Hi, I was wondering if any of the audio experts on here could tell me if my Jbl gt0 525 that are rated at 4 ohms would work in an 03 with a stock Radio? Thanks, Todd

 

06-up were 2 ohms, 05-earlier were 4 ohms. The answer would be yes except the wire harness terminals may not match up to the speaker terminals.

 

I put 4ohm speakers in an 05 Ultra with the stock radio and had no problems. I believe it's the same radio as the 03.

 

My 1999 uses 8 ohm speakers per Radiosound.

 

(I revived this old post from a search)
I am thinking about upgrading my speakers.
If my '01 E-Glide has 8 ohm speakers as stock speakers. (haven't disassembled to verify)
If I were to go with a, say, 4 ohm speaker...could I, theoretically, install a 4 ohm resistor to even out to the stock ohmage?

 

Your stock speakers are 8 ohm. I would call hawg wired or j&m for installing a resistor to a speaker. I wouldn't do because to install the resistor you would need to solder it to the speaker terminals and my soldering ain't as solid as a weld.

 

Lifted from an audiophile website:

Are 4 Ohm Speakers better than 8 Ohm Speakers?

NO!!! The Ohm rating of a speaker has nothing to do with the quality of the speaker!
What is an "ohm" rating anyway?

All speakers have a characteristic known as impedance which is measured in units called ohms. The most common values for speakers are 8 ohms and 4 ohms. Many older speakers have ohm ratings of 16 and even 32 ohms (this is because in the old days amplifiers used vacuum tubes, and higher impedance speakers were more compatible with the output impedance of vacuum tube amplifiers). A speaker with a lower ohm rating represents a more demanding load for an amplifier to drive. As stated before, the impedance of a speaker has no relation to the quality of the speaker.
Why do speakers come in 8 ohm and 4 ohm versions?

Many manufacturers of speakers (especially raw drivers) offer a choice of impedance... 8 ohms or 4 ohms. Often, the remaining specifications are very similar (except that the lower impedance versions of the speaker usually have a smaller sensitivity value). The reason for offering two versions is for special applications. For example, in a speaker system with dual woofers, two 4 ohm woofers can be wired up to form an 8 ohm system.
Some musicians prefer the "sound" of a 4 ohm speaker as compared to an 8 ohm version. I believe that this "sound" is not so much a result of the speaker itself, but a result of the heavier loading that a 4 ohm speaker places on an amplifier.
In the car stereo market, virtually all speakers are 4 ohms. The reason is due to voltage limitations available in cars (namely the 12 volt battery). More power can be driven into a 4 ohm speaker as compared to an 8 ohm speaker (assuming the same driving signal!).
What should I know about using 4 ohm speakers?

4 ohm speakers place a significantly heavier demand on power amplifiers as compared to 8 ohm speakers. Because of their lower impedance, twice as much current will flow through a 4 ohm speaker (as compared to an 8 ohm speaker) for a given volume control setting (assuming the amp can keep up). This translates to amplifiers getting significantly hotter (and heat is among the top enemies of electronic devices!).
If you use 4 ohm speakers, your speaker wiring will have to be (or should be) larger. This is because the resistance of the speaker wires becomes more significant with respect to that of the speaker. The result is that more power is "wasted" (in the form of heat) in the wires leading to the speakers! Amplifier power is relatively costly, so it does not make sense to waste that power in the lines leading to the speakers.
If you run two sets of 4 ohm speakers from a single amplifier (and the amplifier puts them in parallel), you are asking for trouble. The reason is that the combined impedance will be down around 2 ohms (and could actually be lower still... see below). A 2 ohm load is a load that only the most robust amplifiers will tolerate. There are amplifiers which are rated to be able to handle 2 ohm loads with no problems; however in my opinion operating a system in this configuration should generally be avoided. Despite the fact that the amp may be designed to handle the load, operating in this fashion places more stress on circuits and can lead to less reliability. You CAN drive a very low impedance load with most amplifiers so long as you keep the volume low. However, for practical reasons this is not often done.

Incidentally, you CANNOT make a 4 ohm speaker into an 8 ohm speaker by wiring a 4 ohm resistor in series with it (I once saw someone trying to do just this at Radio Shack). This will make the amplifier happier, since as far as it is concerned it has an 8 ohm load (which is easier to drive). However, resistors dissipate energy, they DO NOT generate sound. Wiring a 4 ohm resistor in series with a 4 ohm speaker will halve the amount of power which reaches the speaker (it will also degrade the damping factor, which won't hurt anything but it can degrade the sound quality!). Since amplifier power is relatively expensive, it would be extremely foolish to "throw away" half of it by wiring a resistor into the speaker's electrical path! Again, if you have 4 ohm speakers, you cannot change them into 8 ohm speakers... get an amplifier that is capable of driving 4 ohm systems!

 

i did this for a short time and the radio would get hot and start cutting out after about 2 hours at high volume. im running 8 ohm J&M's now and no problems.

 

OG1 ,,,

that is correct,,,, the 1998-2005 Harley radios require an 8 ohm speaker so their amplifiers will not overheat ,,,,

you can possibly get away with using a 4 ohm speaker for a while, but eventually amplifier damage can occur ,,,,

J&Ms speaker upgrades for the 98-05 models are spec'd at 8 ohms and they will provide you with the best sound and highest volume available from the stock Harley radio ,,,

 

will 4 ohm speakers work in the 09 harmon kardon decks