I ordered a 2012 Road Glide Custom a few weeks ago. It will be here in 2 weeks. Was wondering what is the best upgrade I can do with the speakers without having to pay out the yang for an amp. Anyone have the Boom upgraded speakers? Are they good? I want to be able to hear the music while running 60-70 mph. Help me out fellas. Thanks.

 

You may have opened a can of worms with that question....
May just as well sit back with a bucket of popcorn and a box of beer,
as you could be in for some reading.

Relax and enjoy

 

I work with concert sound-I know a couple of things about decibels--- car audio is full of snake oil.

Best way to hear at highway speeds- ear buds. keep the music in and the road noise out. Offers good hearing protection.

easy to wire into stereo system if you are handy.

2.) speakers:
replacement speakers have to have 2 ohm impedance. 2 ohm speakers are less available than 4 or 8, which can't be used with out wiring in resistors which will suck up alot of amp power and give poor result over stock.

they have to be weather resistant- "marine" type--- or I sometimes use paper cone speakers and scotch guard them.

3.) specs:
"watts" means nothing- it is the ability of the speaker to take power--- only--- nothing to do with how well it works.

frequency response hope to find something like 30 Hertz to 15 kHertz plus or minus 2 dB.
look for a graph type representation--- watch for the common peaks at 1kHz to 3 kHz, which is screetchy sounding.

Sensitivity: this is the most important spec-
X dB at produced by 1 watt power measured at 1 meter

average X spec would be 92 dB,
98 dB would be more than TWICE as loud at the exact same amp power. 88 dB would be 1/2 as loud as 92 dB.

selecting speaker with high sensitivity makes the most of the amp in your stock stereo.

"tweeters"- some speakers add "tweeters" these reproduce the 2 kHz and up range which is actually the easiest frequencies to reproduce ( clear lows are the toughest).
Many tweeters add a crossover network which is a resistor and capacitor network which bleeds off amplifier power-- and is not a good idea.

--- real crossovers divide the frequencies at the preamp stage and use separate amps for lows and highs, maybe mids too. Fun and costly.


so my suggestion and what i do- use the stock speakers in town at lower speeds, use ear buds for long high way trips.

If you wanna change speakers look at impedance first, then sensitivity, then frequency response.

other approaches can quickly lead into "oh, you need to buy an amp for that"

last speakers I selected for a bike, I found a display at frys electronics, and using the same stereo head unit playing a CD I brought with me, controls set to "flat"--- I selected different speakers in turn and purchased the set that were loudest and sounded the most even for tonality--- they were made by polk.

mike

 

I have the J&M 7.25s, I personally like them, but some people don't. I have a friend with a SG with the HD Boom speakers, they do sound good, a lot better than stock, I also have a friend with the Kicker speakers that sound much better than stock, as far as which ones sound best, it's hard to say, all are better than stock and that's about where the agreement ends, lol.

 

i have the boom audio speaker upgrade. i like it. my wife has the hogtunes speaker upgrade. she likes it too.....

both are better than stock.

 

2011 FLTRX ..... got the Boom Audio speakers...... whole bunch better than stock..... don't cost a lot.


First thing you need to do is get rid of that joke windshield if you want to hear your tunes. Get something way taller than stock. I run a Windvest 12 in the summer, and a Clearview tall when the temps start to drop. I look over the Windvest, and through the Clearview. I can light a cigar with a Bic behind the Clearview at 65.

 

too funny and all too true!!

 

I know nothing about bike audio !!

 

I listened to the tunes on the demo bike J&M had at Carson City H-D. It had 7.25s and a 500-watt amp (4-channel) in the fairing, 7.25s in the lowers and upgraded 5.25s in the back.
While I wasn't rolling down the road, it did seem like it would be able to be heard when doing so.

That being said, the best value I've seen is to get a set of custom earbuds (molded to the shape of your ears) and an adapter that provides a common 3.5mm headphone jack from the COM plug. The buds provide good sound and block out the damaging wind noise.

 

I bought Yaffes stereo kit the "house Party" it's awesome. four 6.5" inch speakers in fairing. and 6x9s in the lids. I had the 4 in the fairing for the first two months while I waited to paint the lids. the 4 in the fairing was awesome. and not a real hard install. I love it. build your own system for pretty cheap with the new amps that are available. I even have the instructions in email form. Pm me if your interested I overkilled mine and added some more amps so now I have a total of 600 watts and I get a ton of comments when I go to my Harley dealer.