Winter upgrades. Looking for advice.
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Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 553
Likes: 14
From: Southern NH
Winter upgrades. Looking for advice.
My current set up is a Kenwood x898 head unit, Jl XD400 amp bridged to some Hertz HSK165XL speakers.
Bike is 2003 Electra Glide.
I'm making some big changes to my bike and would like to put some 6x9's in the lids. I know if need to add an amp go bigger. I would like to keep the amp in the fairing and have no plans of adding anymore than the 4 speakers. No lowers or tourpak.
Also I'm not opposed to trying to sell the amp and speakers and starting over if that may be my best route.
My iniatial thoughts were ditch the Jl amp keep my eyes open for a arc 600.4 or hdp4 (if i can fit in into the fairing) Not sure which 6x9s would be best with the XL's up front
Another thought was selling the Jl amp and hertz XL's and still prolly look for a Arc or Hertz amp and mmats and horns up front and DD 6x9s in the lids.
I know you guys love this stuff and can set me up in the right direction.
Bike is 2003 Electra Glide.
I'm making some big changes to my bike and would like to put some 6x9's in the lids. I know if need to add an amp go bigger. I would like to keep the amp in the fairing and have no plans of adding anymore than the 4 speakers. No lowers or tourpak.
Also I'm not opposed to trying to sell the amp and speakers and starting over if that may be my best route.
My iniatial thoughts were ditch the Jl amp keep my eyes open for a arc 600.4 or hdp4 (if i can fit in into the fairing) Not sure which 6x9s would be best with the XL's up front
Another thought was selling the Jl amp and hertz XL's and still prolly look for a Arc or Hertz amp and mmats and horns up front and DD 6x9s in the lids.
I know you guys love this stuff and can set me up in the right direction.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 6,621
Likes: 412
From: Indianapolis IN.
My current set up is a Kenwood x898 head unit, Jl XD400 amp bridged to some Hertz HSK165XL speakers.
Bike is 2003 Electra Glide.
I'm making some big changes to my bike and would like to put some 6x9's in the lids. I know if need to add an amp go bigger. I would like to keep the amp in the fairing and have no plans of adding anymore than the 4 speakers. No lowers or tourpak.
Also I'm not opposed to trying to sell the amp and speakers and starting over if that may be my best route.
My iniatial thoughts were ditch the Jl amp keep my eyes open for a arc 600.4 or hdp4 (if i can fit in into the fairing) Not sure which 6x9s would be best with the XL's up front
Another thought was selling the Jl amp and hertz XL's and still prolly look for a Arc or Hertz amp and mmats and horns up front and DD 6x9s in the lids.
I know you guys love this stuff and can set me up in the right direction.
Bike is 2003 Electra Glide.
I'm making some big changes to my bike and would like to put some 6x9's in the lids. I know if need to add an amp go bigger. I would like to keep the amp in the fairing and have no plans of adding anymore than the 4 speakers. No lowers or tourpak.
Also I'm not opposed to trying to sell the amp and speakers and starting over if that may be my best route.
My iniatial thoughts were ditch the Jl amp keep my eyes open for a arc 600.4 or hdp4 (if i can fit in into the fairing) Not sure which 6x9s would be best with the XL's up front
Another thought was selling the Jl amp and hertz XL's and still prolly look for a Arc or Hertz amp and mmats and horns up front and DD 6x9s in the lids.
I know you guys love this stuff and can set me up in the right direction.
Always keep in mind we only have a 12v system no matter what the volt meter says while riding. 12 volts. That's it. Now some will argue my point and say "I set my gains with the bike running and the volt meter read 14v" Blah Blah Blah!! So my question to those folks is: How long do you think it's gonna continue at 14v with the music playing? Short answer. It's not. As soon as you turn the bike off it's gonna take about 1 minute with the music playing to drop to 13v. If you have any bass speakers 30 seconds! I won't even mention the lights and whatever other electrical components hooked to the battery. It's gonna eventually settle in at about 12.3 volts which is where our voltage lives 90% of the time. Riding or sitting still. Hence these amps that are bench tested at 14.4v @ 150w RMS will never reach max power at 12.3v. Just sharing knowledge that took me 100 amps and 1000 speakers to learn. Hopefully the next guy will learn a hell of a lot faster than I did. LOL!!!
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 2,267
Likes: 135
From: Midland Twp, MI
Keep the JL amp. One of the best amps on the market. Run your hertz speakers off channels 1&2 in parallel. Pick up a set of DD VO 6x9's for the lids and run those in parallel off channels 3&4. You'll be very surprised at how loud it gets and how good it sounds. Don't need another amp. Guys look at the paper specs on the JL amp and think they need more power not understanding that the JL amp is 1. Underrated. 2. Performs better at 12v than most any amp out there. Fact is: Most amps are bench tested at 14.4v or higher giving the reader a false perception of how the amp performs real world.
