Hello all,

I have recently removed the Biketronics 6x9 Titan II speakers I had installed in my saddlebags. While they sounded great and performed really well, I wanted to reclaim the space back in my bags for longer 2up trips.

Instead, I'm adding fairing lowers and will be putting speakers in there. I originally planned to get the Biketronics Titan II speakers for the lowers, though in my research I found some of the reviews mentioned they're a little too bright. I'm still considering them though and am open to further opinions.

I also read about the Arc Audio Moto 602 speakers. The Youtube clips I've seen are really, quite impressive, and they've been described as a warm speaker and not bright at all.

On my Road Glide, I run a Sony MEX-M70BT head unit and Biketronics 7.1 fairing speakers, powered by a Biketronics BT4180 amp. I have no intentions of replacing any of those components.

Based on my current set up and plans for lowers, would the Arc Audio M602s be a good choice, or should I stick with the Biketronics Titan IIs?

Where can I find the best deal on the the M602s?

Thanks!

 

I wouldn't recommend the 602 in the lowers. I ran them in the front fairing before and like them a lot, but in the lowers they will quickly get washed out by wind at speed. You need something with higher sensitivity in that location in order for them to get loud enough to provide fill.

 

Redbeard Roadie makes a good point about trying to keep the volume in the lowers. If you are just going to have the four speakers (fairing and lowers) and have a four channel amp you can put the lowers on the rear channel and use the fader to lower the volume in the fairing so your lowers come through louder. I have done something similar and have no trouble at all hearing my lowers at any speed. Like a lot of things the Devil is in the details. Being able to adjust the signal to each set of speakers somehow makes all the difference in the world to how your system will sound. Back when my lowers and rear pod speakers were on the same channel I had the rears get washed away at speed like Roadie mentioned. Once i got them on their own channel I was able to blend them in to where they do their job properly now. Also if you can get your lowers on their own amp channel that you can adjust at will you don't have to be quite as picky about the sensitivity ratings. It still can be a consideration but not as necessary for volume.

A lot of us go with some type of PA mid bass speaker in the lowers to cut down on the brightness and warm up the sound a bit. Sometimes having four coaxials in your face can be a little top heavy. Most folks already have tweeters in the fairing aimed at their heads so it is not always necessary to have them below you as well. Quite often you can push a PA speaker a little harder than a coaxial so you will get more volume from the lowers that is easier on the ears so to speak than coaxials might be. I know that is what I found when I was tinkering with lower speakers.

Sorry I don't have any advice to give concerning the speakers you have in play. I tried some marine treated Mmats 601.4s I got from Garage Bagger Stereo for about $61 each in my lowers and like them. I don't have a very big budget for this stuff so I was pleased with my purchase.

 

Ah, I appreciate that piece of advice. I definitely don't want to spend the money on them and then have the washed out. Very good point, and I'll look to other speakers to consider.

Also good advice and much appreciated.

The lowers will be on a separate channel from the fronts, as they're taking place of the saddlebag lid speakers I removed. For those, I did exactly as you suggested and had my fader controls slightly favored to the rear channel. Even at highway speeds, I had no problem hearing the rear lid speakers and found that I sat inside of a nice little sound 'pocket' while riding.

The hunt continues!

 

I think you will be able to hear your lowers fine then. Depending on how many watts your are pushing down there you may not need to be super picky about the speakers you run. I am pushing 140 cheap dirty watts to my Mmats and get plenty of volume from them if that helps you any.

 

If I stay with a 4ohm speaker, the BT4180 will provide 180w RMS to each speaker.

I recall that the Arc Audio M602s needed a healthy amount of power to really allow them to reach their potential....I believe the BT4180 would suffice in that regard.

Thanks again, still digging through my options!

 

A decent cure to the tinny or brightness of the BT Titan II would be to swap the capacitor on the tweet raising the crossover frequency. Since the Imagine series came out people have complained intermittently of them being too bright and have resolved the issue by raising the crossover frequency. If I remember right something like 8KHZ will help.

 

Redbeard with 6.5" speakers I don't know of many that would gobble up more than 180w and use it well. That's just too small of a speaker to utilize a ton of power. It can only move a certain amount of air due to its size. Adding a buttload of wattage will not change that. Anyone that knows I am wrong please chime in.

Here are the specs for the Arc 602s from their website:Power Handling (Peak)120 WattsPower Handling (RMS)60 Watts
So if they are made to cruise at 60 and jam at 120 they might sound too bright with 180W going to them. One of the characteristics of a speaker that is fed too much power is it sounds bright because the tweeters are being over driven.

One concern may be also that I have heard your amp does not have a gain control on it. If this is the case you may want to find some speakers that are rated at around 100w RMS and 200w peak or more to better match that amp. One way of looking at it is you have a brute of an amp that was pounding some 6x9s and you are now asking it to be gentle with some 6.5" units.

Hopefully some others with more knowledge than me can chime in and recommend some speakers that better match your amp. On the BikeTronics' website they say the Titan II 6.5s are rated at 100/200 so they may be a good match for your amp. If you try them and think they are too bright you could use a trick I have done in the past with car audio. You could try a set of Harrison Labs FMODS that cap the high frequencies at 6500Hz. They are just little crossovers inside of RCA plugs that do not introduce any noise at all. You just plug them in line with your patch cables. Here is a link:
http://www.hlabs.com/products/crossovers/

Just a few ideas to throw around. I definitely do not think you will be starved for power whatever you choose from what I have heard about that amp you have.

 

These were all concerns I had as well. The specs of the M602s look like I'll blow them out of the water with the amp I'm running. Yet, I've seen several users here on the forums that have pushed them with good results and noted that they do well with the higher power.

Those FMODS are pretty cool, I hadn't actually seen those before. But, that would make it really easy to trim down the highs.

And yes you are correct, the BT4180 has no gain adjustments on it.

I appreciate all the insight so far. Thanks again!

 

I would research some reviews on those Harrison FMODS.