TV sound is very low when using DVD

Doug Sage · 11-30-2011, 08:17 AM

I have a 2007 Suncruiser with the eye level entertainment system. It came with a Memorex DVD player. When I play a DVD movie the TV sound is so low that I oftentimes have to turn the TV sound up to the maximum level in order to hear it. I have also turned the volume up on the DVD player. There is a huge difference in volume settings between the DVD and the regular TV. I am wondering if it would help if I replaced the speaker wires with heavier gauge wires. Would this help? Do I need a different DVD player? By the way, I have the old Sony Wega tube type TV. I hate to spend the money to replace the TV at this time with a HD LCD set. I have a Motosat dish that has a bird-on-the-wire DirecTV satellite TV connection. This is not HD and would cost me more to get the HD signal and then I would need a second dish for the Motosat Internet. Anyway, what can I do to improve the sound levels with the existing system?

Patrol 65 · 11-30-2011, 12:17 PM

I have a surround sound system in my coach that plays using the dash stereo and experience the same symptom that you are describing when playing dvds. I just crank the volume up on the tv because it is really the center speaker of the system. If you change to a newer LCD tv, you do not have to upgrade to HD because all televisions now display standard digital signals which won't be as sharp as HD on an LCD tv.

Doug Sage · 12-01-2011, 08:45 AM

Thanks. Are there any more ideas from other readers?

bellsharbor · 12-02-2011, 01:00 PM

HI Doug---Mine does the same thing in the motorhome and at home. There has to be someone out there that knows what the answer is. Both of mine are new flat screens and newer dvd players.

MntDriver · 12-02-2011, 01:59 PM

I believe John has your answer in your post over in the RVForum.net

Pusherman · 12-02-2011, 05:03 PM

I have the same setup in my 07 Journey. In your owner's manual it says how to set up the surround sound. If I remember correctly, it says turn up the DVD volume to max (this is your surround sound ampilifier) and then contol the overall volume with the TV volume remote.

Dave78Chief · 12-02-2011, 08:47 PM

I am fairly sure I understand your problem and I believe it is a poor design issue. First though I need to verify some things:

1) You have a 38J so the actual page numbers on the TV/DVD wiring diagram (http://www.winnebagoind.com/diagram/...ire_156326.pdf) are pdf page 2 and 10 (Sheets 1 and 9) not page 11 as John said on the other site. FYI: Here is the TOC page for your wiring diagrams: Table of Contents

2) The parts book for your rig (pdf page 120; http://www.winnebagoind.com/service/...07/7ipg38j.pdf) says you have a Sony model 27FS120 TV. On pdf page 13 of the TV operators manual (http://www.docs.sony.com/release/KV27FS120rev2.pdf) it says Component Video (Video Input #4) has 5 connections (Y [green], Pb [Blue], Pr [Red], L [Audio Left], and R [Audio Right]). Video Input #1 has a seperate input (v [video], L [Audio Left], and R [Audio Right]). This design is where I beleieve the audio problems come from because the Winnebago engineers did not interface it corrrectly. Reffering to pdf page 10 of the Winnebago wiring diagram above, you will notice the Composite Video (Y, Pb, Pr) connects to Video 4 but the only audio is routed to Video 1. That means no audio is being supplied to the Video 4 channel.

3) The parts manual (pdf page 120) also indicates they used 3 different DVD/Home Theater/(VCR) units (SONY HTV700DP, TOSHIBA SD-V57HT, or MEMOREX STS71E-R). On page 12 of the the Sony manual (http://www.docs.sony.com/release/HTV700DP.pdf) it says the DVD can only use the composite video output. The Sony unit only has the one set of Audio outputs (expecting the TV to use the one set for either video type) but the TV requires seperate audio inputs. DVD output is over Composite Video (Video 4). Reciever (VHF/UHF/CATV Antenna) video is over Video 1. Please note that all Control Center input is over the UHF/VHF Coax cable on th rear of the TV.

There are 2 seperate solutions to your DVD audio problem:
1) For DVD or CD operations, the Sony player is basically designed to use the Home Theater system for audio rather than the TV speakers. You should adjust the Home Theater Volumn, not the TV volumn.
2) You could puchase a couple of Y audio adaptors. At the TV end, the base of a connector would connect to the cable from the DVD/Home Theater system (i.e Left audio). One branch of the Y would then connect to Video 1 Left, the other branch would connect to Video 4. This way both Video 1 and Video 4 would have an input.

One final note. You can route the audio from the TV to the Home Theater AUX input (surround sound), The TV menu selctions provide for two seperate Audio mode selections. Either the volumn can be adjusted by the TV remote (Variable) or by the Home Theater (fixed). Just make sure you know which TV audio output mode you have it set for. The operators manual for your rig (http://www.winnebagoind.com/resource...Suncruiser.pdf) says to use variable.

Dave

bluepill · 12-02-2011, 09:18 PM

I got stuck with the Memorex player for the main TV in my Meridian. I am underwhelmed with its performance. I am planning to install a bluray player as a replacement now that the price for a good one is under a hundred dollars. What I like about the bluray players is that they "upsacale" standard DVDs to look almost as good as the more expensive bluray discs. Just saying that it's a possible option. If you buy one from Walmart or Sams Club and it doesn't do the job for you, you can return it.