Pro Tips to Upgrading Your RV, Camper Stereo

We recently explored the idea of upgrading your camper’s stereo system from the lousy, two-bit stock system to something that really rocks. We let Nick Mullins tell the story of how he and Kris Hall mostly gutted the stereo in their travel trailer to replace it with some serious tunage. Building on their story, Ora Freeman, the national sales manager for JL Audio, which recently struck a deal to outfit Airstream trailers with its products, offered this pecking order for audio upgrades. If you’re a non-audiophile, this may be like Ambien. But in all honesty, these tips work for your RV, trailer, car, even your boat, where JL Audio shines.

Speakers are always the first thing to upgrade. “They will give the most bang for the buck,” Freeman said. For outdoor use, use high-quality marine speaker that pass stringent environmental testing.

“Because marine speakers are voiced for an open air, outdoor setting, you should use interior speakers for interior applications,” Freeman said.

Second, seek out a high quality amplifier. “Very few RVs will have any amplification beyond what the source unit provides. The source unit only need be upgraded if you are unhappy with the user experience or it does not support the format of music you prefer.” Meaning, if you like soft music, stick with what you have. If you want to crank up Widespread Panic, Umphrey’s McGee, or the Allman Brothers Band, amp up your power.

Asked for a wish list of audio products to elevate the sound, Freeman suggested: Good quality 6.5” interior speakers, like the JL Audio C2-650x or C3-650x. For appropriate amplification, maybe the XD series amplifier using a multi-zone source unit, MM50 or MM100, with a pair of M3 650s on the outside powered by a XD or M200/2 (Hey, non-audiophiles – you still awake?)

Others have upgraded with similar pleasure. The folk at AirStreamMTB wrote about their recent stereo upgrade:

“I selected JL Audio for the sound equipment because I found the speakers bright, crisp and punchy. With a high-pass filter in place the mids only drive mid+high frequencies leaving out muddy bass. The mids also accommodate coaxial mounted tweeters which saves on space but makes no compromises on sound quality. The sub drives a really rich deep bass with no overtones. JL Audio also manufactures some of their equipment in the US, which is consistent with the rest of the Airstream’s Americana theme.”

Now, ready to upgrade your sound? Whether you will or already did, share some details. We’d love to hear about it – or hear it live at our next fest.

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