Visit our Popular Forums

KJRitchie · 11-06-2015, 01:20 PM

Looking at BT speakers online. So far my favorite.

Riva Turbo
http://youtu.be/ufbKLypZe6g

AStreamNerds · 11-06-2015, 09:37 PM

That is a great find! You may have just cost me some duckets LOL

SuzyHomemakr · 11-07-2015, 06:35 AM

I was never able to get good reception on my BT speaker outside, and that was after I bought some little module to transmit it from the stereo. In the village where I come from, car stereos only receive BT, like from phones, not transmit.

Could be that crappy BOSS stereo I installed... I'm replacing it this week with a Jensen VX3012, hopefully that will work better on all fronts. I wound up installing a headphone jack with a weatherproof cover outside, so that I could plug my boombox into the main system with the AUX in. There's also a cable connection for hooking the TV up to, and a 110V outlet.

Having portable speakers while camping is a good thing- you can listen to music or TV with the sound source close by, so you can hear everything without having to blast the sound.

KJRitchie · 11-07-2015, 07:56 AM

I looked at some of the reviews for Boss and they were substandard compared to reviews of Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony etc. The biggest complaint was the clock not keeping accurate time.

BT in car stereos are meant to pair with phones to play content on the phone through the car speakers and to perform phone operations. BT speakers are like car stereos to play back music. I've ripped all my CDs to play them from my iPhone. I don't buy CDs anymore. They take up too much space and I prefer to buy my music by the song now.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 11-14-2015, 03:42 PM

Today I ripped out the Sony radio. What a tangle of wires are behind the radio. There were two additional electronic devices; a Sony input selector and a strange circuit board which I guess is used to help switch from the living area speakers to the front bedroom speakers. I'm no longer going to use the speakers so I cut the wires to the speakers.

I was dismayed there was such a large hole in the back as my plan was to move the end of the audio partition closer to the middle and install a 12v USB charging station. What I plan to do is get it patched with just a 12v lead coming out to supply power to the 12v USB station. I will probably paint the back curved wall on both sides so they match.

The Sony input selector was stuffed behind the back curved wall and the other circuit board connector was laying inside the audio cabinet.

I also purchase the 28" Insignia HDTV with DVD. I temporarily mounted the TV on the articulating stand to see how it fit. It is so much lighter than the Sony 23" LCD. I'll need to purchase some shorter M4 bolts to mount it.

I'm planning on installing a shelf above the TV to hold the Bluetooth speaker I eventually choose and an Apple TV. I'll probable buy some metal L brackets to mount on the TV articulating arm base then screw on a hickory shelf.

The first photo shows the rats nest after unplugging the radio. The second shows the Sony input selector that was stuffed in the large hole. The third shows the other circuit board. The forth photo shows the just the 12v wires for the lights over the dinette. I stuffed the speaker wires in the hole.

Kelvin

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 11-14-2015, 03:48 PM

Here are a couple of photos showing the Insignia HDTV with DVD mounted.

The first photo shows my mount. The 2nd and 3rd show the TV on the mount. This new TV is considerably larger then the Sony but so much lighter and more energy efficient.

I've tested the TV at home. The picture looks good and its nice to have the DVD on the TV. I now have only one remote to worry about. I'll probably wait to get a Bluetooth speaker. I like the Riva TurboX but its $350.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 06-04-2016, 01:59 PM

It's been awhile since I started this thread but I've finally got it finished.

The summarize:

I decided to remove the radio/DVD player in the dinette cabinet to make more room for storage since we didn't use the radio or DVD that much.

So I removed the radio and disassembled the mounting panel.

This left a large hole in the back of the cabinet. I sorted the wiring and bundled the wires together with tie wraps and electrical tape.

I ordered a 1/32" section of birch plywood from MicroMark to make a patch. I painted with a off white flat paint from Lowes

I cut off a section of the front panel with a neighbor's table saw wide enough so there would be enough space to mount a 12v receptacle with powered USB ports.

The TV is an Insignia 28" with DVD. It comes with a brick that transforms from 110v to 12v do I purchased a 12v to 3.5mm curley cord adapter and I run the TV off 12V.

I finally purchased the Riva TurboX Bluetooth speaker. It connects to the TV via its supplied 3.5mm cord.

I found it sounded best with the speaker above the TV so I purchased a Center Stage bracket shelf. Its an aluminum shelf that sits on top of the TV. The weight of the speaker keeps it secured on the TV. The shelf and speaker are removed for travel.
http://centerstagebracket.com/collec...lite-bracket-1
Purchased from Crutchfield.

