Montana Television - Montana Owners Club

Kathi · 08-21-2005, 05:22 PM

Could someone tell me if the TV in the Monty is suppose to be hooked up to the surround sound? We are taking our Monty in Tuesday for alot of little things, one of them being the TV has no volume. But the Quest is messed up to. The volume just keeps turning to the right and won't stop. Really cheap system. But I want to advise them if the TV is suppose to be connected to the surround sound so that they can be sure and hook the new TV up to it. Thanks Kathi

Montana_1424 · 08-21-2005, 06:06 PM

The quest is junk. I personally ripped the damn thing out and upgraded to a Sony system, so much better. As for the TV, ours is a toshiba, and when i upgraded to the Sony system, I obviously had to disconnect and reconnect everything, let me tell you ,what a difference. I actually contacted Keystone, and they allowed me to return the Quest system to them, and issued me a refund check for almost $200. Very nice of them.

Montana Sky · 08-21-2005, 06:57 PM

Kathi,
To answer your question, no. My tv is not hooked up to the quest unit, it only has sound from the tv speakers. The quest unit will play through the surround speakers if you are playing a dvd or cd.

Parrothead · 08-21-2005, 07:02 PM

Kathi our Quest did and now our Sony does but you have to change the setting on the Quest to Auxiliary I think or something like that. It does pull the quality of the TV picture down just a hair. Our new Sony does better but there is still a slight difference in the TV picture. It is great for watching a movie though.
Happy trails..........................

Lije Baley · 08-22-2005, 06:39 AM

I haven't decided whether to keep the Quest receiver. If I replace it, I'll also replace the speakers, and I'd want a greater spread between the front right, center and left channels, which is difficult with the 2955RL floorplan. I did pull the Quest out to check the wiring. The rear speakers were wired with the front speakers into the front speaker outputs. I think this was done (obviously it was intentional) to provide sound above the recliners (RL floorplan) in all modes. With the rear speakers properly wired to the surround speaker outputs, they are active only on a Dolby Digital 5.1 DVD soundtrack. There is no surround sound with 2.0 discs or CD's or FM music, as there would be with Pro-logic surround processing. (We're in the unit for a week, so now I'll find the time to read the manual and see if I missed a way to activate Pro-logic, as opposed to 5.1, processing.)

To answer the original question, the Toshiba TV audio output is wired to the Quest. Pressing the Quest's "function" button takes the receiver through its audio modes. Our TV sound is on "Aud 2." I may change the input into the Quest to make that "Aud 1." Costco has a Panasonic "home theater in-a-box" that might make a nice replacement. The front left and right speakers are on narrow stands, which would drive my wife crazy, and the subwoofer is a powered monster, that might not fit in the cabinet above the TV (I need to check those measurements). I think the receiver would fit in the hole cut for the Quest.

Wait a few years, we'll all be trying to find ways to install wide-screen TV's in spaces designed for 4x3 sets.

Montana Sky · 08-22-2005, 08:13 AM

Well boy I feel like I am missing out, my tv is not wired to the quest unit at all and running through the function options does not help. That is ok since I am going to install the Bose speaker system this fall to replace that quest system.

Charlie · 08-22-2005, 10:08 AM

Montana Sky-
My TV plays through the Quest....I scroll the function key on the remote to AUD-2 on the display on the reciever. There are connections on the back of the receiver that wires should be plugged into for the TV to play. Mine, also like Lije Baley had the back speakers hooked to the front so that it would play in the speakers above the TV. I thought the reciever was bad so I made the dealer replace the unit as it had a bad hiss in the speakers on the slide. The replacement receiver did the same as the original. I reversed the wires and now speakers play in the slide area and the hiss is gone. I know that the Quest is not the best system on the market. Not being a full timer, I can not justify replacing it at this time, the sound is acceptable for me.

Lije Baley....if you find a way to program the reciever in Pro-Logic, please let me know.

Lije Baley · 08-22-2005, 10:47 AM

I've got it playing in prologic now! Both on 2.0 DVD's with surround encoding and on two-channel music CD's. FM is still two channel stereo only. Following the cryptic instructions on page 41 of the Quest manual:
1)With no disc in the drawer, turn on the unit. Select the TV video input to view DVD's, the DVD screen should appear;
2)Press the "setup" button on the remote;
3)Scroll right to the "audio setup page;"
4)Scroll down to "3D Processing," press "OK;"
5)Select "Pro Logic II;"
6)On the "Pro Logic II Config" screen, select "Pro Logic II," then move right, and select "On." On the same config screen, there are several choices for "mode." I selected "movie," but "music allows more parameters to be set. Either way, I've now got the surround speakers working with cd's and DVD's. And with the DVD's it is true pro-logic surround information in the surround channels (not the dialog I'm hearing in the front/center channels, but ambient sounds).

Also, on the "General Setup Page," turning the "Last Memory" to "On" results in the DVD I was watching starting to play at the point it was at when I REMOVED it from the player. That's a nice feature.

I'm beginning to feel that the Quest may be satisfactory for me as well. After all, for me, this is also a "recreational" vehicle, not my full-time abode.

