Best Budget Harley Stereo Upgrades
Sky’s the limit when it comes to Harley audio upgrades. So, here are our members’ favorite reasonably priced options.
Sure, we all love the iconic Harley sound, a noise that reverberates through our skin and into our very soul. But even the most hardcore fan of delicious engine sounds wants to switch up that soundtrack every now and then. And if you’re looking to crank up the quality of the sound system on your bike, there’s no shortage of options out there, which explains why H-D Forums member teedoff65 decided to poll our many resident experts when he was seeking out an audio upgrade for a small outlay of cash.
“What would you guys recommend for a decent budget system that’s easy to install? Plug and play I guess. Not sure I want to spend a ton of money. I’m not entering any audio contests, after all, Also, the stock speakers are OK for me. But when I turn it up I get some distortion, so not sure they will last long.”
It’s the kind of dilemma pretty much all of our members have already faced. So folks like travelingypsye are quick to chime in with some valuable advice.
“The first thing you will need is a bt355 line leveler. This is a must for the boom head unit. Now if you plan on adding lids/lowers later, then you will need to spend a bit more for an amp as that is the heart and soul of your setup. A good 4 channel amp with a minimum of 100×4 watts will do. I suggest listening to different systems out there, as most guys are willing to show off their setups. As far as speakers go, Hertz HCX, Infinity Kappas, and Sony XS-GS1621s are just a few coax that sound good up front.”
Tailwind agrees, but throws in a few different suggestions in terms of brand/model.
“Amp, I would suggest the 1.5 x RMS range if possible. But in reality, a 140×4@4 or better is a damn good foundation for traditional speakers and leaves a bunch of options open for future swaps.
Coax, there are not many that don’t like. The Polk MM652. HCX is solid play. Pioneer & Alpine have some good budget products. JL C5. Focal PC 165, hell even some of the higher end Kickers don’t trigger my barf reflex, just a little tickle. But I would encourage folks to run component speakers vs. coax all day every day as bang for the buck increases dramatically.”
Obviously, the sky’s the limit when it comes to how much you can spend on good audio equipment. But Ndfastin has some great budget suggestions to offer up for the OP. Many of which you don’t have to travel far to find, either.
“For that budget, a Biketronics BT 355 line leveler to equalize (flatten) the signal from the factory radio, a Cerwin Vega B52 amp (good sound, small, easy to install, inexpensive) and Kappa Infinity speakers. Speakers and amp can be found on Amazon, and the BT355 LL can be found at Biketronics.com or used in the forum here.”
So far, the OP has received plenty of great suggestions for his budget stereo upgrade. But we want to know what suggestions you might have. So head on over here and chime in with your thoughts, or gather up some ideas if you’re in the market for some better tunes!
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