Sound system in your bus?

grantgoold · December 22, 2010, 03:35:27 PM

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

Sean · December 22, 2010, 05:22:36 PM

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

stevet903 · December 22, 2010, 06:13:01 PM

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#

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

belfert · December 22, 2010, 06:23:05 PM

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.

NewbeeMC9 · December 22, 2010, 06:41:48 PM

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.

Oonrahnjay · December 22, 2010, 07:07:49 PM

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.

Joe Camper · December 23, 2010, 04:13:45 AM

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.

Gary '79 5C · December 23, 2010, 04:47:05 AM

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.

Reddog · December 23, 2010, 05:27:47 AM

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'

bevans6 · December 23, 2010, 05:49:21 AM

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

luvrbus · December 23, 2010, 05:55:37 AM

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

ruthi · December 23, 2010, 07:41:18 AM

We have a Bose sound system with the tiny speakers. Sounds awesome on movies.

scenicruiser997 · December 23, 2010, 09:07:20 AM

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.

luvrbus · 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

good luck

Sean · December 23, 2010, 09:42:44 AM

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