Here are some photos of the cabinet, before and after.

KJRitchie · 06-04-2016, 02:15 PM

Here are some photos of the TV area with the Riva TurboX speaker

The audio is not as loud or spacious as the two wall speakers but the Riva speaker is much, much better than the built in TV speakers. Playing music back from the old radio with the external DVD player is better speaker quality.

I will have to wait to test the volume when the roof A/C is running. Hopefully the speaker is powerful enough to overcome the A/C fan noise.

If not I may have to evaluate my this system. I could always go back to a car radio system and use a remote inferred repeater so I don't have to keep the cabinet open.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 06-09-2016, 07:24 AM

I was able to test the Riva TurboX Bluetooth speaker and I'm finding it not sufficient enough for playing back TV content. Using the headphone/audio out of the TV to the speaker and the speaker volume to the highest, TV audio set to variable audio output, you pretty much have to run the TV audio at 100% to overcome background noise such as fans and A/C and even at that its not that compelling. So using a BT speaker for TV audio is a thumbs down.

I happen to have an old, old, Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 computer speaker system so I decided to try it out. They don't make this speaker systems anymore. It comprises two small cubes and a small subwoofer which is AC powered. 3.5mm audio input to the TV. Much better sound and you don't have to crank up the TV audio to overcome the A/C fan noise.

I guess I'll save the TurboX for boondocking TV use since it has a battery and there will be no A/C running.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 06-12-2016, 04:44 AM

Here is the Cambridge Soundworks 2.1 mentioned above. It works well. Wish they were black though.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 06-26-2016, 04:59 PM

Thinking of trying this idea for watching TV without using external speakers. Hook up a 3.5mm to Bluetooth transmitter to the TV. The one I'm looking at is this Trond unit which allows two wireless BT headsets to receive simultaneously without any lag or latency. Plug this unit into the back of the TV, pair two BT headphones and enjoy the movie. Hopefully, even with the A/C on the sound will be more enjoyable.

https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Tra...nsmitter&psc=1

Kelvin

Foxtrot · 06-27-2016, 06:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

Thinking of trying this idea for watching TV without using external speakers. Hook up a 3.5mm to Bluetooth transmitter to the TV. The one I'm looking at is this Trond unit which allows two wireless BT headsets to receive simultaneously without any lag or latency. Plug this unit into the back of the TV, pair two BT headphones and enjoy the movie. Hopefully, even with the A/C on the sound will be more enjoyable.

https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Tra...nsmitter&psc=1

Kelvin

I just ordered a BT transmitter, earphones, and speaker to try almost the same thing. The TV speakers are hard to hear and crappy. The stereo speakers sound weird since you're right under 1 channel. Earphones for quiet time and speaker to set on dinette for more natural sound. Plus I can use it for streaming music, etc. instead of the hard-to-use Sony car stereo.

BT:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Earphones:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Speaker:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

KJRitchie · 06-27-2016, 07:34 AM

I'll try my Riva TurboX on the dinette table paired to the BT transmitter too for those times we don't want to use the BT headsets. I was disappointed when this speaker was directly connected to the TV 3.5mm audio output as noted above. I emailed Riva and they replied stating it may work better if connected to A/C power. On battery it may be limiting the power to save the battery. I'll have to check the troubleshooting steps they recommended for verifying firmware vintage too.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 07-22-2016, 09:10 AM

I have the trailer at home prepping for a weekend trip. I was able to test the BT transmitter on the TV. It worked very well using the BT earphones. We'll watch a movie this weekend. It will be a hot weekend so the A/C will be running non stop and will be a good test.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 07-23-2016, 04:59 PM

Out camping this weekend. The Bluetooth transmitter is working well. Even with the A/C on, watching a movie via BT headsets is so much better than listening from the original speakers. Can hear the dialog better along with the effects. Watching news is fine over the TV speakers or the Riva BT speaker.

Kelvin

KJRitchie · 04-18-2017, 01:40 PM

This weekend I tried watching a DVD from the built in DVD player on my Insignia 28" TV. I was using the 12v cable directly plugged into the 12v socket next to the TV

There was background hum when increasing the volume. Even without a DVD in the player just switching to the DVD input I could hear a background hum.

When I got the trailer back home I tried the A/C to DC wall brick that came with the TV and on DVD input there was no hum. I guess the brick provides better filtering.

Kelvin