Last month John L. from J&M audio was looking for owners of 2011 CVO Road Glides to do a comparison test of the standard factory Boom! Audio speakers and J&M's High Performance set up. I was fortunate enough to be chosen to participate in this test. Last week I received a pair of HCUR-5252GTM-C 5 1/4" three way speakers for the rear of the bike and a set of HRGS-7252GTM-C 7 1/2" three way speakers for the fairing. I've had my bike since October, but with the poor weather we've had up here this past winter I have only managed to put about 700 miles on the bike. In order to really make a good comparison of the two speaker set-ups I had to get some mileage on the bike while listening critically to the factory Boom! speakers. I did a 150 mile ride last weekend and listened to the test CD that John provided, along with my own assortment of MP3's played through the Ipod interface. When I got home I plugged the bike into my battery tender and then spent an hour listening to the factory speakers while the bike was parked in the garage. It was then time to swap out the factory Boom! speakers for the J&M speakers and repeat the test. Install was straight forward. The rears took about 15 minutes to swap and the fronts about an hour, but I'm pretty experienced at removal and replacement of the Road Glide fairing. If it's your first time removing the fairing, figure on at least two hours for the job. I listened to the J&M's for about an hour in the garage and then went out the next day for a 50 mile ride as it was a lot colder than the prior day. Here's my impression of the two set-ups:

Factory Boom! Audio speakers:
I can tell you that when I first got this bike one of the things that impressed me most was the quality of sound. This is my 4th bagger and in my other bikes I have used Polk Audio 5 1/4's, Harley's Enhanced Audio set-up, and Infinity Kappa 5 1/4's. The Boom! Audio set-up on this bike blows them all away. Volume and clarity are exceptionally good. I can run the volume at around 50%, or with the bars just under the "U" in volume and hear everything clearly at 70MPH. Female vocals are sharp and crisp. There is no audible distortion at the volume I would normally listen at. The front speakers do most of the heavy lifting. The rear 5 1/4's do provide some fill, but they don't have the presence of the fronts. If you adjust the fader to bring them in a little more, the system just sounds weak. If the Boom's fall short anywhere it would be in the upper base/lower midrange. Some male vocals can sound a little muddy at times. High frequencies are pretty good. Cymbal crashes are crisp. Bass is respectable, but let's take a little reality check here. If you are looking for thumping, ghetto blaster bass, forget it. You aren't going to find that by bolting something into the stock locations on a motorcycle. Good bass, like you would have at home or in a quality automobile set-up requires the woofers to be mounted into either a sealed enclosure of a specific size, or a vented box with equally difficult parameters to produce. JohnnyBoy is doing a similar comparison on his bike and he stated it well when he said that bass is felt as much as heard. A lot of the low frequencies will be masked or drowned out by road and wind noise. If you are looking for thumping bass you better be willing to sacrifice your Tour Pak or saddlebags. That being said, the Boom! front speakers do put out enough bass to fill out the sound experience.

J&M High Performance Upgrade Speakers
I was a little worried when I went to put these speakers in. I was pretty impressed with the factory Boom! speakers and didn't know if the J&M's could be that much better. After listening to them in the garage, I knew I was safe. The J&M’s ARE an improvement over the Boom's. The sound stage is more open and fuller than the Boom! Both brands seem to be about equally efficient. Neither is any louder at a set volume than the other. However, the rear J&M’s are fuller and richer. They add much more to the sound than the Boom! rears. The J&M system seems to be more dynamic; loud bursts come through louder. They also sound more open and less boxy. Hard hitting rock music like AC/DC sounds great. Female vocals are exceptional. From punchy vocals like Adele's "Rollin in the Deep" to softer singers like Allison Krause, the female voice really stands out with the J&M’s. If they have a weakness , it is the same thing I noticed in the Boom! speakers. Some male vocals can sound a little muddy. The test CD that John supplied included "Hello Darling" by Conway Twitty. Neither brand of speakers sounded great with these vocals. But I played "Hey Joe" by Hendrix and Jimi's vocals came through loud and clear on the J&M’s. Bass from the rear 5 1/4's was much fuller than the Boom! set-up. Bass from the front was better with the J&M's, but I was expecting more of an improvement going from a 5 1/4" driver to the 7 1/2". I may try porting the rear speaker pods into the Tour Pak to see if I can coax a bit more bass out of the system. Harley is offering a kit to do this, but I can probably handle it on my own for a fraction of the cost. On the road they provide a very full soundstage that easily overcomes road and engine noise.

Conclusions: I'll break this into three part: front speakers, rear speakers and complete system. Keep in mind that both brands were tested using the factory HK head unit and Boom! Audio amp that is mounted under the Tour Pak.

Front speakers: Compared to the systems I have had on my other E-glides and Road Glides, the Boom! Audio speakers are a HUGE improvement. Much better volume and clarity than anything I have heard with my own two ears on a tour bike. I would have been perfectly happy keeping this system on my bike had I not had a chance to do the swap and perform this test. The J&M’s are a noticeable improvement, especially in terms of openness and detail in the midrange. Both brands seem to be equally efficient, producing about the same sound at a given volume setting. The J&M's are more dynamic and hit harder when listening to Rock music. The J&M kit comes with foam dampening pads for application inside the fairing that do a nice job cleaning up the sound from the front speakers at highway speeds But with MSRP's of $149.95 for the Boom! and $249.95 for the J&M kit including the foam pads I might have to call it a draw. The J&M speaker kit sounds slightly better, is well engineered with excellent fit and finish, but that is a big price premium to overcome.

