JBL Amp/Spkrs
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Road Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 793
Likes: 4
From: Beverly Hills, Fl. Swimmin pools. Movie stars
JBL Amp/Spkrs
After trying to make a decision with what to do about my stock sound system, for way too long, I finally made one! Like with most things there's a ton of info on here and more than a couple vendors to supply most things right along with some pretty knowledgeable people to help out.
First I had to be realistic in my expectations; music on the bike is not the acustic equivalent of a car/house. Stock unit is ok for around town and low speed travel but once you kick it up to 75 or above it's useless. Some of the speaker options are pretty pricey and the head unit just doesn't have the power to crank them up. So, being the cheap bastard that I am (not really but it is about priorities) and after shopping around, here's what I came up with. Since I've never had a problem with JBL, I went with their GTO638 3 way and their 2 channel marine amp (80 W RMS 160 W Peak). Just installed it last night and I gotta say, for the whole $200 I've got into the "system" I think it sounds as good as any 2 spkr set up I've heard and better than most, by quite a bit.
First I had to be realistic in my expectations; music on the bike is not the acustic equivalent of a car/house. Stock unit is ok for around town and low speed travel but once you kick it up to 75 or above it's useless. Some of the speaker options are pretty pricey and the head unit just doesn't have the power to crank them up. So, being the cheap bastard that I am (not really but it is about priorities) and after shopping around, here's what I came up with. Since I've never had a problem with JBL, I went with their GTO638 3 way and their 2 channel marine amp (80 W RMS 160 W Peak). Just installed it last night and I gotta say, for the whole $200 I've got into the "system" I think it sounds as good as any 2 spkr set up I've heard and better than most, by quite a bit.
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Road Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 793
Likes: 4
From: Beverly Hills, Fl. Swimmin pools. Movie stars
I'll try to get some pics tomorrow. Yes, kept the stock head unit and all of the stock controls work. One of the biggest issues I had was did I want to give up a saddlebag, or most of one anyway (I guess I'll have to get a tourpack now honey or there won't be any room for your stuff
). After spending way too much time looking at amps that I could mount in the fairing and the prices they want for them, it made sense to me that I could get way more amp if willing to give up the space. Also being that it's being used in an "acousticly(?) challenged" environment, it doesn't need to be "state of the art" which opens the door for some really good deals to be had. Like I said, I'm into this for cheap (not much more than most want for a pair of speakers) and I'd put this setup side by side with most of the more pricey 2 speaker systems I've heard.
). After spending way too much time looking at amps that I could mount in the fairing and the prices they want for them, it made sense to me that I could get way more amp if willing to give up the space. Also being that it's being used in an "acousticly(?) challenged" environment, it doesn't need to be "state of the art" which opens the door for some really good deals to be had. Like I said, I'm into this for cheap (not much more than most want for a pair of speakers) and I'd put this setup side by side with most of the more pricey 2 speaker systems I've heard.
Road Captain
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 566
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From: Memphis
Did you put an impediance diverter between radio and amp? If you didn't you will probably pickup engine noise thru your speakers. They cost about 20.00.
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Road Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 793
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From: Beverly Hills, Fl. Swimmin pools. Movie stars
but I slept at a Holiday Inn last night. Actually I had to put a converter in in order to use RCA plugs; about the same price. Set it right in there between the frammus and the flux capacitor. So far, no engine noise
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Thread Starter
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Road Master
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 793
Likes: 4
From: Beverly Hills, Fl. Swimmin pools. Movie stars
A coupla pics, thank god I don't do this for a living! Any way, good reference as to amp size, the wiring is all basice stuff, this particular amp needed a converter as the input was only RCA plugs. Other than that, drill some holes, connect some wires etc
Last edited by cmcsns; Oct 27, 2010 at 10:07 AM. Reason: forgot the pics!