Well maybe I spoke too soon. I think the left speaker in these new headset is "blown". It's only noticeable at very loud levels but something is wrong. The bass crackles when it bumps. Only the left though. I'm contacting H-D for an exchange. Hopefully this is just a bad one and the rest of you have better luck.

 

Ok, so I upgraded to HD's BTDM v1.8.2 and my 20S Evo with firmware 2.5.1 (the latest offered) does NOT have the Sena HD Type A speaker I'm using but it does have the option for the basic and the RF Stage 1 speaker.

The older BTDM version 1.7 had the "HD Speaker Accessory" option for both firmware 2.4 and 2.5.1

The latest BTDM version 1.8.1 with the older firmware version 2.4 has neither "HD Speaker Accessory" or a speaker selection pulldown. So it looks like the firmware is required to see the new RF Stage 1 speaker but the combination with the latest BTDM doesn't recognize the Sena HD speaker.


I guess I need to bug HD CS again to see wtf gives. If these new RF Stage 1 speakers are that much better than the Sena HD speakers I'll use that latest BTDM and fw versions on one headset and the older BTDM with the other headset.

 

The Sena HD speakers will only show up in the program if you have the 30k, so it won't work with the 20s.

 

I called Harley CS today and got a call back from their "subject matter expert" on the headsets. He told me that Harley never supported the Sena HD speakers on any model. I told him that with desktop v1.7 and the 20S Evo fw v2.4 the option for "HD Speaker Accessory" existed and did make an improvement when using the Sena HD speakers. I also told him about the latest v1.8.2 and the 30K with fw 3.3 having a "Speaker" option with a pull-down showing support for the Sena HD as well as the Basic and RF Stage 1. He thought that odd and is going to dig into it further with engineering and get back to me.

In the meantime, I'll use 1.7 and 2.4 with my passenger 20S Evo headset/Sena HD speakers which does work and 1.8.2 and 2.5.1 with my 20S Evo with the new RF speakers. I'm also going to test to see if there is any noticeable difference between firmware 2.4 and 2.5.1 with the Sena HD speakers (both show the "HD Speaker Accessory" option with desktop v1.7

oh, and he did acknowledge that the SIP site was slow in updating the versions available for download but would be updating them at some point. In the interim, the desktop software prompts for updates (which we already know).

 

This is very confusing …. I think you may be incorrect. I have the 20S, and have upgraded the firmware and used the HD speakers for almost a year now. If they don’t work with the 20S, its news to me.

Could you clarify and expand please.

 

It is confusing, and I could very well be wrong. The confusion may also be driven by the names of the 2 different products.

Sena HD, which is High Definition, not Harley Davidson
or
Harley-Davidson® Audio powered by Rockford Fosgate® - Stage I Speakers for Wireless Headsets.

In any case, this is how I understand it ---

In the photo below, the drop down menu for speakers gives you 3 choices. As you can see, this is for the Harley branded, Boom! audio 30k system. With this model, you can buy and install the Sena HD speakers and they are selectable through the Boom! Audio Device manager. The device manager provides the proper 30k firmware to use with the Sena HD speakers

If you have the Boom! Audio 20s like I do, you are only given 2 choices, either the "basic Speakers" or the "H-D Audio S1 Spkrs". The latter being the new Harley branded Rockford Fosgate speakers that was what my original question is about.

With that, what I meant was that the "Boom! Audio Device Manager" won't work with the Sena HD speakers for the 20s because there is no selection for them. Yes, you can still use those speakers, but as I understand it you don't get the same quality sound as you would with the 30k that DOES have that selection. In other words, the Boom! Audio Device manager doesn't provide the proper firmware for the Boom! 20s when using the Sena HD speakers. ​​​​​​​

 

I think we can all agree that this is very confusing but here's my thoughts and summarization:

- Harley maintains that the Sena HD speakers are not, and never were, supported on any Harley branded Sena headset including both the 20S Evo and 30K
- Sena supports these speakers (Sena Type A HD) on many different models including both the 20S Evo and 30K so it's highly unlikely Harley would support it on the 30K and not the 20S Evo...particularly when they say they don't support them on any headset. The fact it shows up on the 30K using Boom! Bluetooth Device Manager (BTDM) v1.8.2 and firmware v3.3 is odd but probably an error on Sena's part (they provide BTDM as a branded version of their own Sena Bluetooth Device Manager software to Harley as well as the firmware that cripples the headset codec for mono only if it's not Harley branded).
- Harley may have "supported" the Sena HD speakers in earlier releases like BTDM v1.7 and 20S firmware v2.4 accidentally and without really being aware of it. Once they realized there was an upsell opportunity that they were missing out on they had Sena remove it from BTDM 1.8 and the headset firmware (at least on the 20S Evo but may have missed it on the v3.3 for the 30K)
- The RF Stage 1 speakers look suspiciously like the Sena HD speakers. I'd not be surprised if they were in fact the same and have been rebranded by Harley and RF and are being sold by Harley at twice the price. This could be possible because in my case I'm plugging in only the headset module to my computer...the speakers are in my helmet out in the shed. The headset doesn't even know what speakers it has when this updating and configuration is happening.

I'm going to take one for the team. I've got the Sena speakers now and ordered the RF Stage 1 speakers today (at double the f'n price of the Sena speakers!). I'm going to pay very close attention to see if they are the same physically and if there is any noticeable quality difference using the EQ setting for the Sena speakers on the older BTDM v1.7 and 20S Evo firmware (both 2.4 and 2.5) vs. the RF speakers on the newer v1.8 and fw v2.5. I'm also going to swap things around and tell the software I'm using Stage 1 speakers but will use the Sena speakers and visa versa. I'll bet there is no difference and we are being ripped off but I'll try to sort it out.

I'm also expecting to hear back from Harley CS as to why, if they say the Sena HD speakers were never officially supported, they previously worked and magically disappeared just as the RF Stage 1 speakers came out.

I'll report back in a week or so.

 

I have both. They do not look the same. The Harley RF speakers are much thicker than the Sena HD speakers. Also the H-D RF speakers seem to have much more bass/volume.

 

And this ends the confusion for me. They are not the same. Thanks.

 

Are the RF speakers a larger diameter in addition to being thicker?