Jensen Audio Thingie

[dedmiston]

So… This thing….

I don’t know if these are installed in a lot of units or if mine is rare. The previous owner didn’t know how it worked and I’m not doing much better. I’m the kind of guy who reads the manuals, but I don’t have any docs for this.

My lizard brain had assumed that I could at least play the TV audio through the adjoining speakers, but I can’t find a way to do that. I’ve got the docs for the TV, but can’t find any clues.

Here are the clues and facts I’ve found so far:

• My phone won’t pair with the Bluetooth.
• It plays radio stations.
• When it plays, it plays through the adjoining speakers in the entertainment center, bedroom speakers, and outdoors. The Zone button cycles through zones, but it still plays through all the speakers regardless of the zone.
• I can’t access the rear without opening a panel, but the TV has an HDMI cable that leads into the wall, and I suspect it is the output from the device’s Blu-ray player, I think? I don’t have a disc to test with though.

I would be happy if I could figure out how to do any of the following:

• Play the TV audio through the speakers.
• Pair my phone to it.
• Independently control the sets of speakers.

I haven’t had good luck with these things historically. Our previous two RVs had outdoor speakers that were completely miswired and maybe this unit is the same.

 

[Carl n Susan]

Do you have any idea what the model number is? The Jensen site lists three receivers. They must be newer models as none look exactly like yours. The CDX3119 is a similar with CD, Bluetooth, etc. https://jensenmobile.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/CDX3119_updated_91224.pdf


But no multiple speakers (weird) and no audio input other than a 3.5mm plug (no optical). But the Jensen product line has always been difficult to find documentation for (apparently a Lippert subsidiary).

 

[dedmiston]

Hey Carl - There’s no visible model number on the front. I haven’t taken the next step yet to remove it from the mount to peek behind the curtain.

The TV and this receiver are low enough quality that I’m tempted to upgrade/replace them but I’d rather figure them out if I can.

 

[Carl n Susan]

My Montana had a Samsung TV and Stereo/DVD in the LR. They were good at the time but have since died. I still have a Jensen 12V TV in the bedroom. I never was able to find its codes so I could program my DTV Remote to run it. But I rarely use it and using two remotes is a pain but doable.

I am not fluent in current Jensen TV and sound systems. It may be possible to pair the sound system and the TV (if the TV supports it). Optical or HDMI eArc is what I have always used.

 

[LeftOverParts]

Here’s a picture of back left side of the Jensen unit in our ‘21. You can see the HDMI cable plugged in. The audio and power go to the back of the unit. The wires are labeled so you might be able to figure out if your zones are wired together.

The tabs on the face plate sides come off and should show the mounting screws. The model number might be on a sticker on the top or bottom of the unit. Or, you might be able to find a manual by comparing the faceplate design.

We bought a smart TV and use its speakers. For music we connect to the unit via BT - it’s shows in our phones as JWMxxx. DW tells me that she downloaded a Jensen app.

Edit: Adding pictures showing the wire labels better, a picture of the Jensen app, and Jensen unit. Also added some steps to (hopefully) help with pairing.

Download the app. To pair, your phones BT must be on, turn on power to the Jensen unit and wait for it to boot. Then hit the pair button (lower right on our unit.). The JWMxxx should show up as a BT device on your phone. Click on it. Then your Jensen app gives you a message or 2 and you should be able to link up the app and head unit.

 

[dedmiston]

Wow LeftOverParts. That's really helpful. I'll download the app and give it a try. I had tried it again this morning with no luck, but I'll try it again. Do you pair it through the app>

 

[LeftOverParts]

If my memory is correct, I recall that I downloaded the app and opened it and it was looking for the Jensen unit. Left the app open and it had messages that it couldn’t find the Jensen unit.

Then confirmed my phone (iPhone) BT was on and then turned on the Jensen unit.

Pressed pair on the Jensen unit and the device name JVMxxx came up as a BT device on the list on the phone and clicked on it. It connected.

