time for new speakers?

[76shuvlinoff]

 12 Ultra Classic speakers front and rear.
Recently the tunes have gone tinny. AM/FM/Disc and Bluetooth. Not clear sitting in the garage, worse at speed.  I've played all the adjustments (what few there are) up and down back forth with no real gain. My first thought was I've finally completely wrecked my hearing (I do have some tinnitus going on) but the stereos in the truck and car sound fine.

So I wandered in here and the first thread I came to was the "Radio for a 12 Glide thread".
http://harleytechtalk.com/htt/index.php/topic,91044.msg0.html#new
Should I be looking at speaker upgrades too? Recommendations for all 4? Not looking for a whole new system.. yet.

Mark

[1workinman]

 I ordered the speakers and amp today and I got a 15 percent discount . 

[76shuvlinoff]

I have never dinked with stereos of any kind since the 8 track player in my 71 Torino, so if this is stupid I can take it.

Where do you mount the amp?

[1workinman]

I talked to Donna I believe here name is and I asked the same question I was told that it is held in place by double industrial sticky tape on top of the radio. I was not sure about that one to be honest. The amp is life time warranty  I

[Leed]

I have never dinked with stereos of any kind since the 8 track player in my 71 Torino, so if this is stupid I can take it.

Where do you mount the amp?

That's where I mounted my amp.  Speakers are easy.  If you're up sizing the fronts you'll need adapter rings.

It was easier than installing a 8 track in my 70 Challenger.

[76shuvlinoff]

So you guys are upgrading the speakers and adding an amp to the factory system, and doing this through Biketronics.

Correct?

[Leed]

No. I upgraded the radio and speakers and added an amp.  I only used the Biketronics radio installation kit.  The speakers were Infinity Kappas and the radio and amp were a matching Alpine system.
Biketronics may be the best but were too expensive for my budget.

[UltraNutZ]

Yeah I always tell folks to buy what you can afford to buy.  If you can afford to do it all BT the first time, then you'll never have to do it again.

However in your case 76, if you're only wanting to replace speakers, then I would look to Infinity Kappa 62.11i in the fairing as they match the impedance of the head unit AND if you further upgrade later on they'll be great speakers to throw an amp on as well.

For the rear pods, it gets a little trickier because of the depth of the pods and not many speakers will fit in there without some modification such as adapter rings to space the speaker out from vtwin audio, then you can pretty much put whatever you want in there.  Lots of folks don't like the way those adapter plates look back there and they also protrude into the passenger seating area.

In the rear I would throw in a set of Kicker CS654 (non components) and call it a day.  These speakers sound great, can take some additional power later on, and to my knowledge are the only speakers out there that will allow you to retain the stock grills.

The fairing speaker replacement will require adapter rings for any aftermarket speaker.
I would also wrap the fairing speakers in about 1/2" of polyfil in a 15x15 square and tuck the excess into the adapter ring to secure it.  that's all that's needed.
the pods, don't wrap them, just put a single layer inside the pods - I use spray glue for this.

[76shuvlinoff]

UN, I think you just saved me a pm.

Got an amp in mind?

[UltraNutZ]

oh one other thing.  HD is bass-ackwards form the rest of the audio world.  Their small connector on each speaker is the + wire from the radio whereas the rest of the world uses the large connector for +.  Make sure to put that small connector-ed wire on the large connector of your new speakers.

[76shuvlinoff]

Finally got the speakers installed tonight.  The Infinity kappa 62.11s in front and the Kicker 40cs654 in rear. I opened the boxes and found I had not ordered the damn adapter rings for the front so it was a run to Best Buy. Surprised they had something but they had something... at about 30% more.

Oddly I had more trouble with the rear than than the front. I wanted to use the factory rear grills but the screws need to be 3/8" to 1/2" longer so I used the Kicker grills.  I think the Kicker grills leave the speaker more at risk if the passenger has anything in their rear pockets or if some asshat wants to poke a hole in one.

The only trouble with the front was I mounted them with the wiring connections down and the right side positive shorted against the speaker support, an "adjustment" to the support with linesman pliers remedied that.

Didn't get to ride tonight but  sounds much better in the barn than the crapped out speakers did.    Of course it would be better with an amp but I am good with what I have... for now.   

Thanks all and thanks Nutz for the offline input.

Mark

[UltraNutZ]

Mark, take the stock screws with you to Ace Hardware.  I would almost bet you 2 bottles of bourbon they'll have what you need in the length you need it. 

[Leed]

Aren't the Kicker CS654 speakers 4 ohm? Wouldn't that cause a problem with the Harley radio running at 2 ohms?  I know if you amp the radio it shouldn't matter but I thought you should only use 2 ohm speakers with the stock radio?

[UltraNutZ]

you can always go up in ohms, just not down.  the HD radio is spec-d out to handle down to 2 ohm speakers so 4 ohm will work perfectly fine albeit at a slightly lower volume than a 2 ohm speaker.  Problem is, the selection of 2 ohm speakers that will fit in those pods is very limited and then the ones that do fit, look like dung when installed.

[Leed]

Thanks Nutz.  I've learned a lot about systems on this forum. 

[76shuvlinoff]

I am not sure I'm teachable .... but I can copy!

[TJAH]

Do you have any pics how the front ones fit ?
What kind of a ring did you use ?

[UltraNutZ]

he has a pre 14 bike so they look like this

[attach=1]




they can be bought just about anywhere online.

http://www.amazon.com/Harley-Davidson-Roadglide-Street-Electra/dp/B00Q31MGVG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465239259&sr=8-1&keywords=6.5+adapter+harley+davidson

[76shuvlinoff]

Yeah outside of taking the outer fairing off and reinstalling  it, the front was easier for me than the rear. Pretty straight forward and I reused the factory grill material.  The sound is much better than stock and that's probably where I am going to leave it. Not perfect but for what I have invested it's a large improvement.  In the garage it's great but at speed it's just better than it was. Honestly I am not a great judge, I have some tinnitus did myself some additional damage a few months ago doing a little shooting without hearing protection. Conversations coming at me on my right side sound quite different than conversations from the left. The same for music. I have a feeling the doc and I are headed for a conversation of our own.

[UltraNutZ]

Conversations coming at me on my right side sound quite different than conversations from the left.

remind me of this when I tell you about the $2k you owe me.  I'll stand on your right.  Also when we order bourbon, I'll be on your right.     

[76shuvlinoff]

The right side is the messed up side!

[UltraNutZ]

exactly! just nod yes when I talk to you.