Ceiling Speaker replacement

purplesuebug · 12-18-2007, 08:55 AM

Firstly I want to wish eveyone of you a VERY Merry Christmas and I hope you all will accept this as our Christmas Card to you. I hope the season finds you all well and keeps you well through the New Year!!!!!

Now I have a question............I have cheap little 2 1/2" speakers mounted on the ceiling in the TT.

Upper right corner

Again upper right corner.

These things sound like doggy doo, after all they are made in China!! Anyway, I bought 4 Sapphire SAT1000 speakers. They are designed by Cary Christie (Infinity) and Tom DeVesto (Tivoi) so they should be pretty good but they are heavy. They are 8.58"L x 5.35"W x 3.18"H and weigh in at 2lb 13oz each.

Will the ceiling hold these during travel or should I add a plug for the wires and a detachable mount to store them during travel. I don't know how thick the plywood is but the screws in the OEM speakers were 1" long. I don't think these speakers where in studs but they are very light and have a broad footprint. Would heavier speakers vibrate the screws loose even if they are in studs. Would Liquid Nails help. I just can't handle one more night listening to those speakers. It's like sleeping with my NOAA weather band. Well, That's my winter project..........any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks , Marshall

emam · 12-18-2007, 10:49 AM

Hey Marshall, you might want to unhook the speaker that is there and see if there is a hole. If there is, see how thick the ceiling material is.

You might be able to get away with putting some small mollys or anything that will expand the load put on the screws.

If the material is thin, then I'd probably just make clips so when you stop, you could just clip on the speakers and plug in the wires and be listening to some sweet sound.

I was thinking about replaceing ours with Bose only because the bose are the exact same size and wouldn weigh any more. I agree the stock ones are crap.

I remember a previous thread where a few people replaced theirs with car audio speakers. Might want to do a search on that thread because I thought they showed detailed pictures of what it looked like during installation.

Good luck, and let us know what you do for those of us who want to do the same thing

Oh, and Merry Christmas to you and your family also

Pat & Cindy

purplesuebug · 12-18-2007, 11:18 AM

Pat,

I thought about a replacement speaker for the OEM housing but mine is only a 2 1/2" speaker. There isn't a large selection of this size in a full range speaker. Mostly tweeters and paper cone voice like for TV's and radios. Car speakers start at 3 1/2" and I don't have enough housing for these. Thanks for the ideas, I'll check the hole where the wires come through the ceiling. Marshall

**Sunline Fan** · 12-18-2007, 04:02 PM

I don't know how Sunline did it in recent years, but my 2363 had round recessed speakers and they put a piece of particle board inside the hole, glued to the back of the ceiling luan, that the screws could go into. I found this out the hard way when replacing the panel:

Jon

**JohnB** · 12-18-2007, 08:40 PM

Marshall

Sorry I can’t help you on the speakers. Ours are like 4" plus.

But, those sure are nice looking cabinets. WOW. I see they made them different too from the Shaker style maple.

Thanks for sharing. Pic’s are great.

John

**Sunline Fan** · 12-18-2007, 09:42 PM

One thing that's always been funny about those cherry cabinets is the doors never match the cabinets in pictures only. If you look at them in person, you won't see a difference. For some reason, capturing it on film (wow, I'm dating myself!) changes the look.

Jon

precorguy · 12-19-2007, 05:34 AM

our 2553 has the same interior - cherry cabinets and the fancy fabric - can't recall right now what it is called --- but anyway --- we have those same cheap speakers --- they sound horrible.

we have thought about replacing them --- was looking for some similar surface mounted ones --- i haven't found any that sounded good enought and were inexpensive enough ---- i guess it doesn't anoy me enough yet.

great looking trailer!

do yo have a pic of the speakers that you purchased? just curious

alex

Poppy & Nana · 12-19-2007, 06:38 AM

Marshall - what is the white switch next to the radio in your first photo? Is that for the slide?

We had an 06 T1950 and we did not have that switch, it looks so out of place with those rich cherry cabinets!

**Sunline Fan** · 12-19-2007, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poppy & Nana

Marshall - what is the white switch next to the radio in your first photo? Is that for the slide?

We had an 06 T1950 and we did not have that switch, it looks so out of place with those rich cherry cabinets!

Kathy,

That is the slide switch. I'm surprised they didn't mount it on the wall by the door, but I guess they figured it was easier to run wires in the cabinet since the radio was already going there. I'm not sure if Marshall has it, but I have a kill switch in mine. It's in the cabinet over the dinette, which is just above the main switch. I figure this is so if you have little kids, you can lock the slide. Maybe Sunline just decided to mount the switch as high as possible to eliminate the need for a kill switch.

Jon

**Sunline Fan** · 12-19-2007, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by precorguy

our 2553 has the same interior - cherry cabinets and the fancy fabric - can't recall right now what it is called

Alex,

There were four interiors in '07: Granola, Tropical Magic, Plum Crazy, and Misty Blue. There were also some leather options, but they're very uncommon.

Granola: That's what Marshall has.

