What are people using as their sound system in their bus? I have really nice speakers that I would like to use but are just a bit too big. Sound a pit more rich than the newer stuff!
Thanks
Grant
We use a household surround-sound system with a Bose 5-speaker (plus subwoofer) setup. Sounds great, but 99 times out of 100 I am watching TV with the headphones on because my wife is doing something else.
In the cockpit we have a Pioneer dash unit with XM and a pair of aluminum Realistics from the shack.
-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com (http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com)
I have a Pioneer Avic Z3 in my dash.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Pioneer+Avic+z3&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=190828580112444878&ei=4K0STc7qIcG88garl6jvDg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CEsQ8wIwAA# (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=Pioneer+Avic+z3&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=190828580112444878&ei=4K0STc7qIcG88garl6jvDg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CEsQ8wIwAA#)
It's all in one integrated unit - it has a GPS, backup camera input, bluetooth, Sirius/XM input, can play CDs or DVDs, can rip CDs to an internal hard drive, can take an input from the TV or DVD and play through the speakers, can send DVD video to the TV, outputs to speakers, amps, subwoofers, etc.
I used it because I didn't have a whole lot of space up front to get all of those functions in - this does it all in a double DIN size. There are a few disadvantages to it - the GPS is definitely not state of the art, and updates are available once a year, and the video quality on the built in screen is average (output to a TV is fine though).
Today there is better technology out there - this unit is about 5 years old now, but if you are tight on space and want to get all of that functionality in a small space, a similar unit might be just the ticket...
Steve
I use a Pioneer car stereo with Pioneer car speakers and a Pioneer amplifier. I don't have a TV so that isn't an issue. It is hooked to the house power so it can be used on the road or when parked.
I have used a laptop that was also being the GPS and Speed. Used some old computer speakers that had a subwoofer. Better stuff out there now. You can store a lot of tunes. Ipad has gyro built-in for gps and dyno apps.
Bose wave radio makes a lot of racket without a lot of space. Check cragslist. same with their computer speaker.
Quote from: stevet903 on December 22, 2010, 06:13:01 PMI have a Pioneer Avic Z3 in my dash.
Whatever you do, don't buy an Advent double-DIN unit. I wasted a fair amount of money on one for my car; didn't work, had a h*ll of a time trying to get any service. After they put me off time and again, it was "oh, the time has expired on your warranty".
Never, ever, buy anything Advent.
No dash radio with so many small buttons that you cant see or read them or figure out what does what.
No home stereo that is oversized taking space and outdated the day after you buy it.
Bose wave radio with CD with remote, period. Not the tall one with the sub-woofer box attatched, just the desktop one 4 inches high. No aux speakers either. The sound that comes out of it is unbelievable.
Takes up no space at all. Sits in a cabinate when not in use. Wiring time 1 sec to plug it in. We can move it around even outside if we want. I can control it from the drivers seat going down the road with the remote. More than loud enough while underway in place of the dash unit. I replaced that opening in the dash with the CB there was no other really good place for it. Win win
Sounds better than many way more expensive and complicated alternatives. A match made in heaven IMO no compromises here.
Did I forget how easy it is on power when on inverter.
Grant,
My PO has Pioneer 6x9 speakers mounted in the bottom of the side overhead storage cabinets. Four in the front, two in the rear area, subwoofer under the dinette seat. Sounds great. Separate single speakers for the TV. Alot more than was required, IMHO.
I bought an old school NAD receiver off of FleaBay and hooked it to a 5 disc changer, then wired it all to 2 Cerwin-Vega bookshelf speakers. I had a bunch of CD's around that we never use at home anymore, so they get used now when we use the bus. I tapped into the Aux port on the amp and hooked up a long cord with a small headphone jack so I can plug just about any MP3 player into it, as well as the TV audio output or a bluetooth receiver. Sounds great, I agree with the richer sound of larger cabinet style speakers. Up front we have a typical AM/FM/CD in dash that runs thru speakers 2 sets of speakers, The rear channel drives 4 flush mount speakers mounted in the ceiling and the front channel drives 2 surface mount bookshelf style speakers mounted above the pilot and co-pilot seats. Thomas is probably a little noisier going down the road than some of the other units out there (not tons of soft surfaces inside), so I can use the front speakers while going down the road without blasting passengers in the rear out of the rig. Probably overkill, but that's kinda how my build goes. Doug@8000'
We have the Pioneer in-dash car radio, which is OK but has the little buttons that you can't see and too many multi-functions problem. It takes me about 10 minutes to figure out how to change the channel, which at 60 mph is 10 miles that the bus has to steer itself... ::)thankfully it has a remote control so my wife actually works it. We have gone to an Ipod thing which I also don't know how to work for all the media storage. All in all I am pretty jaded by the whole sound system thing...
