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Posted:
Sat Sep 24, 2011 7:42 amby cracker39
starleen2 wrote: Since i have started using my tablet and phone to play music - CD's are staring to become a relic for me.
I have to agree with that. Technology advancements sure do change the way we do things. I have a lot of CDs and a few years ago began ripping them all to my PC and I started making MP3 disks that hold 8 to15 CD's of music depending on the length of the CDs. I played these both at home and in my truck. One disk will play through a whole day's drving. But, now, I have most of my music on my MP3 player that plugs into my truck or camper stereos, so neither the CDs or MP3 disks are used much anymore.
Posted:
Sat Sep 24, 2011 8:16 amby Gaelen
cracker39 wrote:starleen2 wrote: Since i have started using my tablet and phone to play music - CD's are staring to become a relic for me.
I have to agree with that. Technology advancements sure do change the way we do things. I have a lot of CDs and a few years ago began ripping them all to my PC and I started making MP3 disks that hold 8 to15 CD's of music depending on the length of the CDs. I played these both at home and in my truck. One disk will play through a whole day's drving. But, now, I have most of my music on my MP3 player that plugs into my truck or camper stereos, so neither the CDs or MP3 disks are used much anymore.
I'd agree - except that about a year ago, my brother (who stopped buying CDs and went to online downloads) had his hard drive destroyed and suddenly realized that he had to replace all of his music content. Which of course, had mainly been from CDs that he's sold. He hadn't yet backed up his music library to a portable HD. The cost to replace all of that music by online download was close to $500.
He borrowed about 100 CDs from me to get him started, and he's slowly rebuilding his CD collection. It's pretty easy to store CDs in a relatively small space...and at least they don't re-charge you for re-ripping them.
Posted:
Sat Sep 24, 2011 10:29 amby eamarquardt
First I am deaf in one ear (brain surgery) so "stereo" speakers are pretty much wasted on me. Second I am sensitive to sound so I like things quieter than most. Third I'm not entirely convinced that everyone in the campground will enjoy my choice of programming.
That said here are some thoughts.
Radios designed for cars are not designed with power conservation in mind as the designers figure the car will be running and there will be plenty of juice to power the radio. So you'll have to find a way to feed the radio lots of juice.
There are portable radios that will run for days off a few small batteries and are plenty loud enough. You can move these anywhere you like so they don't have to be loud to hear them and no remote is required as the whole radio is at your fingertips. You can also run them off of 12 volts if you chose so no disposable batteries are required. Many of them come with weather channels and other bands if you want to expand your horizons. If you want to play your own recorded music you can use an IPOD and a battery powered docking station.
No installation required, completely flexible as to how and where you listen to your music and over the air programming, and (depending upon your choice of radios and speakers) comparable in cost.
There you have it again, "The World According to Gus".
Cheers,
Gus
Posted:
Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:05 amby honeask
Good morning Julie, we are planning on having a audio system at the trailer but not premanantly attached to the trailer. We love music and it will be part of our camping experience but not pushed upon other campers either. Right now we have a small system (part of IHome or IGo) that fits in your bottle holder on a bycycle. It can have a healthy volume if you choose with a good solid sound and comes with a remote to be able to change settings from the handlebars. We use it all the time in the back yard when we are BBQing. We got it on Ebay for about 1/2 price and is so good that we are not rushing to buy the larger set up just yet. Remotes can be a good thing.
Posted:
Sat Sep 24, 2011 5:56 pmby Mukilteo
I installed it in the cabin so I can plug my notebook into it and have awesome sound while watching DVDs while I'm boon-docking.
If I'm in a campground I use my earphones so no one has to hear it.
Posted:
Sun Sep 25, 2011 2:02 pmby cracker39
Comments to Gaelin, Gus, Sandy and Eric
First, losing a hard drive is a devastating experience. I have an old 250GB hard drive in a case plugged into my laptop via a USB port where I back up all of my data and music files. It's no help for applications that would have to be reinstalled if my hard drive crashed, but all of my documents and music would be saved. I also have an old laptop harddrive, also in a case with USB connection for backups when traveling as it powers off the laptop where the bigger drive has a power converter and needs 110VAC to use it.
My stereo in my camper has speakers inside only and I don't play it very loud inside anyway. It won't bother anyone next door. I've had campground neighbors who played loud music outdoors after my bedtime and I don't appreciate it at all. I do have a couple of small "boom box" type radios, one of which plays MP3 disks for any outdoor listening..again, at low volume. I'm not sure if that one has a plugin for my MP3 player or not. Probably not.
Re: Stereo in your TD and remote control....
Posted:
Sun Sep 25, 2011 2:54 pmby halfdome, Danny
oklahomajewel wrote:I'm going to install a AM/FM/CD car stereo in the galley of my new build and have the speakers mounted in the hatch.
I have a Sony model picked out ... but big difference in price if I want a remote control.
I can see reasons I don't need it but have another question too .
1) Do you ever really use the remote with yours? I don't plan to play it too terribly anyway , so I wouldn't be but a few feet away anyway.
2) My friend suggested putting speakers on the cabin side too , from the same system mounted in the galley. Then a remote would definitely be needed! But do you ever really play the stereo in the cabin anyway? I don't think I would .
Both have MP3/Ipod ports
Thanks
I use the remote in the cabin to advance to the next song on the jump drive and to raise or lower the volume. When installing a car stereo there's a wire for the ignition switch. I run that wire up to the headboard area with a small lighted toggle switch so I never have to touch the stereo and can stay comfortably under covers. That switch also comes in handy when not in the cabin. As far as speakers in the galley it has been a consideration but it always gets voted down because I don't want to spread my choice of music to other campers who may or may not appreciate it. The choice is yours. You could put two speakers in the cabin and two in the galley and use the stereos fader feature to turn on/off (down/up) the galley or cabin speakers. 
