Great speakers! If you have the JM pad. No need for polyfil.

 

Thanks, Mr. G!

I read one of your old post that said this was the only good thing that every came out of J&M, so I thought it was worth a try.

Since I don't need the poly, it's time to re-stuff my wife's sofa cushions.

 

Finally finished installing the Biketronics BT2180/Titan 7.1s on my bike (2013 FLHTK). Biketronics has chosen to make this amp without any provisions for adjusting the gain. When using the stock Harley head unit, they supply a Speaker-level to low-level transformer, which also doesn't allow you to adjusting the gain.

The reason I mention this is that, based on my experience with several other amps, the Titian 7.1 speakers and the stock head unit, I was able to adjust the gain so that speaker distortion didn't start until the head unit volume was set at 75% (or one bar past this point, on the radio digital display)

With my new system, speaker distortion starts at one or two bars past 50%.

Does this seem right and would I benefit from adjusting the amp gain?

 

Yeah Ranger. Normal with the stock head unit. The stock head unit does not provide a clean enough signal to the amp. Normally you would compensate by reducing the gain. But as you stated there are no gain controls on the 2180. With the 2180 you are better off with an aftermarket HU with at least 4v signal to the amp. Not only that it has more bells and whistles to control your sound. Especially with the 2180.

 

Turns out that the distortion problem isn't with the head unit. It's with my hearing, or lack there of. We had lots of family over last night and I was letting them listen to the new system. The distortion that I was hearing at 1/2 way on the head unit wasn't from the system, it was my hearing aids. Everyone else agreed that the sound was clear & very loud up until the 3/4 setting.

My brother-in-law, who is also my audiologist, said that my particular hearing loss would never allow me to hear music both clear & loud, especially on a motorcycle. His recommendation was to forget about an upgraded audio system and utilize the BlueTooth capability of my hearing aids. With a helmet (I always wear a Shoei Modular) and pairing my hearing aids with my iPhone, he said that would be as good as I could expect, as far as fidelity.

Too many birthdays, working in the construction industry for 40+ years, numerous Rock concerts and riding without ear plugs (even though I always wore a helmet) have taken their toll on my hearing.

I'll be removing all the Biketronics stuff today and advertised it in the Touring Parts Classifieds.

Maybe I can start an Audio Thread for the hearing impaired?