I understand your frustration with the J&M speakers. I heard them at a bike show and decided that I'd look into car audio options instead. Not sure if the J&M's will benefit from the amp but I listened to them with and without the amp. To me, they just sounded louder and did not drastically the sound quality all that much when amplified.

I've also had the HogTunes speakers and tweeter pods which were OK but not what I really wanted as far as sound quality is concerned. However, given the cost of the HogTunes setup, it wasn't all that bad either.

Currently, I have the stock HK head unit and Arc Audio amp with Hertz HSK-165 component speakers installed in my 2010 Limited and I'm quite pleased with this setup. To be fair, the Hertz speakers cost more than the J&M's but at least I finally found what I would consider a pretty darn good sound system. If you do decide to switch to the Hertz speakers, consider going with the component speakers instead of the coax versions. Spend a little bit of time at a car audio shop and listen to various speakers and choose what sounds best to you. To me, the component versions of any speakers sounded much better than the coax versions regardless of the brand/model.

Finally, I will say that while the Hertz speakers sound fine at low/med volume they really come alive as you turn up the volume. I would not use these speakers without an amp as they seem to perform much better as you add more power.

 

Include me in as a JM purchaser who feel they way over pair for speakers. I did purchase the tweeter bar and added a cheap after market amp. Sounds much better then just the JM. If I had to do over again I would just get some 6.5's and add an amp and tweeter bar.

 

1..You can't wire them wrong. The connectors only go to one place. They are sized. Unless they where wired wrong from the factory, they are correct. For the sake of argument, I'll double check when I pull the fairing today to do the amp wiring.

2..I have 2 sets of components and a single 12" run off a 5-channel Eclipse in my 290 sundancer. I have 2 wakeboard enclosures with 6x9's in my UTV run off a walmart Dual $55 amp. I also have 2 hidden 12" kickers run off a BD1000.1 in my Escalade on the stock NAV unit. All these I did myself. I make mistakes but I know crap when I see and hear it.

In no way am I trying to compare any of those to this type set-up but the UTV absolutely kills the harley right now.

These J&M's sound like my 10 yr old little sony garage boom box, w/1 speaker blown, with crisper highs. To be frank, I tested them prior to putting the fairing back on and they sound about the same bass wise.

Something has to be big time wrong, there is no way people are happy as clams with these like this.

FWIW, I run the same iphone for all systems. It sounds great on those.

 

This brings up some valid points. Also, with my iPod I noticed that each song has a different volume level that effects the quality of the lower frequencies. I ran all my songs through a freeware software tool that normalizes the volume of each song to optimal levels. This helped considerably.

 

My Sony HU and Biketronics kit should be here next week. It will be interesting to see whether the J&M's come alive with the Sony and elf amp. If the problem is solved then great. If not then my impression of these expensive J&M speakers will be very subpar.

To be clear, my current impression of the J&M 7.25's with the elf amp and stock HU is average. I was hoping for a far superior sound, but in all fairness I can't blame the speakers yet. The stock Harmon Kardon HU is not exactly top of the line.

 

In Itunes, there is a setting to auto adjust volume levels.

Itunes>audio>click sound check box.

 

well, that's the way people where raving about them. I heard no one rave about them with an aftermarket radio.

lets hope it changes things....or I'll get some 6.5's and try that way.

 

That treats the symptom rather than the cause, mostly by lowering the volume on tracks after the fact. Better to rip them properly. Kind of a moot point though if you buy all your music from iTunes.

 

Planning on pulling my fairing for the first time when the weather breaks to check the brrackets and while in there, I will be replacing my stock speakers.

After reading threads of this nature, I think I'll order a set of J&M 5.25's or H-D Boom speakers and leave it at that. Will be an improvment however small but, no regrets about dropping big $$$ and not being happy with results.

Thanks for the thread Shore and good luck obtaining the results you are looking for.

 

These sound pretty good also. and they won't cost you an arm and a leg.
Polk Audio DB6501 6.5-Inch 2-Way Component System Pair them with an arc amp for $289. Change HU later.
$99 on Amazon.
No way would I spend more that $100 for speakers in the fairing.