I went through a long audiophile stage, where class A tube amplifiers and pure analog recording featured large. I find anything recorded or mixed digitally in the mainstream to be very annoying when I listen to it on a good system, so I don't bother trying to get good sound anymore. So much seems to be mixed for those little earbuds these days. I still have the good system in my house, such as it is these days, for when I feel the need for a little Miles or Stan Getz on vinyl... Some of the early or current AAD CD's are pretty good sound-wise, too. Oddly, my wife and I are really trying to get more current with what we are listening to, I am currently shopping for the new Crystal Bowersox CD... I have Ronnie Woods "I Feel Like playing" for my next road trip...
Brian
I would go for the automotive type you can do so much more with the newer auto type systems nowdays and have the same or better sound as a home type we have a 10 disk changer with Ipod, Bluetooth,etc( I haven't use all the features yet) and remote forget the brand but a nice system put together by Crutchfield for us has great sound with no giant speakers,I would check with Crutchfield about what would work best with your speakers that you would like to keep that is their gig and they are good at it
good luck
We have a Bose sound system with the tiny speakers. Sounds awesome on movies.
I would have to agree with Ruthi, As her and Ken installed the small Bose Cubes in the 4905 and they sound awsome going down the road or watching movies.
Has the Bose system changed for the cube speakers ours at the house has a big box I call it as I don't know the name for it to run those speakers
good luck
Quote from: luvrbus on December 23, 2010, 09:28:02 AM
Has the Bose system changed for the cube speakers ours at the house has a big box I call it as I don't know the name for it to run those speakers
Clifford, AFAIK all the Bose surround-sound systems use the big box, which contains the subwoofer and audio bridge. Bose made several models; some require external power and some do not.
We have the unpowered (5+1) version, with five of the little cubes plus the big subwoofer. The subwoofer is actually mounted behind the TV so it is completely out of sight.
Bose is happy to sell you the little cubes by themselves, but they really can not reproduce bass correctly without the subwoofer. The audio bridge filters the very low frequencies out before sending the signal to the cubes, which is why all the connections from your receiver go to the subwoofer box first. The lowest frequencies from all five channels are combined and sent to the subwoofer.
-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com (http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com)
I have a Kenwood AM/FM/iPod/CD/XM dash unit, I use it while in motion wit 2 pioneer 6X9" speakers. When parked I use a Pioneer home type amp with a built in tuner and can run the TV or iPod through it. I use 4 moderately priced 6" round Kenwood speakers 2 in front and 2 in rear along with a home sized sub-woofer. It's not the most expensive or sophisticated system, but sounds pretty darned good to me.
Cliff, yeah, Bose still has the big subwoofer. The one that requires power is the best sounding. We built it into a table box at the end of the couch. You just cant beat the sound.
I used a Denon 500w rec, with Boston acustic surround. Sunk the sub under the couch. I have Pioneer w changer in dash for road. Like it loud but Clear !LOL
We have the Bose lifestyle 35 that will goin once the living room is completed and have a basic in dash cd player up front, like it load too! ;D
Since my bus is still a BUS. I am still in the design faze of everything. I am contemplating going full digital with either an I pad GPS nav system in one up front and a intigrated music/computer system for coach entertainment. I am open for ideas and thoughts on a system.
Brice.
I have the bose 321 system. I got it for $300 a year old off craigslist and it sounds great. Has 2 speakers and a subwoofer. The DVD system will play CDs and DVDs. Its great, even when I have the volume turned up to 100 it will not distort. Love it!
I use a Kenwood AM/FM cassette player up front (have over 120 hours of cassette tapes from when I was truck driving) with a home made speaker cabinet where the sign used to be (transit) with a two 12" woofers and 2 piezo tweeters with no crossover (both from the Shack). Mid way back are two way 6x9's. Still sounds to good to replace.
In the bedroom, have a complete house type stereo system with Kenwood AM/FM receiver, VCR, twin cassette tape recorder, DVD player. Speakers are again from the Shack- two 10" woofers, and two piezo tweeters without crossover. Sound is sound, and when you have a system your ear likes, it is hard to let loose.
