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[TIF2]

So this is pretty exciting news. I've been working with Hybrid Audio Technologies to develop a 4-ohm, high quality, "drop-in" speaker for the H-D saddlebag speaker lids. They have completed the modeling and as such, wanted to get the word out that these speakers ARE coming, probably within the next 4mos-6mos. This will be a FANTASTIC product for the following reasons:

1. The speakers will be 4-ohm impedance which allows for connection to the Rockford PBR series of amps. Additionally, it allows for more flexible system design when using 2-ohm stable amps such as the JL Audio and Arc Audio (et al) amps. You can parallel lowers and lids, lids and pods, etc.

2. These will be true "drop-ins", designed specifically for the H-D speaker lids and sealing the funky sized hole in the lid. Very attractive now that H-D has color-matched lids available in the P&A book.

3. They will be based on their "Imagine" series speakers, which proivides a decent price point of ~$250 per set. They will have a ferrite magnet for fast motor movement. The underside baskets in the lids will not be required for install, but may be used with minor mods to the baskets.

4. They will be a "coax" speaker (no external crossovers to wire) with a bridged tweeter design and a sealed woofer dustcap ensuring that no water creeps into the bag. They will also be water resistant like the H-D offerings.

HAT is getting fully behind the motorcycle audio sector and I commend them for it. Look for an entire line of speakers built and developed specifically for H-D bikes. I'm stoked because I have 2 sets of HAT speakers and am VERY impressed with both the build and sound quality. Great speakers and a great company - I can't wait to have an entire HAT bike!!

I'll have a set of the new lid speakers as soon as they are available. I'll definitely post up on how they perform compared to my $500 set of JL Audio C5-570 component speakers. If I know HAT - the new speakers will be on par with the JLs in sound quality and will be a TERRIFIC deal at ~$250 per pair.

[Harleypingman]

Rich, that's GREAT news for several reasons!!!

First, there is no "drop in" speaker for the HD saddlebag lids except that offered by HD in 1 ohm and 2 ohm impedance versions--HD saw to that with its "unique" mounting hole locations.  Anyone using the very popular RF 300W, 4-channel amp (myself included) was left to adapt aftermarket speakers to fit the mounting holes and dimensions of the HD lids.  Having already modified RF 6x8 speakers using a Dremel to fit the HD lids, I've already contacted Scott, HAT's owner, to get on the list for the new drop-in speakers.

Second, Hybrid Audio Technologies is an outstanding vendor of automotive speakers.  In fact, the popular Biketronics 6.5" speakers are now supplied by HAT, so HAT is already supplying a large quantity of speakers for our HD's.

Third, HAT will be, as mentioned by Rich, supplying a full line of HD specific products including 7.1" fairing speakers, 5.25" and/or 6.5" tour pak pod speakers in 2 ohm and 4 ohm impedance versions; the 2 ohm being compatible with HD's HK radio and HK amp systems in addition to the drop-in saddlebag lid speakers.

Props to Rich for getting the ball rolling with Scott at HAT--we can all appreciate having another quality vendor providing HD-specific products and, regarding the newly available color-matched saddlebag speaker lids, a drop-in speaker.

Carl

 

[Big Dog]

This will surely be a winner now that there will be better options, I knew I should have went with a four channel amp, I'm maxed now with four speakers (fairing & lowers) in parallel so adding these would either require another dedicated amp for the lid speakers or a new four channel amp, here we go again, but hey, still great to know of this.

[SMSgt B]

Rich and Carl,

I knew my procrastination would pay off ... this is great news as I am waiting for the below JCV in-dash to become available anyway.  I decided to completely remove even the stereo since the cost for adding 2 preamps to the HD vs buying something else is almost a wash.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KDA95BT/JVC-Arsenal-KD-A95BT.html?search=jvc+head+unit   6-channel 5V preamps and designed for Androids.



So please also include me in a purchase deal ... especially for the 7.1 fronts, 6.5 rear pods, and the 5x7 lids.

