Powered speaker bar installation

After struggling with the low volume of the television speakers in our 560, especially when playing a DVD, I decided to try to improve the situation. I purchased a Connectland stereo speaker bar from Amazon for about $25. It is powered from a USB port and connects to the headphone jack of the TV.

Here are some pictures of the installation. My trailer was delivered last year and I believe the TV is still the same; previous versions of the TV may not work the same.

This speaker just fits between the brackets under the shelf that holds the TV. I unscrewed the feet off the bottom of the speaker, two small Phillips head screws. I removed the screws from the back and sides of the TV bracket and loosened the rest of the screws so the bracket could be pulled down a bit. I made two brackets from sheet metal and screwed them to the bottom of the speaker. These new brackets were then slid above the TV bracket and the TV bracket screws replaced and tightened, which clamps the speaker brackets between the shelf and the TV bracket. The speaker was a bit too wobbly for me, so I added another smaller bracket to the front of the speaker.

I fished the two cables into the small gap at the bottom of the TV and plugged them in to the USB port and headphone jack on the bottom of the TV with the help of a small inspection mirror. I tied up the extra cord with the twist ties that came with the speaker and stuffed it into the bottom of the TV bracket.

I think the installation came out quite well. The speaker performs well, allowing me to hear and actually understand the dialog on "All the Creatures Great and Small" (If you aren't familiar with this, look it up, you might really enjoy it. It has lots of strong northern England accents, quite hard to understand.) If you are a Hi-Fi nut or insist on listening the Grateful Dead, you probably won't be satisfied with the sound capability of this speaker, but for most television and DVD sound it works great. The speaker is invisible unless you stand on your head, uses a space that is not otherwise useful, and didn't even require drilling any holes.


Final Installation




Speaker out of the box


Package


Remove the small screw and the foot comes off


Rear Brackets





Brackets on Speaker


Speaker Mounting Complete


Headphone Connector


USB Connection

 

One additional comment: With the volume control set to about the middle of the dial, the speaker amp comes on when the TV is turned on, because it is powered by the TV USB connection; no need to turn it off. The volume of the speaker is controlled by the TV remote volume control, again no need to fiddle with the speaker's volume knob once you have it set where you want it.