The Official 2014 audio upgrade thread
Advanced
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 99
Likes: 5
From: Georgia
Thanks for the reply Jac. The lifetime warranty is what is pushing me that route. The 2180 amp can power 4 speakers? I am going to eventually to buy speaker lids for the bags. First time in over 30 years of riding I have tunes on a bike. I was excited to buy the SG but after getting it and realizing you cant hear the radio well at 60-70 MPH kinda sucked .
If you still need more info, call the guys at Biketronics, they are a wealth of knowledge.
JaC
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 889
Likes: 116
From: Massachusetts
The 2180 is a two channel amp and I only use it on my new front speakers. I use the 'magic box' for the fronts and nothing on the rears as it is all OEM for now. (original speakers powered directly by HU). Eventually I will get a second 2180, as they are small enough to put side by side, to power a new set of rears. Then I will get the 8 speaker no amp flash and ditch the magic box, but until then....
If you still need more info, call the guys at Biketronics, they are a wealth of knowledge.
JaC
If you still need more info, call the guys at Biketronics, they are a wealth of knowledge.
JaC
Tourer
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 372
Likes: 2
From: Someplace
The 2180 is a two channel amp and I only use it on my new front speakers. I use the 'magic box' for the fronts and nothing on the rears as it is all OEM for now. (original speakers powered directly by HU). Eventually I will get a second 2180, as they are small enough to put side by side, to power a new set of rears. Then I will get the 8 speaker no amp flash and ditch the magic box, but until then....
If you still need more info, call the guys at Biketronics, they are a wealth of knowledge.
JaC
If you still need more info, call the guys at Biketronics, they are a wealth of knowledge.
JaC
Pete
Advanced
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 99
Likes: 5
From: Georgia
Wouldn't it be easier/cheaper to buy the BT4180 amp right at the start and just use two of the four outputs for the fronts and leave the back hooked up to the head unit? Then when you upgrade the rears you already have the hookups in the amp available? I'm sure there's probably something wrong with that I'm missing....
JaC
JT
any overheating issues? I just completed this same set up in my SGS, the PBR300x2, Magic Box, Infinity Kappa's, Gain set at about 7-8, HP, FREQ at just around 100Mz. Sounds amazing, rode for about 20 minutes tonight, kept the volume a little over 3/4 the entire time, got back pulled the fairing off, the AMP seems to be running hot...I know that amp's can run hot, just have seen a few posts of guys having overheating issues? wondering if yo have checked the temp on your amp at all? and is your BRT (the boost) light flashing. Thanks.
JT
JT
I haven't had any overheating issues. I think the X4 seems to have more heat issues than the X2. I have ridden for hours at a time with it cranked and it has never cut out. I know it gets hot though! I haven't noticed if the boost light was flashing, I will check when I pull the fairing in a few months to undo the +3 on the tweeters...did you leave yours "on"?
Novice
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
From: Huntsville
HOLY S#$(%*&#$ ***** that was a lot of reading....
I have so much to say. But when it comes down to it, I followed 12Iron883's lead and bought an alpine amp and Hertz ECX 165.5 Coax's. along with the Magic box. So now waiting on the magic box to arrive and I'll start my install. I will take measurements of the stock speakers depth / width of cone / width of surround / height of surround / etc. This way if someone buys a speaker they can measure it and have some info to go against. There has been a lot of talk about surrounds hitting the cover, which like a lot have stated will eventually tear up your speaker. I will take pics of the install and post. Thank you everyone for the input on this forum. Its been a couple hours a night for a couple nights to read through all of this. Then re-read and take notes. I live on music, that was the main reason for my upgrade from a deluxe soft tail to a new rushmore SGS. The USB stick with my entire 57 gigs of music was the selling point, I think the guys at the HD shop thought I was madly derainged, for testing all of the opperability out before I bought the bike. I know the guys at the Stereo shop down the street from me, they offered for me to try out different amps as long as I bring it by and give them an update and show them how I did everything. So like I said starting with the Alpine.... who knows where I'll end up. When we find the right combo, then I'll buy.
I mounted my Infinity 62.11i speakers inside the speaker boxes in the SGS fairing. I split the cases, trimmed the four posts that the speaker mounting screws go through, and then inserted long bolts through the posts to secure the speaker. That's what most people do. Well, I inadvertently bumped the speaker box (with the new speaker mounted), and it fell off my work bench onto the garage floor. The speaker was undamaged, but the plastic/nylon (whatever it's made of) speaker box cracked and was rendered useless. I had to get another one from Harley...special order, and costs $103 plus tax! Wow! As I looked at the broken piece, while disassembling it to take the speaker back out, it dawned on me that all the stress and strain of the extra weighted speakers is directed solely on those four little posts. I had washers under the bolt heads, but the force was enough to just blow that plastic apart. I started to wonder if the vibration and bumping around during normal riding might weaken these areas...the new speakers weigh quite a bit more, and all the weight is being supported by those bolts and washers. My remedy was to harvest the original mounting rings from the old speakers (which look like junk anyway). I used my Dremel and cut them off the speakers and mounted them under the new bolt heads in their original position. Now, all the speaker weight is borne by the complete area around the opening. I feel much better about this. I took some pics to show you how the unit cracked, and my solution. I apologize for the blurry pics.