[TIF2]

Rich and Carl,

I knew my procrastination would pay off ... this is great news as I am waiting for the below JCV in-dash to become available anyway.  I decided to completely remove even the stereo since the cost for adding 2 preamps to the HD vs buying something else is almost a wash.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_105KDA95BT/JVC-Arsenal-KD-A95BT.html?search=jvc+head+unit  6-channel 5V preamps and designed for Androids.



So please also include me in a purchase deal ... especially for the 7.1 fronts, 6.5 rear pods, and the 5x7 lids.

That looks like a pretty sweet H/U .... If I wasn't married to the H-D accessory modules I'd be interested.
One note regarding the JL Audio amp .... the install manual states the low-level inputs are limited to 4 volts. Not sure what will be required for the JL amp to deal with the 5v outs on the JVC. Might not be a problem but you would want to keep that in mind. This could also come into play for other amps.

Also -
Kudos on making SMSgt (your service is appreciated) .... me?
I took an "early retirement" after 4 years (lol).

[mjb765]

So this is pretty exciting news. I've been working with Hybrid Audio Technologies to develop a 4-ohm, high quality, "drop-in" speaker for the H-D saddlebag speaker lids. They have completed the modeling and as such, wanted to get the word out that these speakers ARE coming, probably within the next 4mos-6mos. This will be a FANTASTIC product for the following reasons:

Drop in lid speakers from HAT...you're just taking away all of my excuses not to go to the next level aren't ya.....4-6 months....so they will be ready for next winters project...

So now what Rich--4 channel amp and a new "drop-in" harness for the fairing??


Mike

[TIF2]

So now what Rich--4 channel amp and a new "drop-in" harness for the fairing??

Mike

If I build it ... they will upgrade.

[Harleypingman]

Given Rich's incredibly good wiring harnesses, coupled with many folks' demand for "plug and play" convenience, I've suggested to Rich that he ought to be "in the business" of supplying harnesses.  Fortunately, I made those suggestions after he fabbed a terrific mult-outlet connector harness for my bike's B+ connector so that I could connect two RF 300x4 amps.  It's a better harness than you can buy from HD because, among  other reasons, Rich used 10 ga. wire and the HD  accessory uses 12 ga., the latter is not adequate for the RF amps.  The harness is a thing of beauty.

If you have an audio and/or wiring questions, Rich should be your first call--but, do yourself a favor and own the appropriate HD Service Manual and do a bit of homework beforehand; it will make the phone call far more helpful.

Having participated on this forum a bit, and on hdforums.com far more, I can safely say noone is more generous in sharing his time, knowledge, and talent than Rich.

Carl

[HD Kid]

Having participated on this forum a bit, and on hdforums.com far more, I can safely say noone is more generous in sharing his time, knowledge, and talent than Rich.

Carl

I couldn't agree more!  Rich is deffinatly the go to guy for electronic and audio upgrades.

Keep us updated for sure, I am deffinatly interested!

BTW Rich, amazing job on your setup on ur street glide. I looked the thread over and couldn't believe the patients and persistence that you have had to do all that you have done. Nicely done!

[SMSgt B]

That looks like a pretty sweet H/U .... If I wasn't married to the H-D accessory modules I'd be interested.
One note regarding the JL Audio amp .... the install manual states the low-level inputs are limited to 4 volts. Not sure what will be required for the JL amp to deal with the 5v outs on the JVC. Might not be a problem but you would want to keep that in mind. This could also come into play for other amps.

Also -
Kudos on making SMSgt (your service is appreciated) .... me?
I took an "early retirement" after 4 years (lol).

Rich,

Thanks for the heads up on the volts.  I am going with 2 RF PBR300X4s with the above H/U.  I did check and the RFs are:
Hi-Level: Variable 4 to 6 DC Volt offset sensitivity, High-Level: harness, Low-Level: 2 Pair RCA

I don't know what that means but I do know that 5 is between 4 and 6   

Also...retired in 2008 as a SMSgt but had this handle for so long now I still use it.

