Has anyone upgraded their audio?

[69RoadRunner]

I'm looking at this HTIB system. It looks like a good compromise. Since I'm only buying Blu Ray DVDs now, I want a Blu Ray system.

If I were fulltiming, I'd look for a better setup.

[D in Davie]

Has anyone replaced just the in dash radio and speakers? The Dashboard on the Baystar that I have does not seem strong enough to mount a Double din unit that will play cds without shock skip on a bumpy road. The speakers are also 4 inch jobs that are good for producing voice only. I find the sound so unpleasant that I rarely listen to the radio while traveling. I don't need to make my MH into a media room but a little traveling music would be nice.

["007"]

The old Sony setup 03 and back, were pretty versatile for inputs into XA-300 than into radio CD player. The XA-300 was mounted on fuse shelf under dash fuse panel access.
You may find a thin Sony now with all the inputs the one with a IP0D plug would eliminate the 6-Disk player and will store more music.
You can upgrade the spk's in front cabinets and kitchen ceiling. You can also put kitchen spk's on fade control which has bedroom spk's on control now.
Bedroom spk's would be controled by main volume control on radio. Have a remote control for my radio which is handy traveling down the road without distractions adjusting radio from seat.

[katoomer]

Corporate Monkey, nice setup. I wish my audio cab was that big.
I'm tempted on trying the Apple TV at home for movies.
I opted for the Sonos for music because I had them modded to work with an external Dac and sound quality is right up there with my 5K cd player.
I know about the heat issue and it seems like the sat receivers are a big heat producer. I was thinking about cutting a grill into the cab bottom and replacing the glass in the door with a grill as well.
Give me a list of the components you used.
Thanks

[CorporateMonkey]

Originally Posted by katoomer

Corporate Monkey, nice setup. I wish my audio cab was that big.
I'm tempted on trying the Apple TV at home for movies.
I opted for the Sonos for music because I had them modded to work with an external Dac and sound quality is right up there with my 5K cd player.
Thanks

You probably already know this but the A-TV has fiber out, so running an external DAC is very doable. I don't think it is entirely necessary. I have always believed a nice high current amp makes all the difference.

As for cabinet components. I have to look them up. The hard parts to find were the "computer" fans. These are not ordinary fans, the ones I got are a silent computer crowd favorite.
Since the fans run about 75% of the time, they need to be very quiet.

The only time you really hear them is when they get dusty. A quick clean fixes that.

[CorporateMonkey]

Here are some of my cabinet parts:

For the fans I chose the Chinese OEM versions of these
Acousti Products - AcoustiFan™ DustPROOF - Dust-Tolerant Quiet PC Fans
You want the 120mm versions. Look around you might find the OEM version for less $.

They run on 12v, but can be under-volted for a quieter operation.
You will need a thermostat, I got one of the only line voltage A/C thermostats on the market. The LUX LV3
Amazon.com: LV3 Lux Products Line Voltage Cooling Only Single Thermostat: Home Improvement

If you want one of these you need to get one soon, as it is a dying market. If you want something more complex, you need to look into a PC case fan controller. These will vary the fan RPM based on temperature.

For lighting I used a CCFL (Cold Cathode lamp) kit designed for PC cases.
12in Dual White Cold Cathode Kit at Xoxide!
I didn't use the exact set posted, but this will give you a good starting point.
They have small (large pack of gum sized) inverters included to power them off of 12v. Very little energy is used.

I ran 2 sets of 2 (total 4 lamps) and I find it very bright.

In fact I have thought about wiring the basement compartment with several of these to improve visibility.
For the low cost, you can find all sorts of uses for them.

Hope this helps.

[katoomer]

corporate monkey,
Thanks for the ideas. I don't know if I am going to have room to install all the things I want, so there will be some compromise. I would like to have access to my entire music library, (650Gb), but I might have to just use a portion of it on an Ipod (lossless of course). If I go with just 2-channel rather than surround the amps are much smaller and my main focus is music anyways. We never took a TV in our toyhauler for 4 years.

[Slider1]

Originally Posted by D in Davie

Has anyone replaced just the in dash radio and speakers? The Dashboard on the Baystar that I have does not seem strong enough to mount a Double din unit that will play cds without shock skip on a bumpy road. The speakers are also 4 inch jobs that are good for producing voice only. I find the sound so unpleasant that I rarely listen to the radio while traveling. I don't need to make my MH into a media room but a little traveling music would be nice.

I just swapped out my Pioneer Unit (it was overkill, and I didn't like the NAV system).

I went with a Dual XDMA6415, (from Cryutchfield) mainly because it has all the features I wanted, primarily the in dash iPod connections. (I listen to the 1,000's of songs on my iPod rather than FM, XM or others). You can also use a flash drive, which holds even more songs!!

I beefed up the VERY THIN plastic around the opening by plastic welding (very easy, its just soldering basically) some ABS plastic strips around the rim and beefing up the corners with some scraps melted in.

Also, securing the unit with that cheap excuse for an anti-theft strap actually helps stabilize it all a bit more......

Wiring (as coach was recieved) was a mess. Someone before me did not do a very professional job with the previous installs.........looked like the proverbial rats nest........ Now its all orgainzed and wire tied......

[D in Davie]

Slider1
Thanks for your reply. I like your suggestion to reinforce the border of the opening. I never thought of that anti theft band so that should help some to. I am going to give that a try just as soon as I figure out how to install the 6 inch pioneer speakers I got to replace the little things the factory put in. It looks like I will have to remove two shelves in the cabinets and alter them to let the speakers fit in. I like the whole flash drive idea as I wouldn't have to get satelite radio.