Finally got around to installing the new HOGTUNES 160 watt amp, lower fairing speaker kit and the tweeter bar kit on the 09 FLHTCU. I previously had a HOGTUNES 80 watt amp and 4 of their speakers and was pretty happy with the sound-- certainly an improvement over the stock HK system, but was looking for more....
http://www.hogtunes.com/
ORDERING:
Painless and easy to go straight to PEZ (owner) and ask for a forum discount-- I think it was 10% off list but not 100% sure as I ordered it a while ago.
INSTALLATION:
Fairly straight forward if you have any experience with installing a car stereo or are even slightly handy with 12v electrics/wiring and can use simple hand tools. All components are plug and play-- nothing to splice, dice, add to, or remove. I say fairly straightforward as I thought it would have been beneficial to have a simple line sketch of outputs and inputs and where everything connects to. The written instructions are comprehensive but I personally find that sketches/drawings make any installation easier for me. It's much easier to look at a sketch than re-read a big paragraph-- as they say "one picture is worth a thousand words". During the install I asked a couple of questions of PEZ on a part of the install via email afternoon our time and he came back quickly with the answer.
THE SOUND:
I ran the original H'TUNES 80 watt system at about 3/4+ volume at h'way speed and was fairly happy with the sound overall except for the high end which was obviously muddy. this is why I sprung for the tweeter bar kit that mouts on the inner fairing. I figured the lower fairing speakers would help fill in the overall sound which it does very well.
At highway speed I can now use 1/2+ volume with the 160 watt amp. It really does pump out the volume and improved the overall sound. The lower speakers really work to fill in the overall sound with the tweeter bar providing some highs--but not perfectly so--certainly a noticeable difference though and happy I got it with the kit.
SUMMARY:
At the end of the day I would subjectively say that the new amp, lowers, and tweeter bar provide a very noticeable difference by way of improvement to the 4 speaker 80 watt amp kit I originally had. The overall sound has much more "surround" to it (thanks to the lowers) and the tweeter bar does a fairly good job of improving the high level sounds that are lost at highway speeds (considering wind and other noise).
Ending with a caveat-- don't expect concert hall high end clarity that you can get with a high level "audiophile" home system. Further you can 'buy' better mobile sound out there for your bike but it comes at a price-- like engine mods to gain more HP/TQ better sound gains comes at an exponential price increase.
I think HOGTUNES got this right-- a very good system that is vastly improved over the stock HK sound system, all at a reasonable price. This, plus the customer service and 20 year warranty add up to a winner for me anyway.
Mate...when you only had the 80w system, on the ride to Ballarat I kept thinking something was wrong with my bike...until I realised it was your sound system I was hearing. Geeez...now its 180w...whats the use of having a screaming eagle exhaust system if I wont be able to hear the bloody thing when I'm close to you on a ride...you need to mount a yellow strobe light on your helmet, & wear a warning on your jacket.
Can't wait to hear it...another ride coming up?
