# 210Trs Audio Mods



## brkramer (Feb 7, 2016)

First major mod after the fence post sewer hose storage trick and some carpet in the bunk area used for storage.

The TV in the 210TRS is postage stamp sized at 24 inches. I wanted to go up to 32 inches. The problem with a TV that size really isn't clearance. You have plenty if you move the bracket down and to the left. The problem is weight. How much weight will that poorly mounted board between the wall and the cabinet actually hold? Finding a light enough TV to fit my requirements wasn't an easy task. The TV had to have a headphone jack. The included Sansui TV really is a decent TV on features. Having a headphone jack is a must, so I would not bother my wife when watching my insomniac self to sleep. Most TVs sold these days do not include a headphone jack. You can turn an audio out port into a headphone jack with a small amp, but I wanted to avoid that. Then I discovered that with a headphone jack I could easily pipe TV or music into the cheap, but pretty decent Jensen radio using the front audio-in jack on the radio. All the possibilities greatly expanded. I'll expand on those later. Requirements for the TV were

1) Weight: Under 11 pounds. Current Sansui weighs in at 7.9 pounds.
2) Headphone jack
3) 1080P- Amazing how many TVs in this day and age are 720P. To Sansui's credit, the 24 inch included TV is 1080P. Few are in that size range. 
4) Smart functions would be nice, but I have that capability on my Blue Ray player, so they would be redundant

Finding a TV that met all my requirements wasn't easy. Samsung has a number of 32 inch TVs that weigh around 8 pounds, which is really amazing since the Sansui weighs that much with a 24 inch model, but none of them had a headphone jack.

I settled on a Best Buy only Sharp LC-32LB37OU that weighs 10.7 pounds without the base. Not bad. You can find 32 inch TVs that weigh as much as 17 or 18 pounds, so this one is pretty light. No smart functions, but I learned, you can't have everything, so I went out and bought the TV for $200. Mounting it was easy. I Didn't have to take down the mounting board. I just had to move the locking bracket down and to the left about 4 inches each. This put the TV in the perfect place. The only problem is protecting the kitchen cabinet door which could be smacked against the TV. I added some protection for certain situations by using the furry side of a velcro in strategic locations. The mount also has a good bit of play in it. Without some mods it would have been possible for the TV to bounce on the cabinet. I added shims (washers) under pieces Velcro to take out that play. It makes locking the TV a bit harder but once you know how, it is easy. So the TV is up. Next projects, shelf, music and to tie this all in together.








The shelf is 1/4" oak with 1/4" oak bracing. The shelf is very light and strong as... well oak. It is mounted with metal l-brackets, two of which I fashioned myself and one I added to reduce vibration. All have an oak lattice facade velcroed on. Wish I did a better job matching the stain of the trailer. Another day.

The Jensen radio they give you is actually pretty nice. So are the speakers we got. My hearing is pretty shot after 50 years of listening to loud rock and roll not to mention some unprotected target practice, shooting nails into cement and other assorted insane activities. I can hear an 8 kHz signal if it is loud enough. Nothing to brag about. What I'm saying is that you young folks may find the onboard speakers a bit lacking, but they have a small amount of bass and decent treble, so I am not going to be replacing those. They are far better than any TV speakers in a 32 inch model TV. Music played through the system sounds quite good assuming you have decent source. The radio isn't a decent source.

Here is what I wanted to be able to do and my friend Tony (who knows a lot more about this stuff than I) helped me with the details:

1) Bluetooth from phone, iPad etc into the amp and play through sound system. Jenson should have this feature, but hey this is a $100 radio. Be happy it has an input jack. The rest is easy.
2) Headphone jack out from TV into Jenson. This sounds fantastic. Just watched Spectre this way. Great sound track!
3) Easy switch with few visible cables hanging down. I immediately was able to accomplish the input switching by manually plugging in cables like an old-time switchboard operator. Not acceptable. Need to be able to make this switch electrically after a margarita. My wife needs to be able to make the switch. Unfortunately the stuff I needed didn't come in from Amazon until after we had left for our first trip with the trailer.
4) Wireless headphones, so I can listen to music or watch TV without disturbing my wife or my neighbors.

