I had the J&M self amplified speakers on my heritage. They were expensive, around $600, but they looked and sounded great. I ran them from an mp3 player in the windshield pouch.

Dennis

 

Just went through all this with someone else this past couple of weeks...This thread has about all I can offer:

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...g-classic.html

Good luck!

 

+1 on the Cycle Sounds disappointment. They used to be known as 2 Wheel Tunes. Wonder why they changed their name....?

Hogtunes has a new bar-mounted system. Looks and sounds impressive. Legendary reliability and warranty IF an issue comes up.

 

I had 2 wheel tunes. They SUCKED! the crappy 2" speakers couldn't handle even the smallest amount of bass, and even when the bass was at the lowesr setting, I went through 3 sets of speakers.

Cycle sounds/2 wheel tunes are not worth the $$$

You have been warned....

 

True, true. Unfortunately, it's too late for some.

 

Very cool ol' 55

 

For the J&M self amplified speaker guys, have you ever heard your system up against one of the other popular systems? I don't really know anyone in my area that has one of these speaker systems, but I have an RKC and have considered getting one.

The main things I like about the J&Ms are the sleek look integrated into the bars w/ the mounts to the existing switch housings, and no need to hide/mount an extra amp, as well as the volume control by the thumb on the left side.

The things that I'm concerned about include volume level potential of self amplified speakers at only 40W each, and the cost.

When I look at some of the systems out there, this is where I'm stuck:

Small bullet speaker systems: I'm concerned about volume level on these, but even more so concerned about bass response, I have to imagine a larger diameter speaker would have better bass, but these small bullets are less noticeable.

Most larger 'spot lamp' sized units: Typically have a separate amp to mount, except maybe the rumble road self amplified. I might like these if mounted on the engine guard, but I just put fog lights there, and I'm not sure what they'd look like or sound like on the angled engine guard below the highway pegs, so low and almost behind the tank from my position, since I have the fog lights on the top bar. As for mounting most of these larger speakers on the bars, they'd probably be louder, but to me look a little tight on the bottom of handlebars, and a little out of place out towards the grips, in some bikes. But w/ the 150-250 W amp, seem like they might offer a fuller/louder sound, in theory.

Some of the spot light sized systems are less expensive, some are close to half of the J&M at like $200-$300, the least expensive I've seen the J&M self amplified ones was like $450.

I know from old car stereo days that watts get thrown around a lot, you could have a quality 200w system that sounded better than a cheap knock off 1k watt system, for example, so I didn't know how some of these bike audio guys rate things, and if you can even use their states wattage as a guide in comparing the products.

So anyone know how the J&M self amplified ones SOUND compared to some of these other systems?

Thanks. Oh, and in my search for info, I just ran across this plug and play self amplified subwoofer which I thought was a pretty cool idea. I've seen custom boxes made, but never anything this simple:
http://www.uniqcycle.com/Motorcycle_..._p/blp-sub.htm

 

Karz10:

The only help I can offer is this:

In my experience, the smaller speakers (2" or smaller) typically can't handle much, if any bass load. You'll really have to think about going to a larger speaker, or figure out where to mount a bass unit elsewhere on the bike. I'm using the Rumble Road system, with larger (3") speakers. Fortunately, I don't listen to rap. so the bass level is fine for me. It's SUBSTANTIALLY better than the 2 Wheel Tunes I had prior. Also, those little speakers blew up repeatedly.

If I remember right, these have 60 watts per, for a total 120 (peak) watts. I rarely need to crank them all the way, and I hear them just fine, and I'm running Samson Silver Bullets exhaust, which seems to be a touch louder than stock.

The R.R. system's speakers are in passing-lamp buckets, and each are self-amped. No extra crap to mount.

I mounted my speakers to the mirror stems, underneath the bars, and used the stock acorn nut to hold 'em on. See the pics below.

I hope this helps...

 

Karz10, the J&M blow away the 2 wheel tunes, I didn't regret spending the money, I laughed at all the other stereos I heard on non fairing bikes. plus you have great looks with em.$450 is a deal, you can always put em on your next bike or sell em if you trade to a new bike. JMHO