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Dec 15, 2011 | 10:18 AM

Geezr Glidr

Thread Starter

Grand HDF Member

Joined: Jun 2009

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From: Wellsboro, PA

Compare These Speakers

I'll probably try to listen to these over the winter, before I do my upgrade in the spring, but for now, give me some opinions of these (from those who have had 2 or more of these brands.) What did you like? What don't you like? If you had it to do again, what would you get? Looking at fairing speakers, and will put some in lowers also. Maybe even saddlebags. Prepared to spend the money.

Rockford Fosgate, Focal, JL Audio, JM Rokkers, Hertz

For any forum professionals who just say "search", I dare ya to search & find the answers I want!

Dec 15, 2011 | 10:36 AM

ThaGlyde

Road Master

Joined: Mar 2009

Posts: 795

Likes: 1

From: Richmond, VA

Biketronics Titan XL 6.5 is a hertz speaker. Not bad but like all other audio enthusiast, im looking for more. Of the five, in order from best to worst: Focal, Hertz, JL Audio, Fosgate, JM Rokkers. The Fosgates and the Rokkers are probably 6 in one hand, half a dozen in the other. Whats most important is the quality of the speaker and not the brand. You could probably get some Fostgates that will sound better than JLs because it's RF's top of the line and JL's bottom barrel. What you also may want to look at is the Polk MM651 or 6501. I have tweets in two of the guage pods in my inner so ill probably go with the 6501 but they are top notch. One of the most important features of each speaker is the sensitivity. The higher the sensitivity, the louder the speaker. Your best buy brand will get you 89 but focals and Polk MMs will get you between 93 &94 which makes a big difference in motorcycles. Getting tweets to focus your highs are equally as important since you will be likely to never feel base. Just words of encouragement from one enthusiast to another.

Oh yeah, staged sound(parking lot, at the store, in a booth, at a rally) is totaly different from road sound.

Dec 15, 2011 | 11:04 AM

Geezr Glidr

Thread Starter

Grand HDF Member

Joined: Jun 2009

Posts: 3,520

Likes: 270

From: Wellsboro, PA

Thanks for that, ThaGlyde. I was thinking about Focals, but was told to not get "reference" speakers. I have Hertz in the fairing now. Just wondered if they were as good as I could get. (Why would you not get Focals, if you could afford them? I might put the tweeters in gauge holes like air temp.) Maybe I oughtta just go Hertz on everything. By the way, I know EXACTLY what you mean about bass. I had a WoofPak subwoofer (from Hells Foundry) in the tourpak of my Classic. Sounded better than most cars --- at curbside. Couldn't hear it at 60 to 65, and up. It was made for guys who go to bikenight to show off, and that's it.

Dec 15, 2011 | 11:50 AM

ThaGlyde

Road Master

Joined: Mar 2009

Posts: 795

Likes: 1

From: Richmond, VA

Focals are great but the money can get upwards of outrageous for a few sets. If I could afford it, I still know the value of a dollar. The only thing I would get in the bike is the references due the price of the other speakers. Im not a fair weather rider and I get caught in the rain and other extreme conditions. I just don’t want to subject $800+ speakers to those conditions. The Polk MM6501 seems to be great on paper in comparison to the Focal, especially since they are $100 cheaper. Hertz has made a good speaker but im not really sure because I feel like that’s where im at already. You know the grass is always greener. They do make ways to get 6X9 s in the lowers which may be your best bet if you want to hear them riding down the highway. You next step is to get an amp. The best amp money can buy that will fit in the fairing is the J&m/ARC 4 channel. Just depends on what brand you choose, both will fit and have the same internals. The J&M is just a little more compact so you don’t have to do any mods to get it to fit perfectly. However, it’s a little more expensive. I don’t do speakers in the bags because im a little too hard on the bike for that. But if I did, I would go loud lids with the same speaker I put in the fairing.

Dec 15, 2011 | 12:06 PM

lkr0

Elite HDF Member

Joined: Nov 2006

Posts: 3,647

Likes: 11

From: Stockbridge, GA (Atlanta)

I have the RF's and Infinity Kappa--just took the JBLs out (they suck) I believe the RFs have better overall sound -- the infinitys have better highs (but not so deep bass)

Dec 15, 2011 | 12:48 PM

ThaGlyde

Road Master

Joined: Mar 2009

Posts: 795

Likes: 1

From: Richmond, VA

Focal, Hertz, Polk MM series, Infinity Kappa Perfect series are all along the same mindset. The Focals may be a step ahead but so is their prices.

Dec 15, 2011 | 02:49 PM

acchd

Stellar HDF Member

Joined: Apr 2008

Posts: 3,002

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From: Charlotte Metro

I've been running the Focal Polyglass 6.5" Coaxial 2-Way Speakers - 165CVX for about 2yrs now. They have sensitivity of 93db and match up well with Arc amp. I had some Polk's before that. Really like the Focal with no desire to change to something else. I've noticed Dragonfly is packaging these speakers with Arc amp packages now on there website. You can get them under $300 pair if you look around. One other feature about this Focal model that's really cool is the tweeter is designed at a slight angle and you can rotate tweeters aiming them directly firing at your noggin