You'll Need an Amp if you add speakers in fairing lowers
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Last Fall I added the 2011 CVO Street Glide speaker boxes and 6.5" speakers to the fairng lowers and used an Arc 125.2 amp to drive those speakers. I also wired those speakers as "rear" speakers to the Harman Kardon head unit and had the dealer turn "on" the fader control. The fairing speakers used only the regular outputs from the HK. I was very pleased with this set-up because it created a clear and loud wall of sound, but sold the amp when the Rockford Fosgate 300W, 4-channel amp was announced, and re-wired the fairing lower speakers directly to the rear speaker pin-outs of the HK radio.
Having returned from a 1600 mile ride, my conclusion is that the speakers in the fairing lowers w/o an amplifier is a waste. I'm not ditching the fairing lower speakers; on the contrary, I'm looking forward to the new RF amp and enjoying the fairing and fairing lowers speakers. But anyone considering this mod w/o an amp ( or J&M's new 7.5" speakers/boxes) for the fairing lower speakers will likely be disappointed. It's a great mod IMO provided the fairing lower speakers are driven by an add-on amp.
For reference purposes, here's the thread describing the '11 CVO SG speaker box installation:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...ed-w-pics.html
And here's a thread on accessing the rear speaker pin-outs of the HK:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...head-unit.html
Hopefully someone will start a thread on installing the J&M 7.25" speakers/boxes and share their experience.
When I did the initial installation on my bike, I didn't offer any experience with the speakers in the CVO boxes w/o an amp because I had none. Now that I do have some experience, I'm sharing it for what it's worth.
Carl
Having returned from a 1600 mile ride, my conclusion is that the speakers in the fairing lowers w/o an amplifier is a waste. I'm not ditching the fairing lower speakers; on the contrary, I'm looking forward to the new RF amp and enjoying the fairing and fairing lowers speakers. But anyone considering this mod w/o an amp ( or J&M's new 7.5" speakers/boxes) for the fairing lower speakers will likely be disappointed. It's a great mod IMO provided the fairing lower speakers are driven by an add-on amp.
For reference purposes, here's the thread describing the '11 CVO SG speaker box installation:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...ed-w-pics.html
And here's a thread on accessing the rear speaker pin-outs of the HK:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...head-unit.html
Hopefully someone will start a thread on installing the J&M 7.25" speakers/boxes and share their experience.
When I did the initial installation on my bike, I didn't offer any experience with the speakers in the CVO boxes w/o an amp because I had none. Now that I do have some experience, I'm sharing it for what it's worth.
Carl
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