Updating Speakers

[Billh500]

Question for all you guru's out there. I have a 83 Aspy and I would like to update the sound. I'm considering replacing the Clarion speakers with newer (maybe 3-way) speakers. Has anyone done this and is the sound better? After all they're only 4" speakers.. Also I would like to add rear speakers. Is there a place I can purchase some complete with the deck mounting boxes? I figure I might remove the leather storage bags and install speakers in place of them. Ideas???

Thanks
Bill

[Five]

I just ordered some Bazooka 4" 2-ways from Crutchfield, I'll let you know how they work out.

[cameron1269]

I installed a pair of Polk Db401. They pound pretty good for 4"

[Billh500]

I installed a pair of Polk Db401. They pound pretty good for 4"

Thanks for the input. Did you replace working Clarions? I guess my secondary question is, my Clarions work fine. Is there a noticable difference in the sound using newer speakers? Or should I save the trouble and keep what I have?

Also I'm looking for shelf style deck mount speakers for the rear set, not the flush mount. My rider would like the arm rests..

Thanks
Bill

[cameron1269]

I actually gutted the sound system out. I made a plate to mount a sony CDX100 media unit in the soft pocket on the left and installed the speakers in the factory clarion pods. the combo of the sony and polks sound phenomenal. (well as phenomenal as 4" speakers can sound)
I can actually listen to the radio at 70 miles an hour now.

[Billh500]

I actually gutted the sound system out. I made a plate to mount a sony CDX100 media unit in the soft pocket on the left and installed the speakers in the factory clarion pods. the combo of the sony and polks sound phenomenal. (well as phenomenal as 4" speakers can sound)
I can actually listen to the radio at 70 miles an hour now.

Now that sounds cool! Any chances of pictures of your system???

Bill

[cameron1269]

i'll have to figure out how to post pics..... the speakers look exactly the same (except you can see the polk emblem behind the grills) while the stereo is on an aluminum plate, and i used the soft cover with velcro to hide it.

one thing to note: when mounting a stereo vertically in the side pocket - it's very snug in the fairing. I had to mount the stereo as close to the inside as possible. Otherwise, there isn't enough depth in the pocket.

the other thing i did was install a TuneTrapper flexible antenna inside the fairing. I bought it at royal and got soaked on the price they charged me, but it is definately worth having. That got rid of the nasty rattles behind my trunk and let me use the honda bike cover again.
http://www.canadamotorcycleaccessories. ... P26890.php

[mpj220]

I replaced my working factory Clarion speakers with some cheap Pyle 4" speakers from ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/PAIR-NEW-PYLE-4-PLR ... 51954c682c
I was hoping for a bit better sound from my mp3 player running through an FM modulator.

I found the Clarions had better sound than the Pyle 4", so they are back in.

I did pick up some cheap ($15) surface mount tweeters from Walmart. They made a world of difference with the stock clarion system and speakers.

[WingAdmin]

If you want to post pictures, when you're writing your reply, click on the "Upload attachment" tab, then click "Browse" to select the picture you want to attach to the message. When you've selected it, add a comment (if you wish) and then click the "Add the file" button. That's it!

[cameron1269]

Billh500 -=> i took some pics. not the best pics as they were done with my blackberry
I used the sony cdx100 media player. I chose this one cuz' it has no cd player in it, which means NO MOVING PARTS (well other than a tray to drop your ipod into). I just put a 32 gig usb key inside the unit, and i'm never short on tunes. i chose the polk db401 speakers for a couple of reasons. 1-they sound excellent, 2- they're marine rated. which means they can handle a little rain. 3-I've been a polk **** for alot of years. All of my vehicles, and my home theater have 'em (so why break the pattern now)

here it is with the soft cover over it

There is velcro on both the left and right of the head unit.

This is how i generally ride. if you don't velcro it on the left it flaps in the wind.

notice on the left of the pic, the corner of the stereo barely fits when it gets closer to the front of the bike.

no change in the speaker look.

