My audio video upgrade

Hi all,

I could never understand why Concertone seem(ed) to have the A/V monopoly on so many RV's. They are soooooo shitty and possibly the most arrogant company I have tried to deal with!!!!

Almost any after market car stereo would be better and would take up less room!!!

Here is how I got rid of mine. This is what I started with (shudders) I sold it on eBay for £65 and was the only thing I have ever felt guilty about selling ("worked" OK though)



Q. What is worse than having a shitty A/V system?
A. Having a shitty A/V system that takes up an entire shelf!

I found some sticky backed plastic to match the WC woodwork and set about making new panels.





The side panel is held on with Velcro so it is easy to get the the wiring:



I removed the uprights using a suitable drift (see my signature) and used wood filler to repair some of the collateral damage. I then re installed one of the uprights in a new location.

The wires were re-routed so that they remain hidden from view in their new position.



Phase one complete. The observant among you will notice a weird L shaped bit on the rear wall. This is to cover the hole put there when they pulled the wires in. I liberated it from behind the vacuum break cover in the bathroom!

This Pioneer unit does everything the Concertone did but waaaaaaaaaaay better. And it talks ipod and USB. It also has a proper remote control. Great for watching DVD's.



700w mono amplifier for the sub woofer. Required because the sub out on the new head unit is only line level.



The driver in the sub lasted 30 milliseconds before it over heated. I changed it for a proper driver. It needed persuading in with a router. I had a problem with "huffing". The air made noise as it exited the enclosure and sounded awful. After some experimentation I blocked off the port completely.... then I had another problem. Everything in the ceiling vibrated... Dam!



Ceiling speaker before:



During:





I used a very sharp Stanley knife to cut the holes and used about 1.5 blades per hole.



After:







Job done! This should be the minimum standard for Wildcats. The parts actually cost about the same as the Concertone system. This would be a cost neutral change. Are you listening people at WC???

That was quite a project! Glad it all turned out to your satisfaction. It looks good.

Tater

Nice job. I am still looking for something to match my wood if I have to change to the new one FR offers.

There is another post on here somewhere. I could not find it. They use a JVC. Was not able to find it so I email the manufacture. Here is my answer.


I do apologize, but JVC is no longer making receiver's like the RX-5060B.

Well I guess the point I was trying to make is that ANY car stereo that can play DVD's pretty much trumps everything the (very expensive) Concertone has to offer.. plus when you are done you have completely standard wiring. Any future swap will be 2 mins and you are good.

Here are some pix of the stuff I used to match the wood.

Job well done!

We use Contact (same stuff that 31ts uses) that has an oak grain. It's a bit darker than our cabinetry, but is close. We don't use it for all of our mods, though.

Tater

Thank you.

31TS_in_England wrote:Are you listening people at WC???

Yes sir.

Looks like a great upgrade. We recently changed the Wildcat standard as well. New Wildcats feature Jensen AV systems and TVs. We went the extra step and included High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) for true digital video and an iPod® connector as well (very cool to control the iPod® through the AV system).

JENSEN AM/FM/CD/DVD/USB/WB/iPOD Ready Wallmount Stereo with HDMI Video Output


I hope this serves as an example that we are listening...

Glad to see they are listening.

Concertone problem solved - we'll see how the Jensen performs.

Now, are they reading about the delamination and structural problems? Any good news for the Wildcat owners about those issues?

Tater

Wildcat Chris wrote:

31TS_in_England wrote:Are you listening people at WC???

Yes sir.

Looks like a great upgrade. We recently changed the Wildcat standard as well. New Wildcats feature Jensen AV systems and TVs. We went the extra step and included High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) for true digital video and an iPod® connector as well (very cool to control the iPod® through the AV system).

JENSEN AM/FM/CD/DVD/USB/WB/iPOD Ready Wallmount Stereo with HDMI Video Output


I hope this serves as an example that we are listening...

Is that Jensen compatible with the wiring in Wildcats with the Concertone?

Wildcat Chris wrote:Yes sir.