Always keep in mind we only have a 12v system no matter what the volt meter says while riding. 12 volts. That's it. Now some will argue my point and say "I set my gains with the bike running and the volt meter read 14v" Blah Blah Blah!! So my question to those folks is: How long do you think it's gonna continue at 14v with the music playing? Short answer. It's not. As soon as you turn the bike off it's gonna take about 1 minute with the music playing to drop to 13v. If you have any bass speakers 30 seconds! I won't even mention the lights and whatever other electrical components hooked to the battery. It's gonna eventually settle in at about 12.3 volts which is where our voltage lives 90% of the time. Riding or sitting still. Hence these amps that are bench tested at 14.4v @ 150w RMS will never reach max power at 12.3v. Just sharing knowledge that took me 100 amps and 1000 speakers to learn. Hopefully the next guy will learn a hell of a lot faster than I did. LOL!!!
Always keep in mind we only have a 12v system no matter what the volt meter says while riding. 12 volts. That's it. Now some will argue my point and say "I set my gains with the bike running and the volt meter read 14v" Blah Blah Blah!! So my question to those folks is: How long do you think it's gonna continue at 14v with the music playing? Short answer. It's not. As soon as you turn the bike off it's gonna take about 1 minute with the music playing to drop to 13v. If you have any bass speakers 30 seconds! I won't even mention the lights and whatever other electrical components hooked to the battery. It's gonna eventually settle in at about 12.3 volts which is where our voltage lives 90% of the time. Riding or sitting still. Hence these amps that are bench tested at 14.4v @ 150w RMS will never reach max power at 12.3v. Just sharing knowledge that took me 100 amps and 1000 speakers to learn. Hopefully the next guy will learn a hell of a lot faster than I did. LOL!!!
Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 721
Likes: 204
From: Jerseyville, IL
if he paralleled the Hertz on channel 1/2 and then paralleled the VOs on 3/4, wouldnt he essentially be bridging the amp at 2 ohms.
I dont know anything about the JL amp other than the good stuff Ive heard about it. Just making sure it would be stable at the 2 ohm bridged. Unless Im looking at this wrong, which is very possible.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 3,789
Likes: 277
From: Hawkeye state
Gann,
if he paralleled the Hertz on channel 1/2 and then paralleled the VOs on 3/4, wouldnt he essentially be bridging the amp at 2 ohms.
I dont know anything about the JL amp other than the good stuff Ive heard about it. Just making sure it would be stable at the 2 ohm bridged. Unless Im looking at this wrong, which is very possible.
if he paralleled the Hertz on channel 1/2 and then paralleled the VOs on 3/4, wouldnt he essentially be bridging the amp at 2 ohms.
I dont know anything about the JL amp other than the good stuff Ive heard about it. Just making sure it would be stable at the 2 ohm bridged. Unless Im looking at this wrong, which is very possible.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 10,637
Likes: 1,246
From: Lake, Ms
Originally Posted by Adenton528
Gann,
if he paralleled the Hertz on channel 1/2 and then paralleled the VOÂs on 3/4, wouldnÂt he essentially be bridging the amp at 2 ohms.
if he paralleled the Hertz on channel 1/2 and then paralleled the VOÂs on 3/4, wouldnÂt he essentially be bridging the amp at 2 ohms.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 6,621
Likes: 412
From: Indianapolis IN.
Yes Sir! Stereo in parallel. The JL is 2 or 4 ohm compatible. So actually you're throwing approximately 100-110 watts at 2 ohms in parallel. You would only be bridging the amp at 2 ohms if you were still running Bridged in Mono. Remember bridging is simply turning a four channel amp into two channels @ 4 ohms. Most amps can ONLY be bridged down to 4 ohms. More often than not that means just two speakers. That's one reason why when we talk about 8 ohm speakers being more efficient. One reason is being is you can run 4 eight ohm speakers bridged parallel down to four ohms, still throw 200 watts to all four speakers and still have a 4 ohm load.
Last edited by Gannicus; Oct 29, 2017 at 10:03 PM.
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 1,812
Likes: 122
From: Joliet IL.
I'm confused...how do you run 2 speakers off 2 channels in parallel...you could wire them in series but not parallel...I think???... I need a schematic!! Wiring 2 speakers on 2 channels is just wiring them in stereo...right...you need more than 1 speaker on a channel for it to be considered parallel...right?? Please explain Gan!
Last edited by Moto Mike; Oct 30, 2017 at 12:29 AM. Reason: added
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 3,789
Likes: 277
From: Hawkeye state
Guys don't over think this. When any amp is wired in basic stereo, 1 speaker to each channel that is parallel wiring. When you bridge a amp that is now a series load on the amp, no matter what way you wired it. The key word that is being assumed was to be wired was bridged. Gann never said bridge the amp. Just because the terminology of parallel was mentioned does not say bridge the amp. Thats the technical way of saying wire 1 speaker to each channel. That is parallel wiring. If the amp was bridged to 2 ohms with the speakers wired together in parallel it is no longer stereo and is a mono load that puts the amp in series and is no longer stereo or parallel at the amp. Clear as mud huh!!!