I frequent quite a few forums both car audio and HD audio forums and I always find it interesting why the same brands get repeated over and over depending which forum it is, and the differences there are in popular car audio and bike audio brands. You never hear mentioned here JL Audio amps here, yet they are one of the standard amps in the car world. In large part Hertz is extremely popular in the "bagger" community but no one in car circles runs SPL's, in fact a more popular brand is HAT. Now mention to folks outside of us that BT speakers are made by HAT and they don't have a clue what that means. I wonder how some legit HAT Legatia's would sound on a bike.

I post this because in each bike forum I visit there is a handful of brands repeated, but go to a car forum and many of them aren't even mentioned. Now granted a car is not a bike but have we really limited ourselves to just a few brands. What about other popular heavy hitter brands like Image Dynamics, Dynaudio, Audison, MMats, Zed or niche brands like Helix, Faital, Stereo Integrity.

Seems like there's soooooooo much out there we're missing out on.

 

I think we're creatures of habit. I tend to stick with companies I've dealt with or am familiar with. I also research and read a lot of threads and posts. Recently I decided to add a small amplifier, fairing speakers and lower fairing speakers to my Ultra. After reading a lot of posts and listening to other people's systems I decided to go with Biketronics. I made that decision after reading comments about quality, performance and customer relations. Also products made in America. I'm going to be installing the system soon and I'll find out if I chose wisely or not.
Bill

 

You pose a very good question. Tried and true comes to mind but that doesn't mean that there's not as good or better options available.
I happen to know a couple two or three Kool Kats that like to buy speakers just to test them out. Maybe they can reach outside our comfort zone and see what's available. Nod nod wink wink.

 

I have a few in mind I want to try.

Check out Ground Zero Audio. Also the founder of Image Dynamics is making his own speakers now that should be out soon. Then there's Dynaudio, but man those are expensive! So I'm looking man.

Oh and Amps, I'm looking at a few too!! My thing is Hertz is extremely popular in the Bagger community, we're seeing it now more and more across not just big wheel baggers but touring bikes. Yes they are great speakers but Hertz SPL's don't own the mid range speaker market in the car audio world. So someone started using them, discovered, shared and it spread. What else is out there???

 

I think you chose wisely!

 

Some one on here told me the image dynamics amp was the same as the cerwin vega b52.

 

I think it comes down to us being creatures of habit mainly because it is financially prudent to spend our hard earned cash on proven / tested products, with good warranties, product & customer support, ease of installation, etc... Combine that with the good culture on this Forum, I trust those here that share their wisdom thus have not branched out to various other forums. A comfort zone per se.

If you think we need to expand our focus, I am all in. Haze, PM me your PayPal email and I will drop a few bucks in it so u can limit your risk in pushing the test button on a few intriguing speakers & amps thus we all can get some extremely damn credible feedback.

Great thread Haze!!! Let's keep raising the bar for sled audio!!!!

T.

 

I choose what fits my needs, I'm not really one that follows everyone else unless that's the only thing that works for my needs

If I had the money, I'd have an Audison AP8.9 bit (I want to run Android tablets as a head unit) bridged to 4 channels and I'd run Focal EC 165 K and ES 165 K in my fairing (only running the ES's because the quad fairing has tweeter holes ) off the Audison.

I'd have a SteerBlue with a ASWC-1 Steering Wheel Control Adapter so I could run a Nexus 7 or whatever Android tablet as a head unit.

I'd run JL Audio 8.8's in the lids pushed by a JL 600/4 mounted in a bag or maybe a tour pak.

Depending on how that sounded, I may add something in the bags but I'm pretty sure this would do me just fine

 

I chose image dynamics amp since they have been quality in the industry for years, price was right, and the amp fit like a glove. I since have gotten a Kenwood kdcx500 on order from biketronics and ditched the aquatic. Aquatic has its good features but just wasn't for me. Now with speakers CDT was always tried and trued for me so I took the risk they would sound good in my bike. The coaxials failed to have the needed volume and now have upgraded to cs60cv 6.7" components. Waiting to install new head unit for a final sound report. Never liked JL that much back when the w3's were the thing to buy. So many companies have changed so much in past 20 years I have hard time knowing who is still on point and who isn't. I will say JL is still solid in the industry and maybe I should have tried them personally.

 

T -- you know I would never accept that. In other news I had a very trusted builder I know today tell me the LCQ1 when tuned correctly rocks with the newer bikes -- go figure?! I fully trust this guys advice. Here's another quick anecdote. HDAUDIOMAN, was the first person to post about the Arc Moto speakers here. This guy posted some insane car builds he had done (his business) and Gann and I looked at the specs of those speakers and though - they must sound like ****. This dude swore they were awesome so Gann tries him and says if they are so awesome I'll buy a pair from you and will post an honest review. The rest is history, two reviews on this forum and then the 6X9's became popular!

Bunker -- if you're gonna do all that put some speakers in the bags too!!! Also, with regard to the JL Amps, from these guys that build competition bikes your better off with the JL 800/8 bridged into 4 channels than the 600/4.

So Image Dynamics has always been a brand I've wanted to dig into. Now the 2 channel amp, looks, smells, and quacks just like a Cerwin B52, Diamond Micro2. I've had both amps and honestly couldn't tell the difference. So it's safe to say that ID didn't design that amp, they purchased it from the same build house. So the question would be is there anything more to it the shiny ID badge? So a few products they've had for a while is the XS line and I've always heard they rock. The last link are some Ground Zero 6X9's that also look promising. I think I want to grab a set, or two

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...ics-XS-65.html

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...ics-XS-69.html

http://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en/...zrf-6900p.html