Zig one thing you can do to add warmth to your sound is to add speakers in the lowers. That way you aren't pushing the two speakers in the fairing for all they are worth. Lower speakers add another direction for sound to reach your ears so you don't have to crank the volume as loud.

I have a 2010 Ultra which is the same basic hardware layout as your bike. The lower speaker adapters to convert the glove boxes to 6.5" speakers run a little over $100. You could get a good four channel amp to power all four speakers that would fit just fine on top of your head unit. You could connect the lower speakers to the rear fader function of your head unit so you could blend them with the fairing speakers as you see fit.

If that sounds like something you would be interested in the folks here could guide you through it.

 

getting a bit overwhelmed here with a boatload of thoughts and a few extra comments. Let me address some here, I have concerns about losing my FM reception as I enjoy a Toronto FM Jazz station as that is what I mainly listen to at home on my old Fisher receiver and now that I think about it when I first added the Aquatic Av Media player there was noticeable picket fencing so I added filter and that helped a bunch but not all but it is now giving me reason to think that maybe I should pull that filter out and see where I stand with the IPOD. Another Item is for Teedoff65, are you using that amp that you recommended to me for your personal use and how is it on FM? Mr. Hoyt I am not trying to add anything to the lower of the bike if I can. I am well aware of what is possible with just a little more here and there and I really don't want to go there. I appreciate it though. CPRHD, Doesn't your head unit run hot for amp to be sitting right on top? The reason I ask is the Manufacture of my head unit specifically points out to me about the extra heat kills. But thanks all for the input. I'll pull the fairing either tonight or tomorrow and see what if anything is happening because of chokes on the LED lights. Back to you Teed off, I will keep the advice in MMats as a possible way to go as the thought of warmer sounds good to me, and thank you.

 

A Stinger SPX700 is good on FM

 

i can solve this somewhat for you if I’m assuming correctly that you’re using Bluetooth to connect your iPod…
On the iPod tap settings… scroll down to music be tap on it then scroll down til you see sound check… MAKE SURE THAT IS UNCHECKED… check volume levels on iPod and bobs your uncle…

 

I understand wanting to keep things simple Zig. I've been reminded that folks up where you live sometimes keep gloves handy in those storage boxes.

I also understand wanting to keep FM radio reception. I have a few stations that I like to listen to even when they aren't playing music. A lot of folks here tend to talk down to those of us who like to listen to the FM radio, but we know what we like right?

Two things come to mind regarding FM reception. One is you mentioned LED lighting. That is known to throw a little bit of RF interference that can scramble reception. I just tried LED turn signal lights on my Ultra and noticed a decrease in reception every time I gave a signal so I ditched them. Another thing that I recalled when I read your description is that Aquatic AV does not list the FM sensitivity rating for their head units. This is usually a dead giveaway that they do not pick up as good as their competition. If you look at the specs of Rockford's head unit they do list their tuner's sensitivity rating and it is pretty good. A proper whip antenna is also helpful. Hidden antennas do not pick up as well, especially if they are under the fairing with all the electrical noise.

As others have mentioned the Stinger has a track record of being kind to FM. The Arc amps are also known to not interfere with reception. They are more powerful than the Stinger but also a good bit more expensive.

Putting amps on top of head units is done all the time. Unless your head unit is a real oddball it shouldn't be a problem. I'm pretty sure I recall reading posts on here from folks with the Aquatic head units running amps. Nine times out of ten the first amp in a build is plopped right on top of the head unit.

I know this is a lot to digest but take your time and keep asking questions. All of us were where you are right now at one point in time.

