I just wanted to take a second and thank you all for the patience and excellent feedback. This thread has gone a lot further than I thought it would and I have learned so much. I now have a plan of attack.

1. My sled is ultimately going to be a 6 speaker setup, fairing, tour pak, lids.
2. First step will be fairing or maybe fairing/tour pak if I can afford it.
3. Lids are definitely going to be a longer term item.

I'm thinking I might be able to start doing some prep purchases as funding allows. Would it be wise to start with the BT brackets, LLs, and Ultra breakout connector?

Rick

 

MM, there are several folks on here that are highly addicted to this sled audio shix. This shix is like crack!!!!
Area 51 really only means that collectively they r constantly tinkering with new shix and try and keep that stuff off the radar as to keep others from going down the many dry wells or rabbit holes that are gone down until stuff has been well vetted. All price points and all levels of audio preferences are generally tested and have been tested. Plenty of very good "go to" products are ready to roll.
One of the recent ones was a $129 6x9 that smokes many $450+ dollar 6x9s. The Pioneer Pro TS6900. Bang for the buck is what it's all about!!!

You just need to be brutally honest about your budget, music preferences, and technical abilities and this group of guys and gals will get your ship to shore. Then when ur on shore, I'm certain u will help the next guy.

Damn glad to have you around!!! Not many things better than sled wind therapy and good tunes at 80mph.

T

 

To kind of refresh the thread a bit. What sled are on and what year? (Mobile Apps don't capture ur signature page info).
What audio equipment do u currently have in your possession?


T

 

2015 Ultra Classic all OEM right now. Want to start right. I know I will need BT LLs and their Ultra breakout harness but don't want to go any further until I'm sure about the fairing speakers. I'm pretty sure that what you guys are testing will require the BT brackets as well but wanted to ask first.

 

Would pull the trigger on the BT355 Line Levelers for sure. Just tell the the sled type and year and the breakout harness is part of that specific package.

I think you would be in a better spot with the BT Brackets but u can always port (drill a few holes) in the pods to get some air flowing. U will probably need a moderate amount of air movement with the current sets of speaks we r tinkering with. If ur on a strict budget, put ur cash into the fairing speaks.

I would focus on a good four channel amp that fits on the tray above your HU while considering the room u will need for the other accessories u have installed like CD, XM, etc. Price range on an amp that will play very well with the speaks for ur sled will range from $125 up. Start hitting up the classified on the forum.

You could even get 2 JL HX280/4 and set those on the tray. Those are bad **** little waterproof amps. Not many left to buy as JL moved the same amp into an ATV / Watersports classification but u can still get the HXs on Amazon for 150 each. Very good quality sound.

Take ur time on the amps, but set a budget ASAP as this stuff can get away from u in a hurry.

T.

 

Ultimately, you'll need those items. Here was my thought process when I started this venture...

Biketronics equipment at MSRP -
Brackets - $250
4180 amp - $690
2 LL's @ $80 each - $160
Breakout Harness - $90
Total MSRP without speakers - $1,190

Biketronics has a package which includes all of the above plus the 7.1 speakers for $1,180
(I caught their sale and paid $951.83 to my door)

The BT brackets, breakout harness, and 2 LL's will run $500 msrp

Basically, getting the package deal included speakers for the same price as adding separates to the cart. To me, it just made sense to go this route.
Granted, I also wanted the 4180 amp. A lot of the monsters in this forum don't run this amp, but they don't speak ill of it either. It's a good powerful amp, but lacking the tuning/tweaking features they can't live without.

I ran this set-up for 10k miles (or so) this summer knowing I'll probably look at other fairing speakers. But I'll have them as spares and they work fine.

 

In one of the earlier posts you mentioned using two NVX MPA4 amps. How do those compare? Bridging one to the fairing speaks and one to the pods?

Rick

 

In many cases on a sled, space requirements drive product selection. When I was running 2 NVX I had one on the tray next to the 4180 and another on the side of the audio stack. Great little amps and really not a more compact amp available to fit some of these tight spaces. Now if I had a little more room to spare, the JL is better quality and waterproof. So if u can get ur hands on the white JL HX280/4 for 150 or a NVX for 150 and had just a bit more room to spare, JL wins my vote. Nice little amp!!!

T.

 

T - So if I'm reading the specs correctly, a bridged JL HX280/4 can do 140 watts per channel using 2 4 ohm speakers?

 

Yess!