Hello all,
First I'd like to thank everyone for all their posts here. I was introduced to the forums by a very nice man with a U320 I met at Fort Wilderness last November and it has been invaluable for me. Because of that I took many pictures since your pictures have helped me so much.
I wanted to upgrade the audio and video in the front and back of the coach and after reading as many posts as I could find on here, decided to do the rear first since it should take less work, and I figured that would probably give me more incentive to do the front too.
I decided to go with the factory location for the TV, and to add a small sound system too. The factory TV wasn't much for sound and as others have posted neither are flatscreens. I wanted the TV to sound pretty good without adding speakers that would get in my way (I'm 6', it is already cozy with the cabinets in there) and still look nice. After searching many small sound systems I settled on the Sony HT-CT150 sound bar sytem. The dimensions were the main thing, it actually would fit above the door, and after listening to it at Best Buy it sounded better than I expected. I purchased it with the intention of mounting the sound bar above the door and mounting the sub against the ceiling opposite the TV. Once I got the sub home I found it could fit in the cavity left from the TV. This would make my wiring much simpler and look nicer (as well as not add another head knocker) and perhaps sound better as well. I ended cutting up the subwoofer enclosure (the electronics take up half of it) which gave me more options for positioning it in the cabinet and am I'm pleased with how it sounds. I mounted the sound bar upside down to hide the feet and all wiring. The sound bar has left, center, and right speakers so it does a decent job on soundtracks, and it doesn't hang down any lower than the track for the door. The TV is a Samsung 19" LED Series 4000. I've attached a few pictures before and after, if anyone wants more detail let me know, I'll be glad to post more pics or answer any questions if it helps someone. There is no visible wiring and it only took about 3 hours to complete. Now I'm working on the front TV......
@smillner you've got me interested but your pictures didn't show up. I pretty sure you can "modify" your original post and add the pics.
see ya
ken
Sorry - that was me. I approved the post (first posts require moderator approval) but I forgot to approve the attachments. :-[
You should be able to see them now.
Michelle
Thanks Michelle!
@smillner nice install. Thanks for the pics. I've been looking for a good setup in the bedroom. This may be it!
see ya
ken
This really looks good just may give me the incentive to redo the back TV. The back existing TV (Old Panisonic) has a built in radio which is nice. Dan
The soundbar was a brilliant touch! I have no tv in the bedroom now and have been wondering whether to bother and how to do it. I like your installation. Thanks for the pics! :)
Craig
Here are more pics and details:
To install the sound bar I first put tape where the vents landed on the door track housing so I could center the speaker correctly while I had the housing out. I then removed the door and it's aluminum track, then the housing. With the housing on the workbench I lined the speaker up with the tape, then marked where the speaker connections would come through the housing. I cut the carpet with a utility knife (so the drill wouldn't snag the carpet) and then drilled holes for the wires to pass through. I wanted to have the speaker tight against the ceiling, but the keyhole slots of course were upside down, so I used a dremel to make the keyhole go the other way and used a screw with a head big enough to stay in. I mounted the screws a little high on purpose so that when it was put back in the coach it would bind slightly and keep the speaker tight to the ceiling, no movement. The carpeted side of the housing was only stapled to the top piece so I added some wood screws to it behind where the speaker would cover to make it more rigid. Then I plugged the wires in and checked fit. The speaker connections are color coded so I just reversed the left and right connections at the speaker, that way the connections at the amp will be normal since the speaker is upside down. After adjusting the depth of the hanging screws to keep it tight against the housing it was ready to go in.
The speaker wire is flat zipped cable, so it is perfect to fit down the inside of the housing. On mine the carpet stops on the inside and leaves bare wood just the right height for the wire. In the coach I made a hole big enough for a connector to fit through and then with a dremel made a slot for the flat wire to fit and align with the housing once the connectors were through. Once the housing is back in the aluminum track goes in and covers the wire just right.
The sub is a little more fun. First I removed all the plastic pieces off the bottom and back. Then unplugged the subwoofer wire and a small ribbon cable that goes to the controls, and remove the amp portion. Next I pried the top plastic piece off from the back (didn't want to mess up the front which has buttons and the display). It is secured pretty well! There are no screws, but much glue. With that off I secured the wire for the sub itself and used a table saw to cut off the rear portion that housed the amp. I still needed the controls to be visible for the remote so I took the top plastic piece and cut it just behind the first set of "legs" on the table saw (I taped all the plastic that I wanted to keep). Then I cut the top of the amp housing with the same saw setting to match. The holes for the legs at the rear aren't the same distance from the end as the front legs are, so I drilled a new set of holes to match the legs and then put the 2 together. The ribbon cable was run straight out the back to go to the amp section. I put the subwoofer into the cabinet from behind speaker first and against the wall. This closely simulates the original design of the bottom of the housing that was removed and sounds good. The speaker ends up facing the bottom right of the TV. I'm still playing with the layout in the cavity, the wire for the subwoofer is very short so I have the electronics laying on top right now, I'll probably extend it to place the amp more conveniently.
I hung the TV with a 1x4 mounted inside cavity. I used the $20 bracket from Best Buy but just bolted it through the 1x4. I drilled holes for the 2 bolts in the wall plate of bracket and put 2 tek screws through the bracket itself to take any play out. Otherwise I couldn't get it as tight as I wanted. I put gaff tape at the contact points of the TV against the cabinet to prevent squeaks and tightened it up. I hooked a DirecTV receiver to the HDMI input of the amp and then HDMI out to the TV. I enabled the DTS on the receiver and it sounded very good. The subwoofer is adjustable with the remote so you can fine tune how much bass you want. My DirecTV remote can't control the sound bar, but since the HDMI passes through the amp the TV volume adjusts the sound bar. So, the my remote will control the TV, and thus the sound bar volume. Another great feature on the TV is called Magic Angle. You can use it to adjust the TV for viewing below, straight on, or above. It works great, with it set for below, the TV looks great while on the bed (think of re-angling your laptop screen for it to look right) even though it is straight up and down............and that completes my dissertation :)
I didn't realize there was an 8 pic limit, I'll post more pics in a minute.
here are the other detail pics.....
Steven,
The sound bar is the answer we have been looking for. This is a great idea as our bedroom sound system is the pits. The installation looks nice & neat.
Pamela & Mike