Bike Audio: 2012-up CVO Speaker Lids

4ohm PioneerUSA brand 6x8" speakers, shaved and gasket crammed into a 5x7 opening without modifying the lids themselves, only the speakers safety rings and outer lips were removed and shaved resepectively

This was a first humble attempt at something to fill in the gaps. Gaps in sound.

Ran 4 speakers at 100w each all summer, although the sound was great, the toll on the speakers was becoming an issue, simply finding speakers that can handle 100w effectively

is a big challenge. That said replacing the speakers ever so often does not seem like the worlds biggest concern, just to freshen up the system. The good news is that the simple and effective 2 channel boosted rail amp from rockfordfosgate doesn't seem phased by the workload, so growing on that constant, I sought out to expand and refine the setup.

A little history

phase one: stock 2010 FLTRX audio, HK radio, two 5.25 speakers

radio breaks up before it has a chance to be loud

phase two: stock FLTRX radio, boom audio 5.25 component speakers

still sounds terrible, just possibly, 20% louder, useless, waste of $120, but the speaker grills look cool, keep the grills

phase three: add polk db 651 slimline speakers, with throttle up 6.5" speaker ring adaptors

because they are 4ohm speakers, still does not get loud, due to the HK radio being 2ohm

phase four: add PBR300x4, run two channels

louder, but distorted, polks are not powerful enough

phase five: bench test several various makes and model of speakers, replace PBR300x4 with PBR300x2, add aftermarket radio MS60 and second set of speakers to the inner fairing

tested TitanII, Hawg-wired ZX, Pioneer G144R and polks in 1w1m

found ZX and Pioneers combination to be the most pleasing to the ear and loudest.

proceeded with install - ran this all summer - really rocked - got almost no negative comments about the sound quality - very loud - very clean

200 hours later - post rain weather and extreme use - started losing ZX speakers, then Pioneers - 

phase six - added second amp, amp heat sinks, 6x8 CVO lids and PEQ dials, replaced MS60 with DSX310 radio

overall sounds good still, DSX310 is a bit gainy, so will be adding a gain attenuator to the radio outputs, PEQ adds either High, Low or High&Low is a predefined "Punch" curve, a curve well know for it's usable accuracy for on road situations.

at this point I have replaced my original red coned ZX speakers with black cone ZX under warranty exchange, the Pioneers are really starting to overextend, so those will be replaced shortly

working on the amp remote location currently, has to really be on the left side of the bike.

more than likely will be utilizing the lower part of the glove box door

what will the amp remote do? well, in lieu, of going back to the MS60, soften and sweeten up the sound, at least that is the hope.

The MS60 has a very pleasing output and controls are straightforward, sort of, but there just seemed to be more options with the DSX310 software, until something else is available, it's one of these two radios, both hold and control the ipod or flash drive, so this is a TBD. both items priced under $200

one master trim and EQ for each amp, master trim is more of a preamp offset, hoping between those two knobs and volume and a basic good radio EQ, peak performance

can be achieved with a simple volume, trim trim method, phyisical controls rather than

menu controls.

There really isn't time for menus on a motorcycle. but single function knobs, okay.

Well, I hope that explains it, 100% safety guidelines and positive connections make all the difference in a quality output, here's to happy motoring.