Thought I'd share this with you guys.
About 6 months ago I bought 2 small footprint 2-channel amps to put in my aftermarket fairing that iv'e never heard of. I never got around to it until today when I installed them in my 09 Ultra fairing. I've got hogtunes speakers in both front and rear locations and the factory headunit.

the amps can be found here..
http://www.robotronics.com/Products/...e-ask.tpl.html

the only other thing you'll need is 2 speaker level to RCA adapters to maintain "proper fading function front to rear" although not required because the amps accept high-level inputs also. RCA is cleaner so I went that route.

bought the adapters from best buy for $20 each.
the amps were $45 ea when I bought them.
couple of fuse holders = $5
2 RCA cables = $10
all told I've got $145 and about an hour to install invested here.

these little amps sound AWESOME!!!!

wiring:

power i obtained from the orange-white wire behind the headlight
ground I went straight to the frame with it where the fairing is bolted to the forks.

front right speaker
grey-red = positive
green-black = negative

front left speaker
beige-orange = positive
green-white = negative

right rear speaker
dark green = positive
lt green-brown = negative

left rear speaker
brown = positive
white-brown = negative

the front speaker wires can be found on the #27 plug on the right side (if you're sitting on the bike right) of the back of the radio.
the rear speaker wires can be found on the #28 plug on the left side of the back of the radio.

i know these are not in comparison to anything like firecaps amps or hogtunes amps or haw wired amps you've guys used but just thought I'd share with you a cheaper alternative that seems to work VERY WELL. I don't know the build quality of these nor how long they'll last but figured it was worth a try. I'll keep you posted on my experiences with the amps...
FRIKING BLEW ME AWAY at the sound improvement!

here are the pics:

 

Nice work on the install. Do you know class of amplifiers they are? Heat can be a real issue in a fairing for some amps regardless of size and I am wondering if these are A/B Class?

 

Arc Audio makes the best amplifier built for a motorcycles needs by far. My shop here offers the 2 channel Arc Mini amp and a pair of 5 1/4" Arc Speakers installed for 679.

They are designed by one of the top amplifier engineers out there, they run very cool for an A/B. We've yet to have one fail on us, they sound clean, tons of power. They offer a 2 channel, 4 channel and Mono sub amp in the mini series. The 2 channel is the smallest, the 4 channel and Mono verson are slightly bigger. The 2 channel sells for about $320 bucks.

http://www.arcaudio.com/productdescr...125.2-mini.asp

Here is a link to the manufacturer, they have deminsons and all the specs there. They also have a pretty sick bagger in their gallery. They call it the harley mini bagger.

 

GasCan:
I do not know the class of amp but I did run it for about an hour and a pretty decent volume then took the fairing cap off to check the heat. they're warm but not hot.

MusicMan: The Arc Audio amps are far superior amps there's no question about that and I stated that in the initial post. However, I was simply giving a less expensive alternative to those who care to read it. I would like to know the exact physical dimensions of the 2 and 4 channels amps if you don't mind please.

 

2 channel
8.25(L) x 4.8” (W) x 1.7”(H)
4 Channel
11.6' (L) x 5.15” (W) x 1.7”(H)

I know the 2 channels fit fine, I haven't personally tried fitting a 4 channel. There may be more work involved with that additional size. The 2 channel can also power 4 speakers if sizing was an issue.

1 speaker on each channel with show you 70 RMS per speaker, when you parallel 2 speakers to each channel you'll have 125 RMS on each pair. You just lose front/rear fading with the 2 channel obviously.

 

nevermind sorry.. didn't notice your link.
this is one of the problems I've run into. 8.25" long is not very easy to place inside a fairing. and I can only assume the 4 channel is a bit larger. i did not want to have to mount an amplifier in my saddlebags. real-estate is a precious commodity on a bagger.

 

That is true, if you are really riding the thing you really need that space. I think the 2 channel is really all that can be fit with minimal amount of work, a 4 channel will really take some work or go into the saddle bags.

 

While I mean no disresepect and know quite well that ARC manufactures some great amplifiers, I would not use the 125.2 in an enclosed fairing. A/B Class amplifiers generate a ton of heat and I also know the above model has recently been tested in an enclosure and went thermal in a short period of time.

A UcD class amplifier is a much better choice when it somes to an enclosed cavity such as a fairing and these amplifiers are very discreet with regards to size. A small package with low draw, high power, great efficiency and fantastic sound. I have also used the Alpine PDX Class amplifiers in some recent bikes and while it's a great amp that runs very cool, it will not fit within the fairing and requires mounting inside of the bags. That's a whole other subject on it's own.

 

We've put them in dashs and fairings without problems. You are right, with any A/B you do have heat, and class D you don't. There is just a huge difference in sound between the 2. Arc claims these amps to be class G/H, essentially a more efficent cooler running class A/B. I'm no amp engineer, I can't tell you exactly how it works, but basicly instead of the power supply constantly switching and producing power, it's regulated to power demanded. So it runs cooler and pulls less power. This is to my understanding how the mini series was able to be accomplished. Harley dealerships are OEM warrantying these amp and speaker set ups around the country without problems.

 

Good write up.