The Wind · 08-22-2005, 11:31 AM

Kathi,I just put the Monty into the shop for rusty screws/ladder and my TV/DVD/Surround sound not at all hooked up. All the wires/cables still wrapped up in plastic or tied up. Need it fixed to go to Kentucky and Indiana in September..

scrowba · 08-22-2005, 01:53 PM

OK, all this talk about changing the Quest system out with a Sony system. We need Sony model numbers that you have purchased to replace the Quest. Did the Sony speakers fit in the Quest speaker holes? Out with it, I do not like the Quest sound and need to change. The possibility of a refund from Keystone if I send it back sounds pretty good also.

Charlie · 08-22-2005, 02:13 PM

Lije Baley-
Checked out the steps you posted above and every thing is OK up to the point where I try to switch from "REVERB" to "PRO LOGIC II". It will not toggle between the two. "REVERB" is set in OFF postion and I can toggle it between all the various sounds on the right side of the screen. Is there something I'm missing?

Parrothead · 08-22-2005, 02:34 PM

I posted our Sony model number a couple of months ago. Do a search and you will probably come up with it. I'd go look but it is 104 outside right now. We decided not to replace the three front speakers right now but did replace the subwoofer. We plan to replace the rear speakers but haven't yet. I feel the speakers are okay at this point. Our unit cost a little over $300 at Best Buy and is an 800 watt system. If we turned up the speakers all the way, we'd blow them but I'm not in to loud music so don't think there is a chance of that. We saved all the speakers just in case.
Happy trails..................

Kathi · 08-22-2005, 03:23 PM

What happened to the old fashioned stereo that you just plug in nad it is all set up?

I can't do all those steps.

It is all I can do to turn the car on and off. I am not literate on audio stuff. There for I think that these systems should be already set up for us. We will be taking the Monty in tomorrow morning. I will see what they can do for me. Thanks anyway. Kathi

Lije Baley · 08-22-2005, 05:29 PM

Charlie,

I can toggle from "Reverb" to "Pro-Logic II" with the "up" and "down" arrows above and below the red "ok" button. If you cannot toggle to PL II, I don't know how you're going to activate the function. Can you highlight both "Reverb Mode" and "PRO Logic II" with yellow bars? If you can, press "OK" when the yellow bar is on "PRO Logic II." Let me know if that works.

Charlie · 08-23-2005, 02:01 PM

Lije Baley-
I tried it again today and it will not toggle between the REVERB MODE and PRO LOGIC II. The REVERB MODE is yellow and is OFF. I can change all of the features in the REVERB MODE but it just won't go to the PL II. Thanks for the reply. I will look in the instruction manual and see if there is someone I can contact for help. If yours switched mine should also. Thanks again.

Lije Baley · 08-23-2005, 03:42 PM

Charlie,
That's too bad, I thought you understood the process, so expected your response. I've discovered that my receiver, and I suspect all Quest receivers, does not maintain my individual speaker settings in memory. After adjusting each speaker's level to balance the overall sound, I turned the receiver off. When I turned it back on, the settings had all returned to the default "0." Very strange, but reading between the lines of the manual, which is very poorly translated to English, I think that the receiver is meant to work this way. Annoying, to say the least. The current issue of "Trailer Life" has an article about home theaters. When my wife finishes the magazine, I'll have to check it out. Some of those generalist articles have little of value, but given my frustration with Quest, I'm interested in what an RV magazine has to say.

rames14 · 08-25-2005, 01:37 PM

There are lots of posts out there on this very subject. Many people have upgraded to Sony, JVC and Koss home theatre in a box systems. Most needed modifications to fit the speakers if they were replaced. There is one in the troubleshooting section with pictures. We actually went the opposite direction and bought a standard Yamaha surround receiver, Sony DVD and Cambridge speakers. Only had to modify the three over the TV. The two in back mounted the same. Now I can rock the park with 100 watts per channel. I tried keeping the original speakers, but "more power" proved to be too much. Returned entire unit to dealer to return to Keystone for a refund.

Lije Baley · 08-25-2005, 02:13 PM

Ron,

I've thought about that route also. At home, gathering dust, I've got an older HK DD 5.1, an interlaced DVD player, and two Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble IV speakers with a small subwoofer. If I pick up three more matched speakers, the sound and flexibility of the system would be greatly improved. The biggest problem is finding a spot for the receiver. The space above the TV in the 2955 is too shallow. If you used Ensemble IV speakers, or something similar, how hard was it to modify the spaces above the TV? Of course that configuration allows for practically no separation of the channels.

rames14 · 08-25-2005, 04:35 PM

Lijey -

Our dealer saved me doing the work. They were replacing the fireplace because the lights wouldn't dim (who could live with something like that?) and asked as long as they had the fireplace out, could they put in the new speakers. They pulled out the TV, took out the boards, sawed the openning larger and replaced. The only change I would do is put some molding around the speakers. As someone mentioned, you could source the front output to the rear speakers. There isn't a lot that comes from the rear anyway. In the 3400 I had plenty of room for the Yamaha, Sony and DirecTV receiver. We're roughing it because I don't have the Bose speakers like at home.

gitrdun · 08-25-2005, 05:13 PM

I just got finished re installing my quest system. The speakers were connected wrong. I re done the wiring in the back and spent 2 hours setting the sound. I have set up a few home theatre systems but I believe this was the toughest. But you know what? I was very impressed with the results. I too, thought of replacing the whole thing but after I figured it out it sounds great. A little time and hair pulling saved me some coin.
GET-R-DUN!!!!!!!!!!!

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