Furrion...crap, or crapola?

[KillerIsMe]

We just got back from three days and two nights in exotic Rome, Pennsylvania. It was our first camp trip away from Camp Driveway and everything went generally well and I can directly attribute that to all the helpful information I get on this site. For that I'm grateful to all of you. Naturally, being all new it was confusing at times and of course we forgot all sorts of stuff but we managed and had a great time and we're all looking forward to the next time out.

One thing that was a bit inconvenient was the Furrion entertainment system. In short, it was broke. Brand new Jay Feather, brand new Furrion, and the Bluetooth wouldn't connect, the USB port on the unit was non-functional, and it wouldn't play audio CD's. I emailed Furrion and they were great about it - told me the unit would need to be replaced and gave me a case reference number to give to Jayco. I called my dealer and they contacted Jayco for me and a new Furrion is being dropped at my house, so in that respect I guess all's well that ends well.

It got me thinking though. The stock Furrion speakers are "not good", and I intend to replace them with JL Audio eventually. It won't make a huge difference given the head unit is also "not good" but it will be better. So is anyone using something different for a head unit - like maybe Alpine or Pioneer or something else intended for a car? If so have you kept the TV/audio as one system or broken the TV away with perhaps a home Blu Ray player/sound bar combination? I'm not talking about blowing the roof off the Jayco here, but sitting outside with a cold beer and some nice quiet background music is very relaxing to us, and a high-quality system is more conducive to a rich, full sound at lower volumes than a rattle trap like the Furrion. Besides, there's the added benefit of additional volume when we want it - like in Camp Driveway.

Anyways, just starting to think about it. I'll hang up and listen to your response.

[DocBrown]

One thing most of learn pretty quickly is that anything entertainment related in most trailers is crap. With our first hybrid we opted not to get the Jensen entertainment unit. Instead I put in a Blaupunkt head unit. It came all wired with speakers already mounted so it was just a matter of mounting it.

Our current hybrid has a cheesy Jensen setup that plays DVDs but not Blue Rays. And the unit is overly complicated to operate. We just bought an inexpensive LG Blue Ray player and the only thing we use the Jensen for is the TV sound through the ceiling speakers. I'm not worried about sound quality because if I did, my camping neighbors would not appreciate it.

For the rare times we listen to music outside I just use the MP3 player on my phone and a Blue Tooth speaker.

If want to really listen to higher quality sound, I use headphones.

[Marcm157]

I have a Bose mini Bluetooth speaker that we use for music. The Furrion head unit is really pretty much junk. It seemed very convenient to have a built in DVD player until we realized it won't play Blue Ray. We too just have an inexpensive Blue Ray Player. We only use it for rainy days etc.

[KillerIsMe]

Originally Posted by Marcm157

I have a Bose mini Bluetooth speaker that we use for music. The Furrion head unit is really pretty much junk. It seemed very convenient to have a built in DVD player until we realized it won't play Blue Ray. We too just have an inexpensive Blue Ray Player. We only use it for rainy days etc.

We have a JBL Charge 3 Bluetooth speaker that we took along and were glad we did because of the Furrion being broke.

My little girl likes to play a movie sometimes so the DVD comes in handy. Now when you use your Blu Ray I'm assuming you run the HDMI to the TV and then do you plug the Blu Ray right into the wall outlet? I'm not well-schooled on the whole 12V/120AC outlet thing and am stuck thinking you have to have a 12V DVD player to run off the trailer outlet.

[bearcat77]

Plug the blu ray in to any outlet. You don't need a special 12v player. Our trailer has an extra outlet in the cabinet under the tv, and that works perfectly for hooking up a Nintendo wii on rainy days.


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[KillerIsMe]

Originally Posted by bearcat77

Plug the blu ray in to any outlet. You don't need a special 12v player. Our trailer has an extra outlet in the cabinet under the tv, and that works perfectly for hooking up a Nintendo wii on rainy days.


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Thank you Bearcat. We have that same outlet right under the TV. 12V/120AC confuses the heck out of me

[michael.g]

We have the Furrion DV3300 in our Bungalow. I like the head unit. It certainly is bottom of the line, but it is good enough for our needs. I did not have any issues with Bluetooth pairing to phone and laptop, haven't tried USB yet. The headphone jack is nice since the TV doesn't have one. The Bluetooth range is pretty weak. My phone can't be more than 10 feet from the head unit or it will drop the connection.