Rear speakers: This is no contest. The J&M’s exceed the Boom! offerings in every respect. They are louder, fuller, more dynamic and produce cleaner mid bass than the Boom's. They add to the total sound of the system, rather than just taking up space in the speaker pods. With MSRP's of $149.95 for the Boom! and $169.95 for the J&M’s, I still pick the J&M’s hands down.

Total system sound: Now this is purely subjective on my part. Just one man's opinion. I think the total soundstage produced by the J&M’s is an improvement over the Boom! speakers. The two words that come to mind are fuller and more open. On the road, with exhaust, wind and road noise, the J&M’s strong midrange and dynamic range comes through clearer than the Boom! Again, neither of these systems produce the kind of audiophile sound I get from my home system. But then again, I can't figure out how to mount my 500 watt Adcom amp and 6 ft tall Magnepan speakers to my Road Glide. However, for real world riding and long distance touring, I think the J&M’s are an outstanding system. When listening to the two systems in my garage I found both of them to be a little harsh, but I believe this is deliberately designed into the speakers. The harshness, compared to home stereo speakers, comes from a very dominant midrange. This same midrange is what allows the speakers to overcome road and wind noise at highway speeds. It also is unnoticeable when wearing a ¾ or full face helmet. I can't comment on how either of these brands would sound without the extra amplification that is on my CVO. I would certainly love to hear the J&M’s with the more powerful 250 watt Rokker amp that J&M manufactures. I'll stop by their display at Americade in June to hear that system and report back on that.

I also suggest that if you are adding amplification to your system, that you thoroughly go over everything inside your fairing to make sure it is cable-tied, velcroed or buttoned down tightly. Anything that is loose will buzz or vibrate when you are pushing your system hard.

JohnnyBoy is doing a similar review of the J&M Rokkers and is posting in the Audio forum. His test is more objective, using professional sound measuring tools and a more critical, professional ears than mine. Hopefully, using these two reviews will allow potential buyer to make a good decision if they are looking to upgrade their bagger sound systems.

 

Just curious, did you listen to the front Boom speakers with the foam installed in the fairing? Or, did you pull the Booms, install the foam and J & M speakers at the same time? If you didn't use the foam with the Booms, the comparison isn't apples to apples. Also, knowing what you know now....if you had to go out and buy 4 speakers for your bike, price being one factor, which would you lay down your cash for?

 

omgtkk...
Thanks a lot man for going to the trouble to doing this comparative test and writing it up. I've done it and it isn't easy... Really good honest report...Excellent...

You tested basically just the base J&M 7.25 inch 3-way speakers, RIGHT? NOT the Rokkers?


QUESTION for John or one of the guys at Dr V-Twin...
I see the RG 7.25 are arranged differently than the ones for the SG. Would you say the sound is comparable??

THANKS!

 

it also isn't apples to apples when you are talking about comparing a 7.50 inch speaker to a 5.25....

but, thanks for the review. i'm happy with my system (for now) but when looking to upgrade in the future, i'm sure i will consider j&m.

 

The sound is moist definitely comporable between the 7.25"'s for the RG and SG. Keep in mind when you read JohnnyBoy's report that he is testing the ROKKERS and this review was of the standard J&M 7.25"'s. there is a difference in the speakers. And as always, Dr. V-twin sells all J&M products at a discounted rate so contact us for pricing please.

Drew

 

Great write-up ...thanks for taking the time. It seems like a pretty apples to apples test to me. Same head unit, same amp, same test music, same test enviromentals. Two complete plug-n-play sets of speakers for the same "ballpark" price range. The fact that one has larger drivers and "sound insulating foam" is just an added benefit of that company's offering. So what if it gave the J&M's an advantage. Isn't that what competition is about?

 

I have to disagree. If you want the "same test environments" then foam needs to be present in both tests to make things truly equal. Foam definitely enhances the sound. I have the J & M 7.25's in my Ultra and like them so I'm not trying to knock them... but fair is fair in my world.

 

Thanks for the writeup. I sure read alot of negative stuff on the J&M Stuff on here. Sicne I have the boom's in the fairing....I wonder where I could get some of this "foam" to richen the sound? I never have to go over 50% volume on mine....and if I do, they start to distort unless I take out some bass and add treble....but I am VERY happy with them....50% volume and I can hear them GREAT! Up to 70 MPH, I am still getting bass....they're not "tinny" as I was led to believe they would be.

But again, this foam might be nice. Is there a source for this, or is it a DIY??

Thanks again,

~Joe

 

The foam was not present with the Boom! speakers. I applied it when I did the J&M speaker installation.

Big 6x6...These were the Standard J&M 71/2" speakers. NOT the Rokkers. I believe that JohnnyBoy is testing the ROkkers and is posting in the audio forum.

Bowa...If I had to lay down my cash I think I would go for the J&M system. While the front speakers are very comparable between the two brands, The rear speakers are no contest. And as a 4 speaker system I think the J&M's provide a better soundstage. Not sure what Dr V-twin sells the J&M's for, but if he can reduce the price difference, it makes it an easy choice. But I would say that you would certainly be pleased with either system.

Joe...I believe J&M sells the foam pads separately. Give Dr V-Twin a call and see what he can do for you.

And again, this test was on my CVO, which has the Harley 4 channel amp mounted under the tour pak. If you are just running the stock HK head unit, you will get different results.

 

The foam is available separately for around $35. Dr. Vtwin or Phat Performance both carry it. I put the foam in my Ultra to see if it enhanced the sound of the stock speakers before removing them and installing the JM 7.25's and it definitely made an improvement.