My recall is a little fuzzy here. The open app had a message or two that it could not find the Jensen (bc I had not paired the phone yet). So after pairing, went back to the open app and closed those messages and it connected to the Jensen unit. I think I did not have to close and reopen the app.

 

[dedmiston]

I just tried again. The Jensen head unit stays in BT discovery mode for two minutes and shows the countdown from 120 seconds, but I can't see if from my iPhone, my iPad, or my wife's iPhone.

 

[LeftOverParts]

Here’s one more thing to try and if no go, probably worth a call to Jensen/ASA this week.

I just did, “Forget This Device” on the iPhone BT for the JWM device so I would have to go back thru the pairing process.

With phone BT on, turned on the Jensen. After a few seconds, it said, “No Device Found”. I pressed the pair button and got the 120 sec countdown going. Looked on my BT list and nothing came up. So turned off BT for a couple secs, then back on and no JWM. So started pair again and turned off/on a 2nd time and JWM was there. Clicked on it and it paired.

All this was done with the phone a couple inches from the Jensen unit.

 

[ColoradoKampers]

I would be happy if I could figure out how to do any of the following:

• Play the TV audio through the speakers.
• Pair my phone to it.
• Independently control the sets of speakers.

I haven’t had good luck with these things historically. Our previous two RVs had outdoor speakers that were completely miswired and maybe this unit is the same.

I traded the rig with the Jenson stereo, but somewhere along the way I made the TV play through the unit. It *may* have required the HDMI on the TV to be switched to an ARC connection. Or, it may have been a stereo RCA-type cable from the audio outputs of the TV to the AUX (or something) input on the stereo. I've done both and don't remember which I did for the Jenson.

As for BT pairing...yep - it's a problem with those units - 'nuf said.

And for zone control. It *seems like* as you toggled through the zones you had independent volume control for each zone. It's not intuitive at all, but for example, if you have zone "B" selected, you could then turn down the volume all the way, thus turning off the zone.

 

[dedmiston]

I traded the rig with the Jenson stereo, but somewhere along the way I made the TV play through the unit. It *may* have required the HDMI on the TV to be switched to an ARC connection. Or, it may have been a stereo RCA-type cable from the audio outputs of the TV to the AUX (or something) input on the stereo. I've done both and don't remember which I did for the Jenson.

As for BT pairing...yep - it's a problem with those units - 'nuf said.

And for zone control. It *seems like* as you toggled through the zones you had independent volume control for each zone. It's not intuitive at all, but for example, if you have zone "B" selected, you could then turn down the volume all the way, thus turning off the zone.

Interesting. I hadn't thought of that. It's as if the device was designed by cats.

The ARC cable is an interesting puzzler for me, because 99% of our content is streaming through our Google Play device. I don't know that the ARC cable from the TV to the device would pick up the audio that Google Play sends to the TV.

It would almost take a receiver like in our home system, but that's way more trouble (and $$$) than I'm willing to go through.

 

[ColoradoKampers]

Interesting. I hadn't thought of that. It's as if the device was designed by cats.

The ARC cable is an interesting puzzler for me, because 99% of our content is streaming through our Google Play device. I don't know that the ARC cable from the TV to the device would pick up the audio that Google Play sends to the TV.

It would almost take a receiver like in our home system, but that's way more trouble (and $$$) than I'm willing to go through.

The ARC connection should work. We stream everything through a Roku stick attached to HDMI 1. And the stereo is connected to HDMI 2 which has ARC. On your Jenson, I think the Mode (input) is "HDMI ARC".

Here's a link to the manual of my former unit - it looks about the same as yours. There's note in that document for the Zone button that says you can press Enter to mute it. I guess I never found that button combo, I just turned down the volume.

https://asasupportdocs.blob.core.windows.net/docs/Owners%20Manual/jwm70a_owners_manual.pdf