I'm very pleased indeed with the Challenger Sport we bought last summer - except for one thing.
The sound from the Swift-installed stereo is absolutely shocking. It's a cheap JVC head unit connected to Blaupunkt speakers and I've never heard anything as awful since I had cheap radios in my '70s Cortinas as a teenager.
Playing CDs or MP3s the sound is so tinny as to hurt one's ears even with bass boost. The radio sound on FM - assuming the stereo can actually tune into a station - is full of static and interference.
Does anyone have any advice on upgrading? Places like Halfords will install new kit into cars, but I don't know who to turn to for a caravan.
------------- Camping Gear expands so as to fill the space available for its transportation.
Just a thought . if you are thinking about changing the head unit. I had a unit fitted in mine and opted for a Bluetooth model very handy for music from phones or tablets and your calls sound will come through the speakers
If you have an MP3 player, portable Bluetooth speaker/s would be a good alternative. Some of the top end ones sound amazing now and you can use them elsewhere as well.
------------- I went to the top of the mountain...and looked over the other side!
Check the + and - connectors are correctly connected to the speakers/into the radio, having these the wrong way can cause very tinny and odd sound with a lack of bass.
it may have a problem with the arial if not locking onto stations and with static.get a mobile sparky to look at it,DONT go near halfords,totally clueless.
I fitted a cheap and cheerful JVC unit into my former caravan, with a pair of coaxial speakers flush mounted within existing light weight wooden enclosures. I also filled the void behind the speakers with acoustic wadding (example). The result (given that this was a caravan installation) was excellent.
However, I agree that the quality in the Swift (which I've recently changed to) isn't great but believe the problem to be more due to the installation and quality of the speakers, than the head unit. I plan to upgrade and fit some alternative speakers plus baffling material again, although I've yet to remove the fitted speakers to check the enclosure behind them.
Speaker enclosures and wiring is important, so worth checking that too. Problems occur more when one pair of speaker conductors are reversed in relation to the other side as the speakers then function 'out of phase'. If both are wired the same (regardless of polarity), then this wouldn't usually get noticed in performance with a caravan installation.
As for the aerial, the fitted radio aerial does need power and it may not have been connected properly to the head unit for this. It has a single 12v feed for a small pre-amp built into the aerial base, but uses the aerial cable ground for an earth connection.
Don't bother with Halfords, they are hopeless. Check your wiring first, maybe even fit some acoustic wadding behind the speakers as a trial and contemplate replacing the speakers first.
i got a unit from ebay,very nice it is too.Loads of graphics flashing and sounds really good.It cost 50 quid and is a radio and plays music from mp3 players or you can put an sd card in.It does not play cds like the one iremoved.But then again cds are old hat.The speakers already fitted to our
lunar sound brilliant.The unit i got is an american brand called honey if i remember right
------------- i dont sell cheap tat.I sell tat cheap
I have Challenger Sport and sound is crap ( cheaper speakers) on sport. On my old Challenger I added an extra two speakers on the shelves above the bed had them off Ebay, the sound from these was brilliant. Cant remember the name of them though, will have to look through my account and find out.
I have this unit in caravan swift signature 554, I found it tinny and after fiddling about with settings I found if you go through the menu and find Loud setting and turn on then this cured it for me
When we have set everything up on arrival at our chosen site, I spend a short time going through the menu on the radio and adjust all the settings, this improves the sound considerably. Unfortunately every time we turn off the main power to the van, prior to leaving the site, these settings revert back to Demo mode.
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Topic: Swift stereos
