Any Regrets with Factory "Touch Audio" Stereo

[dave macrae]

Doug , Don't worry , anything worth doing is worth over doing!! Have you thought about having wires run to the under bed rear storage area where a couple of speakers can be stored for outside use. just a idea.

[dbailey]

JMac -- how long does the battery last? We're usually off-grid... I presume that charging the battery requires a low enough wattage that it could be charged from the trailer's 12v using an inexpensive inverter? How's the sound quality?

[dbailey]

Originally Posted by Dmac

Doug , Don't worry , anything worth doing is worth over doing!! Have you thought about having wires run to the under bed rear storage area where a couple of speakers can be stored for outside use. just a idea.

Yup, that's the under-bed bay with external hatch I was talking about -- install a couple of jacks there that I can plug speakers into. I'm rethinking the boom-box notion, though. Mostly we'll be listening outside. Setting up external speakers is no easier than bringing out a boom box.

But to be happy, I'll need to find a boom box that can charge off 12v, and that has decent sound quality. Shouldn't be too tough to find.

[dave macrae]

Doug, We have friends with the bose rechargable sound dock, the sound is awesome and the battery seems to last a long time. I know you wanted something built in but these units are a great option, I have one on my christmas list.

[dbailey]

I use Ryobi cordless tools in my shop. Just took a look at ryobitools.com, and found that they have an equivalent jobsite radio as JMac described (radio/ipod player that runs off a cordless battery), and they also have a 12v charger. So there's one solution with stuff I mostly already have.

I will also take a look at sound docks like the Bose that DMac mentioned. One concern I have here is that if they have integrated lithium batteries (as most seem to), they are designed to be disposable -- lithium batteries start to degrade the moment they're manufactured, whether you use them or not, so if you can't replace them yourself you'll end up throwing the whole unit out in a couple of years. The "disposable society" that a lot of manufacturers subscribe to bothers me -- I'll avoid such things if I can.

Off to the Bose website to see what I can learn...

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by dbailey

I'm not sure what solutions wireless technology (either RF or bluetooth) gives, but I will look into that. Barring other better solutions, I might just have Rease pre-wire some speaker cables from where the under-cabinet mount will go down into the under-bed bay, where I can install some jacks. When I want outside music, plug some speakers into these jacks and set them up outside.

If you've noticed my posts, you might have noticed that I tend to over-think things. Another fine example...

I did just this. I had the under the cabinet Jensen stereo/CD/DVD player mounted in the corner over the foot side of the bed (not in the way at all), and had Reace run wires down to the access door area under the bed where I hooked up speaker jacks. Works great, but the only problem is that unless you crank the stereo, you are limited to sitting by the trailer to listen. Another drawback is the remote does not work from outside, so not easy to select or skip songs.

I too tend to over think, over research, over plan, things. But heck, it is just one of my sick ways of having fun.

[Garand]

We use this fine little Logitec unit:

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Porta...peakers+iphone

When on the grid it charges the phone; when off, the battery lasts about (aboot) 6-8 hours. The sound quality it great for my old jet-and-gunfire-damaged ears.

I had to buy a connector as the iphone won't sit in the dock while in its case.

Dave

[J Mac]

dbailey,
I did forget to mention that the battery does not come with the unit, it must be bought separately. They do however come with the dewalt cordless drill that we use for various tasks. As for playing time, I think about 6 hours depending on volume. Sound quality is as good as anything outside. We normally charge up at any available shore power spot. Full charge in one hour. We've got solar power and a 400 watt inverter but I've yet to wire up the inverter. Once done we should be good.

[dbailey]

As I mentioned in my reply, I already have a bunch of ryobi stuff. Since the batteries do need to be replaced every couple of years, I'd want to stick with the one system. I did some digging around, and found 2 important points: there is an in-car charger for ryobi 18v batteries, so I can charge batteries without using an inverter, and the sound quality of the ryobi job-site radio apparently sucks. Sigh...

[LeonW]

Originally Posted by Laura & Rick

Many times interference is caused by the converter, especially on AM. Are the reading lamps LEDs or are they incandescens?

The reading lamps are LED. I also use LEDs headlights on my bicycles, and notice that they interfere with the wireless bike computer and the GPS.

Leon

[Dave Walter]

Lots of really good discussion in this thread. At this moment in time, I think I am going to pass on the Touch Audio stereo and just ask Reace to run speaker wires to front and back of the trailer, and to also run 12V power to a future stereo location. I will keep my eyes open for a Bluetooth compatible am/fm car stereo and speakers that I will install myself.

With respect to listening outdoors, I was in Future Shop on the weekend and they had these portable battery powered Bluetooth speakers that could work as a player from an iPod or iPhone and which sounded really (I mean really) good. A bit steep price wise ($150 and up) but it sounded really good. Well worth considering for some future date.

Dave

[DonM]

I was in Costco today (in Maui...) and saw the Bose Bluetooth speakers for a smartphone application. Battery powered ( for outdoors) as well. Great sound. 12v too. Probably just what you (and I) need.

[LBaranyai]

After much discussion with Tammy during our 2011 build, we decided to go with the Touch Audio - we couldn't really find anything else we liked without spending a lot more and it seemed easy enough for my "sometimes" technologically challenged hubby - "What button was I supposed to push again?" For the limited amount of time we felt we would be using it, it seemed adequate for our needs. The TV sound comes through the speakers via the touch audio but I had hubby run another audio link so I could also have surround sound (well almost!) when using my Blu-ray player.

There are a couple of idiosyncrasies:
1) Whenever we have to reset the preset stations, we forget how we did it and have to refer to the poorly designed instruction manual.
2) The blue light is great for getting around in a dark trailer but a bit bright for sleeping - we have to curtain it.

I do like that it fits into the cabinetry nicely without sacrificing under cabinet space - it also looks good with the speakers and my color scheme in general! For our purposes, it works fine but if you're a real audiophile or plan to spend a lot of time in or at the trailer listening to music, it's probably worth investing in a higher end audio system.