Looks like a great upgrade.

Thanks! I reckon you should make everyone who works in the factory live in a WC for at least a month before they go on the tools! Things would be different then!!

I'm actually looking at 2012 models now... Hmmmmm....

kwf904 wrote:Is that Jensen compatible with the wiring in Wildcats with the Concertone?

I believe Jensen has a wiring harness that allows for backwards compatibility. Please contact Jensen for more details: 1-800-688-3135.

The part number is: 31100133

When it comes time to change out my concertone I will be looking in the direction of Jensen for a replacement...

Actually the wiring isn't all that difficult. Think about it, be methodical and take your time. Check out the wiring, take pictures before you start.. sleep on it if you need to. Label everything!!!

Take your time and use a volt and ohm meter. You need to figure out and then label:

- Main positive
- Ground

Then you need to figure out the speakers. There are 7 speakers. I used a torch battery to "click" the speakers and then labelled the wires.

- Subwoofer +ve
- Subwoofer -ve

- Speaker Front left Living room +ve
- Speaker Front left Living room -ve

- Speaker Front right room +ve
- Speaker Front right Living room -ve

- Speaker Rear left Living room +ve
- Speaker Rear left Living room -ve

- Speaker Rear right Living room +ve
- Speaker Rear right Living room -ve

- Speaker left Outside +ve
- Speaker left Outside -ve

- Speaker right Outside +ve
- Speaker right Outside -ve

To figure out which speaker wire is positive pull out one of the speakers and check out which wire is connected to the positive terminal. The same convention *should* be used for the rest of the system (your mileage may vary)!!

Then once you know what all the wires are for and have everything labelled you are pretty much home and dry. I just went to my local car accessory place and purchased a standard din connector, cut off the concertone connector and used a strip of screw terminals to make the connections. This allows you to make easy corrections if you stuff something up.

Notes:

You can't really kill anything unless you get + and - mixed up or put 12v onto one of the speakers.

I used an amplifier for the sub as per above explanation.

Car stereos have a memory positive back up power connection that I just paralleled up with the main positive.

Car stereos have things like aerial switched power and dial illumination etc etc. Just leave them disconnected.

Video and audio connections will have the same plugs on them. Just find their home and you are good to go. You might have to go into menus to enable some in & outs depending on the model.

The antenna cable should be the same.

I didn't bother with the external speakers on my WC. But if you wanted to you could just wire a change over switch. Most modern head units could easily handle 2 pairs of speakers connected in parallel. Just check the specification where it displays ohms for the speakers.. and then measure your resistance.

Then you need to work on stopping the roof vibrating.

Home and dry. Easy eh?

Thanks for those instructions. If we ever have to replace our concertone (I think we got one of the few good ones - now, next time we go out, it will probably be toast ) we'll be looking at this thread.

I need this in English please. KISS principle please. 700w mono amplifier for the sub woofer. Required because the sub out on the new head unit is only line level. Did you install a new sub woofer? Can I use the one supplied by FR?

31TS_in_England - A hammer, a crescent wrench, pair of pliers and duct tape is all a Portagie needs. The battery trial and error I forgot about. Plus to plus and minus to minus and watch it hum.

Portagie1968 wrote: I need this in English please. KISS principle please. 700w mono amplifier for the sub woofer. Required because the sub out on the new head unit is only line level. Did you install a new sub woofer? Can I use the one supplied by FR?

Yes you are spot on. The Concertone has a sub woofer amplifier (sic) built in but car stereos do not.

To start with I used factory subwoofer mounted in the ceiling (as pictured above) but it was of such poor quality I blew it up watching my first film!! It took me some finding but I found a driver that would fit (needs to be "ultra slim") and managed to shoe horn it in the original box.

I'm kicking myself now because I didn't take any pictures of this bit. I just used a router free hand to make the hole slightly bigger then a quick dress up with some mat black spray paint from a can.

Just heard back from our Jensen rep on the wiring harness. Their part number is: 31100133.

