speaker system upgrade.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 3,784
Likes: 100
From: Pasadena TX
Most aftermarket amps are 2 or 4 ohm stable, meaning almost any speaker will work with them. Do not be concerned with your head unit's impedance, it's the amp that drives the speakers. No worries with your stock speaker wires either, you'll need to run your own. With a stock head unit, you'll need to use the existing speaker wires for the input into the amp. Most aftermarket head units have RCA connectors, as do the amps mentioned above. Your new amp will come with a small harness for the input. Get some velcro, attach the amp to the head unit, existing speaker wires to the amp, new speaker wires to your upgraded speakers. Easy peasy.
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,090
Likes: 243
From: Maine
2 years ago I picked up a used HogTunes amp ($50) and new Polk 651 6" speakers ($80) I no one can tell me it was not "worth" it.......they sound much louder and clearer than stock by a pretty good measure.
Stereo upgrade advice is like asking what cam works best, or which oil should I use; you get an infinite amount of "opinions"...none of which are necessarily more right than the other.
Stereo upgrade advice is like asking what cam works best, or which oil should I use; you get an infinite amount of "opinions"...none of which are necessarily more right than the other.
Cruiser
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 165
Likes: 7
From: NC
Ok my apologies. Plug in play meaning. I dont want to hack up the stock harness to wire the speakers (is there such a amp kit. I dont mind running the power, ground, and remote wires. I notice the H&K headunits have a nice T harness for the audio wires thats kind of what I was hoping for.
As for fm id like to still have great radio reception.
As for fm id like to still have great radio reception.
http://hawg-wired.com/product_info.p...h/49/pPath/146
Banned
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,910
Likes: 263
That fosgate package is not worth it. That amp only pumps out about 40-50w per channel.
Look nothing is going to be "plug and play". Any amp that is worth a damn will require you to run power and ground back to the battery. If you can do that, you can install anything you want.
Not sure why someone thinks the pre-14 fairing is any worse than the rushmore pods? Those things are even worse for bass. But yes, you're not going to get tons of bass from any 6.5 at volume since after all a 6.5 is mid range driver.
How many speakers are you trying to upgrade? Just fairing. If you're trying to do anymore than that you'll need more than 300.00 for it to be worth it. The one major thing to consider is that the majority of the amps that we can use on our bikes are class D amps, and those amps will cause some, none, or all loss of FM reception. It's really a roll of the dice. The only amps known not to cause any loss is the Fosgate PBR300 and the Biketronics amps. The first one isn't that great. The second one is great but cost well more than your budget.
So if you are ok with rolling the dice and just upgrading your fairing speakers, I'd get the Cerwin B2 Amp - 115., the Infinity Kappa's 115.00, adaptors 25.00, amp wiring kit, 15.00, roll of poly fill 10.00 and you'll notice a HUGE difference. Much better than any plug and play system.
Look nothing is going to be "plug and play". Any amp that is worth a damn will require you to run power and ground back to the battery. If you can do that, you can install anything you want.
Not sure why someone thinks the pre-14 fairing is any worse than the rushmore pods? Those things are even worse for bass. But yes, you're not going to get tons of bass from any 6.5 at volume since after all a 6.5 is mid range driver.
How many speakers are you trying to upgrade? Just fairing. If you're trying to do anymore than that you'll need more than 300.00 for it to be worth it. The one major thing to consider is that the majority of the amps that we can use on our bikes are class D amps, and those amps will cause some, none, or all loss of FM reception. It's really a roll of the dice. The only amps known not to cause any loss is the Fosgate PBR300 and the Biketronics amps. The first one isn't that great. The second one is great but cost well more than your budget.
So if you are ok with rolling the dice and just upgrading your fairing speakers, I'd get the Cerwin B2 Amp - 115., the Infinity Kappa's 115.00, adaptors 25.00, amp wiring kit, 15.00, roll of poly fill 10.00 and you'll notice a HUGE difference. Much better than any plug and play system.
Road Captain
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 621
Likes: 1
From: New Brunswick, Canada
I have a RF punch 300 amp with Titan 7.1's, original head unit, I like this set up very much, I blew threw a Polk set of speakers previous, all good now. Good luck, well worth the upgrade.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 4,150
Likes: 459
From: S. FL
Brother I've had just about every amp that you can have that fits in a fairing in my bike. Fosgat PBR, Fosgate T400X4ad, Arc Audio 600.4, Arc 125.4, Biketronics 4180, Power Acoustik, Soundstream, Clarion, I could keep going...and im telling you -- It's not that great. It's one of the few options that keeps FM and there's not many out there that 100% do. But sound quality wise there's much better options out there and in a similar price range the Cerwin is a much better amp. Beg to differ all you want.
Banned
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,910
Likes: 263
Brother I've had just about every amp that you can have that fits in a fairing in my bike. Fosgat PBR, Fosgate T400X4ad, Arc Audio 600.4, Arc 125.4, Biketronics 4180, Power Acoustik, Soundstream, Clarion, I could keep going...and im telling you -- It's not that great. It's one of the few options that keeps FM and there's not many out there that 100% do. But sound quality wise there's much better options out there and in a similar price range the Cerwin is a much better amp. Beg to differ all you want.
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 4,150
Likes: 459
From: S. FL
Has nothing to do with chocolate or vanilla, the PBR puts out 150w @ 2 ohm. The Cerwin puts out 250. The boosted rail technology is not as clean as the class D on the Cerwin and the added headroom allows for cleaner sound. Bottom line at 120.00 the Cerwin is a much sounding better amp than the 150.00 PBR.
