By Chuck Woodbury
EDITOR
I received this press release today. Here’s the first paragraph.
ASA Electronics is providing a complete JENSEN® audio/video package for Coachmen’s 2018 Adrenaline Toy Hauler. The Adrenaline will feature JENSEN’s new App Ready JWM70A stereo, powerful 12 volt JMPSW800 amplified subwoofer, and marine grade MS650 coaxial speakers, along with a 40-inch LED TV to complete the entertainment system.”
I thought to myself: I hope this RV never parks next to me! And then I thought how crazy it is that this sort of thing is even available in an RV to begin with. For Pete’s sake, this is a boom box! Do you want to camp next door? Do you enjoy feeling your insides vibrate?
I asked our RV electricity expert Mike Sokol about this. Mike is a highly respected expert in the audio entertainment industry. He observed that this amp/speaker combination is “definitely a boom box on steroids.”
“I see two scenarios,” he said. “First, if this system is mounted inside of the RV, to other campers on the outside it’s going to sound like a car with a big woofer in the trunk. All you’ll hear is boom, boom, boom. On the other hand, if it’s mounted on the exterior of the RV it’s going to be very loud to anyone within hundreds of feet. So, who’s going to tell the owner of this RV to turn down the music? The family camped right next to them? Park management? The decibel police? Who knows? But I see conflict in the future.”
What I see is stupidity.
##RVT812
I don’t understand why your entertainment has to be my entertainment. Case in point, several years ago camped on the Rincon pkwy in Ca. This huge toy hauler parked in front of us, (stacked parking) set up his camp with enough lighting to land aircraft. Then proceeded to power up his inside and outside tv’s with hi-output audio. To add insult to injury, broadcasting PORN. Yup, I did approach him, saying “REALLY” with families wandering up and down the beach … What the hell were you thinking. Yes he did turn it off…
Its all about money for the manufacturers and their greed is ruining camping. I like to listen to music during the day when I’m camping but I keep the volume low with little base. Sometimes at night after the family has gone to bed I’ll put on headphones and sit outside by the fire, but most times I like to just listen to nature.
The new breed of RV’rs claim to be out to enjoy nature but yet they have huge motor homes that are equipped with fireplaces, large screen TVs, inside and out, and of course outside stereos. I hardly see them outside the campers. They should just stay home and save their money. What happened to real camping when things were simpler like watching a crackling fire, staring at a star filled sky, enjoying quiet conversation with your family or with other campers.
Why does a fireplace inside someone else’s RV affect you. Things change with time, when these things weren’t available that was “real camping” to you and other like-minded people. Now when fireplaces are available and someone actually wants one, they get it. Not everyone wants to or can sleep on “pine cones. I couldn’t get my wife to go camping. So I purchased a comfortable rig and she looks forward to an outing. It seems you feel you own the outdoors. I understand your objection to loud music and the like. But there are amenities that you are complaining about, that don’t have an effect on you, “fireplaces”. You are really complaining about change and stating your unwillingness to accept it.
Rory, in mentioning fireplaces, Ken was simply including them as an amenity that many RVers have these days. I disagree with Ken that these people should just “stay home,” rather than pretend they are camping. Ken doesn’t consider that people like this (me included) for the most part don’t consider themselves “camping” in the sense that many of us did 30 years ago, when traveling with an RV was much more of a “roughing it” experience. It’s the word camping here that is getting confused. Ken asks “what happened to real camping . . .?” Well, times do change and so do people. But, frankly, if Ken wants to camp the way he thinks of it, he can just get a small trailer or tent and head on over to a Forest Service campground, make a campfire, and have pretty much the experience he cherishes.
Well Chuck beat me to the point of the toy hauler crowd is different from most RVers. They haul their toys and boom boxes out to the boonies to party. Music and beer are part of that scene. That is the audience these rolling boom boxes are designed for.
My wife and I manage a campground in British Columbia, Canada. It’s a non-amplified music campground, no music anytime with the exception of acoustical guitar playing. We’re nestled among 75 foot trees in an inland rainforest, it’s a rustic setting to be sure. We’re rated 4.5 / 5 and receive positive comments about the campground for many reasons but frequently it’s because it’s a non-amplified campground. In fact, one guest had read a negative review (3 / 5) about not being able to play music. He told us this is why he chose to camp. We’ve even had young adults camp with us while their friends camped at the “party” campground! We’ve had much success with this policy so, if there’s other campground operators worried about it affecting their bottom line, we can say its helped ours.
