Are Lower Fairing Speakers Worth It?

M

Mythical Tales

New member
I'm thinking about the Hogtunes Lower Fairing Speakers and amp for my Street Glide. I already have the J&M 7.25" speakers and the J&M Amp, which I am very happy with. However, when riding two-up, my girl friend has difficulty hearing the music unless I really crank up the volume. According to the Hogtunes site, their lower fairing speakers are angled so the sound points between the rider and the passenger. Theoretically, that would enhance the sound for the passenger. Any comments about the lower fairing speakers would be greatly appreciated.
 
I was going to post a question about this myself. I already have a pair of HT speakers and the amp, and just need the harness and mounting hardware. Have already talked with HT about this, but am not sure if the difference will be worthwhile. I now have two fairing-mounted speakers, the amp, and Hog Pods.
 
I am very happy with the Hogtunes lower speakers. (I run the HT amp too.) I pulled the lowers off this spring for a while and really missed the extra volume.
 
I installed the HT fairing lower speaker kit w/amp and wired it the "rear" speakers using the 70169-06 harness and had the HK radio set-up for four speakers so there was a fader control. My bike had the HK radio and Hogtunes tweeter pod already installed, along with Infinity 6.5" speakers and Dragonfly adapter rings.

Even with the fader control (allowing the front and rear speakers to be adjusted) and the amp for the lower speakers, I couldn't hear distinctly the fairing lower speakers while running down the road, and whatever sound they were delivering was negligible to me.

Subsequently, I added the Arc 125.2 amp (and removed the HT amp) and wired the fairing and fairing lower speakers in parallel (no fader control) and couldn't distinctly hear the lower speakers unless the fader basically shut off the fairing speakers. I removed the kit and sold it.

I may try fairing lower speakers again using the SESG2 fairing lower speaker boxes that use 6.5" speakers when a strong 4-channel amp that mounts inside the fairing becomes available and the fader control on the HK can be used.

To be fair, the Hog Pod tends to dominate sound so a bike without the pod may allow the rider to hear the faing lower speakers more than what I experienced.

In my case, the HT fairing lower speakers were not effective in delivering more sound while riding.

Carl
 
+1 Sounds great sitting in the grarge or in the driveway while cleaning the bike, nice full sound but, cant hear 'em going down the road. I have the Hog Tunes fairing speakers, Hog Pod & Hog Tunes amp and a Kenwood head unit. I agree with Carl, a strong 4 channel amp & usable fader would greatly increase the functionallity of there speakers.
 
I also asked Shawn, at Dr. V-Twin, if they have any experience with the Hogtunes lower fairing speakers. With my setup (J&M 7.25" speakers and J&M amp), he did not think they would be worth it. He thought they might add some volume, but not enough to make a real difference. Frankly, I'm surprised by his and others comments. I would have thought that the Hogtunes speakers with their own amp would have supplied significant sound/volume improvement.
 
I have added them to my scoot, however, I did not spend the money for Hogtunes, I went out and got me a set of Kickers, ordered the kit off ebay to install them. Sounds great I can tell the difference. The price for the speakers and the kit was much less than Hogtune kit which is overpriced.

I am getting ready to buy the Boom speaker for the fairing that comes with the tweeter. I heard them on another bike and they sound great... $130.00 on ebay.

Enjoy
 
That's kind of what I was afraid of. Scott at Hogtunes told me I should run the amp to the lower-fairing speakers and leave the top speakers and Hog Pods to the HK head unit. The idea is that because of the angle of the lower speakers they need the extra power from the amp, but I don't like this idea because I don't want to diminish the quality coming from the top. I'm also afraid if I run the lowers from the head unit I won't hear much if anything coming from that location. What compounds this fear is that I'm running a +5 gain on the amp after removing the original gain switch. I think I'll pass on the lower speakers for now.
 
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