[TIF2]

Rich,

Thanks for the heads up on the volts.  I am going with 2 RF PBR300X4s with the above H/U.  I did check and the RFs are:
Hi-Level: Variable 4 to 6 DC Volt offset sensitivity, High-Level: harness, Low-Level: 2 Pair RCA

I don't know what that means but I do know that 5 is between 4 and 6   

Also...retired in 2008 as a SMSgt but had this handle for so long now I still use it.

If you are going with the Rockford amps .... you'll want to feed it with speaker level outputs from the H/U.
The output of the RF PBR300/4 suffers when it is fed with RCA outs (low-level) from a head unit.

[SMSgt B]

If you are going with the Rockford amps .... you'll want to feed it with speaker level outputs from the H/U.
The output of the RF PBR300/4 suffers when it is fed with RCA outs (low-level) from a head unit.

Rich,

I'm pretty much clueless on this one.  So how do I know if it has "speaker level outputs" or is their something I will need to add (converter) between the H/U out and amp ins?  Could the RF amp be suffering since it wants between 4-6V preamp inputs but some H/U I've seen are only 2V preamp outputs ... it's looking for more power?  Can you explain what you mean a little better for a novice-level guy?

Thanks

[TIF2]

So how do I know if it has "speaker level outputs" or is their something I will need to add (converter) between the H/U out and amp ins?  

It is a choice of which signals to send the the amp. RCA connections are typically referred to as "low-level" outputs from a head unit since it is generally in the range of .1 - 4V. Speaker-level outputs from the head unit are just that, the are the wires that you would normally run to a set of speakers. These outputs are generally much higher in amplitude (up to ...say 10 -12V). The RF amp has a harness included that contains femal RCA connectors on one end, and a Molex connector on the other. If you are using low-level signals from the H/U ... you connect up the RCA connectors on the RF amp. If you are using speaker-level signals from the H/U you cut the RCA connectors off of the RF harness and connect the individual wires to the speaker leads from the H/U.

Could the RF amp be suffering since it wants between 4-6V preamp inputs but some H/U I've seen are only 2V preamp outputs ... it's looking for more power?

I think you may be confusing the adjustment for the "auto-sense" turn on for the amp. Rockford lists this feature as "Variable 4-6 volt hi level DC offset voltage input turn-on control". This is different from the low-level signals sent from the head unit (note it specifically states high level). For the "auto-sense" feature to be enabled, you must use the speaker level outputs from the H/U ... it will not work with the low-level signal. The "4v - 6v" adjustment on the amp is there as a sensitivity adjustment - it can be changed to delay an amp from turning on and to prevent "pops" when it does turn on. The RF amp is not "expecting" to see 4v-6v input voltage from the H/U - it will work with as little as 150mv (.15v).

The reason the PBR-300/4 amp suffers on output when using low-level feeds is due to the design of the amp. Generally, a mobile audio amplifier will have a switch available for "low-level" and "speaker-level" sources (fed from H/U). This switch changes the path of the signal in the amp with the low-level source going to some type of voltage manipulation or gain. The "speaker-level" signals go through a different path in the amp.

The RF PBR-300/4 does not have a switch for "low-level" and "speaker-level" feeds - therefore - it deals with all input signal voltage through the same path. Since low-level signals generally max at 4v (some, such as the JVC you are looking at, are at 5v) it becomes readily apparent why the output suffers. Higher input voltage (speaker level at 10v-12v) allows higher output amplitude.

Hope this helps ... I know it can get confusing.

[trahog]

Hey Rich,Why don't you figure out the problem for Harley that all of us are having with are stock stereos on the 2011 cvo street glide.Oh Sorry I guess you already have and know they are junk,that's why you are using the good stuff.

[mjb765]

Hey Rich,Why don't you figure out the problem for Harley that all of us are having with are stock stereos on the 2011 cvo street glide.Oh Sorry I guess you already have and know they are junk,that's why you are using the good stuff.

I never had a problem....but now I never will.....With Rich's help I did an Arc amp and Hybrid Audio speakers in the lowers and Hybrid Audio component speakers in the fairing......and next year he is threatening to make me do saddlebag lid speakers