You are here: Forums Vans & Minivans Honda Odyssey Honda Odyssey Audio, iPod, Bluetooth, Video Questions

Honda Odyssey Audio, iPod, Bluetooth, Video Questions

649 messages,  Last post on Nov 30, 2009 at 8:43 PM

You are in the Honda Odyssey Forum. Your Host is Karens

What is this discussion about? Honda Odyssey, Audio, Entertainment System, Van

Messages Page 2 of 65 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 65 Prev Next Last

Go To Msg # Search This Discussion

#11 of 649 More Back Seat Theater by seahoss Mar 08, 2001 (8:48 pm)
My Back Seat Theater package was delivered yesterday and installed last night. It should have only taken an hour but I spent that much time just worrying about the placement and measuring to get the cutting template centered. I wound up mounting the brackets right in the middle of the cross beam above the door pillars because that was as far as I could pass a coat hanger over the headliner from the second row dome lights without running into stiff resistance. The toughest part (psychologically) was cutting the two 3/4" holes in the headliner of my month-old van. I used a sharp, narrow Exacto blade (the headliner is about half an inch thick) and the plugs came out so cleanly that I am sure I could replace them and no one would notice. The pictures under "Complete Package" and "Installation Instructions" at http://www.backseattheater.com show the pieces and process pretty clearly. The mounting brackets are secured by a split "T" that is inserted through the cut hole and positioned above the headliner, one half at a time. The bottom of the "T" passes through the bracket, which is secured with a threaded cap. I pulled the power wire from one of the brackets over the headliner to the dome light with a coat hanger and spliced it to the black lead on the outside. This wire is hot when the dashboard light switch is in the middle and off position. I pulled the wire from the other bracket to the other dome light and grounded it to the mounting screw. The monitor fit into the brackets perfectly and locked securely into place with spring-loaded levers. The whole unit seems extremely solid just due to the rigidity of the headliner and the secure grip of the bracket and "T" design. In the closed position, the monitor is held flat against the ceiling by tension in the same way the sun visors are held up, and it can be similarly placed at varying angles for best viewing. Because there is no collar or other housing, the monitor has a very low profile when closed, and does not create an obstruction.   Since video and stereo sound signals are broadcast to the monitor via a gigahertz- frequency radio transmitter, the video cassette player can be placed anywhere in the van with clean reception. I fired up a "Blue's Clues" tape to simulate real-world conditions, and the picture and sound were surprisingly clear--particularly the sound since the built-in speakers are only 2". And I am sure I will like the sound even better when the kids are using the infrared headphones.   All in all, I am pretty pleased with the design, construction, and output of the system, but I will be able to make a more thorough assessment on our upcoming road trip during spring break. At the least, the ease of installation lived up to the vendor's claims.
#12 of 649 seahoss by gess Mar 09, 2001 (7:44 am)
Where did you place the player? Will it fit under the passenger seat?
#13 of 649 Player placement by seahoss Mar 09, 2001 (10:03 pm)
The video cassette player that came with the Back Seat Theater is fairly compact and it fits pretty snugly under the second row seats. It should also do well under the front passenger seat if the storage bin is removed, but it would need to be secured under the third row seat. The transmitter is so small that it isn't a problem, and since it is not attached, the player could be easily swapped on the fly for a PlayStation or DVD. About the player: it is a Sylvania four-head stereo hi-fi with a nice compliment of features including an extension remote-control reciever on a wire long enough to run anywhere in the van.
#14 of 649 Video System by dmathews3 Mar 10, 2001 (7:48 am)
Tomorrows (Sunday) Best Buy has the Video Traveler by SteelHorse on sale for $319.99 -$20.00 rebate for $299.99. Fits between the front seats and comes with a VHSplayer, monitor and remote. Sounds like a good deal. Didn't say what size monitor
#15 of 649 video system by rollie66 Mar 10, 2001 (12:05 pm)
