Getting better bass from fairing mounted speakers.

[halcombrick]

Hey guys, I have 4" 3-way speakers mounted on each side of my fairing, I plan on upgrading to 6" speakers out of the front doors of my old pt cruiser. My question is,, is it true that if you fill the inside of the fairing with the stuffing from pillows that it will give you deeper and better bass and better sound in general. Has anyone done this and if so was it worth all the trouble of filling the inside of the fairing with pillow guts lol,, thanks in advance.

[tfdeputydawg]

Unless they are marine grade speakers, you may not want to put them on a bike, unless you never wash if or ride in the rain!!!!

[Big Blue UK]

Bass is definitely tighter using acoustic filling. Also sticking thin draught excluder around the rear of the mounting rim, so no air escapes from the back of the driver, creating a air cushion behind the cone as it is pushed backwards, returning the cone to centre faster. Do not expect too much from the speakers you are about to install, Not sure what unit will be driving the speakers, but the AWG of the speaker wire makes a difference, and the amp may no doubt be throwing a fit, being driven to peak trying to put power to the speakers that it does not have, collapsing the bass. what is really needed is a 2ch aftermarket amp with enough power to drive the speakers, nothing fancy. I would guess the speakers you are going to use could be about 40-50W RMS 140W+ peak if any good. Size and watts make no odds, frequency response matters.

Try them and see, do you know the condition of the speakers that are in at present.

[Big Blue UK]

Unless they are marine grade speakers, you may not want to put them on a bike, unless you never wash if or ride in the rain!!!!

I got sick and tired of the sound quality from my 1800. I have Polk speakers installed, but the amp in my 2002 is nowhere near good enough to drive them as good as they need to be. I am deciding between a Polk and a Rockford Fosgate today. I have already wired in a cap to handle peaks, although I have a car battery, and connect a second car battery for events. Upgraded the cheap as chips OEM speaker wire, and installed high pass filters to each speaker ready. I have dumped the rubbish MO Honda CHG MECH ERROR changer (second one) hoping the Soundgate and ipod touch performs as well quality wise, reliability wise 1k%. I know some MP3 tweaking will be needed. I want a Polk amp as they do work well with their marine speakers. Problem is I cannot get a Polk amp here, and I do not fancy returning it to the US should I have to, although very unlikely. Rockford Fosgate is such a good alternative, I doubt if I will tell the difference really. I doubt if even the higher grade IC in the 2002 OEM amp will be powerful enough, the naff one installed in early 1800's like mine, has to be heard to be believed, absolute rubbish for a flagship cruiser. With the mods so far, and the Rockford amp, I am expecting to go from 2/10 to at least 8/10.

[halcombrick]

I have a very good 200 watt head unit,,its a pioneer CD player i mounted in the fairing,upper left pocket. The 4 inch speakers I have in it now are 3-way 150 watt max. I'm either gonna put the 6 inch factory door speakers from my old pt cruiser or just put a nice set off 6x9 mounted in the fairing, my windshield blocks almost all of the rain that I hit,,i have never had a drop hit the speakers in it now,,6x9 may seem big to some but I know they will fit and I love my tunes while riding.

[ram11397]

Hi
Not trying hijack thread but question halcombrick
how do you support or have the CD in the left pocket trying to do same thing.

[halcombrick]

I took a dremel and cut the pocket to fit an installation kit for a 99 Chevy blazer. Then I took and slid it down in the pocket and sealed it with silicone. On top of that I put a marine stereo cover,i hope this helps.

[ram11397]

Thanks it does gives me somewhere to start

[Big Blue UK]

I have a very good 200 watt head unit,,its a pioneer CD player i mounted in the fairing,upper left pocket. The 4 inch speakers I have in it now are 3-way 150 watt max. I'm either gonna put the 6 inch factory door speakers from my old pt cruiser or just put a nice set off 6x9 mounted in the fairing, my windshield blocks almost all of the rain that I hit,,i have never had a drop hit the speakers in it now,,6x9 may seem big to some but I know they will fit and I love my tunes while riding.

The bass will sound better with 6x9's, because speakers 4" and smaller can struggle with bass. To get a decent bass response the drivers you are fitting from your cruiser need to be enclosed, stuffing the front of the fairing with pillow filling would do little but dull the bass . Try and make a sealed pocket type enclosure for the speakers, this will make a huge difference, unless the space behind the speakers is sealed. If your cruiser door has a plastic type pocket enclosure the speaker fits into, remove them and try and modify them so you can fit it to the back of the speaker, then install the speaker with the enclosure into the fairing,