"Q-Surround" Appears to Have Quit Working

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conradps

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We have the "Q-surround" system factory installed in our '04 Itasca Suncruiser.  The "Radio/TV" toggle button no longer seems to work, as we are getting ZERO sound from the surround speakers.  Any suggestions on what to check?  I can't find a thing in any of the manuals, etc.

Thanks!

Pat, Bonnie & Lily the Dog
'04 Itasca Suncruiser 33v, Workhorse
Toad:  '03 Honda Pilot

Currently camping at Distant Drums RV Resort outside of Sedona, AZ (recommend it!)
 
I'm not sure where Winnie installed your QSurround box, mine is inside the driver's bay.  Find your box and see if you are getting power to it.  There's nothing fancy or tricky about it - basically it's just an amplifier accepting left/right audio input and driving all of the various speakers scattered around your interior.
 
Mine is in the space where the passengers feet would be. -  up under the drop down panel. It's attached with Velcro so it can work it's way loose over time. Also the power plug can become disconnected and kill it.
 
Have found the Q-Surround "box" tucked up under the passenger footwell.  Can't tell if it is getting power...I guess the next thing is to remove the "passenger tray" and get a good look at it.  Still hunting for the fuse as well...Thanks for the help on this so far!
 
New development:  I just realized that when I switch to "radio" mode the Surround sound is working!  I will have to start checking for loose wires relating to video, etc.--such as maybe the VCR, etc.  Ideas??
 
Do you mean it's not working when you swith to TV sound, but otherwise is functioning?
I had the same dilemma with my Itasca. If that's the case, you will need to turn off the TV speakers in the TV menu.
 
Tried shutting off the speakers in the TV menu--and really couldn't find a way.  When I got into the audio menu, it was set to "stereo."  The other two settings you can select are "mono" and "SAP."  Neither of these selections made an impact.
 
Is your TV the original one that came with the coach or did you or a previous owner replace it? 

There must be external variable L/R audio out from the TV so it can drive the QSurround amp.  If your TV is the original Winnie installed one, then it either had variable L/R audio out as a factory menu or setup feature, OR it was modified to provide variable L/R audio out.  Here's how I modified our flat-panel TV for variable L/R audio out when we got rid of the glass monster.

As it turns out, I decided to go to real 5.1 surround sound  8) so we don't use the QSurround amp for the TV, only radio.
 
Very valuable article John. Thanks for sharing.
My unit has 7 speakers. One is not working. I notice the article indicated the Qsurround amp runs 6 speakers. Perhaps this is the problem? Yet nothing is aftermarket. All speakers are the original DHS. Not sure what's wrong.
 
Not sure about six vs. seven speakers Bob.  You might want to pull up your A/V wiring diagram and have a look-see.  If you know what speaker isn't working, you could use an ohmmeter and see if the speaker is open (you would have to disconnect at least one speaker lead and measure across the speaker coil.) If you read infinite resistance, then it's a bad speaker.  If it appears to be shorted or very low resistance, then it's probably good.

With our QSurround, there is a woofer also being driven by the amp - maybe this is the mysterious 'seventh' speaker.
 
I had an professional audio firm install a new 2 din stereo system complete with CD, bluetooth, usb, etc..
The speaker that wasn't working prior to install had mysteriously changed to a different speaker after install, so I know the speaker and wiring is good.
They wrestled with this for some time and concluded the amp was bad. I just ordered a new one. In hindsight, especially after your previous post, I should have just changed to a common amp without the unique radio / TV interface and did the surround sound for the TV. I assume you can't use the same speakers doing this?
 
The easiest thing to do is to use the QSurround for just the dash radio and buy a combo DVD player/5.1 amp for the TV and install the DVD player's speakers, that's what we did.  It's a Sony system with wireless rear speakers, works great; we have an identical system in the stick house.
 
Conradps, any progress on your system?
You should find the fuse on the left side of the flip up console.

John, I was able to get all 7 speakers working with the existing amp. Jiggling the wires in the dash got lucky and found a loose one. My gosh there's a lot of wires in there. Still going to use your advice for the TVs when we upgrade to new ones thanks to the excellent article provided on the patching required to make a new TV accommodate this amp. I did not realize it's not just plug n play.
 
Ok, the update is as follows:  the radio ALWAYS works with Q-surround system.  We starting "playing with" all the wires that go in and out of the VCR and digital converter and noticed that one of them is apparently bad, as jiggling them around all of a sudden the Q-surround kicked in for the TV.  We couldn't replicate it, so have yet to figure out which wire it was--maddening! 

At some point we are definitely going to a digital system with HDMI connections.  I am going to look through your articles as well to make sure I learn from the collective experience on this.  I can't wait to have something that is easy to use and works all the time!

Question:  will the changeover to the digital system impact the antenna box where I direct the feed from (example) Cable TV, Satellite, Antenna, etc--what I mean  is, will I still need this box??  I'm thinking no...
 
conradps said:
..At some point we are definitely going to a digital system with HDMI connections...
Click to expand...
The very best solution

Question:  will the changeover to the digital system impact the antenna box where I direct the feed from (example) Cable TV, Satellite, Antenna, etc--what I mean  is, will I still need this box??  I'm thinking no...
Click to expand...
Read this and this
 
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