I'm an audiobecile but I'm gettin' a front row seat to see where this goes.

 

Haven’t gotten delivery of mine yet (finally in service queue next Saturday) but I cant wait to hear the shitty sound everyone is talking about. The engine guard from older bikes will fit, but the lowers won’t. I’m sure they will come out with a lower fairing option for the 24’s next year.

 

curious, if the engine guard will fit, why won't the lowers fit?

enjoy your 9w rms....

 

My dealer took a new glide apart to try it and used takeoff parts as I wanted lowers on mine. They found that the guard worked and the lower spoiler could actually stay on, but the inside of the lowers had to be shaved down. I’m sure that they will mold new lowers to fit next year as a P&A offering. As for the stereo, I’ll have to wait until someone comes out with a not so expensive alternative. By then, you will have pulled the trigger anyway and jumped on the 24 bandwagon

 

The 400.4 is a little light, even in a bridged configuration. 150x2 bridged at 4 ohm puts you in a spot where you are at max gain for the amp and min power for the GZ or Hertz.

As for the two speakers. Hertz makes a great speaker but I really think those are better in a tourpak because they’ll take a shit ton of power and play loud as hell with the right crossover. Probably set at 120-140 with 180w+

GZ will give you a little more punch on the bottom end and a bit warmer sound. Just my .02.

 

The 400.4 is a little light, even in a bridged configuration. 150x2 bridged at 4 ohm puts you in a spot where you are at max gain for the amp and min power for the GZ or Hertz.

As for the two speakers. Hertz makes a great speaker but I really think those are better in a tourpak because they’ll take a shit ton of power and play loud as hell with the right crossover. Probably set at 120-140 with 180w+

GZ will give you a little more punch on the bottom end and a bit warmer sound. Just my .02.

It's the 400.2 two channel I'm looking at. Not the 400 4 channel

 

I run thees Hertz both Faring and TP along with the Hertz Amp and DSP......the MOST I have ever run this was 2 ticks over 1/2 Volume......with the bike over 90MPH and Barbara Streisand never sounded so clear - I have it tuned for clarity with less bass and could not be happier - Many have differing opinions on Hertz and thats cool......ping @Mike U or @phillyfan1 as those two knuckleheads have forgotten more about bike audio than most remember

Hertz SX 165 NEO 6.5" Motorcycle Speakers

Check out the deal on Hertz SX 165 NEO 6.5" Motorcycle Speakers at Classic Car Stereos

www.classiccarstereos.com

 

I did a 700 watt amp w/ GZ yellow baskets several years ago and I've been totally happy with it. I spray the cloth type speaker grills with "KIWI" brand (available at Wally World and most places that sell fishing/camping gear) water repellent about once a year. I run the amp bridged and the speakers are good until about 70% amp volume, they start to protest after that. It's seldom that I go more than 80 mph these days, and most of my riding is on
50 - 70 mph 2-laners and the audio is plenty damned good at those speeds - especially for a 2 speaker $850 set-up. I'm sure the GZ Neos are a step up from the yellow-baskets so I think you'll be very satisfied. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

It's a bit of a struggle for sure. I really like the hertz sound but haven't changed out my front fairing yet. I agree with cpbedor that the hertz 165 neos can get very bright and I don't care for bright. I'm not ruling them out but want to do some more research. I have the 23.5 CVO and the hertz 6x9 for the lids should be here next week or week after at the latest. I'm confident they are currently the best option for the bags, but still not decided on the fronts.

I'm also going to look at Cicada, they get a lot of good press but I've never physically heard them in a bike. I'm not sure if volunteer audio works with them or not, I know NVS does for sure. I ran the hertz ML 1650.3 in my 16 and 18 and love the sound of those. Still have them from when I traded the 18 CVO in on on the 23. I haven't pulled the fairing off of the new bike yet to see if the electrical connectors for the speaker are the same or not. If they are, I'll probably but the 1650.3 in and install the tweeters in the new grills and see how they sound. I know the stock amp won't have anywhere near enough oomph to make them great, but I can live with it for a bit. Even if the connectors are different I'll probably still try it, will just have to make up new connector.

I thought about just trying a small aftermarket amp while leaving the stock amp in like NVS has done, but because the amp has to be so small and you still have to do some minor tweaking on the bracket I'm just not sold on it. Volunteer audio says their A-B interface should be out soon which will allow removal of the stock fosgate amp and use of a much bigger aftermarket amp than what NVS is currently doing. I take it with a grain of salt, but volunteer audio also said in a recent video that the "other" solution (they were clearly referring to NVS Audio) resulted in floor noise and background hiss. Of course I haven't heard it in person but because of the smaller amp and potential "dirtier" output I want to wait to see what volunteer comes out with. I'm sure others are working on solutions as well, I talked to Mike at biketronics last week and he is just dipping his toes in as well. I'm willing to wait a little while and buy once cry once instead of jumping on the only option available today.