I have been researching alot of systems. The back seat theatre sounds great. Seahoos does the wireless transmitter have an audio out? I know I can go from vcr directly to car stereo, however I want to be able to use both or either one. Is the vcr 12 volt and 110. also Does the vcr record.   The Steel horse system at Best buy is 4inch. Does anyone have experience with a 4inch display?
#16 of 649 Video system by seahoss Mar 15, 2001 (10:18 pm)
The wireless transmitter on the Back Seat Theater has both video out and stereo audio out, however, since it is high frequency (gigahertz range) it is not receivable through the FM radio. Unfortunately, the wireless head phones do not use the same transmitter, but are line-of-sight infrared from a second transmitter built into the monitor housing. I was extremely disappointed with the sound from the head phones and am sending them back. TMI gave a return authorization for them without argument, but the customer service rep did mention that they had not had that complaint before. Maybe I just got two bad pairs from the same lot. I do plan to research adding an RF modulator to route the sound to the stereo system (for better sound, and so I can route the sound to just the rear speakers when necessary).   The videocassette player is a 12-volt Sylvania 4-head, hi-fi stereo player with 181-channel tv tuner, but it is a player only, with no record capability. I have not tried the tv tuner since the unit does not come with an antenna.   Still, the system performed very well during our recent trip, and I would highly recommend it, but without the wireless head phones based on my experience.
#17 of 649 DVD mounting ideas: by phil47 Apr 07, 2001 (11:50 am)
I've got a 2001 EX and I'm having a hard time figuring out a good location to mount an in-dash DVD player for a flip-down ceiling-mount video system. All the units available (Clarion, Alpine, Panasonic) are a full DIN. The pocket below the CD head unit in about 3/4 DIN. Replacing the stock Honda head unit with a DVD head unit would render the steering wheel stereo controls useless. I could have it mounted below the passenger seat, but I would have to permanently remove the storage tray and I'd rather not do that if possible.   Any suggestions? Thanks.
#18 of 649 To: Seahoss by mikeclarke Jun 01, 2001 (8:13 am)
What you have sounds perfect for my 1999 Odyssey EX. The price is pretty steep, though.   My stop-gap solution to keep our daughter amused on road trips consists of a 12VDC to 120VAC inverter, a home VCR, and a 2.7" LCD TV mounted to my seatback with an elastic band. I think the screen is small, but it's no different from viewing a 21" TV from about 10'.   I thought about a "Video Traveller" soloution, but there's enough junk lying around on road trips as it is. The only thing that worries me about an overhead unit is that I'll have to go through the entire install AGAIN if I ever sell the van.   Questions: What is the exact mounting location in terms of inches from fixed reference points (e.g. Homelink panel, dome lights, etc.)? Why did you run one wire to one dome light and one to the other?
#19 of 649 My <$200 video solution by cincy_ody_mike Jun 03, 2001 (7:38 pm)
Buy a 9" TV/VCR combo with a 12 volt adapter. Put the kids in the back row. Fold one of the middle seats all the way forward and put the TV on top. Hold it down with some bungee cords. Not the most graceful solution, but the kids love it, which means mom and dad love it! Beats a 5" screen. For the next trip, I might try to put the TV on the floor between the middle seats so I can fold down the rear seat to hold more luggage. Replies to this message: minivandriver (Oct 16, 2004 11:31 am)
#20 of 649 I want to re-install a JVC CD changer with DIN head peice... by pnthobby Jun 08, 2001 (8:47 am)
I took this system out of my 94 Accord EX when I traded in, and wanted to know if anyone knows if the harness (I soldered the connection harness to plug in directly in the Accord) will connect to the Ody's harness. I realize that the steering wheel controls may not work, but I don't mind. System has a remote controller and a 12 disc changer, and I would really like to use it again, unless I have serious wiring trouble. Thanks for your help in this matter...   Paul Weber Bedford, Indiana :m5:

Messages Page 2 of 65 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 65 Prev Next Last

Go To Msg # Search This Discussion

You are here: Forums Vans & Minivans Honda Odyssey Honda Odyssey Audio, iPod, Bluetooth, Video Questions