[Billh500]

[quote="cameron1269"]Billh500 -=> i took some pics. not the best pics as they were done with my blackberry
I used the sony cdx100 media player. I chose this one cuz' it has no cd player in it, which means NO MOVING PARTS (well other than a tray to drop your ipod into). I just put a 32 gig usb key inside the unit, and i'm never short on tunes. i chose the polk db401 speakers for a couple of reasons. 1-they sound excellent, 2- they're marine rated. which means they can handle a little rain. 3-I've been a polk **** for alot of years. All of my vehicles, and my home theater have 'em (so why break the pattern now)

Great pictures, thanks a bunch. So did you install the soft cover? And what is located in the lower compartment? I have a cassette player in the upper and a CB/Radio package in the lower. Currently I use a cassette adapter to play my mp3 player. Thanks for the quick replies.. Funny I also use Polks on my outdoor sound system and like them quite well. Just wondering since the Clarions work fine, is it worth the extra bucks to change out?

Also still having trouble finding rear speaker sets. I've seen a nice set on a Harley that had volume control for the passenger also. Still looking

Bill

[cameron1269]

Bill, my bike is the interstate model. So the top pocket with soft cover is stock (although the one i have on there is home made and riveted on the inside left). The lower is just a cover plate. I took the cover plate off to take the picture of the inside of the fairing.

As far as "is the polk better than the clarion" - that's a personal choice. In my opinion it was worth the 80 bucks to find out. I love the sound of the polks i have in every other application. So at the very least, I know that the speakers suit my taste. If something doesn't sound right, i can start with "well the speakers are good".

[Five]

I got the bazooka's installed today. I had to cut the mounting bracket to clear the increased depth and make some spacers as well as use longer screws as the tweeter on the 2-ways sticks out the front more. It took about an hour and I must say the sound is a huge improvement. I haven't ridden yet (kidney stones suck), but I expect they'll be fine. My only issues are: There seems to be more distortion at high volumes than I expected from speakers rated at 80 watts, but they are just 4" and the stock Clarions were worse. And, it seems that the tuner on my Clarion Type I is off to the positive by one tenth. For a station located at 100.3, it tunes in with the tuner at 100.4...no big deal, but odd.

I picked up the Bazookas at Crutchfield as an open box special for $23 shipped, so I'm pretty happy.

[Billh500]

Now I'm sure I'm not the only one with a 1100 that has thought about how nice some rear speakers would be. There has to be some of you folks that have already done this. My issue is that I want external speakers, so I can keep as much space free in the trunk as possible. I need some help...

Thanks
Bill

[WingAdmin]

I've seen someone who pulled the pouches off the front of the trunk and mounted speakers inside the trunk, firing out the front where the pouches used to be.

Perhaps external speakers could serve double duty as small arm rests? You could put some soft cushioning material on top of them!

[Billh500]

I've seen someone who pulled the pouches off the front of the trunk and mounted speakers inside the trunk, firing out the front where the pouches used to be.

Perhaps external speakers could serve double duty as small arm rests? You could put some soft cushioning material on top of them!

Now that's exactly what I was talking about!!! I would like to mount them on the lower portion of the trunk. So that when I open it, there will be no problems. OK so what speakers are available? Has anyone else taken on this project? Ideas?????

[luckychucky60]

In the last picture of the speaker cover; How does a person remove the cover squeeze and pull or where are the screws?

[cameron1269]

luckychucky60 - you have to take the turning indicators off of the front of the fairing (just 2 screws and they pop out). once you get them out you will see 4 wing nuts behind the speaker location. just twist those off ( then try to pick them out of the bottom of the fairing cuz you will drop one). the 4 bolts pop out with the speaker housing as they are part of its structure.

[N2PPN]

Rather than re-post a duplicate here, read my last entry in my posts about my "Project Resurrection from the back of the garage" here on GW Docs in the GL1100 forum.

I just finished an upgrade to my sound system as well and have used a "no moving parts" head unit as well. I have a 4 GB USB drive in it with 4GB of all types of music, my iPod, and HD radio also interface with it as well as SD and CF cards for more music options on the digital front. I went for a "retro two knob unit" to make use of easier mounting options in the pocket.

The 7 band parametric EQ lets me "fine tune" the system for clean clear sound for whatever the circumstances are whether it be hanging out parked, or on the road at highway speeds plus... and when I add the subwoofer over the winter, it has a band selection adjustment for that channel as well. Also has an extra input set for a satellite radio if desired.

Pics are all in the post.

The individual items can be looked at on the PYLE website (http://www.pyleaudio.com) for their specs and white-papers.


Ride safe and have fun!

