Today’s RVs have almost every conceivable creature comfort and custom creation. From man cave to she shed to the perfect vehicle for roadtripping to the campground or music festival scene, they’ve been outfitted with finishes designed to bring the home or retreat on the road. One component that always has been woefully missing: Better sound. Hey, RV Industry, what’s the deal? We drop $20,000, $50,000, even $100,000 or more on a travel trailer or RV, and the stereo system seems something out of a 1960s family sedan. Boats for years have had stellar sound systems. Why not RVs?
Sure, some people insist RVs are for camping – and the ambient sounds should be tuned into birds and crickets and wind blowing through the trees and all that. Fair enough.
Others want good tunes inside and out. Audiophiles who RV have complained for years about the lack of quality in RV stereo systems. Manufacturers have tossed together lackluster systems. But you can’t expect some $2 speaker to deliver hi-fi sound.
At RoadtripMojo, our “sound system” often is some Harman Kardon Onyx Studio or a JBL Flip portable Bluetooth speaker (read our take on Bluetooth sounds here). While the sounds are full and rich, Bluetooth speakers can be clunky and hardly ideal.
Hearing the Musical Message
It’s a message that Airstream recently acknowledged when it partnered with high-end stereo component maker JL Audio to supply its over-engineered, marine, home, and auto sound systems standard in Airstream trailers.
During a recent tour of JL Audio’s 200,000-square-foot corporate offices, R&D lab, factory, and warehouse and shipping facility in Miramar, Florida, with the company’s senior VP of finance, Robert Oxenhorn, RoadtripMojo discovered what makes mobile audio rock.
A brief aside: The company was started in South Florida four decades ago by high school buds Lucio Proni and James Birch. They built custom speakers and cabinets for friends, family – and eventually discerning audiophiles. One of its early customers: RTM founder Barry Bluth. As a youth in Hollywood, Florida, Barry bought custom speakers and cabinets for his home and car.
Forty years later, Barry was back touring their company, which now sells audio systems through a network of 1,200 U.S. marine, power sports, and traditional A/V retailers. Top names include West Marine, Car Toys in the Pacific Northwest, Audio Express in the Southwest, and hundreds of independent, mom-and-pop retailers, the core of the company’s business.
Driving into the RV Sector
Long a brand name among auto, marine, and home audio enthusiasts, JL Audio is hoping to drive into the RV sector. The company actually had a natural in. JL Audio distributes for A/V company Clarion. Well-known among auto audio enthusiasts, its marine line was the sound system used by Airstream.
Using that entree, JL Audio’s Indiana-based sales team last year approached the venerable trailer maker about upgrading their game – and sound. Clarion makes a quality marine product, but like other manufacturers common to the RV industry, it was entry level for the industry.
“It’s not an Airstream product,” Oxenhorn said.
JL Audio worked with Airstream to deliver a system befitting their iconic trailer. JL Audio’s MediaMaster 50 is a high-performance, single-chassis, powered source unit. It was initially engineered to deliver outstanding fidelity and advanced audio features for boats, UTV and other outdoor applications.
Now it’s on Airstreams as the centerpiece of a powered four-by-25 watt system at 4 ohms with two pair of JL Audio’s C1 car speakers. The system also includes a U.S.-made powered eight-inch speaker in a custom enclosure.
“It’s an awesome system,” Oxenhorn said, “especially compared to what they had before.”
Changing Long-Held Opinions
The change required some selling to change long made-up minds. Traditional RV manufacturers and customers aren’t accustomed to paying for improved sound. Manufacturers can charge up to four times more for the new system, but will consumers actually care either way? Boat owners do. Oxenhorn’s hoping RVers have that “huge change in mindset.”
Today, JL products are shipped in upward of 3,000 Airstream trailers a year. It’s a suitable addition to its existing product lines, like those built into custom Jeeps – like the company’s “JL Edition,” and power sports that put up to $4,000 systems on Polaris, CanAm, and and other ATVs. Forty craftsmen in its workshop create custom fiberglass subwoofer enclosures built for Chevy Silverados and Ford F150, like one demoed for RoadtripMojo by JL Audio’s VP of Sales, Carl Kennedy. It was rich sound like nothing that ever rolled off some Ford factory floor – and certainly not in Jeff’s F150.
Expect to see and read more about JL Audio in the camping space. It already serves the sprinter van and limousine sector. A quick Google search found the folk at Airstreams and Mountain Biking writing about swapping in a 700-watt JL Audio system to replace the existing Clarion array. They called it their “Thumpstream.”
Not Horrible Sound, Just Upgrading
They ditched the older Clarion head unit and factory speakers. They “weren’t horrible,” they admitted. “They’re just designed for a low power application and therefore come off dull and garbled.”
These audiophiles sought speakers that were bright, crisp and punchy, with a high-pass filter in place the mids only drive mid+high frequencies. Also gone was any muddy bass. They also dropped in coaxial mounted tweeters to save on space without compromising sound. The subwoofer delivers rich deep bass.
They’re speaking RoadtripMojo’s language.
They also appreciated that many of JL Audio’s 600 people are craftsmen building its products stateside, “which is consistent with the rest of the Airstream’s Americana theme,” they wrote.
So, if you buy or step into a friend’s newer Airstream, take a listen to the stereo. In years to come, you might find JL Audio a fixture in RV life.
“Hopefully it opens the door for us in the RV industry,” Oxenhorn said.
Whether for JL Audio or any high-end audio provider looking to elevate a jammin’ audio experience, we’re hoping it does, too.
We have just purchased a 2021 23FB airstream flying cloud with the JL Audio system with sony Dvd player. We can not get the sound from the tv or dvd player to go to the speakers. The radio will. Can you tell me how I can get this to work?