Here is how I made that all possible (with the help of Tony). 
The wiring plan:








1) Bluetooth playback. I mounted a Best Buy Rocketfish Bluetooth receiver on the back of the TV. Not exactly pint sized, but I already owned it and wasn't using it. That receives Bluetooth from my phone, iPad, etc and plays it through the sound system. The one I had I think was this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/rocketfish-bluetooth-music-receiver-black/9976103.p?id=1219459039423&skuId=9976103 There are much smaller and cheaper models out ther, but I have to say this has been a good one. It auto pairs with my phone most of the time and seems to work well. Excellent fidelity by my standards. Probably best to limit pairing with a non-phone like an iPad or an older phone not used for phone calls. You can go nuts if a call comes in when this is all working. Your trailer speakers ring, but you can't answer the phone easily. 








2) Bluetooth transmitter. This is needed to have the wireless Bluetooth headphones work. I got this through Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013OK2C6W?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00 Not much bigger than a book of matches and seems to work well. We shall see. I spent a few bucks more and got one with both receiving and transmitting capability. Not sure I would ever need the receiving capability, but you never know. That added 6 bucks I think. 








3) Audio switch. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013OK2C6W?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00 Not necessary according to Tony who said I could use the TV to do the job, but this would be idiot-proof, margarita proof and wife-proof. If I could only find my new Dymo labeler I will label one side of the switch "TV" and the other "Audio" or even better "Music". It killed me to pay 30 bucks for it, since it is completely dumb and worth about 5 bucks tops, but heck... it is USA made and it is the only one I could find. I'll bet the parts are all Chinese too. Works like a champ though. 








4) Bluetooth Headhones: I got these http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M9DBBK4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00
They are cheap, light and sound good. There are a million other options out there, but $22.99 was the most important option for me. Hoping I can use these outside the trailer. Haven't tried yet. My phone broadcasts to about 10 feet from the front of the trailer. Anything along-side of it works fine.

5) Assorted 3.5mm audio cables. I bought some short spares and a couple of gender changers that I didn't need. You will need a couple of USB ports for charging the headphones or charging and or keeping alive the bluetooth transmitter. There are some great Amazon options for 10 bucks, but I am improvising now.

6) Scotch genderless Velcro alternative. It isn't cheap but it is your best friend in an RV. I use it everywhere. I put that Blue Ray player down with it and am going to need a pry bar to get it off. You have to use a lot of force to mate it, but once it is attached firmly, it will hold down a tank on a flat-bed.

I'm a little worried about the weight on that panel. That thing is only held up by 4 screws and I dare say two of those screws aren't doing much. I found one pretty loose. I may screw in two additional screws into the corner of the cabinet. Anyone do this? As long as I hit the corner, I don't think there would be a risk of hitting any wires. I doubt I have added any more than 3 pounds to the 11 pound TV, so I am only up about 6 pounds. That isn't much, but it may not take much over time to have a disaster.

That Jensen radio costs $100 to replace. I might just buy a spare one day if I win the lottery. It is really a gem. The audio in jack is what makes this all possible. You can spend a lot more (like $400-$500) and get built in Bluetooth and a DVD player, but who needs all that with an audio-in jack. Add your own bluetooth receiver and get a smart Blue Ray player. The Jenson really does a nice job allowing you to control outside and inside speaker volume independently (using the fader). It has plenty of power for me too.

I tested it all out yesterday and have yet to completely tidy up the cables. The less space those wires take up behind the panel, the better. Getting to that ridiculously placed TV amp button has now moved from extremely difficult to ridiculously difficult. That's another day. For the time being, I went out and bought a piece of 3/4 inch dowel and cut it down to just the right length to get in some yoga position on the booth bench and push it on and off with the stick. Need to be able to do this one handed as the other hand is to hold the flashlight. Sort of poke and pray. The stick also doubles as a brace to hold up the couch to turn the hot water bypass valve. Mostly love the the 220TRS, but there are times I need to be restrained from getting violent with a few of the designs. Someone on the design team must have had an overactive middle finger when it comes to customers. Fortunately, there must have been other engineers with a kind heart, because there's lots to love too. That's all for now folks. Sorry if this was too long. Pictures included.


