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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 08:43 AM
  #1  
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I have a '17 FLHX.
Replaced the front 6.5's with Polk 6.5's
Installed aftermarket speaker lids and installed polk 5x7's
Kenwood M3004 Amp and initially I had everything running off the front channel.

I take it to Harley to get the rear channel enabled and they told me I had to have the rear speakers connected to the rear channel speaker wires in order to do that. (Im still not sure about that).
So I reconnected everything totally by-passing the amp and return to the dealership.
They enabled the rear but that was only after a lengthy dispute with the service tech. Basically the options his system gave him was front faring and rear pods. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that it said POD instead of LID.
I told him there's only 1 rear channel coming from the 4.3 so IDK why he cares what it's called.
Eventually he accepted it and we moved on. So I thought.

Next I wanted him to flatten out the mix. He said he didn't know what I meant and after explaining it best I could he still didn't seem to think he could do that. I also explained that you could swing a cat on the internet and find info regarding this but he insisted there wasn't anything he could do.

So I left. I hooked the amp back up and it sounds pretty good actually but every now and then especially when someone is just talking on the radio you get that deep bass buzz. Which is of course is the HD mix.

WTF? I hate going to HD. Sometime I feel like I'm going to twist off when Im there. A 100 year old company that can't figure out customer service.

 

Last edited by Jtpntx; Jun 12, 2019 at 08:45 AM.
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 08:59 AM
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I wouldn't expect a Harley dealer tech to know how to do anything that wasn't related to HD gear. You would be better served by going to a reputable local audio system installer. They have all kinds of EQ flashes for these bikes and would be able to give you their recommendation based on your preferences.
 
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 09:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Jtpntx
I have a '17 FLHX.
Replaced the front 6.5's with Polk 6.5's
Installed aftermarket speaker lids and installed polk 5x7's
Kenwood M3004 Amp and initially I had everything running off the front channel.

I take it to Harley to get the rear channel enabled and they told me I had to have the rear speakers connected to the rear channel speaker wires in order to do that. (Im still not sure about that).
So I reconnected everything totally by-passing the amp and return to the dealership.
They enabled the rear but that was only after a lengthy dispute with the service tech. Basically the options his system gave him was front faring and rear pods. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that it said POD instead of LID.
I told him there's only 1 rear channel coming from the 4.3 so IDK why he cares what it's called.
Eventually he accepted it and we moved on. So I thought.

Next I wanted him to flatten out the mix. He said he didn't know what I meant and after explaining it best I could he still didn't seem to think he could do that. I also explained that you could swing a cat on the internet and find info regarding this but he insisted there wasn't anything he could do.

So I left. I hooked the amp back up and it sounds pretty good actually but every now and then especially when someone is just talking on the radio you get that deep bass buzz. Which is of course is the HD mix.

WTF? I hate going to HD. Sometime I feel like I'm going to twist off when Im there. A 100 year old company that can't figure out customer service.


Not sure what you mean by HD mix but you can only have one flash downloaded at a time
some of the flashes open up the rear channels some do not. Seems the 8/2 flash flattens out the eq
curve the best but doesn’t open up the rear channels. Not sure why u needed rear channels opened up unless
u wanted fade to control front to back. Which really is useless on a bike but some do have it.
 
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 09:20 AM
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Really if you want the best sound quality you can get and still have the f/r fade option the Sony XAV5000 head unit is the way to get it.
 
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 09:32 AM
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I like having the fade. Varying speeds, 1 up 2 up...it is pretty useful to me. My Amp has two channels so you can fine tune the gain for each pair separately.

Im trying to avoid going with the Sony. It seems to be a nice tuner I just don't need it. My phone works fine for NAV.

Im actually not asking HD tech to deal with non OEM. Its an HD head unit. Unless 4 speakers throws them off course. This seemed to be a well known issue and I am surprised that they didn't know what I was talking about.
To me they have done an excellent job and cornering people into purchasing either HD or Rockford plug and play.
I'll take it to Earmark. I was already going to do that for 145.00. But I talked to HD on the phone and he said they flash them for free.
 
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 09:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Jtpntx
I like having the fade. Varying speeds, 1 up 2 up...it is pretty useful to me. My Amp has two channels so you can fine tune the gain for each pair separately.

Im trying to avoid going with the Sony. It seems to be a nice tuner I just don't need it. My phone works fine for NAV.

Im actually not asking HD tech to deal with non OEM. Its an HD head unit. Unless 4 speakers throws them off course. This seemed to be a well known issue and I am surprised that they didn't know what I was talking about.
To me they have done an excellent job and cornering people into purchasing either HD or Rockford plug and play.
I'll take it to Earmark. I was already going to do that for 145.00. But I talked to HD on the phone and he said they flash them for free.
Do you know what flash you are looking for or wanting?
 
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 09:51 AM
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No I don't and it's actually been quite a while since I sat reading about it. I thought there was a EQ burned into the unit that made it sound decent with the crappiest speakers known to man (HD) and that it was something that could be flattened out via a flash setting.
I talked with the guy at Earmark and he immediately knew what I was talking about. He also mentioned something I has also heard about and that was Rockford Fosgate had a flash mix that work well overall.
It's probably a different device that what HD uses. IDK.

On second thought I'm probably just going to put a signal processor the setup and solve it that way. Im not looking to win any competition.

I do recall 1st page(device) is front/ rear no amp
2nd page is amp 1 and amp 2. is supposed to flatten it out.

 

Last edited by Jtpntx; Jun 12, 2019 at 09:58 AM.
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 10:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Jtpntx
No I don't and it's actually been quite a while since I sat reading about it. I thought there was a EQ burned into the unit that made it sound decent with the crappiest speakers known to man (HD) and that it was something that could be flattened out via a flash setting.
I talked with the guy at Earmark and he immediately knew what I was talking about. He also mentioned something I has also heard about and that was Rockford Fosgate had a flash mix that work well overall.
It's probably a different device that what HD uses. IDK.

On second thought I'm probably just going to put a signal processor the setup and solve it that way. Im not looking to win any competition.

I do recall 1st page(device) is front/ rear no amp
2nd page is amp 1 and amp 2. is supposed to flatten it out.
Like I said earlier some of the gurus on here have stated that the 8/2 flash
seems to flatten it out the best but again no rear channels. Yes I have heard of the Rockford
one being decent as well. Sounds like you should add the DSP and get the 4speakers 0 amp flash
to open up rear and have fade.
 
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 10:37 AM
  #9  
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ah, okay in my self righteous rant, I missed that. Thanks.

I was looking at the Dayton Audio DSP-408.
 
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 10:38 AM
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It helps to know what it is that you want and know what your dealer can and cannot do. Harley cannot give you a flash that will flatten the EQ curve. The only flash they can give you is the Ultra flash which is 4 speakers and 0 amps. You'd be better served starting with the Rockford flash and work from there and decide if a DSP is in order.
 
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