 

Hoyt, I have picked up on everything that you had to say and right now I'm kind of scratching my head as to what to do first. The Aquatic Av company wants me to send them the unit so as they can check it out and that's fine that they are ready to fix or replace the unit but now my mind is scrutinizing everything like all the Led lights that are on the bike as I have just changed out my passing lamps and head light to Hog Works with the halo and all my other lights have been LED for years. I just pulled the fairing off and removed the filter unit from the back of the headlight so tomorrow I will put the fairing back on and give it a run to see if there is any improvement it the IPOD playback through the aux connection instead of Bluetooth. We'll make a decision of what way to go after that. I just might send it back and wait on them for return before jumping on an amp and new speakers, although if I can find some MMATs pretty quick I might grab them anyways and replace the Kappa's. Or I might just sit and think it out a little more as I don't really want bright no soul or warmth to my music. Clarity, texture and detail is very important to me.

 

Roger that. Your goal is obtainable but it will require some research and possibly a little bit of trial and error. Each time I added equipment to my system I learned a little more about what I liked and disliked.

As far as lighting goes I went with some of the newer style halogen bulbs that put out a white light instead of yellow. I can see fine at night with them and don't have the additional RF interference to deal with. That being said I live in the country and try not to ride too much at night because of the risk of deer. Hardly a week goes by when I don't see a deer carcass on the side of the road in my area. I've run over plenty of groundhogs and other small animals without going down, but I don't really want to tangle with Bambi if I can help it.

One thing I will mention is that some aftermarket head units have a built in EQ which can really help tame the sound to your liking. Once you get past two speakers a DSP is the best way to go to warm up the sound, but if you are only going to be running the two fairing speakers a head unit with a built in EQ might be just the ticket. The new Rockford Fosgate plug and play head unit for our bikes has a seven band graphic equalizer. It is expensive but it is the best fully waterproof head unit on the market for older Harleys. The FM tuner sensitivity is listed at 8 db which is right up there with the best aftermarket head units. Here is a link to the details:
Digital Media Receiver for 1998-2013 Harley-Davidson PMX-HD9813

I have kept my factory head unit (I just got Iron Cross Audio to add front and rear preamp outputs to it) because I wanted to keep all of my Ultra functionality. If I had to swap that head unit out the Rockford would be near the top of my list for a replacement. Rockford also makes a panel mount USB/AUX input port assembly that works with that unit if you want to add it.

I'm not trying to muddy the waters but I find that in some cases it is less frustrating to learn from other folks' trial and error than my own. There's lots of rabbit holes you can go down regarding sled audio but if you list your requirements up front folks around here are happy to share their experiences with you.

 

Man, Hoyt, you sure are disabling with your thoughts and wisdom. I thought that I did a fair job in my first post on my target and why as it can really get kind of crazy when it comes to audio and expectations and that was the main reason for going in this direction. A very good friend of mine owns one of the North Easts most prestigious Audio stores and when I first met him many years ago I told him that I will take my sweet time in making my purchases as I hate to get it so wrong and chase the rainbow for what should be enjoyable pleasure of music. That said I had bought the speakers that will grow old with me because I can pretty much find the electronics that will make them sing much easier to satisfy the ear. The motorcycle has been a whole different thing and that is why I shied away from getting to involved with it for so long. I have been in the saddle for over 50 years and because of faulty factory speakers a few years back I had to replace the speakers in the fairing and chose the Kappa's only because of how the Infinity brand speakers that are in my convertible were easy on the ears, could have gone with what's in my Caddy as a Bose system. You have made some interesting points and considering that most of the music that I listen to on the bike is all from very large music collection and thank god for CD's and the simple way to get the tunes to go mobile without carrying a whole lot of gear to go portable. I sure hope that I have gotten my thoughts out with out sounding unappreciative of your input in fact I am very pleased that I have found someone who can guide me to where I need to be to get more info for me to make the proper for me decision on which way to go. I hate that this process is going to take me to a place of hurry up and wait as the Aquatic people want me to send them my piece to check it out first. Right now I am in a weird spot as to pull the plug and start all over or just be patient and let the process take it's coarse. I have choices for sure, thank you.

 

Here's what I use for amp bracket on my 2009 Street Glide:

 

I know enough to not pay twice the money for subpar equipment like rf and hogtunes crap. Lol