For those interested in kicking up the front channel audio on a touring bike here is your guinea pigging the installation of a HawgWired amplifier system. Due to the level of detail in the installation it’ll be a lengthy thread. So if you’re not interested here is 15 minutes of your life that can be saved for better things. If you’re interested in a surprising gain in audio performance, however, read on.
This is a kit actually designed for our bikes. Physically small parts that will (if you’re careful) all fit inside the fairing without any problem. It’s a 150 watt amp (75 per side) as opposed to the 60 watt unit that is part of radios in the 04 and 05 SEEGs or the 40 watt unit in the 06 “Advanced Audio” radios from Harmon Kardon.
A few pros and cons. Most important is that the system works great. Really really surprising difference. Just got back from about an hour’s ride with the system on the bike. This is the first time I’ve ever “felt” the bass on this bike. And this is with the radio only at about half volume. It sounds better than any bike I’ve run across even with an aftermarket head unit (though I’ve not seen that many of those).
In the garage I tried the unit with both the HogTunes speakers and the 2 ohm Harmon Kardon speakers. The HogTunes were a noticably better choice. The amp will be “bigger” with the 2 ohm speakers. Up to probably 250 watts RMS total or so. The unit isn’t stable, however, beyond about what you’re able to do with the 4 ohm speakers. Lots of distortion when you’re pushing past what I’d guess is 90 amps or so. Below that it is perfect though. The published system spec for distortion at 70 amps (on each channel) is .005%. I hear no reason to doubt that. That is, basically, no distortion at all.
One word of warning here. If you consider this kit and you haven’t jumped to HogTunes or some other speaker that is more robust than the speakers we had stock prior to 06 either upgrade your speakers at the same time or don’t waste your money. The original stock speakers not only wouldn’t keep up with the amp in a performance sense. The amp would simply kill them. Not kidding.
The system is built around a Class T digital amp. So the heat issues of analog amps are not present. This also menas low power consumption. There should be no issues with an amp failing because it’s tucked inside the fairing away from any available cooling and the stator and voltage regulator won’t mind having the new neighbors on board.
Since the radio itself is now unloaded its internal amp won’t be stressed either. That’s another heat source dissipated. That should be good for that expensive stock radio too.
So the system works great. Stunning difference actually. But it’s not perfect. The problems aren’t dramatic. And fortunately they’re not system related. But for what the manufacturer sees fit to charge for this system they should be better; because they could be better.
First off is that the installation, while not especially difficult, is certainly tedious. It is made more so because the installation instructions aren’t especially good. Not bad; just not outstanding. It’s a case where the guy that wrote the directions was already familiar with the system and installation. This comes in to play in areas where assistance with positioning or mounting of some pieces could be better. It would have made things quicker. The photo on their website of an installed unit is more help than is the direction booklet they send and the single poor photo within it.
The only other complaint is that (at least in my kit) I didn’t have everything I’d need for the installation. Granted, the only things missing were a few wire terminals and some speaker wire. All little stuff. Stuff I had here in the garage. But, again, for the $600.00 they charge for this kit it ought to all be there.
For anyone still considering the unit here is the installation itself. This will hopefully help when someone else tackles their own.
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Topic: "Hawg Wired" 150 watt in fairing amplifier kit (Read 13831 times)