Home Theater System Replacement

[BudtheDiplomat]

I need your help! I have an RCA RTD258RV home theater system in my 2008 Monaco Diplomat. I need to replace it, but the replacement system must have a DVD, a coax cable connector, HDMI, both Audio and Video Component connectors, and be able to toggle between DVD, Aux, USB.
So far I'm striking out!
Anybody have any ideas?

[MSHappyCampers]

Bud, I would buy a separate surround sound receiver and DVD player, NOT the combined unit. That way there is less to replace if something goes wrong.

I just updated my system with a new Denon receiver, a BluRay DVD player, and a powered subwoofer. It sounds great!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[BudtheDiplomat]

Joe,

Your Windsor and my Diplomat are probably very similar. Do you have a Satellite receiver DVR, and if so, where did you move the Satellite receiver to?

I have DirectTV and the DVR is as large as the RCA unit. The RCA unit, the DVR, and the satellite receiver units are all crammed (quite literally) into a cabinet above the driver's head. A mouse wouldn't have room to breathe in there!

Thanks for your help!

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by BudtheDiplomat

Joe,

Your Windsor and my Diplomat are probably very similar. Do you have a Satellite receiver DVR, and if so, where did you move the Satellite receiver to?

I have DirectTV and the DVR is as large as the RCA unit. The RCA unit, the DVR, and the satellite receiver units are all crammed (quite literally) into a cabinet above the driver's head. A mouse wouldn't have room to breathe in there!

Thanks for your help!

On my coach the satellite receiver and the coax switcher are in a cabinet over the dash in front of the co-pilot. The surround sound receiver and the DVD player are in the front cabinet over the dash above the driver. I use a Direct TV DVR.

[StevenNSteph]

Most all in one home theatre systems are paired systems, meaning you speakers are designed for the output of your individual unit. Just buying a another system and plugging in your speakers may result in rather poor sound quality. You may have to rip out your speakers too and by a whole matched component system.

[reubenray]

This is why I bought a soundbar to replace the speakers. If you have room for them buy individual pieces and pair them with a soundbar.

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by StevenNSteph

Most all in one home theatre systems are paired systems, meaning you speakers are designed for the output of your individual unit. Just buying a another system and plugging in your speakers may result in rather poor sound quality. You may have to rip out your speakers too and by a whole matched component system.

Steven, I have to disagree with you just a little bit. The main thing you have to watch out for is to be sure the impedance of the speakers is not LOWER than the rated impedance of the amp that you're connecting to. That can cause damage to the amp over a period of time, depending on the quality of the amp. The speaker impedance can be higher than the amp impedance and that is OK, except that your volume will be slightly less.

Of course, if the old speakers are very poor quality he may want to replace them just to improve the system.

[TQ60]

Suggest seeking out the folks who do mobile sound and letting them see what you have and provide quotes.

This stuff changes daily and the folks that do this for a living usually are somewhat up to date on what is or was available.

Most could see what you have and build a list of equipment for different end results depending on your budget

Either as equipment sale or turn key depending on your skills and budget.

Costs nothing for them to try to make a sale and you learn your options.

[StevenNSteph]

Originally Posted by TQ60

Suggest seeking out the folks who do mobile sound and letting them see what you have and provide quotes.

That's what I did. Had three different installers look at our system and they all said the same thing about home theater systems having matched components and you cannot just change out the box without doing the speakers. That's doesn't sound too bad but ours are built into the ceiling and cabinets so the quotes were pretty high since there were no direct replacement speakers. In the end we just kept what we had.

[StevenNSteph]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

Steven, I have to disagree with you just a little bit.

This is certainly not my forte so I relied on what three different audio installers told me. Maybe they blew a bunch of hooey up my skirt but two of them knew going in I wasn't going to pay to replace my speakers so they lost the sale.

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by StevenNSteph

This is certainly not my forte so I relied on what three different audio installers told me. Maybe they blew a bunch of hooey up my skirt but two of them knew going in I wasn't going to pay to replace my speakers so they lost the sale.

Steven, people will tell you anything to make a sale! I have been in the electronics business all my life. I owned a company for 37 years before selling it in 2010 and retiring. We designed and installed sound systems of all kinds, including churches, auditoriums, and surround sound for homes. I don't mean to be tooting my own horn, but I wanted to let you know that I feel qualified to give you accurate information on the subject.

[StevenNSteph]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

Steven, people will tell you anything to make a sale! I have been in the electronics business all my life. I owned a company for 37 years before selling it in 2010 and retiring. We designed and installed sound systems of all kinds, including churches, auditoriums, and surround sound for homes. I don't mean to be tooting my own horn, but I wanted to let you know that I feel qualified to give you accurate information on the subject.

No problem, I love being educated. It's frustrating though that all three said I needed to change out everything and I specifically told the last two that IF that was the case I was just going to keep what I had. All I wanted to do was change out my toshiba DVD/VCR combo for a newer blu-Ray system, but they all said no-can-do. Silly, they lost a sale.

[YC1]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006U1YU8G/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3484317920&ref=pd_sl_5xyudb3v6r_e

This is my unit. The over head compartments in mine had dividers between them. Removing the dividers makes changing cables much easier. I also removed the video switcher years ago. The unit works well. You end up with some extra speakers but someone always wants those.

The cabinet would get incredibly hot and just leaving the doors open helped but traveling made that impossible. Below the middle cabinet I cut a rectangular hole and installed a nice wood color matched register. It looks factory. Then adding a couple of fans in the space between the cabinet layers and a switch it now keeps things very comfortable.

In addition to this, adding some led strip lights inside the cabinet lets me easily see the wires when moving things about.

[jdoran1973]

Tvformyrv.com seems to have some products that may help... I have used them before and they seem ok. Haven't been on their site in a while though ,Good luck