I have the ARC Audio 125.2 amp connected to the ARC 5.25" speakers in the front fairing. I have the 6.5" Arc speakers enroute, with the rings to put them in the front fairing, and then I'm going to move the ARC 5.25" speakers to the rear pods on my bike (I have a 08 Ultra).

My question is should I get an aftermarket radio to replace the stock HK? Will it give me a much better sound if I was to go to something like one of the Sony's that Biketronics sells with their install kits? I've got plenty of volume, just don't know how much the quality improves over the stock HD radio.

Not looking to change out amp or speakers. Just curious as to your thoughts on whether it would be worth it upgrading to an aftermarket stereo, or saving the bucks and leave the HK radio in place.

 

Are you not happy with the Arc Audio equipment that you have ??

I am in the middle of pulling the trigger on a sound system upgrade, and am leaning toward the Arc Audio 125.2 mini for my amp.

So any info I gather , is appreciated.

 

I never said I was unhappy with the ARC stuff. I'm very happy with the ARC amp and speakers I have so far, like I mentioned, I don't want to take those out. They provide a lot of clean volume. I'm just wondering if replace the stock radio would provide even better quality sound. After all, the stock HK radio is over $500 in retail cost, but that doesn't mean it provides the best quality sound.

Just wondering if an improvement would be had by going down to a $200 aftermarket radio, and getting rid of the HK. Most "stock" radios are not the greatest in SOUND QUALITY, no matter what they cost. Curious as to whether anybody noticed a significant sound quality improvement by changing out the radio (and leaving whatever other audio components in place that they already had).

We don't use the intercom or CB functions either, so we won't miss those.

 

Personally, I would not. I'd hold off on doing anything until and if it goes south. I rarely actually listen to my radio... generally my Ipod but on occasion I will and it does the job for me. But to each his own..

 

Bump this one back to the top. This is something I've been debating about as well. I'm please with the overall output of the ARC setup. I'm also very pleased with the service I've gotten from Firecap501. But I've been wondering if I can get that much more out of the system if I changed out the head unit. It's very easy to push the stock head unit to distortion which in turn destroys speakers.

 

One of the problems is that it's hard to find the technical specs of the stock HK radio. Aftermarket radios for sale have their tech specs listed somewhere. Hard to compare just how good the HK is without knowing it's overall specs.

Anybody have a link to the stock radio specs? All I can find on Harley's website is the very basics of the radio, not tech specs. http://www.harley-davidson.com/cp/moar/en/overview.asp