----------



## Canadian_250TRS (Sep 22, 2015)

Nice work on the TV!

I was originally going to upgrade to a 32" TV as well. Without really thinking it thru like you did, I picked up a 32" TV and discovered that it was going to take more work than I'd anticipated to make it fit. Ran out of time to install it before we left on a 2 month trip last summer. On that trip, discovered that the 24" Sansui was actually a decent little TV and was sufficient for us. So cancelled plan to install the 32" I'd bought.

I picked up a Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X500 with Bluetooth to replace the Jensen. It has the headphone input on the front so I can still tie the Sansui in for some decent TV sound inside. Nice thing about having Bluetooth is you can connect to your iPhone such that you can control the music / volume from your iPhone outside.


----------



## brkramer (Feb 7, 2016)

Yes, the Sansui is a decent TV based on features. It looks good too. I question how long it will work, but as soon as I finish the extra storage I am creating under the sofa, I plan to store the Sansui there for use as an outside TV or a computer monitor. They were nice enough to keep the base and mounting hardware for it, so I put that back on.

I may eventually replace the Jenson, although I have bluetooth covered with a receiver I wasn't using anyway. I also installed a bluetooth transmitter so I can wear headphones inside and out and not disturb my wife or neighbors. I'm not happy with that rig. I have to pair the headphones every time I use them and I have yet to figure out how to turn them off, so the rechargeable battery runs down every time I use them. Let's just say that is a work in progress, part of which will be solved when I read the instructions.


----------



## brkramer (Feb 7, 2016)

Canadian_250TRS said:


> Nice work on the TV!
> 
> I was originally going to upgrade to a 32" TV as well. Without really thinking it thru like you did, I picked up a 32" TV and discovered that it was going to take more work than I'd anticipated to make it fit. Ran out of time to install it before we left on a 2 month trip last summer. On that trip, discovered that the 24" Sansui was actually a decent little TV and was sufficient for us. So cancelled plan to install the 32" I'd bought.
> 
> I picked up a Kenwood eXcelon KDC-X500 with Bluetooth to replace the Jensen. It has the headphone input on the front so I can still tie the Sansui in for some decent TV sound inside. Nice thing about having Bluetooth is you can connect to your iPhone such that you can control the music / volume from your iPhone outside.


I have a bunch of questions about the switch you made with the amp, but little time to ask them. Let me start with a few:

1) Did you have to modify the wiring in the back or was it plug and play?

2) With regard to speaker control, the Jenson has a switch that is either all inside+outside or inside only. Does the eXcelon do the same thing or is it more refined? Ideally you would be able to turn off or on each set of speakers independently. You can handle the inside/outside issue with the fader control on the Jenson, but that is a bit of a pain.

3) Did the new amp fit the case exactly or did you have to rig something up to fit the radio?

Thanks in advance for any answers.


----------



## Canadian_250TRS (Sep 22, 2015)

1) Wiring is a bit more of a hassle then installing a deck in the car would be. It's not hard, just more time consuming. With cars you can usually get an adaptor that makes it a super quick plug and play install. With the RV you'll have to use the generic connector that comes with the radio which has the radio connector on one end and just loose wires to tie to the RV on the other end. It's pretty straight forward, all colour coded. If I recall correctly, the trailer wires were all labelled too. If there's a better Jensen radio out there, it might be straight plug and play if it uses the same plug as is on the back of the stock Jensen. The Excelon that I used was a different plug on it than the Jensen.

2) Switch on the side still works for the outside speakers. It's independent of the radio.

3) Fit perfectly, Jensen is standard sized single DIN car deck, so it just slides out and the Excelon slid in. Excelon came with the little tools you need to pull the Jensen out.


----------



## brkramer (Feb 7, 2016)

Thanks for the info.


----------