Tropical Magic: I have a very hard time distinguishing this if the picture is dark. The Tropical Magic is very much like the Granola, but the couch fabric has a dark color (maybe black) in it instead of light tan.

Plum Crazy: This has a purple color in the couch fabric.

Misty Blue: This is a blue/brown mix in the couch fabric. I think Misty is a good choice of name because it does look like everything bled together, IMO.

It's sad I was able to write all that from memory!

Jon

purplesuebug · 12-19-2007, 12:00 PM

There is no kill switch that I have found. I like the switch where it is because you can see out of all the windows and look for trees, dogs or cows..........well we have no children and cows is all I thought of at the moment.

I will get a picture tonight of the new speakers and I will take it along side of the OEM I removed last night

I can see nothing through the little hole where the wires come out except 1/4" plywood and pink insulation. I am afraid that even toggle bolts with 3lb speakers will work through the plywood from travel and vibrations. I think I will mount them so I can remove and store during travel. Probably the safest!!!! Marshall

Poppy & Nana · 12-19-2007, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Kathy,

That is the slide switch. I'm surprised they didn't mount it on the wall by the door, but I guess they figured it was easier to run wires in the cabinet since the radio was already going there. I'm not sure if Marshall has it, but I have a kill switch in mine. It's in the cabinet over the dinette, which is just above the main switch. I figure this is so if you have little kids, you can lock the slide. Maybe Sunline just decided to mount the switch as high as possible to eliminate the need for a kill switch.

Jon

I thought it was the slide switch but wanted to confirm!

Kathy

purplesuebug · 12-19-2007, 08:44 PM

Alex,
Here is a couple shots of the speakers. The new ones on the left and old cheap crappy OEM on the right. As you can see, a large size difference and much more of a weight difference. The OEM speakers are super light and probably don't need any kind of reinforcements.

Marshall

**Sunline Fan** · 12-19-2007, 09:35 PM

Marshall,

I'll admit, Sunline's are built well, but I don't think well enough for the volume I see you playing those at! You'll vibrate the thing apart!

Jon

precorguy · 12-22-2007, 09:21 AM

Marshall:

nice speakers ---- curious as to how heavy they are? we have the same small speakers - that must weight all of .5 lb --- i don't know how much weight the ceiling will hold - i guess if i found a stud and all that!

i am going to look around for smaller speakers - would love the bose - but i don't want to have to pay their price - i know cheap eh!

thanks for showing me the speakers - appreciate it!!!!

alex

purplesuebug · 12-23-2007, 07:15 AM

I just found these on ebay. They are similar to the OEM but brand name, Jensen. I don't know anything about them but they may be better than the ones that came with the TT.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JENSE...spagenameZWDVW

I am going to purchase the Jensen AWM960 for our TT and found the speakers as I looked. Take care................Marshall

Mooney · 12-23-2007, 05:55 PM

Jensen speakers are all right for everyday use, but not super high quality. They're probably be better than OEM though.

Our Solaris has 5 1/4 inch speakers that are decent, but I plan on replacing them with Sony's "Xplode" series when I get a chance (and less mud and snow on the ground). They are mounted flush in the ceiling with grilles that hang out.

I have had many different types of speakers over the years and think that the Sony Xplodes are really the best bet for the buck.

**Sunline Fan** · 12-23-2007, 11:34 PM

Well, since I was out there, I thought I'd snap a pic of mine. If I were you guys, I'd be thankful you have the ones you have! I was surprised, this coach doesn't even have speakers in the bedroom:

Jon

P.S. I have no idea what this mysterious shadow is. The speaker pictured is the one right above where the chair should be, so in front of the TV cabinet. I know that sort of below there is a cardboard box full of whatever items left in the trailer were useful. It sort of looks like the flap from that box (it's open and the flap is at like a 90 degree to the side of the box, parallel to the floor). I have the radio antenna and vent pipe cap cover I broke off sitting on one flap from the box, but it doesn't resemble what is showing there.

Mooney · 12-26-2007, 07:10 PM

Jon,

Those are what are in our 2380 too...looks like they snap off (pry?) from the bases....I'll look if my far better half isn't there to see me try

She thinks the current speakers are "good enough". HA! There's always room for better!

**Sunline Fan** · 12-26-2007, 08:46 PM

Greg,

They do pry off. I had one of mine off, but the next one I tried didn't want to come easily, so I didn't bother messing with it since it wasn't broken. They started using this style in '98. I had these in my 2363 and I remember that little "8" thing in the center of it on our '97:

I had all of mine out in the 2363 because one side's speakers weren't working. After checking all the wiring and finding nothing wrong, I played around with the radio and found that pulling out either the volume or tuning button was the side to side and front to back adjustment. Problem solved! Why they have to make those things so complicated, I don't know.

You might want to hope your better half is there because if the cover doesn't come off easily, I wouldn't force it in the cold. You may end up breaking the cover. I can't seem to find a pic of just the innerds, but basically the speaker frame is goldish looking (I don't think it's brass though) and the speaker itself is black with the black cardboard like dish around it. I'm not really into speakers, so I don't know the technical terms for those parts.

Jon