 

random question that popped into my head in regards to the new audio, esp. for the 24 roadglide/streetglides. rockford fosgate/hd is putting out the info that the amp is a 200w (4x50) amp and that video from volunteer audio clearly shows that it is closer to 36 (4x9). could there be a class action lawsuit coming in the future?

 

I have been thinking the same! seems we are all willing to accept the pathetic standard set up that does not deliver what should be at least adequate to hear at 50 mph, and jump straight in with another 1000 buck mod.

 

Well. I ordered the 400x2 along with the GZ Neos and all the goodies needed to install it.
I got word back from GBS that the amp should work fine as it's in the range of power for the speakers. They might be on the low end of the range as CPbedor pointed out but He was looking at the 400x4 amp running bridged. We'll see how it works out. When I put everything in my shopping cart, GBS discounted everything 10% which pretty much covers the shipping. This is my first run with aftermarket audio in any of my Harleys I've had so we'll see how it turns out. I've done plenty of car audio in my past but it's been years since I've done it. Wiring is not the issue, setting the amp gains might prove to be interesting as I haven't had to mess with that but there's plenty of knowledge to be found on the net.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing how it works out for you. I would definitely appreciate some pictures along the way and everything you had to do. Might go that route myself.

 

pro-tip on gain setting. leave the amp out of its final resting location to set gains so you have easy access to the gain pots and/or speaker terminals. Once you've got your gains set, set the mounting in it's final place. Many times people go through this install, get everything buttoned up and realize, oh shit, I didn't set the gains and now I can't access one side or the other. Leave it flopping around with some slack so you've got access.

 

Appreciate the tip. Makes perfect sense.

 

And make sure the bike is running when you set them.

Good luck Milke

 

pro-tip on gain setting. leave the amp out of its final resting location to set gains so you have easy access to the gain pots and/or speaker terminals. Once you've got your gains set, set the mounting in it's final place. Many times people go through this install, get everything buttoned up and realize, oh shit, I didn't set the gains and now I can't access one side or the other. Leave it flopping around with some slack so you've got access.

And make sure the bike is running when you set them.

Good luck Milke

I said the hell with it and left it at the factory setting of about 60%. Sounded good in the garage. If it ever quits raining and I can ride it, I might revisit the idea.

 

First three pix are in reverse order. Don't know why. I selected them off my phone as I wanted them to load.
Under the seat end of the overflow tube which comes off the throttle side of the filler neck

Clips holding the over flow tube to the frame. That can be a pain the first time you try to unhook it. It's clamped up at the filler neck. Easy way is to cut off the old clamp and put a new one on and not mess with it.

Vent tube in my hand. Over flow tube on the opposite side that is mentioned in previous pix.

Electrical connector to the fuel tank connects above the front cylinder.

 

You'll need to do this in order to get the wires from back to front.

Top of the battery after removing a tray and the ecm. This caddy also needs to come out.

Test fit of the 400.2. No cutting required and it's tight.

Magic gizmo. Line level convertor I believe. Pretty straight forward hooking it up. You'll run the power wires and also another harness that plugs into the rear 12 pin P&A plug under the seat. 2nd harness brings power, ground and remote turn on out of that plug.

 

Power wires hooked to battery

Speakers.

 

With this setup, you run the power wires and remote wires from under the seat to the front. I ran them through the tray and into the frame on the clutch side.
Converter has plugs that match the HD ones. Take the speaker plugs from the harness and plug them into the input side of the convertor. RCA cables from the convertor to the amp. You'll have to crimp a few ends on the speaker output wires to screw them into the amp and then plug them into the factory plugs going to the speakers. Swap the speakers after making a few power connections to the amp and you're done.

Word of advice. Do this with an empty gas tank. It makes life easier. Don't ask me how I figured that out but it seems like every damn time I've pulled a tank, that sonofbitch seems like it has 8 gallons in it. LOL

 

Sounds great in the garage. Will update if it every quits raining and I can get a few miles on it.

 

Great pictures and write up, much appreciated thanks.

 

I have a lot of the same items that you do. GBS has some great plug and play set ups and Cicada amp power wire is an awesome product.

 

No kidding. I've never seen a fuse holder like this one before. I'm impressed.

 

The aforementioned plug that supplies power to the converter. This supplies power to the converter and remote turn on for the amp.

 

20mile test ride with speeds around 80 mph. Half helmet and HD 10" windshield. Clear and very loud at about 80% volume. No need to turn it up louder than that. I'm very happy with the outcome. Full sound also with these Ground Zero Neos. @cpbedor thanks for the suggestion on those over the Hertz.

 

All of this audio is way above my head... I would like to find a simple plug and play solution that I could install myself. Volunteer audio has a solution which includes an amp and 2 new speakers for around $800. I am sure this solution is nowhere near as good as what was discussed above, but its something I could do myself and hopefully hear the stereo going down the road. Any comments on this solution from Volunteer Audio?
Thanks!

 

For another $200-$300 bucks, I'd go the route I went. That small kenwood amp will not produce the sound quality and volume of the setup I have.