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5th Gear
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
From: Michigan
Hello all. I have a 2015 Road Glide Special with the Boom! infotainment system and a detachable tour-pak with speakers. I am considering an audio upgrade and have some questions for you experts out there:
1. I have done a lot of research to try and understand what all the various amp and speaker ratings mean, a lot of the hyper-technical stuff, admittedly, over my head. But what I think it boils down to is that the best way to match speakers to an amp is to make sure that the amp's continuous RMS power rating PER CHANNEL is equal to or higher than the speaker's RMS power rating. So a 4ohm speaker with an RMS rating of 75 watts (150 max) should be paired with an amplifier that can put out at least 150 watts per channel with a 4ohm load. Is this correct? Or do I match the amp to the continuos RMS load of 75 watts or higher?
2. My tour-pal is quick detach which means that the speakers go with it when I'm not using the tour-pak. My understanding is that I will have to have the dealership re-flash my head unit to let it know that it is now sending the audio signal to an external amplifier. If that is the case, then will the head unit know when I'm using two speakers as opposed to four? will it make a difference? Do normal dealerships know how to deal with this situation or is it over their heads? Is the quick detach portion of this going to be a problem? Obviously they knew it was a quick detach system when they installed it, and they did mention something about the Infotainment system possibly throwing an error code each time it detects that the rear speakers are gone but they didn't mention (and maybe they don't even know) if this effects performance.
Any thoughts would be extremely appreciated.
Ride safe.
1. I have done a lot of research to try and understand what all the various amp and speaker ratings mean, a lot of the hyper-technical stuff, admittedly, over my head. But what I think it boils down to is that the best way to match speakers to an amp is to make sure that the amp's continuous RMS power rating PER CHANNEL is equal to or higher than the speaker's RMS power rating. So a 4ohm speaker with an RMS rating of 75 watts (150 max) should be paired with an amplifier that can put out at least 150 watts per channel with a 4ohm load. Is this correct? Or do I match the amp to the continuos RMS load of 75 watts or higher?
2. My tour-pal is quick detach which means that the speakers go with it when I'm not using the tour-pak. My understanding is that I will have to have the dealership re-flash my head unit to let it know that it is now sending the audio signal to an external amplifier. If that is the case, then will the head unit know when I'm using two speakers as opposed to four? will it make a difference? Do normal dealerships know how to deal with this situation or is it over their heads? Is the quick detach portion of this going to be a problem? Obviously they knew it was a quick detach system when they installed it, and they did mention something about the Infotainment system possibly throwing an error code each time it detects that the rear speakers are gone but they didn't mention (and maybe they don't even know) if this effects performance.
Any thoughts would be extremely appreciated.
Ride safe.
Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
From: Middle TN
Pulled the trigger this weekend!
Sooooo much information on this forum and a weekend of it in this thread...
I was leaning to the Focal KRCs, but the price coupled to my preference for a milder exhaust note got me thinking that the KRCs would be overkill. Then I got hung up on what is proven and most talked about...
In the end I decided on two sets of Infinity Kappa 62.11i speakers powered by the ARC KS 125.4. My wife is not going to mind the spacers to let me install the speakers in the pods. The components and supplies should all be here by the weekend, but I have some obligations that will keep me from installing for another week.
That gives me time to collect any additional pointers. I will have the bike flashed to "No amp, 4,6 or 8 speakers. I have poly fill here already. I intend to install the front speakers inside the pods. I hope to use the included spacer and some foam between the pod and inner fairing. Line to RCA adapters to go from the HU to the amp are ordered. Amp install stuff is here around the garage...
More in 2 weeks.
Joe
I was leaning to the Focal KRCs, but the price coupled to my preference for a milder exhaust note got me thinking that the KRCs would be overkill. Then I got hung up on what is proven and most talked about...
In the end I decided on two sets of Infinity Kappa 62.11i speakers powered by the ARC KS 125.4. My wife is not going to mind the spacers to let me install the speakers in the pods. The components and supplies should all be here by the weekend, but I have some obligations that will keep me from installing for another week.
That gives me time to collect any additional pointers. I will have the bike flashed to "No amp, 4,6 or 8 speakers. I have poly fill here already. I intend to install the front speakers inside the pods. I hope to use the included spacer and some foam between the pod and inner fairing. Line to RCA adapters to go from the HU to the amp are ordered. Amp install stuff is here around the garage...
More in 2 weeks.
Joe