The deeper I get into the audio stuff the more distracting it is :-( I do not know much about audio systems. The thing I know is I want to have a really nice audio system for my bike. I think a 2 front and 2 rear with 1 amp should be fine. I do not know if I need to change the unit as well? My budget is between $2,500 up to $3,500. I mean I am handy and if I have a prewired system and can probably do it by myself. The following brands are driving me crazy: Soundz, Hybrid Audio, Rockford Fosgate, Focals, Mmats etc. Who can help me? Please :-) Just want to have clear, loud music at 80mph.

 

For that much money, the sky is the limit almost.

Stay away from the over priced mediocre brand like RF and JM rokker and even soundz.

Next is how deep down the rabbit hole do you want to go.

Are you doing the install yourself? This will of course save you tons of money. If not, you can still get a killer system for your budget even with paying someone to do the install.

Do you want to go pro audio or coax set up. (either one will get you loud clear music at any speed)

Answer those questions and we can give further advice.

 

How deep I wanna go? Either a prewired system where I only need to cut lids out etc. or a professionell installer.
As I mentioned I do not even know about different wiring like pro audio or coax set up.
I heard a customized mmats set up on youtube and I liked it. But it is different in real. So I am kind of helpless.

 

I can only tell you what I’ve done to my 2020 rgs. And that it is great for what I want and use it for. Even drowns out my friends stock system to where he can’t hear his , if we’re riding side by side. I also installed the whole thing myself and I am not a professional.
I have 6.5 mmats in the fairing and lowers (used lowers instead of lid speakers because can’t hear lid speakers at highway speeds). Bought a amp that was supposed to be great to pair with the mmats (can’t remember the brand) it went out shortly after it’s warranty. Ended up getting a Rockford fosgate 4 ch amp and their wiring harness cause it was local and needed it quick before a trip. Had my head unit flashed for a soundz system. I’m really happy with my system. And many others are impressed too.

however I am curious and even thought about posting here to ask about the helix 4ch dsp amp that American handbags has. If my current amp ever goes out I might look into it depending on reviews etc.

 

The first thing you will need to do is get the head unit flashed for an aftermarket system. Your HD dealership more than likely wont be able to do it. This will flatten out the signal so an aftermarket setup will sound good. Either the 8/2 flash, sounds flash or RF flash is the best.

Next you will need a LOC (line out converter) to be able to run an amp. This converts the signal from high pass (speaker wire) to low pass (rca connector) as most amps use rca to run them.

Now you wont be able to run lowers on your bike since it has a mustache style engine guards and there are no lowers made to fit these as of now. So your best bet is a 4 speaker setup with the 2 in the fairing and 2 in the lids. Now is where it gets difficult for you as there are speakers in different price ranges that sound good or bad depending on what amp you are wanting to run.

Some of the best sounding coax (full range) speakers are gzcf6.5spl but sound better with 200-250 watts to them. That will require an amp to provide that power like a sd 1200.4 evox and in my opinion needs a dsp to tune it. You can go with a sd 800.4 2 ohm bridged if you dont want to run your system in stereo. Given the failure rate for SD evox amps, I am in favor of staying away from them at currant time until they get the bugs worked out. You can run those speaker off a stinger spx 700x4 amp or mmats 4110 amp but they wont be as loud. Yes they will be loud enough to hear at any speed and wont require a dsp for tuning. MMats pa601cx are another coax that sound good and loud with a stinger or 4110 amp. There are a bunch of other options for 6.5 fairing speakers but these 2 are about as good as it gets for the price. ($275 a set).

Now for the rear, you can either look into 8" speaker lids or 6x9 lids. 8" will provide more definition in the sound but require fitting and paint to match your bike. You can look into a cut in lid kit like the rf or boss lid kit. This will require you to cut you lids to fit them but it is easy as I have done it several times. The only thing is the speakers that come with those kits are just mediocre at best. The RF tms69's are water proof and sound decent but wont take much power so they just dont have much definition. After you cut the lids in, you can replace the 6x9's with other speakers and I suggest hertz sx690 speakers as the are about as good as it gets and are water resistant in a hard rain.

This set up gz fairing speaker, lid kit with hertz sx690's running off a stinger amp will sound good and not require a dsp to tune it.

Others will chime in but this is a solid setup that wont break the bank. Hope this helps.

 

If you can cut your own lids with a kid kit, wiring and installing amps and speakers are a breeze.

As gypsye said, lots of options. Take your time and hang out here and read threads. Last thing you want to do is rush into this and either regret your choices, or not have enough power and have to re do something.

The stinger/mmats combo is a reliable go to set up that is plenty loud and clear. I ran the stinger amp with mmats 601cx up front and the mmats 690cx in the rf lid kit on my last bike. Easy to install and very easy to tune with no DSP required.

That might be something you should look into, as gypsye also mentioned about the QA issues SD is having with their amps right now

 

Hello
2021 rgl
I installed yellow baskets, beyma 10" in saddlesand 1200sd and 800sd amps with Rockford dsp. It pounds awesome. Soon as I turn on bike the bass drops and sound crappy. The HU was flashed. I'm being told I need a new aftermarket Hu, soundstream if I want same as parked while riding. The two bins files prevent this?

Mike

 

Note, I am NO expert in bike audio but I have been doing a lot of research prior to just completing the install on my bike. 2017 FLHTK

It sound to me as your radio was not flashed with the proper flash to remove the Harley EQ bump that they do when the bike starts up. ( The factory built in EQ settings in their radio has different settings from both running as well as non-running, plus the speed volume increase as you go faster.) You need to remove these settings when you run an aftermarket system with a amp and have the amp tuned for your setup.

I got my system from Volunteer Audio in Tennessee. They have lots and lots of YouTube videos you can watch to learn or just give a buzz on the phone to see if they might have a suggestion.

 

yes the Stock HU has two BIN files and regardless of if it was flashed, we all deal with this. The SS reserve head unit is a nice piece but I would not change out the GTS radio for one unless it really bugged me.

 

For what it's worth (NOT an expert), I have the HD Stage II upgrade on my 2017 RGU and I just installed the Cicada DSP125.4D, CH65.2's in front fairing, CX65.2 in rear pods on the wife's 2015 TriGlide. Both have the stock head units. The Tri-Glide sounds much better than my RoadGlide.

With your budget, you could go with DSP150.4D, CH65's in front fairing, CX65's in rear pods, and CX65's in the lowers. Just from a personal standpoint, I would not run speakers in the bags. Strictly my opinion, but the 6x9's in the bags sound great in the parking lot, but become irrelevant when moving 50+.

I would recommend searching for a local audio dealer that specializes in motorcycle audio and talk to them about what they like\recommend & maybe even have them install it.