Dumb Question on Stereo/DVD Interface

[Rick D]

I don't know how I get into these things. After a friend showed me how great his boat DVD played through his stereo, I decided to do the same thing. The TV sits between the cabin stereo speakers. So, I purchased a good quality DVD player. It is a player only; it has no built-in tuner. I took the audio output and ran it into the Pioneer stereo input jacks. Works great except for two things: It only played through the rear speakers. There is no volume control at the stereo. The first I fixed by swapping the front and rear speaker leads. None of the balance or fader contols work in the aux setting. For the second, I'm stumped. The audio controls on the DVD only work when conected to a compatable tuner, per the manual (read: same brand). The Pioneer manual is devoid of information concerning use or control of the audio input. There must be something really obvious I'm missing, but I'm sure missing it. Rick D.

 

[Clayton]

A thought...

I once did the same sort of thing and this is what I discovered. Some of the audio inputs are set for low level inputs only, with others being set for high levels of input. I once tried to plug a CD player into an older system through the only available input, the record player jack. Something went very wrong (read "I let all the smoke out of the tuner"). It doesn't sound like this happened to you luckily. Are there any other inputs you could try?Good luck,Claytons/v Walkabout

 

[Henry Scurlock]

Power amp

It sounds like the stereo inputs of the Pioneer unit are directly into the power amp section. This is after the processing controls (volume, eq, fader, balance).If the DVD has a headphone output it may have a level control you could use as a volume. Or you might try feeding the headphone output through a cassette adapter (like those used on portable CD players for a car) into the Pioneer front end.

 

[Jeff M21319]

Need a bit more info

Hey Rick-Is the Pioneer stereo a home or car unit? Do you have the model #? When you say only the rear speakers work, is the unit a home style stereo with surround sound or simply a car unit with four speakers? If you can give me a bit more info I'll try to help you figure it out.Jeff

 

[Daniel Jonas]

FM Modulator

You can probably solve the problem with an FM Modulator. Sits behind the radio and transmits through the FM section. Type it into a search engine.Dan Jonas (S.V Feije II)

 

[Rick D]

Hi, Jeff M. Thanks.

It is a Pioneer KEH P4900. It's a car stereo. Rick D.PS: Since the DVD is 12 volt, I was hoping to replace the TV with a 12 volt LCD too, thereby eliminating the need to run the inverter. No big deal since we don't watch much TV away from shore power, but it just seemed to be a sanitary way to set it up.

 

[Steve Dion]

Have you found a 12vdc LCD?

Rick:I also had this bright idea that I could run the monitor off the 12vdc power. Wellll that is really not the case that I have found. Our Samsung shows the the monitor is 12vdc at 3+ amps. The fact is that they are 12vdc internal but only really designed for a 115vac source through one of their fancy little transformers. When I started looking for something to power the monitor they only would support up to about 1 amp. There have been some posts regarding this in the past and I guess the mfg. do not recommend using a DC power source either.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Ah, Steve, If your brick powers your monitor with

12VDC, you got it! Just hook up your battery bank (a breaker) to your monitor and enjoy. Just be sure of your polarity.

 

[Rick D]

Well, Steve, I THOUGHT I had..

..but your post may suggest I did not. I just thought if it had a 12 volt input from the transformer, I could use it directly. I'll do some research. Rick D.

 

[Jeff M21319]

Hey Rick

A quick question, did you plug the DVD player into the RCA jacks on the back of the stereo? If so, this would explain the problem, as those jacks are actually rear channel OUTPUTS for an external amp. This is why you have no volume control and the sound comes only from the rear speakers, as you are actually back-feeding the rear amp inside the stereo. What you need is an adaptor cable that will let you access the port for the external CD changer audio input. If I remember right the Pioneer part number is 'CD-RB10'. You should be able to get that from Crutchfield. (www.crutchfield.com) Basically it's a short cord that will adapt their proprietary connector to a pair of standard RCA females that will take the low-level output from your DVD and treat it just like it was coming from one of their CD changers, so you'll have volume, tone controls, fader, etc. Should cost around $30-$35.Hope this helps,Jeff

 

[Jeff M21319]

Hey Rick-one more thing

Just out of curiosity, I went over to Crutchfields website and they do have the adapter. From their home page, on the left side under 'CAR PRODUCTS' click 'CAR AUDIO & VIDEO INSTALLATION' then on that page under 'RECEIVER INSTALLATION' click 'AUXILIARY INPUT ADAPTERS'. On that page scroll down about halfway and you'll find it as 'CD-RB10' for $34.99. Crutchfield also has a pretty decent 800# helpline that you may want to call and check with to make certain that's the right adapter for your stereo, but I'm pretty sure it is.Have a good one,Jeff

 

[Rick D]

Hey, Jeff M.

*o I did as you thought in your prior post. I see what you mean. If there had been some decent instructions with the Pioneer, I wouldn't have done that. I will check out the link; thanks for the lead. Now I will have to figure out how to hang that on and still keep my changer. Grrrr. Rick D.PS, Jeff. The Pioneer CDRB20 looks like the hot ticket to do both what the ..10 unit will do but retain the changer functionality. I'm ordering one today. I really appreciate your help on this. It all makes sense now.