In my truck, in the cab I'm only going to have Sirius radio and Ipod with GPS. In the back, like Sean a Bose 5.1 system.
My stereo speakers at home are Altec-Lansing A7-500 Voice of the Theatres. These speakers were designed in the 30's-still are the best sounding speakers I've ever heard. Good Luck, TomC
We use the Mackie 801S for the mixer/amp and an American Audio double cd deck, the amp is 600 watts of pure actual power per channel with that going thru 2-JBL SF15's with about 6500 cd's to choose from, BK has enjoyed some of our cd cases, using one of the earthquakes for subwoofers gives me just the punch we like for good clean sound. The earthquakes are made by Cerwin Vega.
4 grandkids at one time and a I pod works good for me lol
good luck
Has anybody looked at a system like this? Sonos (http://www.sonos.com/products/Default.aspx?rdr=true&LangType=1033) It is a wireless system that can give you different music in each room (bedroom, kitchen, etc.) from multiple sources, ipod, computer, internet, or other services. Wonder if it work as well in a bus as in a house. I'd be curious if it would work in the drivers area as well as the rest of the coach.
Another option to consider for the future, yet imaginary bus.
Mike
Quote from: libby on December 27, 2010, 07:29:33 AM
We use the Mackie 801S for the mixer/amp and an American Audio double cd deck, the amp is 600 watts of pure actual power per channel with that going thru 2-JBL SF15's with about 6500 cd's to choose from, BK has enjoyed some of our cd cases, using one of the earthquakes for subwoofers gives me just the punch we like for good clean sound. The earthquakes are made by Cerwin Vega.
Sound like a fellow pro-audio lover to me :)
As a hobby DJ, I too want a pro PA system in my bus one day, for those "beach parties". For now, I've got a receiver, and some high sensitivity (for home woofers) JBL towers for parties, and regular car deck + 6.5" Infinitis for traveling.
I scored a kareokee (sp?) machine lol. When I get it hooked up I am gonna drive everyone crazy ;D ;D ;D
Quote from: happycamperbrat on December 30, 2010, 04:24:54 AM
I scored a kareokee (sp?) machine lol. When I get it hooked up I am gonna drive everyone crazy ;D ;D ;D
You know that you MUST have "The wheels on the bus go round and round" in your music list...and that it should be the first tune you play. ;D ;D
Somewhere on here is another thread about audio and cody posted a pic of one of our sound systems on it, I don't know how to find it but maybe somebody can dig it up, we've DJed for many years and as we retire equipment it gets tucked away for back up or additional systems, a couple of the retired pieces cody has built into the bus. The pic of one of our systems is here in a past thread somewhere, cody just said it's called audio in conversions or something like that but I don't know where to look. OK found the thread http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=9598.0 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=9598.0) Roy it's been far more than a hobby for us, we've done as many as 200 gigs a year, this winter it's almost all been benefits, this area is very hard hit right now with a lot of people hurting.
Quote from: libby on December 30, 2010, 07:03:22 AM
Roy it's been far more than a hobby for us, we've done as many as 200 gigs a year, this winter it's almost all been benefits, this area is very hard hit right now with a lot of people hurting.
Cool, that's awsome!
So I'm guessing you use your bus as an entertainer coach? 200 gigs is a LOT! Do you ever have trouble finding a place to park at some of the places you mix at?
Most of the gigs we do now are benefits and within 90 miles of the house, the great majority are actually local. We hit the local casino circuit hard for almost 2 years to pay off a mass of medical bills, we've been established in this area for many years, casino lounge gigs pay well, we also do weddings, they pay well too so it helps, actually the photo studios started the music end of the program, we would book the photography at a wedding then find out they couldn't get a dj and would be asking to change the date so that brought about the music end of it, the music has far out paced the photography for the last several years, with the advent of digital camera's and computers it has taken the profit out of commercial work of that kind, at least in this area, we still have contracts for schools and do church registries but most of our studio work is music now. Right now we have 3 systems available but rarely have more than one booked any particular time. Since cody's heart attack a couple of years ago we've greatly cut back on the work load, it's important to him to do the benefits right now so thats what we do. Incidently a JBL SF15 makes a great end table but is still easily moved out of a bus for use, it's not too heavy and not too big and easily flyable and sounds great, the amp sits under the table and the double deck sits on top of the table and we'll challenge anyone else to take a bowl off the table without touchng it, only the bass.