Danny
Posted:
Sun Sep 25, 2011 4:23 pmby glenpinpat
a stereo in the cabin was important. The one we installed can play any format and we can also view or sd cards on it. We have it hooked up to a small monitor so we can watch dvd if it is pouring rain in the evening. The remote allows us to turn it off without getting out of the covers on those cold nights. If you are going to have a stereo in the cabin make sure you get one that actually has all the leds turn off when not in use(you will be surprised at how bright and annoying the power light can be. When we want to listen outside we just open a door and let the radio play. I believe most people do not want to listen to my choice in music so we rarily play the stereo while out of the cabin.
Re: Stereo in your TD and remote control....
Posted:
Mon Mar 23, 2015 3:35 amby Java Jack
We have a Sony Stereo with Blue Tooth in our cabin with 2 speakers in the cabin and 2 in the galley. We also have a remote for the stereo. In addition, we have a TV/DVD player in our cabin that also has a remote.
I have the audio output of the TV/DVD player going to the Aux In on the Stereo. So, we control the volume of the TV with the stereo remote when watching TV or movies. We velcro the remote for the TV and the Stereo on the cabin wall. It's sorta like a mini home theater in the teardrop as the cabin speakers are way better than the TV speakers.
When we are listening to music in the galley area, we are connected via blue tooth to our phones and use the phone to control the music selection and the volume so no remote needed. The Stereo remote would not work anyway as it is IR and therefore, needs line of sight to the stereo (mounted in the cabin). I could get an IR extender and drill a pass through from the galley to the cabin but don't really need it since we can do everything on the phone.
I use the Stereo fader controls to choose which speakers I want to listen to (galley or cabin). This way if watching movies, I am not blaring it to the rest of the campground.
Re: Stereo in your TD and remote control....
Posted:
Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:29 amby dales133
I went into an antique store the otherday and they had a pair or art deco looking drive in movie speakers with lightning bolts on the front.
150 for the pair but might be able to talk them down a bit.
If I had the cash I would a owned them...bills won over wants.
Might put a deposit on them yet....I recon they would look pretty awsum in the top corners of the galley
A bit like this but nicer I recon
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=driv ... B308%3B246
Re: Stereo in your TD and remote control....
Posted:
Mon Mar 23, 2015 10:44 amby halfdome, Danny
dales133 wrote:I went into an antique store the otherday and they had a pair or art deco looking drive in movie speakers with lightning bolts on the front.
150 for the pair but might be able to talk them down a bit.
If I had the cash I would a owned them...bills won over wants.
Might put a deposit on them yet....I recon they would look pretty awsum in the top corners of the galley
A bit like this but nicer I recon
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=driv ... B308%3B246
Those old Drive In speakers were built to last in an outdoor environment not to sound like a quality movie theatre speaker.
What made them sound pretty good was the reverb sound from hundreds of speakers in the Drive In all playing at the same time.
Would you want to have music sound like a Jack In The Box drive thru speaker?
My suggestion is to save your money and get some modern speakers.
Danny
Re: Stereo in your TD and remote control....
Posted:
Mon Mar 23, 2015 11:26 amby Java Jack
halfdome, Danny wrote:dales133 wrote:I went into an antique store the otherday and they had a pair or art deco looking drive in movie speakers with lightning bolts on the front.
150 for the pair but might be able to talk them down a bit.
If I had the cash I would a owned them...bills won over wants.
Might put a deposit on them yet....I recon they would look pretty awsum in the top corners of the galley
A bit like this but nicer I recon
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=driv ... B308%3B246
Those old Drive In speakers were built to last in an outdoor environment not to sound like a quality movie theatre speaker.
What made them sound pretty good was the reverb sound from hundreds of speakers in the Drive In all playing at the same time.
Would you want to have music sound like a Jack In The Box drive thru speaker?
My suggestion is to save your money and get some modern speakers.
Danny
It might be fun to crack one open and replace the crappy old speaker with updated h/w. The question is if the speaker box would provide a good resonance chamber to sound good. However, in a small enclosed trailer, you would not need much of a speaker to sound good as you are already really close to the source anyway. On the outside of the trailer like the galley area, it's a much harsher environment and so it would probably not sound great but not much would unless you had a massive box.
Re: Stereo in your TD and remote control....
Posted:
Mon Mar 23, 2015 3:22 pmby felixx
how about bluetooth speakers connected to a phone/ ipad?
You could put a USB jack somewhere to charge both
Re: Stereo in your TD and remote control....
Posted:
Mon Mar 23, 2015 3:55 pmby dales133
My plan was to fit some good quality speakers inside the enclosures if I did get them, I could stuff them with cotton cool or dacron to add some resonance.
And Yea felix I was looking at getting a blue tooth stereo with remote
Re: Stereo in your TD and remote control....
Posted:
Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:33 pmby Java Jack
felixx wrote:how about bluetooth speakers connected to a phone/ ipad?
You could put a USB jack somewhere to charge both
I've yet to see any really good quality BT speakers. There is also a space advantage is they are hard mounted in the cabin or galley so you don't have to give up counter space.
I've got a pair of cheap Jensen box speakers inside the cabin and a pair of Polk Audio automotive speakers in the galley. I am getting ready to replace the chep Jensen speakers with some nice Klipsch home theater speakers in the cabin. This will provide much more robust sound in the cabin when watching TV or listening to music.
