at all. Since there were 3 in the front I took one of them out to move to the back until I could purchase one. When I put it in and was careful to connect the wires to the correct terminal it would not make any sound either. Since this was no help I put it back where it came from and now it doesnt have any sound. Anyone have a clue what is happening. I am afraid to move any more before they all quit working.

**Herk7769** · 06-10-2012, 07:10 PM

In my camper the outside speakers were optional.
If we did not buy the speakers, the "C" choice would have then been "non-functional."

RvBill3 · 06-10-2012, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Campers 79

I don't get it...why have the button if there is nothing set up for it? We questioned a little at the dealer. They didn't know much.

Just like a home stereo may come with capabilities for several sets of speakers, it is still up to you to buy the extra speakers. Just because Forest River supplies a stereo with multiple speaker outputs doesn't mean they are obligated to provide all the speakers.

lmcleister · 06-12-2012, 10:25 AM

Happy campers79 -
Picked up my first ever camper trailer - a 2012 SP 220 trailer about 8 months ago. Like you, I wanted speakers in the bedroom. Don't think FR ever meant to provide more than 2 sets of speakers in this line of trailer.

Just want to say up front - my DW and I really like our SP220... a lot. We really enjoy it - can't say that enough. Buying another FR trailer in about 5 or 6 years is in the master plan. We chose our unit based on a balance of: size, weight, features, and cost. This balance allowed me to customize it adding only the weight for features I wanted. One of my upgrades was to replace the dining area speakers from the cheesy $6 stock speakers to Alpines and added a set of bedroom speakers.

Most of the better quality automotive speakers are much deeper than the roof's depth. The shallowest speakers I could find while staying with a polymer speaker (no more cheap paper speakers) were Alpine SPS-610Cs. Thankfully Forest River installed a nice Jensen system that had spare speaker drivers, no additional amp required. First problem was speakers had 3/4" more depth than the roof. So I made my own speaker mount by glueing together 4 circles of plywood roughly the same diameter as the speaker grill (to create 3" of depth). Then hollowed out the plywood inside to allow the speaker to drop in. Then I flipped the mount upside down and glued the speaker mounts to the plywood roof. Only the lightweight tweeters were installed on the flimsy laminate ceiling. Used hole saws to make clean speaker cut outs in the laminate ceiling - being very careful not to drill into the plywood roof. Used a long drill bit from the new speakers to the Jensen console for the wires.

You will find that Jensen wallmount stereo cover pops off easy, then 4 screws later the unit can be dropped. The wires for the extra speaker are pre-labeled so connecting new speakers to the Jensen console is easy. While the console is out, it's a good idea to install a noise filter on the power lines to minimize speaker hum. I had concerns the converter was noisy, so installed a good electrical filter on the 12V power wires. When done with electrical, it goes back together just as easy.

Painted the plywood speaker mounts and speaker grills white to match the ceiling, touch-up with white calking and all is good. Sound from higher end speakers is an amazing difference.

Good luck with your upgrades.
Pictures of speakers below.

chevy02 · 06-13-2012, 06:18 AM

Nice job on the speaker mounts looks great

**Herk7769** · 06-13-2012, 06:43 AM

Which power filter did you use on your Jensen?
A Radio Shack one?

lmcleister · 06-13-2012, 09:25 AM

Herk,
I love your posts - you have more interesting pictures than I've ever seen in one place.

I would have thought Radio Shack would carry these filters, but alas -didn't see any. I ordered mine from Crutchfield.com; the largest one they carry. Attached is a picture of the 350 watt filter I used. It is a bit heavy, so mounting it with screws to the side was a good idea.

Even though you didn't ask - I'll just mention the difference between power filters and surge supressors. A DC "power filter" is basically an inductor and capacitor to smooth out any voltage ripple so the sound system can reproduce sound cleanly. "Surge supressors" have a different function - they have MOV (Metal Oxide Varistors) with the main function of shorting out high voltage (such as lightning induced and conducted current) to ground. A surge supressor protects electronic equipment from destructive overvoltages. For a well protected TT the incoming 120VAC power should have a surge supressor (like the Progressive Industries power management systems). Once the power is converted to 12V, then a noise filter on the stereo power eliminates hum. Adding these 2 devices was my first TT mod. Just providing the info for anyone not familiar with the difference.

**Herk7769** · 06-13-2012, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmcleister

Herk,
I love your posts - you have more interesting pictures than I've ever seen in one place.

I would have thought Radio Shack would carry these filters, but alas -didn't see any. I ordered mine from Crutchfield.com; the largest one they carry. Attached is a picture of the 350 watt filter I used. It is a bit heavy, so mounting it with screws to the side was a good idea.

Even though you didn't ask - I'll just mention the difference between power filters and surge supressors. A DC "power filter" is basically an inductor and capacitor to smooth out any voltage ripple so the sound system can reproduce sound cleanly. "Surge supressors" have a different function - they have MOV (Metal Oxide Varistors) with the main function of shorting out high voltage (such as lightning induced and conducted current) to ground. A surge supressor protects electronic equipment from destructive overvoltages. For a well protected TT the incoming 120VAC power should have a surge supressor (like the Progressive Industries power management systems). Once the power is converted to 12V, then a noise filter on the stereo power eliminates hum. Adding these 2 devices was my first TT mod. Just providing the info for anyone not familiar with the difference.

Thank you for explaining that. I made a similar post some months ago regarding surge supressors and power line filters (as it applied to incoming shore power). It is always good to restate these things occasionally because we get new folks every day.

Just wanted to know which one you used, is all.

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