Listening to music whilst camping

[jonnyboy]

Ahead of the delivery on my Beach, I'm wondering this.

Given that the main radio/media systems runs off the cranking battery and, I believe, shuts down after 20 minutes or so, what do folks do about listening to music when camped up

Has anyone wired the media system to the leisure battery - is this even possible?

Maybe take a small Bluetooth speaker and listen to the radio/music from my phone?

Live with cycling the ignition every 20 minutes and hope not to flatten the cranking battery?

 

[sapto]

Maybe take a small Bluetooth speaker and listen to the radio/music from my phone?

Congratulation! When does your beach arrive?

I hardly listen to music while camping, sometimes I/we play some guitar. However I got a tiny BT-speaker which is just fine (it isn't one of the UE Booms - which are great) to listen some audiobooks befor sleeping and we often only use the inbuilt phone speakers - enough for us.
If you want to have some a proper soundsystem there are tons of great options: I would go for a BT speaker with integrated battery to charge it while driving. Pros are you can take the speaker wherever you want and do not have to deal with the on boardbatteries.

Look forward to see your new beach and a set of speakers.

 

[Highflyer]

We found that the sound system keep cutting out to be a pain while camping, it also drains the battery. We bought a Cambridge Audio G2 portable Bluetooth speaker. It’s expensive at about £80 but powerful for its size and very versatile. We drive it from earphone sockets on a portable TV or radio or play music from a cell phone using the Bluetooth.

 

[bigmac77]

Bose Mini soundlink

 

[Hotel California]

Chargeble bluetooth speaker but not use it that much ...
Enjoy the silence ....hey ....thats Depeche Mode!

 

[T6 CFO]

UE Boom Bluetooth Speaker.
Expensive but very good.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Tony Beretta]

Bose Mini soundlink

We have both at home. The soundlink and the soundlink mini. I prefer the sound and design pt the smaller one.

 

[deccauk]

We have both at home. The soundlink and the soundlink mini. I prefer the sound and design pt the smaller one.

The Soundlink Mini is excellent. A really good sound for the size of the unit.

 

[Meoncoast]

Brings back memories of a trip last year when forced to listen to music coming from next door camper all evening the sound quality of the music system not an issue but the choice of music was and its volume was !!

 

[Hantshog]

Van not arived yet but Santa left me a Bose Soundlink Mini II. Cant wait to try it out. I think the silver colour if the speaker matches nicely with the aluminium of the interior. Sounds phenomenal too.

 

[jonnyboy]

Thanks all. Universally Bluetooth it seems then.

 

[Loz]

We got ourselves a JBL Xtreme for the Cali.

 

[AnneP]

Bose Mini soundlink

Bosemini soundlink. Plays music from your iPad or iPhone. Brilliant sound, but so compact.

 

[Jabberwocky]

On a budget? Have a look at this. I have one in the house for my iPad. Good sound, as good as the Bose item (I have one of those too) and a fraction of the cost. £50!

http://www.avantree.com/bluetooth-speaker/torpedo-plus-avantree.html

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01NGTF860/?tag=unique09f-21

 

[IanE]

We've got a tiny Jabra bluetooth speaker which is fine, but actually the sound from our 9inch(?) ipad pro is pretty impressive and no hassle whatsoever - no bass though. I think laziness will mostly point us to the pad

 

[Freeley]

Ahead of the delivery on my Beach, I'm wondering this.

Given that the main radio/media systems runs off the cranking battery and, I believe, shuts down after 20 minutes or so, what do folks do about listening to music when camped up

Has anyone wired the media system to the leisure battery - is this even possible?

Maybe take a small Bluetooth speaker and listen to the radio/music from my phone?

Live with cycling the ignition every 20 minutes and hope not to flatten the cranking battery?

When we bought a pioneer sat nav headunit we had it wired to both the leisure and engine batteries, with a switch fitted behind the passenger seat to swap it between the two. Was well worth doing.
For Christmas I got a UE2 Bluetooth speaker which we'll take with us this year, it's a great bit of kit which is water and shock proof so ideal for camping

 

[Skylark2.0]

We get the teenager to take his KS small cube Bluetooth speaker!

 

[GrannyJen]

As above a few posts,

Bose mini sound link powered off the otherwise ornamental inverter socket.

 

[Andy80F]

Addon T3 speaker. There is a great youtube channel by ClavinetJunkie who reviews bluetooth speakers and records Binaural type examples which you listen to via headphones (not needed but the best way to judge between speakers). He's not against Bose or anything, quite likes some of them but there are so many better speakers for the price hence why I arrived at the Addon to replace a JBL Charge when the battery started giving out. It fills the van nicely with sound be it music/films on an iPad (Bluetooth) or RDS from a portable radio (using the 3.5mm in).

 

[Ethel's dad]

Audio pro t3 bluetooth speaker, excellent sound and awesome battery life.

 

[jonnyboy]

So apart from Freely, does no-one use the main head unit? Seems a shame to have to carry an additional BT speaker (however small) that needs a cable/charging/batteries when there's a potentially perfectly good system in the dash. Has no-one else ever looked at running the main vehicle unit off the leisure battery?

Have chatted with Absolute Audio and they are looking into whether its possible and the implications

 

[T6 CFO]

Have a look at this thread and a search will probably find others.
I haven't read it all again but remember reading somewhere that there is a workaround. Not having the skills or inclination myself went for the iPhone/Mac and a good quality Bluetooth speaker option.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/radio-connect-to-leisure-battery.13169/


Mike

 

[WelshGas]

So apart from Freely, does no-one use the main head unit? Seems a shame to have to carry an additional BT speaker (however small) that needs a cable/charging/batteries when there's a potentially perfectly good system in the dash. Has no-one else ever looked at running the main vehicle unit off the leisure battery?

Have chatted with Absolute Audio and they are looking into whether its possible and the implications

I use it frequently if staying just 1 night or on hook-up. Watch DVDs infrequently. Also have a rechargeable Speaker that uses a USB stick loaded with 20 days of music from my iMac. No problems starting so far, but I also use my vehicle most days throughout the year.

 

[Alibee]

So apart from Freely, does no-one use the main head unit?

In our T4 it was just to much of a faff to control the music from the dash (and potentially drain the starter battery) so we went for the Bose / Spotify option. If I can control the music in the T6 from a wandering phone then it may now be an option, but I won't know for sure how that works until March (I seem to remember that it has to be plugged in).

The other point with a bluetooth speaker is that it can be used outdoors too. We frequently have it on a little side table next to the awning/tent as it can be relatively quiet (to not annoy neighbours) and yet loud enough to hear when sitting having a drink. The van would have to be turned up quite loud to achieve the same, and the quality wouldn't be as good.

 

[Tony Beretta]

Audio pro t3 bluetooth speaker, excellent sound and awesome battery life.

I never heard of this brand before but for their specifications seem to be

In our T4 it was just to much of a faff to control the music from the dash (and potentially drain the starter battery) so we went for the Bose / Spotify option. If I can control the music in the T6 from a wandering phone then it may now be an option, but I won't know for sure how that works until March (I seem to remember that it has to be plugged in).

The other point with a bluetooth speaker is that it can be used outdoors too. We frequently have it on a little side table next to the awning/tent as it can be relatively quiet (to not annoy neighbours) and yet loud enough to hear when sitting having a drink. The van would have to be turned up quite loud to achieve the same, and the quality wouldn't be as good.

I agree with your point about placing the speaker on the table towards you. The Mini produces a directional sound that can be enjoyed at very low volumes.