Sony DVD Player/Amp in newer Airstreams

[RichHog]

It seems that many of us have a loss of understanding of how the Sony Built-in
DVD player radio really works and the wiring associated with it. The manual is poorly written and they kill a lot of trees by giving you 6 languages of technodribble. My 06 Safari has the upgraded system with subwoofer under the left front couch, and two speakers in the front and 2 in the back. There is the CD changer in the overhead bin. The feed to the TV- now an upgraded HD 23" Vizio is the composite video with audio connection. There is also a cable that goes back to the Sony unit that I take it comes into some unknown input to take the audio from the tuner to the speaker system.

That said let this be a thread that we can learn of the mysteries of the Sony DVD system and how to better get it to work in real application.

[RichHog]

That said above there seems to be an intermitant HUM in the system. Not sure what triggers it. Hum/buzz etc. in an audio system is the result of bad power, usually grounding issues in the wiring. The electrical problem has no where to go so it travels in to the speaker wires and because the 60 cycle hum is in the lower frequencies it shows up in the subwoofer. That said it seems to come and go. Anybody track down this gremlin?

[CanoeStream]

Subwoofer hum threads:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f450...xed-39321.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f450...reo-36282.html
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f449...not-40104.html

We were trying to play some older DVDs (Long, Long Trailer & Sideways) in a friend's '08 Airstream recently and the scene sequencing was totally random! Wouldn't play the DVD start-to-finish at all. Newer DVDs would work -- and Captain Ron too -- though that's not new at all. No clue...

I'm waiting for my audio-only Sony to break so I can replace it with a more iPod friendly system. So far I've found that provolone slices won't ruin it...

[Jammer]

I would really like to figure out a way to get better DVD picture quality out of this lashup but can't figure out a way to accomplish that without fishing wire. It would be easier to put in a new DVD player closer to the TV.

[HCR]

Hope you get this solved, Rich. I'm still dealing w/leaks and other minor, yet confounding at times, problems. Sometime in the next few months I may be ready to attempt to play a DVD--just getting the cable TV to work took a day.

My solution for getting any electronic media gizmos to work is to simply grab any teen and pull 'em in.

[ck21084]

Originally Posted by RichHog

That said above there seems to be an intermitant HUM in the system. Not sure what triggers it. Hum/buzz etc. in an audio system is the result of bad power, usually grounding issues in the wiring. The electrical problem has no where to go so it travels in to the speaker wires and because the 60 cycle hum is in the lower frequencies it shows up in the subwoofer. That said it seems to come and go. Anybody track down this gremlin?

Like was said before this hum is caused by bad power. This leads me to the battery charger/ power supply. These devices are inherently noisy and will cause havoc on audio systems. I would suggest unplugging this and see if it will stop the problem. A ground loop will also cause the same issue if using RCA cables for the connection to the source. This is caused by power on a 12v system being grounded in different places. A ground lood iso will help with this issue but may not solve it.

[bolerama]

Originally Posted by RichHog

It seems that many of us have a loss of understanding of how the Sony Built-in
DVD player radio really works and the wiring associated with it. The manual is poorly written and they kill a lot of trees by giving you 6 languages of technodribble. My 06 Safari has the upgraded system with subwoofer under the left front couch, and two speakers in the front and 2 in the back. There is the CD changer in the overhead bin. The feed to the TV- now an upgraded HD 23" Vizio is the composite video with audio connection. There is also a cable that goes back to the Sony unit that I take it comes into some unknown input to take the audio from the tuner to the speaker system.

That said let this be a thread that we can learn of the mysteries of the Sony DVD system and how to better get it to work in real application.

Richhog

I've attached an Electrical schematic that Airstream sent me last year for my 23ft Int. It may help you if you are technically inclined.
We got rid of the annoying hum by placing an Isolation filter on the subwoofer that our dealer provided. Others got it from Airstream. I don't know why they don't install this right at the factory; everyone has this problem.
A problem I had, was trying to figure out how to get the TV sound to play on the sound system. There was nothing on the forums at the time and nothing in the manual. You must press the "source" button until you get the "Aux2" (Anyone correct me if I'm wrong. My trailer is surrounded by a foot of snow and it is shut down for the winter, so I can't check)
I also use a Western Digital HD Media player(http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=735) on my TV for 1080p movies. It also plays all my digital music and photos. I plug the HDMI plug into the back of the TV and the sound plays on my Sony Sound system (use Aux2 mentioned above). My portable Hard drive holds all of my Movies and Music. You can buy them at Costco (around $100.00), I purchased mine from Dell.com. If you know how to download digital media, this is the way to go in my opinion.

Regards

Paul

[RichHog]

Thanks to all for comments. Seems like a lot of variables in the hum issue. I'll try the cable feed back to Aux2. If there was a way to fish or pull cables from front to Tv a HDMI cable and a digital audio cable would be a great add. There seemed to be more than one variation in the Sony head unit, some with component video outputs. First thing I did was replace the Sony flat panel since it wasn't a HD model and has no digital tuner in it for HD.

Does anybody know if there's an upgrade kit for the Winguard Antenna that improves the HD reception?

[JFScheck]

That Hum drives me nuts - looks like an easy fix!

[RichHog]

Haven't had the hum problem for a while, probably comes from bad shore power and grounding.

[thecatsandi]

Thanks for the schematic. I was wondering how the mess was wired. My hum came from the sub-woofer wiring being bashed be the drawer under the couch.

[thecatsandi]

There is only one thing missing from this schematic. The connection to the TV audio and video. I am going to email AS and see if I can get one for my trailer.