Please contact Jensen for more details: 1-800-688-3135

BTW Chris. I meant to say to you last night. Moving to HDMI is to be congratulated! Any idea when they will be bringing a Blu-ray player out??

31TS_in_England wrote:BTW Chris. I meant to say to you last night. Moving to HDMI is to be congratulated! Any idea when they will be bringing a Blu-ray player out??

Hmmm... that's a great idea.

HDMI was a big step forward. The Jensen AV products have a great reputation as well. I'm also quite fond of the iPod hookup.

[quote="Wildcat Chris"]

31TS_in_England wrote:Hmmm... that's a great idea.

You totally need to hire me as a consultant

31TS_in_England wrote:

Portagie1968 wrote: I need this in English please. KISS principle please. 700w mono amplifier for the sub woofer. Required because the sub out on the new head unit is only line level. Did you install a new sub woofer? Can I use the one supplied by FR?

Yes you are spot on. The Concertone has a sub woofer amplifier (sic) built in but car stereos do not.

To start with I used factory subwoofer mounted in the ceiling (as pictured above) but it was of such poor quality I blew it up watching my first film!! It took me some finding but I found a driver that would fit (needs to be "ultra slim") and managed to shoe horn it in the original box.

I'm kicking myself now because I didn't take any pictures of this bit. I just used a router free hand to make the hole slightly bigger then a quick dress up with some mat black spray paint from a can.

Thank you for the reply. Spot on - Luv them Brits. If and when ( the when is coming soon) I will need to replace the Concertone the need for major surgery and repair will be a must. Do you have a part number or web site for the woofer you replaced it with. My ceiling speakers are different than yours. Lot bigger. Got three up front and 2 in back. Can you give us an idea of what you actually used for ceiling speakers.

Thank you. Crank the volumne. So if I change to the Jensen I just need to find a subwoofer that will fit and a amp to go with it. My subwoofer is in the ceiling. The other thing I would need to do is major surgery and repair to get it the Jensen to fit.

Portagie1968 wrote:My ceiling speakers are different than yours. Lot bigger. Got three up front and 2 in back. Can you give us an idea of what you actually used for ceiling speakers.

What? 3 up front, 2 in the back and 1 sub woofer? If so that's the best case scenario IMO.

I'll post a couple more pix tonight when I get home along with a model number for the sub driver. The other speakers can be anything you like. There are white speakers out there but at the time I was looking they were twice the price.

I used bog standard 3 way 6"x9" speakers in the ceiling but you could use anything you find. you just have to remove the speakers and stick a ruler in the hole to make sure you have enough depth.

Thank you. Mine are from Concertone. Thank you again. I have 2 speakers in the bedroom, Have surround sound in living area ( 3 speakers {middle speaker no work} and woofer up front and 2 speakers in the back), 2 outside speakers (sound just right with CD's and sound dieing on the radio side). Thanks again for sharing the subwoofer particulars.

So here I am checking to see how much depth I have for the speakers (I make no apologies for use of centimetres!!):


Here is a big hole where the subwoofer lives:


Here are some pictures of the standard sub enclosure & driver... ugh China!!:








Here is the new woofer driver fitted and ready to go:



Here is a link http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/Subwoofers-By-Size/TS-SW841D





This is the amp I used. I chose an amp (700w) that is a little higher rated than the speaker (500w) because you do less damage over driving a speaker than under driving with distortion!! In reality it gets way too loud to test its limits.

Also I had to put in a bigger fuse

http://www.alpine-electronics.co.uk/products/details/v-power-amplifiers/mrp-m352.html



Hope this helps!

Thank you very much. Needed box just for the sub woofer. Okay.

The Concertone has a amp in it to power the woofer. Does the Jensen have the same setup?

Wildcat Chris wrote:Just heard back from our Jensen rep on the wiring harness. Their part number is: 31100133.

Please contact Jensen for more details: 1-800-688-3135

Quoting myself in reference. Here's the direct link to the adapter from Jensen -- hope this info is helpful!:
http://www.jensenrvdirect.com/jensen-470.html