Please name your campground. That’s a good policy that many of the readers of this newsletter would appreciate.
Chuck,
This is likely Paradise Valley Campground in Squamish.
https://paradisevalleycampground.net/
Have a 2015 Winnebago ERA motorhome with 2 external speakers. Leaked, causing rain damage in coach. Hooked up to cheap Jensen AM/FM, not dash Sirius/XM. Never use. Do watch ball games on external TV while sitting under awning, having a martini. Sound never leaves my campsite. I check. Never stay near group campsites. Teenagers party all night long.
During PDI the speakers were checked. They came on once when the sound bar (who the hell needs a sound bar with the radio?) was turned on the 1st time. Never expect them to come on again.
Rude~~ in the 43 years I’ve pulled there are those that want to see how much smoke their fire can make while unsupervised children run everywhere.
I agree with Chuck on this one. It seems anywhere I go I am assaulted with other peoples’ music. Doesn’t matter if it’s camping, on a cruise ship balcony, at the beach, or anywhere else, it seems that there is an over-abundance of people who think everyone wants to hear what they’re listening to. It’s rude! It’s annoying! I prefer to listen to the sounds of nature. My hearing loss is at a stage where many of these sounds that people are “sharing” are extremely offensive or painful to me.
We have an old toy hauler that has a modest stereo and outside speakers (no sub woofer). I think it might be fun if we were out in the desert or at the beach to play music at an increased volume. When we first bought the RV, we listened to the outside speakers but were respectful of our neighbors. We found the stereo was either too soft or too loud, especially if we sat close the the speaker. When I retired, my coworkers gave me a small blue tooth speaker that connects to my smart phone. We can listen to nice quality sounds at a very low volume as to not bother our neighbors. We do not use the on-board stereo, any more, even inside!
I think it is just rude and inconsiderate to think that other people want to hear your music. We had a couple that were new to RVing and RV parks and they decided one night to crank up their new stereo in their new Class C. I took it for a couple hours then walked over and asked them to turn it down. Fortunately they did and actually turned it off. I did not say it was even against the park rules (this was a 55 and over park). Maybe then they read the handout the park gave them when they checked in, but we had no further problems. It is just common courtesy I think. If you need music all the time, get an IPOD or use your phone and plug it in your ear.
Well you can add the “disco” lights that we’ve seen on some rigs nowadays and you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back into the 70s between the multi-colored flashing lights and the boom box/TV entertainment (?) I know that diversity is a wonderful thing but do we really want that stuff when we’re trying to enjoy nature and the great outdoors?
Have you ever been to any of the desert areas in SoCal just outside of Yuma, Az on a holiday weekend? It’s a nonstop party out there, and I imagine if you want to hear any music over the sound of all the ATV’s and other off road vehicles out there you probably need a system like that. I’m not into the party seen like that at all, but there are a lot of people that are especially in areas like that. Just take a drive on Interstate 8 at night on a holiday weekend and you’ll see the sand dunes all lit up with headlights going up and down late into the night.
Troy, I have been in those places at prime time. Once, as I approached, the sky overhead was black. I could not figure out what was happening. It was in the dunes area of Southern California. When I arrived, the sun disappeared, and it was almost dark from so much dust. I got out with my camera, but remember putting it back in its case almost immediately rather than have the dust get inside and ruin it. These are not the readers of RVtravel.com. They buy their RVs, toy haulers for the most part, to do this sort of thing. I have absolutely no problem with that: let them blast away their stereos out there in the desert. But when these RVs end up in an RV park next to you and me, as some do, it just takes one rude RVer with its stereo systems cranked up to ruin our experience. In my opinion, these people are not all kind, considerate and thoughtful. And I don’t think there is any doubt that our society is ruder than ever in history for reasons I do not have room to go into here. And when some of that rudeness shows up where we stay with our own RVs and when a boom box stereo is involved, it’s no fun for anyone except the {bleeped} who is blasting it away.
I totally agree with you Chuck. I’m just getting started, and I totally plan on saying something if someone is being loud and obnoxious. I just retired from the Marine Corps and just bought a Thor Challenger 37 LX. Tomorrow will start our maiden voyage heading to San Diego from southeast Texas.
I have an exterior tv and stero system in my new 2018 Coachmen 27ft Lepprechaun and I think it is nice but over kill. Can,t see any good reason to have that much power on the outside. Mine came already installed or I would have opted for something else in the bay or an open bay for storage