EVO bagger radio input...
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 535
Likes: 14
From: Highspire Pa
J&M makes great products that I use a lot. I think the 4" speakers from J&M are 4 ohm as well and may be better for damp weather riding, I have/had a set of those as well, they were OK. Almost any 4 ohm car speaker will give you more volume than the 8 ohm speakers that were stock on the older Harley.
I have tried several car speakers on my 1990 FLHTCU and my favorite so far is the 4" Infinity Kappa which have high sensitivity, 93 db . Higher sensitivity is better for me because it does not take as much power to deliver good volume. The 4' Kappa is actually a 2 ohm speaker but uses a hook up wire to give a 4 ohm load. I am using the Biketronics Retro Radio kit with a Sony head unit that is designed to handle 2 ohm as well as 4 ohm speakers.
I read the 1996 also uses 4" but can be adapted to use the 5 1/4 speakers. One fellow wrote the the inner fairing is the same from 96-2001 so it is just a different spacer used for the 4" speaker they used in 96-97. A couple fellows posted they were able to remove the adapters from the original speakers and cut the centers out and use them as a spacer or one suggested buying a new spacer for a '98. At any rate, you may want to take a look at it, if you can go to a 5 1/4 " speaker you will have more choices.
I can't say too much about quality on various speakers , I don't even attempt to compare a sound system on our old Harley to a home theater, or a new Harley/metric . The key thing I look for is volume without any undesirable sounds or distortion.
http://signature.crutchfield.com/S-x...ssi=0&tp=27794
I have tried several car speakers on my 1990 FLHTCU and my favorite so far is the 4" Infinity Kappa which have high sensitivity, 93 db . Higher sensitivity is better for me because it does not take as much power to deliver good volume. The 4' Kappa is actually a 2 ohm speaker but uses a hook up wire to give a 4 ohm load. I am using the Biketronics Retro Radio kit with a Sony head unit that is designed to handle 2 ohm as well as 4 ohm speakers.
I read the 1996 also uses 4" but can be adapted to use the 5 1/4 speakers. One fellow wrote the the inner fairing is the same from 96-2001 so it is just a different spacer used for the 4" speaker they used in 96-97. A couple fellows posted they were able to remove the adapters from the original speakers and cut the centers out and use them as a spacer or one suggested buying a new spacer for a '98. At any rate, you may want to take a look at it, if you can go to a 5 1/4 " speaker you will have more choices.
I can't say too much about quality on various speakers , I don't even attempt to compare a sound system on our old Harley to a home theater, or a new Harley/metric . The key thing I look for is volume without any undesirable sounds or distortion.
http://signature.crutchfield.com/S-x...ssi=0&tp=27794
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 8,198
Likes: 3,087
From: NW AR
I replaced my HD speakers with JBL GTO 427's. They sound better than the HD speakers and fit in the original hole with the original screws just fine on my bike. My inner faring is going to be different than your's. A lot of people with the newer ones that take the bigger speakers like the GTO 527's.
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