Don't be hesitant to jump in the deep end and learn exactly what all the ***** and dials do for u, at a normal listening volume of course. Ur ears will surprise u!!!

If ur not getting a grasp of the initial tune, I would not hesitate to PM one of the Gurus on here and I would bet a 3 minute phone conversation would get u realizing how simple these ***** really are.

We have all been there brother, and lots of guys are on this site to help those brothers that follow.

T

 

wevsspot, thanks for the video. I had actually watched that before but when I went to actually hook the Fluke oscope up to try it out, I did not recieve any readings. I think it's my general ignorance with using an oscope. Would I just probe the + and - speaker pins on the amp while playing a 1khz test tone like setting it with a DMM?

As for the amp settings with the BT355, I did some more research after reading your post and found a post by Biketronics here on HDForums that said to set the amplifier to all pass and set gains there. I am just not sure if they were referencing setting it up this way for their own amp, or if it would work for any other amp. Did you ever find out if we can use all pass (flat) or HP? I am going to be tuning my amp with new speakers in a day or so and I am curious to know what mode I should try using.

 

All pass or high pass depends on the speaker, ur riding style, genres, objective.

The crossover (AP / HP / LP ) and associated ***** are essentially a filter that allows freqs to get to the speaker. In a controlled environment with a full range speaker AP would be a suitable setting as all the freqs would be getting to the speaker and generally u would not have to run the outer edge of the speakers capability thus lower freq distortion caused by bass would not be a major factor.
On a sled rolling down the road there is a much higher demand need from the speaker due to the environmental factors. If u keep cranking the volume in AP the speaker will typically take a knee, distort, due to the higher volume demands paired with the lower bass freqs getting to the speak. Bass = distortion as a solid rule of thumb.
Thus on a sled, most folks will block the lower freqs getting to the speaker by using the filter on the amp to block them out aka crossover. Since all pass let's all the freqs pass u would want to select high pass which allows the frequencies higher than the **** selection get to the speak. Many folks running coax will select HP and around 80-85hz allowing the freqs of 80-85 and higher get to the speaker while blocking out 79hz and lower freqs that might be more prone to producing distortion at higher volumes.

Each speaker, amp, HU, setup could be slightly different not to mention your ears, riding style, genres, etc.

At a normal volume, try the difference in the above mentioned setting. AP will sound great parked so don't be fooled as u are essentially tuning to 50 mph.

After u get a feel for the crossover settings, then use the above sticky to set the gains, then refine the gains w the sled running, then refine the crossover and gain settings after a ride. Etc.

Good luck. It's not as complex as it seems but just take the time to let your ears really get to know what the speakers are producing and make minor tweaks accordingly.

T

 

Tailwind,

Thank you for the detailed response. Thanks to you and others on this board I have a good understanding of what each setting does and the best ways to tune. I couldn't have done this without the help of the board and I have learned a lot over the past few weeks most of which I am willing to share with others.

The reason I asked about HP or AP was a post I read by Bill @ Biketronics. I will quote it below:

It sounds like he is saying to leave the amp on AP since the BT355 is actually doing the filtering. Do you think this is the case? Should I try it on AP or just tune at HP? I believe it was wevsspot that also said in this thread:

I am really only asking to make sure I don't use a wrong setting and to be able to get the most out of the setup. I fully intend to check out both modes just to experiment and see for myself either way, but thought this would be helpful for others as well since a bunch of us use the BT355.

 

There is indeed some filtering being done on the BT355. U will notice that Bill has those HPF and Gain ***** on the BT355 set at his "default" levels however I'm not totally certain what that is but thought is was the 70-80 range.

You will not hurt anything by trying all pass and seeing if the BT355 filtering suits your needs. If u want to filter a bit higher due to potential distortion ur ears may not like then switch to HP on the amp and start at around 80 as ur listening to ur favorite tunes.

Just make sure that whatever crossover settings ur ears end up liking, that there is zero distortion at 3/4 volume on the head unit, which is your new max volume.

T

 

Sounds good, thanks for the input. I will be sure to try it both ways and see how it goes.

 

You're not slow

Just closely quoted the email word for word and when we exchanged that email I had never used the BT355 LOC before. But after receiving the LOC and doing the installation I realized that the recommendations were just miss-worded. Easy enough to understand now that he was advising against the double filter method of using the HP on the AMP as well as the filtering capabilities of the BT355.

 

Hey Skrimps, based on the responses from Tailwind (whom I consider a seasoned expert on bike audio) I've left my AMP set to HP. I set my frequency pass-through on the AMP to about 80-85Hz based on the **** position and the recommendation from Diamond. This weekend I played around with the treble and bass controls on the head unit and have got everything close to my liking sound wise. As on my previous BT355 I did increase the gain just a tad from Bill's stock setting, but did not mess with their HPF settings. I need to pull the fairing again and double check my AMP gains with the bike running. Previously I tuned it with the bike in the Accy. position.

 

Glad to hear it. I also adjusted mine yesterday and found that the HP setting on the amp sounded better than the AP setting, so I ended up leaving it in HP as well. I did not end up touching the LOC. I can adjust the treble/bass on the HU and get it where I like it. I also have mine crossed at about 80-85Hz, or somewhere thereabouts. They are louder and clearer than my previous speakers so I am happy.

 

And they will sound better after a little break in period.