Well, I don’t know. I installed the headset that came with my Ultra in my wife’s helmet since she does not ride with me that often. I have installed J&Ms in my helmets and they are 1st class.

 

the earleir poster is correct the amp does not include the headset circut,it is possible that your having a ground loop problem try your headset on stock bike if the problem is your radio add a ground loop isolator, and i also love the j&m headset upgrade.

 

I got Sony headphones from Best Buy for $25 did some surgery on em and solder to Harley head set sounds great even only 1/3 the volume at 70+ miles BUT depends on your ear size for comfort.

 

I think the headphones that come with the Ultra are junk. I find if I turn up the bass even a little all I get is distortion (the speakers crackle) and this is without cranking up the volume. To use the stock headphones I have to actually decrease the bass and even then the quality of the sound is not that good. Seems like HD could do a lot better for what they charge for their headset.

 

Ground loop will be a hum Not crakle. Sounds like you are overdriving the headset. Gain Stage the amp suppling the headset. Is the signal clear through headset at any level? If so it may be subjective to the level you desire at speed. Try to look at the signal on a scope you can see when the distortion starts.

 

nellybelle, I adjusted the gain on the front amp through the three available settings being -3/0/+3dB on the HOGTUNES amp with no change.
The kicker to this is that I still get distortion through the rear set, which is driven by the OEM HK amp.

In either case HARLEYPINGMAN and bigdumbnoitall00 suggest the signal to both of the headset outputs is independent to either amplifier (as in bypassed) so there should be no "contamination" created by either amp.

I'm sure it's not a ground loop problem-- no hum, just like the sound of cheap speakers being overdriven...

Thanks again to all and I will report back in due course. It may take me a couple of weeks but I will respond with results and hopefully the fix.

My crystal ball shows better speakers may be in order....I really feel this is classic case of overdrive distortion..

Cheers All!

 

the harley ones will crackel if pushed even a little or with too much bass.make sure the speakers are fairly close to your ears so u dont have to push them as hard, or upgrade.one other way around this is set the speaker switch so u get sound through both the headset and speakers then u wont have to push the headset as much.

 

+1! Work good for intercom and CB, not so good with music. I turn the bass all the way down when I listen to music. They sound good with the volume down low, but you can only hear them then at idle. Way over priced! I've tried several sets of HD headphones and they are all the same.......Junk!

 

Originally Posted by CarrollB
I think the headphones that come with the Ultra are junk. I find if I turn up the bass even a little all I get is distortion (the speakers crackle) and this is without cranking up the volume. To use the stock headphones I have to actually decrease the bass and even then the quality of the sound is not that good. Seems like HD could do a lot better for what they charge for their headset


Yep I hear you-- At the J&M site replacement quality speakers are available but at $40-45 EACH I will try everything else first. It's not the money-- it's about having to fork over yet more $$ to get something to work correctly that should work right in the first place.

First thing I will do (as suggested in the string) is to disconnect the HOGTUNES amp, restore the OEM connections, and try again. It shouldn't matter but I'll try it by process of elimination.

More later

 

v2evo96 ,,,

the J&Ms will make a big difference ,,,, which brand/model of helmet are you wearing ? ,,,