I'm not posting this in the audio section as audiophile's will recommend buying a new HU and set up but that's not what I'm looking for. I am (and was) after a bit louder sound with clarity. Here's a quick run down on my experience going the Hog Tunes route...

I have a '13 Street Glide with the Boom Audio upgraded speakers. I was having some work done on my bike about a month ago and decided at that time that adding an amp might be a good idea to increase the sound a bit. I was quoted $300 CDN for a HogTunes amp and figured that would be the top end of how much I would be willing to spend since I'm not a huge stereo guy. I just wanted a bit more volume.

They installed the 2 channel amp for me - and yes it did cause me to lose a bit of reception with my hidden antenna. Paired with the Boom Audio speakers the sound was exactly what I was looking for. More bass, much louder and clear sound. I was really happy...until about 30 mins into my first ride with the setup when one of the speakers blew. Up until then the sound was awesome. My buddy, who was riding behind me, thought that his stereo was broken when I first turned mine on at speed. He thought that his radio and CD started playing at the same time before he realized that it was my stereo. lol

So I decided to order two Hog Tunes speakers (very easy install BTW). Right away I noticed that these speakers did not sound as good as the Boom Audio ones. After my first road test I experienced clipping when I had the volume up and AVC set above 2 notches. There was also a TON of distortion when the volume was up more than half. After contacting Hog Tunes they recommended that I go with the 4 channel amp as they told me that it would eliminate the clipping.

Now $700 CDN into the audio project, that I never really should have gotten into, I'm not happy with the setup at all. It doesn't sound as good as the Boom Audio speakers did and I can't run the volume more than half as it will distort and doesn't seem to be any louder. It seems to more or less max out at half volume. Under Hog Tune's recommendation I also reduced the bass and treble to the midway point. What's the point of upgrading my stereo if I have to set the sound levels below where I'd like them?

Anyway, at this point I am thinking of ripping it all out and selling it. My plan is to go back to the Boom Audio speakers with no amp - basically back to where I started. Hopefully, others will learn from my experience and save themselves some money before going this route.

Has anybody else replaced their HogTunes set up with something that sounded better without breaking the bank?

 

I'm no audio guy myself but u can do soo much better than boom and or hog tunes and spend alot less money.. I'm 420 into my system and it's loud, crisp, and good quality products.. Rockford amp, infinity kappas, Kenwood head unit. The head unit makes a huge huge difference in overall sound

 

I had the full Hogtunes setup including Tour Pak speakers, lower fairing speakers and upper fairing speakers along with their amps. It's finally all gone and I couldn't be more thrilled. Biggest waste of money I've ever done to the bike.

 

I have been reading the audio section the past few months trying to get a kernel of knowledge, and it seems biketronics is the way to go, seems most guys buy into the system and slowly add on, some speakers then amp then Head unit. I think if you pay up front you won't take it in the end.

 

Dark Knight, thanks for the write up as I intend to learn from your experiences. I'm in the same situation as far as I would like a little more volume and clarity without changing the head unit. I've already heard bad things about Hog Tunes and ruled them out. I've heard good things about Biketronics http://www.biketronics.com and am planning on calling them for ideas. Please let us know what you decide and how it works.
Bill

 

Sad to say that there isn't one good stereo Manufacture here in Ontario...

I too was thrilled to find Hog tunes was local till I read a 1000 bad reviews

 

i did a full system on my 13 limited that i just got rid of. the kenwood head unit i do not recommend. if you are happy with it then you are lucky. mine blew 3 times before i got it replaced. i finally added an alpine head unit which worked well. i had the 300 watt rockford fosgate amp and rockford fosgate speakers. it all worked very well together. the problem is that once you go away from the factory stuff its hard to keep the system working well for extended periods of time. my new 14 limited has just the stock stuff and i have learned to love it. if you turn the ATV system up all four notches and trebble to full and bass half way it gets distortion free music that you can hear at 100 mph....im happy...lol

p.s. keep in mind....i am not a huge audiophile, i just like to listen to my music and beable to hear it clearly at speed. also, the settings that i am talking about is when i am streaming my spotify and volume is at full. when using the radio it gets really really loud with much less volume

 

i have to say im satisfied with my Hogtunes amp. What i did was on my Ultra Classic added front and rear booms at first thinking i was never going to need an amp. After a few months I figured i needed a little more power just not crazy. I research and asked what the limits are on the booms. they are 40 watt speakers, so the Hogtunes amp NCA160x4 was my choice as not to overpower the speaker. This was how I did my system without overspending. It took my a while but was a project ongoing over the year. You may have overpowered the booms depending on what amp was installed. I liked the hogtunes due to the simplicity of the hookup and i think it sounds nice for what I need on the road.

 

I just got off the phone with Hog Tunes and they recommended I try a few things out first before we look at other options. I had asked if they have a "Satisfaction Guarantee" as I would take a huge hit trying to sell everything on my own.

They are recommending that I drop the AVC down below 3 and use a regular CD, as opposed to the MP3 CD I always listen to, as a baseline. They suggest that I drop the bass and treble level down to zero and start increasing it, while I'm riding, to the point where it starts distorting and back it out by one or two.

If that doesn't work they are suggesting that I ride up to their office so that they can test it themselves. I appreciate the customer service in wanting this to work right for me.

Based on the above comments and my experience thus far I'm a bit skeptical. I'm thinking that it sounds the way it's supposed to which isn't great in my opinion. I'll give their recommendations a try to see if this can be worked out but would love to hear other options if it doesn't.

 

How is the amp connected to the head unit? Recently I thought I had a blown Titan2 speaker due to not coming on, coming on at half volume, not working, and crackling noises. When the bike was off sitting at the gas station everything was working 100%, when I started the bike I was having speaker issues again. Troubleshooted it to the RCA plugs coming loose on the AMP, tightened them back up and applied a liberal amount of RTV on it to keep the vibrations minimal and whalla... Problem solved,so check your connections.

Titan2 7.1" speakers front and back, soundstream Picasso 4channel amp, Sony marine head unit and Biketronics kit. Definitely have no problems hearing tunes, no matter anything...