I recently installed a full stereo (sony DSX S310btx, BT 7.1, BT 2180 fairing spks only). I can hear the stereo very clear up to about 65-70 mph and then I can't turn it up any higher without reaching distortion. The setting is at 30, for those who have the 310btx.

My question is, it is possible to upgrade a stereo so it can be heard clearly at 80 +mph?

I am not interested in a bumping system at a stop light, or a parking lot. Only highway travelling and higher speeds. If you were able to accomplish this can you list what made the biggest impact. ie speakers in lowers, another set in the fairing, tweeters, etc

I talked with biketronics tech support and I was told that a setting of 30 was probably my limit for the type of music I listen too.

 

If your model has the low pass filter, set it to 70mhz or maybe even a little higher depending on the type of music you listen to. That made a big difference in my Sony model as I listen to a lot of R&B. If I'm parked, like I was at bike night tonight, I drop it down to 50hz and let my rear Pioneers do most of the work for the bass. You have a great setup with the BT.

 

IMO you need more speakers and watts to hear clearly at that kind of speed. 80mph is really gonna drown out the tunes, put some lowers on and another pair of speakers, get a good 4 channel amp or a second BT 2 channel amp and you should be OK.

 

What he said. . . I have the 310 and 8 speakers. If I turn up to about 22 on the highway. That's about all I can stand. Set at 80hz.

 

Lotta noise in the air at 80 MPH !!

 

Op I'm in the same boat, I run the stock hu ( which sucks) and I run a ss4.520d with a set of bt 7.1 I also come to the conclusion the the sound I'm wAnting my bike to have is not realistic of just the two speakers alone regardless of the quality of the speakers. I'm pulling the trigger on a set of rear speaker lids at the moment although I beleive a set of speakers in a set of lower fairing may achieve better results. Others may be able to shed more light on that, I ride a street glide and am just not ready to commit to having lowers on my bike.

 

I think something is wrong and your system should be giving you more. I have the stock HU, BT2180, and BT 7.1 in fairing and rear pods. The speakers are in parallel so I have no fade control. I had polyfil around the speakers but I took it out and lined the inner fairing with it instead of wrapping the speakers. The way I ended up with this is a long story and I consider getting rid of the 2180 and getting a 4180 and I have considered getting RCA outs of the stock HU just to get a little more clarity. The reason I haven't done either one of those upgrades yet is that I really am satisfied with what I have and I don't want to take it apart again with the weather being so good lately. On interstate my cruising speed is usually 78 to 80, I like 3000 rpm actually. However I do like to run it up to 85 - 90 occasionally and sometimes I cruise at 85 mph. I only listen to music from my iPod through the iron cross iPod adapter. I hear my music clearly and the head unit is never more than one bar to right of center and that is rare its usually center or to the left a bar, and AVC on one bar. Bass usually a bar or two left of center, treble two or three bars to the right, iPod eq flat. Honestly I am really satisfied with how well it sounds almost all the time. There are a very few songs from my iPod that do not fit in this description, from early CDs and a couple Motown tunes from iTunes that just aren't quite right at that volume but mostly all is really good. I mostly listen to rock, preferably 60s and 70s but a lot of newer stuff too. Sometimes it is too loud but still clear. Granted I may not know when a little bit of distortion is happening given the wind noise and Rhineharts but I am like you in that I don't much care what it sounds like in a parking lot, I ride if I'm on my bike and I like to travel.

 

I started out with stock HU, RF 300x2, and polk mm651. Initially didn't sound right until after 2 days riding. I did many amp/HU adjustments until I decided to TURN OFF AVC. Made a huge difference in clarity and could easily be piercing at 85 mph. (gain about 6, HP, Freq ~125, bass 0, treble 0)

Just yesterday, replaced fairing with biketronics 7.1 and will be putting the mm651 in lowers next week. The 7.1 sounds good in garage, but sound is not as good at 85 (gain about 5 1/4, AP, bass -1, treble +3). Just like you, upset they don't sound better at that speed. The sound is just not as "tight " as the polks were.

Plan to try HP with Freq about 80 to see if there is a difference. I'm sure once I get the polks in the lowers on a second amp I'll be good, but would love to hear others opinions on tuning the 7.1's.

Definitely try turning AVC off though. That with the polks on those settings made a big difference in mine at 85. That's my experience.

 

I am also convinced my BT 7.1s got better over the course of the first couple of weeks I ran them. I also believe the polyfil, 3 layers, drowned them out a bit.

 

I think you may be the first person I have seen with the opinion that the polks sounded better than than the 7.1s But i am also fairly new to this site