It is good to know they have decent customer service. It's nice they sent the head unit to you. No need to waste time at a dealership for an easy DIY.

-Michael

[RonM]

My questions is about the outside TV/antenna output connection. Is it connected to anything in the entertainment system or just a direct line to the satellite hookup on the opposite side of the trailer? I couldn't find any combination of connections that would send a signal to the TV I mounted to the exterior mount.
Thanks in advance,
Ron

[bankr63]

The problem with an automotive head unit is most don't do zoning. I have a higher end JVC in my SUV that does do dual zone for the rear entertainment, but I'm pretty sure that is as much a function of the Maestro RR controller as it is the JVC. There is no A/B control on the JVC per se. (2nd zone kicks on when the controls are used in the back seat).

So you could probably get decent sound for a single zone with an automotive head unit, but you would need some sort of switching device (careful with speaker impedance) to run more than one zone.

It gets tougher too if you want more output than the head unit provides. Most good car audio uses external amps with the line level from the head. I've got my JVC hooked into the OEM Bose Audio amps and speakers. If using external amps though, your current draw is pretty high. I was shocked at the fuse amperage required for some amplifiers I looked at - they need their own dedicated circuit in a car.

Anyway, my vote is like the others. I use the Jensen unit in my RV for casual radio listening, and a bluetooth speaker outside. If I really want to listen, I can always sit inside my car and close the windows I guess.

[KillerIsMe]

Originally Posted by bankr63

The problem with an automotive head unit is most don't do zoning. I have a higher end JVC in my SUV that does do dual zone for the rear entertainment, but I'm pretty sure that is as much a function of the Maestro RR controller as it is the JVC. There is no A/B control on the JVC per se. (2nd zone kicks on when the controls are used in the back seat).

So you could probably get decent sound for a single zone with an automotive head unit, but you would need some sort of switching device (careful with speaker impedance) to run more than one zone.

It gets tougher too if you want more output than the head unit provides. Most good car audio uses external amps with the line level from the head. I've got my JVC hooked into the OEM Bose Audio amps and speakers. If using external amps though, your current draw is pretty high. I was shocked at the fuse amperage required for some amplifiers I looked at - they need their own dedicated circuit in a car.

Anyway, my vote is like the others. I use the Jensen unit in my RV for casual radio listening, and a bluetooth speaker outside. If I really want to listen, I can always sit inside my car and close the windows I guess.

Our camper is small and we only have inside and outside speakers so an auto head unit fader control would serve the same purpose as switching between the two.

As far as an amp goes I wouldn't need anything more than the amp in the unit. The Furrion only puts out 10W/ch over four channels - moving to a head with say 20 or 25W/ch would be sufficient to round out the sound and give us enough volume for Camp Driveway. We have a good-sized property in the middle of nowhere so we could never have enough volume and never have too much either.

Anyways, what got me started thinking about a new head unit was the Furrion being broke right out of the box. It's good that Furrion is sending me a new one and all but the fact they have to doesn't give me a warm feeling. I'll use it until I replace it. Thing I was worried about most was the whole DVD affair. My daughter loves her Harry Potter movies, but ever since bearcat told me about using a home Blu Ray player the door was thrown wide open.

Crazy part about it is, you can buy a Kenwood 22W/ch RMS receiver, replacement JL Audio speakers, and an inexpensive Blu Ray player for about $50 more than the cost of just a Furrion DV3300 head unit. It's mind-boggling. It's like RV parts are made by government defense contractors.

[Wireman]

It's to bad JVC, Kenwood, Pioneer or Sony isn't listening and make a quality unit for RV's

DVD player, Bluetooth, multizone, all the doo dads needed for an RV.

I'd gladly pay more for something that replaces these units( Jensen, Furrion) that are just above the quality of a boat anchor.

[KillerIsMe]

Originally Posted by Wireman

It's to bad JVC, Kenwood, Pioneer or Sony isn't listening and make a quality unit for RV's

DVD player, Bluetooth, multizone, all the doo dads needed for an RV.

I'd gladly pay more for something that replaces these units( Jensen, Furrion) that are just above the quality of a boat anchor.

You know Wireman you're so right. From what I've been hearing RV sales are through the roof. You would think that market would appeal to at least one of those companies. Sony could put out a nice little built-in unit, small amp, speakers, sound bar, and a TV. People have fireplaces in travel trailers - I'm sure there's a place for a decent AV system.