One bad audio channel

[jclieber]

Hi. We thought an outside speaker was blown. But after replacing the suspect speaker the sound was still horrible. So it appears we have a bad speaker channel output. Any idea how we can access the output ports of the system so we can fix this issue? And any idea of how one channel "blew"? I've never heard of a channel "blowing" inside the electronics. Thanks. Josh

[C&P RV]

Knowing the year and model of your Montana will allow your fellow MOC members to help you with this question.

[432bartman]

A good bluetooth speaker sounds way better than those factory speakers, which are mounted way to high up to be any good. You'd think for the money spent on these trailers, they'd put a little more effort and quality in the entire sound systems.

[jclieber]

Montana Model 3811, 2018.

[Foldbak]

Those amps are junk. Repair would cost as much a a new receiver. And yes you can blow a channel on any amp if it doesn't have internal protection. A dead short or too high or low impedance will fry am amp. Look on amazon for a replacement.

[C&P RV]

You should be able to get to all the speaker connections on the receiver / amp by pulling it out of the cabinet. Most of these amps are held in place by 4 screws (Robertson / square drive / Scrulox) the same size as all the other screws in the RV. I'm not familiar with the 2018 sound equipment, but the amp may have a cover you have to gently pop off to access the screws. Our 2014 had the screws recessed in the amp at the 4 corners. Our 2022 has a cover that pops off.

The fix might be as simple as pulling the connections for the outdoor speakers off the back and reattaching them. If the speakers are working inside the RV, I would not suspect that the amp itself is bad. Unfortunately, the problem could also be insulation rubbed off the speaker wire somewhere between the amp and outside wall.

[jclieber]

Thanks for everyone's input. I removed the suspect amplifier/radio unit. I did have to remove the glass panel to remove the unit...easy enough. The cable harness had clear notations on the top of the amplifier. I cut and spliced the left and right speaker lines and determined that one channel was "blown" in the amplifier. I spliced the speaker lines to the right channel and the outside speakers sound great. No stereo now but with speakers only a few feet away from each other, you'll never miss that "separation"!

Josh