Installed the New Stereo & Outdoor Speakers

[Jeff from Michigan]

I just finished up the installation of a new car stereo, speaker selector, and some outdoor speakers. I also replace the indoor speakers. What a difference it makes. Now I have some great sound for both the inside and outside of the rig. I thought I'd post a few pictures to show it off. I tried to keep it as stock as possible and replacing that old Magadyne monster proved to be harder than I thought it would be. But everything turned out OK in the end and I think it looks pretty good.

[Jeff from Michigan]

I just finished up the installation of a new car stereo, speaker selector, and some outdoor speakers. I also replace the indoor speakers. What a difference it makes. Now I have some great sound for both the inside and outside of the rig. I thought I'd post a few pictures to show it off. I tried to keep it as stock as possible and replacing that old Magadyne monster proved to be harder than I thought it would be. But everything turned out OK in the end and I think it looks pretty good.

[Jeff from Michigan]

Sorry. I'm still getting use to this picture posting thing. Let's try a few larger pictures.

[Ray,IN]

Your installation photos show very good workmanship. The outside speakers are a sure way to win lots of disgruntled fellow campers though, unless you keep the volume low enough to be inaudible at adjoining campsites.

[Grumpytrkr]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jeff from Michigan:
I just finished up the installation of a new car stereo, speaker selector, and some outdoor speakers. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Hay, you are one up on me. I don't know how to post pictures to the forum. Anyway......

I did the same thing to our unit, except the outside speakers. I wasn't going to that much work. I will have to say that they do look good. I bought our unit at Crutchfield, with the Sirius unit. Ya, it isn't exactly easy. The radio that came in the unit didn't have the wires marked very well, and you had to take the speakers down to double check on what wire went where.

Did you wire the outside speakers to a seperate on/off switch? Or, did you wire them to the front/rear speaker controls?

[Jeff from Michigan]

Hello Grumpy,

Check out the forth picture. Below the stereo is a speaker selector that I use to control all the speakers. What I did was hard wire the front speakers in the camper to the radio, then wired the rear speaker wires from the radio to the speaker selector. I then ran the bedroom speakers and the outdoor speakers to the selector which I control by pushing the "A"(for bedroom speakers) or "B"(for outdoor speakers) on the selector. I can have all three sets on at once or just one at a time. When I use the outdoor speakers(quietly Ray so I don't bother the neighbors) I just use the fade on the radio to shut down the front speakers so there is no music playing in the rig.

I was surprised how easy it was to hook up the outdoor speakers. I bought them from Boaters World for around $50.00 as they were about the only ones I could find that would work for a 4ohm radio. I used the open space behind the fridge as one mounting point, drilled a hole in the bottom corner of the cabinet housing the microwave into that open space behind the fridge. I then ran the speaker wire through the mounting hole, through the open space behind the fridge, over to the hole I drilled behind the microwave, and then ran it at the back of my kitchen cabinets, all the way over to the radio. The other speaker I mounted at the same height closer to the door of the camper. My kitchen cabinet closest to the door use to house a small TV and there is a hook up for the antenna on that back wall of the cabinet. I pulled the screws out of the mounting plate and found a spot to drill the mounting hole for the other speaker. I then drill a small hole through the mounting plate for the speaker wires and install a rubber grommet to hold the wires securely. The wires run through the plate and into the speaker selector. I also used rubber grommets and some silicon on the holes I drill on the outside of the camper for the speaker wires. I used push through anchors for the speaker mounting brackets to make them extra secure. I take the speakers off when we're traveling anyway, but I wanted to make sure the brackets wouldn't come loose. It all turned out very clean and pretty stock looking. It makes it nice to have a little music playing in the background for meals or hanging out by the campfire. Now I just need to figure out a way to conceal the outdoor speaker wires when I remove the speakers. I've been looking for a covered speaker connector, but haven't had much luck. I'm sure I find something sooner or later.

Jeff

[Grumpytrkr]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jeff from Michigan:
Hello Grumpy,

Check out the forth picture. Below the stereo is a speaker selector that I use to control all the speakers. Jeff </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I thought those speakers were installed on there. Didn't know they were, for lack of a better word, hang up speakers. And, how you ran your wires gives me something to think about. I may try something like that. There are times, during the week, when we are the only campers at the campgroud, and we are eatting dinner outside, and we would like to have some tunes outside.

Thanks for the idea. This may be another winter project for me.