I'm not that experienced with audio beyond a simple head unit and speakers. I have been looking at buying a detachable fairing for my road king. I am considering a dragonfly with 6x9s. Does anyone have any recomendations of what to use in their fairings as far as a headunit/speakers/amp? Their basic setup for a headunit and focal speakers is $600 without an amp so I am just wondering what else my options would be. I'm not totally against using their setup by any means but the headunit they offer does not have blue tooth or anyway for me to use any devices other than my ipod and that's my biggest issue. Also, anyone using their basic system? If so, how does it sound without an amp? Thanks in advance.

 

DF IMO makes the best fairing out there so good choice. The major thing here is determining mounting depth for speakers. Focals are good speakers but you can certainly do better on the headunit. Im wondering also if there is enough room to slap a SS PN4.520d in there bridged to those focals? We need dragonfly2000 in here on this one

 

Ultra - I did some researching on their website. Says their fairings can accept 6x9 speakers of 3-1/16" depth and 3-9/16" magnet diameter. Also, their stage 2 upgrade appears to come with the 125.2 arc mini amp which measures 8.25 x 4.8 x 1.7.

 

Hey guys, Yes there is a lot of room intentionally built into the Dragonfly Fairing for even a arc 125.4, or 804XDI amp which is way bigger than the SS amp your speaking of. so don't worry if the SS will fit.
As far as the head unit there are a lot of other choices out there, but I'll give you a little bit of back ground on why we use the one we do.

First; is it is IP 66 compliant. Meaning Waterproof against "streaming water jets", as well as dust tight.
http://www.mpl.ch/info/IPratings.html

Second; Purpose built chassis for the high demands of being on a boat pounding on the waves for its entire life. Perfect for the conditions of being on a rubber mounted bike.

Third; LCD screen able to be seen in direct sunlight unlike LED screen that cant.

Fourth; large buttons for when you are using gloves, keep in mind the non fairing bikes don't have hand controls. Although we do have a module coming in June'ish that will allow you to be able to use hand controls on this radio on the FLHR, FLST models.

Fifth; The standard single DIN radios out there that call themselves "MARINE" are much like the Kenwood's we sold a couple thousand of. Quite simply car stereo's that have a "conformal coated circuit board" which helps only with moisture in the air. The face plates usually don't have any extra protection what so ever, yet they call themselves "Marine"
I have tried to get companies such as Sony, and Alpine to give the IP rating of their units with not one responce.

I know I tend to ramble some times on this stuff, its just so much info goes into the decisions we make in this business it hard to only give "Part of the reason" It is not Bluetooth, I know. But one hell of a tough unit!

We do sell the fairing without the radio for those that wish to go their own route however, if buying marine car stereo, be easy on it.

 

Thanks for chiming in Dragonfly. Do you know of anyway to plug in something like my phone into your headunit? Are there any adapters from the ipod connection to a regular headphone jack that you are aware of? I definitely like the looks of your fairing with that headunit since it does not require the marine cover but I'm afraid I might regret it if I forget the ipod at home or what not. Also, what is the biggest difference of running just the head unit and speakers vs adding an amp? Is it just more clarity at higher volumes? I tend to try and stay off the freeways so I'm typically not going to be riding 75mph but more in the 45-60 range on backroads.

 

The current radio does have AUX in RCA plugs on the back that can be adapted to any 3.5 mini plug with a cord.
I am told that the radio they are spec building for us that is available June will have USB input that will allow any device. It is to be a little step up in options with full color screen, and a few other creature comforts primarily for the factory fairing guys. The price however will probably go from $390.00 retail for the current model to $600.00'ish.

Check out this link;
http://www.aquaticav.com/store/buy/source-units
Either the AQ-DM-4UBT OR THE AQ-DM-4U would work for what you want. They both have a two way remote control that has a display for all your volume, bass, treble, Bal, fad. plus!
AM/FM with antenna input
4 channels deck power which is 2 ohm stable
RCA out,
volume, mode, track, and power buttons on the outside as well.
These units have USB input and the 4UBT is blue tooth.
the radio we normally use is 396.00 of the 600.00 package, so either one of these may work better for you and save a couple $$. Still paired with a set of $200.00 Focal's this thing will rock.
Standard deck power is good with 6X9's to about 65 with good clear sound and easy song recognition. Above those speeds an amplifier is advised for true quality sound.
Keep in mind amps are an easy addition at a later time. So run a standard system first if you are on the fence as you can alway upgrade at a later time.

 

That's an interesting reccomendation. Have you ever installed one of these before in your fairings in place of a regular headunit? Just curious of what it would look like and how well it would hold up. I did also find a marine grade aux input that I think might work as well if I stick with your regular headunit. Do you guy's ever install anything like that on your fairings? Not sure how crazy I am about cutting a hole into a brand new fairing. Just one other question, you mentioned I can always go back and install an amp later on if need be. What would be required to do that? Is there a mounting spot already in the fairing for it or would I need to fab something up?

 

I agree. what the industry has out there labeled as "marine-grade" is a joke. I don't have any experience with the DF head unit setup but looks sharp and functional and of course the IP66 rating is pinacle with REAL marine grade stuff.