I put a Soundstream amplifier in my Road Glide above the stock head unit. 1 problem I have is that the radio reception in now very poor. I checked the antenna and even swapped out a hidden antenna. Apparntly this is a common problem with a Class D amplifier. I suspect it because the amplifier is located so close to the head unit, in fact touching the head unit.

To get it to fit, I pulled the head unit out and used a grinder to cut the sides of the radio bracket. When I reinstalled the head unit I laid it in the bottom tray of the bracket to free up some headspace.

I wanted to keep the space by the glove boxes for speakers so I have 4 speakers in the fairing.

 

Pic of the install.

 

it's actually because of the electromagnetic interference produced by the switching circuits in the output stages of the amp. Lots of Class D amps and subwoofers do this and is a known issue for many-a-years in the mobile electronics industry.

Aside from moving your antenna to some other location that the amp won't interfere with, you can try ferrite beads on each output wire (to speakers) of the amp.

 

I think Ill just get the Rockford Fosgate amplifier. Soundstream picasso nano for sale...4x520 watts of FM reception destruction . Works great for cd and ipods. Maybe itll work for someone else, but I like the radio.

 

to each his own. and by the way, albeit I don't listen to FM ever, my FM works perfectly fine with the SS amp sitting atop the radio. Difference is I still have the antenna on the back where it goes.

You really should look at other options besides RF because you'll wish you still had EMI after you realize how underpowered that amp is and how hot it runs....

 

Ultranutz I cant figure why Im having trouble w radio reception then. I moved the grounds around and tried both antennas (original and hidden powered from HD). Cd's and ipod are booming loud and clear, but radio reception is definitely a lot worse. Believe me I want this amp to work. I have no desire to take the fairing off and fool with wires anymore.

 

Major, first thing I would do if you are using them is remove the red wires from being used on the high input wires going into the amp. These wires shouldnt be used in most applications and SS doesn't do a good job of telling people that. Simply disconnect them.

If that doesn't work, the easiest and cheapest thing to do would be go by radio shack, get 2 of those ferrite beads and clip them around each of the two high input harnesses (yep wrap it around the 4/5 wire bundle) going into the amp.

 

Ok, I tried removing the red wires (amp manual says attach to chassis ground). I found the reception is better with the red wires grounded to the radio bracket. I'll try the metal ferret beads next. Already ordered the RF, but if the ferret bead works I'll just return the RF. My fun meter is maxed on this project.

 

i hear ya man.. gotta have patience though.. it'll pay off for you...

according to my conversation with SS a couple of months ago, those red wires are designed to be used where a "common" ground is supplied from a headunit that only has a + right and + left and then they share a common ground. So in asking why they didn't document that, the response was "well, I really don't know"