Rich

[Billh500]

Rather than re-post a duplicate here, read my last entry in my posts about my "Project Resurrection from the back of the garage" here on GW Docs in the GL1100 forum.

I just finished an upgrade to my sound system as well and have used a "no moving parts" head unit as well. I have a 4 GB USB drive in it with 4GB of all types of music, my iPod, and HD radio also interface with it as well as SD and CF cards for more music options on the digital front. I went for a "retro two knob unit" to make use of easier mounting options in the pocket.

The 7 band parametric EQ lets me "fine tune" the system for clean clear sound for whatever the circumstances are whether it be hanging out parked, or on the road at highway speeds plus... and when I add the subwoofer over the winter, it has a band selection adjustment for that channel as well. Also has an extra input set for a satellite radio if desired.

Pics are all in the post.

The individual items can be looked at on the PYLE website (http://www.pyleaudio.com) for their specs and white-papers.


Ride safe and have fun!

Rich

Wow looks like you've done a fantastic job. I would like to follow that upgrade. But once again my question is on rear speakers. I couldn't really tell what you had, but they looked like surface mounts to me. I would like to stay with an exernal mount, don't want the speakers in the trunk. Also the rider would like the arm rests. Which brings up another question, can I just tap off the front speakers instead of using an equalizer? Just looking to get some sound to the rider.

[N2PPN]

The rear speaker will be (still haven't gotten it or installed it) only a subwoofer. The sound levels are more than sufficient for the passenger (If the sound can compress your chest while riding, when hit by the bass from the new speakers in the fairing mounted OEM enclosures, I think it is going to be quite loud enough for the passenger) I had thought about adding external speakers to the system in the rear, but the choices for what I desired from my sound system, led me to enhance the fronts and add the subwoofer for a immersion effect, rather than a speakers front and rear effect.... I wanted to "feel" the music as well as hear it while riding...

Besides which, my wife always tells me to turn the music down when we ride together...




Ride happy and safe!

Rich

[zephyr2nv]

This is how I did my rear speakers. My father and I built boxes out of 1/4" MDF to fit inside the pockets on either side of the passenger backrest.

The speakers are 4" infinity 2-ways. They sound pretty good. Over the winter I'm going to modify how they are mounted to the trunk because they limit how far I can open the trunk right now.

[Billh500]

This is how I did my rear speakers. My father and I built boxes out of 1/4" MDF to fit inside the pockets on either side of the passenger backrest.

The speakers are 4" infinity 2-ways. They sound pretty good. Over the winter I'm going to modify how they are mounted to the trunk because they limit how far I can open the trunk right now.

I see we have the same bike! I never thought of that option. I also noticed the arm rests and additional back support for the driver. Did your bike come with that or did you add it? Those are options I would like to add to my bike! Also did you just tap off the feed to the front speakers?

Bill

[zephyr2nv]

I see we have the same bike! I never thought of that option. I also noticed the arm rests and additional back support for the driver. Did your bike come with that or did you add it? Those are options I would like to add to my bike! Also did you just tap off the feed to the front speakers?

Bill

The seat is a Travelcade (which is now Saddleman I believe), it came with the backrest. I found the armrests on eBay, they are the swing out model which are about as rare as unicorn droppings. I've only ever seen 2 other sets.

The radio in my bike was switched to a Sony car stereo by the previous owner, so it had connections for front and rear speakers. You could just connect the rears to the fronts but that might be too hard on the amp since it lowers the impedance.

[Billh500]

Well I finally found some rear speakers. They are actually for a 85 LTD they mount on top of the trunk. Will have to modify them a bit cause of the difference in the two trunks. They are new and have never been installed! Of course the color was different, they were brown. So I removed the hardware and speakers and repainted the cases.

Because this would be a top mount, I wondered about waterproofing them. I saw this on Goldwing Tips, has anyone tried this before?

C/P

Waterproofing Speakers. When fitting speakers to any of my Goldwings, I usually take the "Waterproof" badge with a pinch of salt. Before fitting, I usually spray the speakers with clear lacquer (the type used to spray cars). Two or three light coats (front and rear) makes sure they really are waterproofed and there is no noticeable difference in sound quality. You don't need to have access to spray equipment to do this small job, just buy an aerosol can of clear cellulose or acrylic lacquer for a few Euros and do it yourself.