Replacing factory radios

[David Lynch]

We bought our '95 Marquis Saffire last year tomorrow .... time flies.  I have done many upgrades
so far but would like to replace the bedroom stereo and the living room stereo and speakers too.  Has anyone
attempted this and could you share how you found units to fit without  having to do cabinet remodeling.
I can't seem to find a unit that will fit within the original opening.  I already repalced all of the other 5 1/4 speakers but would like to change the last 2 radios.  also any tips on running new 'larger speaker wire' from the chassis radio to the speaker located by the stairs exiting the coach.

thanks

Dave

[Larry and Heidi Lee]

Dave, i'm just curious do you have automotive type stereo's (pics would be helpful to us)  in your bedroom and living room? If so, any auto installation shop could set you up with the proper faceplate / conversion kit for whatever stereo you want to install. In regards to running "larger speaker wire" it sounds like you are upgrading to a higher guage wire? If that is the case maybe you can use the old wire to pull the new wire into place?

[Edward Buker]

As far as running larger wire for speakers, it is probably not necessary. There are very high current amps and folks with the extreme systems using huge bass amplifcation but that is not the typical Beaver coach owner. Be sure that the current speaker connectors and the first several inches of wire are not corroded that are connected to the speakers. If everything is bright metallurgy wise, just make the speaker and system changes that you would like. The worst case scenario is that you run the volume control one notch higher to compensate for resistive wire losses. The folks that sell automotive audio equipment make a lot of money on "Monster Wire" and accessories. They will tell you that you cannot live without them but you certainly can survive quite well with what you have. I would doubt that any wire can be pulled in a Beaver coach using the old wire given the way these coaches were constructed.

Later Ed