I’d highly recommend having a stereo in your vehicle. Listing to music, or a language CD, is great when driving along. Music is also great when you are parked up and enjoying a drink, watching the sun go down. Most vehicles have a stereo fitted to the dashboard, powering speakers in the doors. It is generally better to add additional speakers to the living area of the vehicle, and wire these to the dashboard stereo. This is easy to do for you technical people. It is always better to run your stereo off the leisure battery, rather than the engine battery. Some people prefer to add a different home entertainment system to the living area of the vehicle. This provides a multi-speaker setup, and normally a much better sound. However these systems require 240 volts, and you will need to run it from a mains electricity supply. This is not a problem when on a power hook-up at campsite, but will require an inverter when free camping. This will use a lot more power than using a 12v stereo dashboard. MP3 compatible CD players allow you to play MP3 CDS, upon which you can store about 10 albums, rather than the 1 album that fits onto a regular audio CD. If you are looking to replace your dashboard stereo, and are comfortable creating your own MP3 CDS with a computer, than an MP3 CD player is the way to go. If you have an MP3 player, such as an iPod, then also consider attaching this to your dashboard stereo. More expensive stereos have a dedicated input for an iPod or other types of MP3 player. If your stereo doesn’t have such an input you can buy an FM transmitter. This transmits the music from your MP3 player using FM. You then simply tune in your dashboard stereo to hear the music. Very simple.
Shopping guide
Your local vehicle music store can give you expert advice about what to buy for your camper van or motorhome. They can also assist with fitting equipment. Below are some websites that we recommend for buying music equipment for your vehicle
UK
- Amazon.co.uk – The worlds biggest online retailer. Lots of choice, great value, probably the safest place to buy online.
- Argos.co.uk – One of the UKs biggest high street stores. Great range, very competitive prices
Additional speakers
“It is generally better to add additional speakers to the living area of the vehicle…”
And another benefit of this is that you get the music close to where you sit, and don´t have to turn up the volume on the frontdoor speakers, which for your neighbours often can sound like a terrible boomblaster.
music
I noticed that the iBass player we rarely use at home needs a transformer to reduce the voltage from 240 to 12v. I cut off the transformer and fitted a 12v plug (that’s the type that fits into a cigarette lighter). It works a treat with the ipod in the camper!