Ive seen a growing number of pro audio speaker threads and wanted to share a few things with the group. Recently a couple folks have tried out PRV speakers. PRV is a Brazilian speaker company; their US headquarters is hear in South Florida. We recently partnered with PRV and are now their licensed distributor to other motorcycle shops. We have been working closely with their engineers on product development and hope to roll out a motorsport line soon. We love PRV speakers and they are slowly taking over the competition circuit as the speaker of choice. We are very fortunate to be this close to them, as this provides us access to their engineers and U.S Director.....most shops don't have this relationship with any manufacturer. They have a robust product line from 6.5's to 21 inch speakers and various models in each size so it gets tricky on which one to use, pair with what, and which amp for optimal sound. This is where we come in! The 6.5 is likely the most common speaker folks here will use (although the 8's and 10's are also awesome). To me the PRV 6.5 is the loudest on the market with great sound quality. When EQ'd correctly you can get very loud undistorted crystal clear soound with a pretty good low end. On the right bike it's a powerful speaker.

Now the downside. If you don't have enough low end elsewhere on your bike these speakers are so loud they will drown everything else out. Now the real downside....the speaker comes in a square basket and the mounting holes do NOT line up with traditional 6.5 holes. Most folks will drill NEW holes in the speaker basket itself. It works, and we do it at our shop......but you will have a tough time warranting some speakers that have four new holes drilled into them. Installing them in the rushmore and RG pods also takes some work! Below you can see one of our standard saddlebag installs with a 10inch in the bag using our custom adaptor and a 6.5 with square basket in the lid. Then a pic of us celebrating our new deal with PRV.






(yes I'm wearing a snuggle monster shirt on, and that Henry my business partner on the right)


MMATs -- so if PRV is so awesome, why use MMats? Because they are easy, they fit, and they sound warmer. These are more of a "plug and play" speaker for the average guy here looking to make the pro audio jump! They take very little work if any at all to sound awesome. MMats is another company down here in South Florida and we have a great relationship with the owner of the company as well. The MMats 6.5 does not play as loud OR as a high in frequencies as the PRV does. What it does do is play a very rich warm sound with outstanding vocals in a basket that fits, drops right into the pods AND also fits in the lowers in a price point a bit lower than PRV. If a guy doesn't have many other speakers on his bike to produce some low freqs this his be his best option. If Matt sees this hopefully he will post a vid of the clarity he's getting from the vocals in these speakers. MMats also has a matching 8 inch speaker than can play pretty low with great clarity, they just came out with their micro amp, their Hifi 6150 amp is one of the best sounding amps I've ever heard in my life, they have full line of horns and are coming out with similar horn to the DD Audio B3 soon. I really like the sound of these speakers...and they fit!





DD Audio -- so we all love the AW 6.5 woofer with an AT28 or BT30 tweeter! The D4 is a great amp, and I use the DD B3 horns on just about every build, but after multiple attempts to like the VO 6.5 I just don't get the hype with other better options out there. The VO 6.5 is priced well, its very well built with high end components, and is marine rated so I see why guys run them. They get pretty darn loud and instead of having a warm low end to them they have a midbass punch, almost like a pop. Although the 6.5 is rated down to 70hz you'll have a tough time crossing them below 100hz. Whats ironic is the DD VO6X9 is rated down to 100hz and we play them around 60hz.....they flat out THUMP! Now these speakers I REALLY like. It's a shame the 6.5 doesn't sound the same. This is exactly why we use different speakers in different locations on a bike and pair things properly. A set of MMats in the fairing with horns, with a set of VO 6X9 in the lids is dangerous combo!

Hertz SPL -- this brand really took over the pro audio motorcycle market a few years ago. These are awesome sounding speakers, with excellent vocal sound quality and they can take power and get very loud. Downside to these is the don't play low at all, and they are very PRICEY. I think the MMats and the Hertz are very similar in sound with a very rich tone. The MMats play lower in freqs, the Hertz plays louder in volume. PRV plays louder AND lower than Hertz and cos less. As a competition focused audio shop this is the number one speaker we pull out of customer bikes. I understand why guys like the Hertz line itself, they have awesome amps, great bullet horns, the component speakers are top tier, etc. Hard to find that all in one brand. I think the SPL line is very well made and you can have a incredible sounding bike with Hertz SPL but you will need to install something for bass or it will sound flat, and this line is going to cost you some bucks!

A while back I posted about a speaker line I stumbled upon Tempesta. These are cheap speakers that come in a slim basket. I thought they fit great and sounded great in a set of lowers I put in a friends bike a few months ago. What's interesting is that PRV recently bought out Tempesta! The 6.5 slims are VERY loud speakers, the sound quality is average and the highs break up some so I wouldn't consider this a fairing speaker like the PRV or MMats....but in the lowers or tourpack pods these pro audio speakers can produce some bass! I'm talking down to 70-80hz for a 6.5 that is stupid loud. With the right fairing speaker to provide sound quality these could be a good option to fill in other locations at a good price.





https://www.hdforums.com/forum/audio...-products.html



Post away with any questions you guys might have regarding PA speakers....I've tried quite a few of them but these are the popular ones and the ones I think sound best, fit best, or are most cost effective. I won Daytona with an all PRV bike and currently the second loudest meter score in the country belongs to an all MMats bike including the Amp....so I'd say these are pretty darn good.

 

Great info Alex, thanks for the comparison.

When PRV rolls out their motor sports line will it address the fitment issues you discussed? I'm willing to pay for great sound, but having to modify brackets or pods on a trial and error basis would deter me from using that setup when close alternatives are available that would drop right in. Then again maybe there's a market for guys to mail you their pods and the shop does the mods and sends them back with speaks installed. Might work for us guys that can't ride year round.

Will the mmats 6150 amp fit in a Rushmore RG fairing?

 

I am more than happy with the MMats in my fairing and lids. Thank you for recommending them Alex. Of course if like to try some others out there, but it will be hard to pull the MMats out. The videos below are phone vids and for what ever reason my phone makes things sound a little flat, definitely use headphones or ear buds. Also, the bags are playing in the vid, but are LPed at 2500kz.

Here is a vid to show the vocals of the MMats 601 and 801:

This one shows the versatility (metal music sounds good as well):

 

Alex,

Thanks for the info on what's new on the sled audio scene. As always, I appreciate your personal evaluation of the performance of each of these products from an end user perspective and not just a comparison of manufacturers specs.

Rick

 

So why did we not put the DD 6x9's in my bike, if you like them so much? Not that I'm complaining about my Arc Motos.

 

You mention the MMats 6150, what about the MMats 4250... at 9.5x10x2.2 inches seems like its a little to big to get in a fairing, have you tried or used this amp. It looks like a beast, I'd like this under the hood! Thanks for article Alex... gonna try the VO 6x9s in the lids, MMats in the lower pods maybe?

 

Mike the 4250 is the same amp as the 6150 but in a four channel design. Same size....no way it fits in a fairing.

 

PRV all the way for best overall from the given choices.The mmats are good for certain applications, but the prv will be the best big player for all around versatility. Not a fan of vo 6.5 as well and Hertz are played out, over priced, and just not near the cost vs performance as the other options out there.

 

T

 

I'm SO glad you finally posted this, those Tempesta's are one of the best PA speakers for Tour Pak pods

I was pretty damn impressed with these little beauties.

You do need a solid front stage though, I wouldn't say they are great by themselves but in the Tour Pak with the MMats up front, I was very happy with the Temp's. MUCH better than the 602's they replaced and I'm a 602 fanboi lol