Speaker Upgrade on RT - HOGTUNES

[Kredab]

Just finished a 4 speaker upgrade on my RT.
First we started the rear right speaker were we had to cut to get the upgrade from 4 inches to 5 1/4 inches, the right one took us 3 hours, moved to the left one it took 1 hour.
We moved to the front , they took about 1 hour each, no cutting just drop in.
You absolutely have to have a Chapman tool and a dremel tool.

All and all is was a very worthy upgrade, more sound and fidelity. I chose the Hogtunes because they were designed for motorcycles and they were 2 ohm, great sounding speakers.
Changing the back speakers from 4 to 5 1/4 inches was huge, I can actually hear the rears now.

I want to thank Finless(Bob) & BLUEKNIGHT911 for the videos and advice to take this on. Finless's video was on my laptop every step of the way, I cannot thank these two enough.

[DGoebel]

When the sun shines again can I come visit you to do my '13 RTL? I've got the speakers, even the tools, just not the guts to do this myself....<G>
I've watched and read all of Bob and Mike's videos and threads as well, have them saved but just don't have the guts to make those cuts....

[Kredab]

When the sun shines again can I come visit you to do my '13 RTL? I've got the speakers, even the tools, just not the guts to do this myself....<G>
I've watched and read all of Bob and Mike's videos and threads as well, have them saved but just don't have the guts to make those cuts....

That would be fun

It's really not that tough, it did help to have help , I had a friend helping me . He made me do all the cuts , the videos help a lot.
What speakers did you get ?
Did you do the fronts ? If we have to do all 4 , should set aside 4-5 hours. How many miles would it for you to LaPorte city?

[DGoebel]

A LONG time ago I bought the 4 set of speakers Mike suggested and have them sitting in the boxes. I'm up hear in the Faribault, about 3 hours or so.
Spyder's in winter storage now you'll be my first contact in the spring when the roads clear of salt and all.
I look forward to seeing you then.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

A LONG time ago I bought the 4 set of speakers Mike suggested and have them sitting in the boxes. I'm up hear in the Faribault, about 3 hours or so.
Spyder's in winter storage now you'll be my first contact in the spring when the roads clear of salt and all.
I look forward to seeing you then.

I know well about the fear of cutting etc......I just cut my new car ( the Porsche 917 body ) in half ..... But the most difficult part of this is !!!! ... getting over the fear of doing it .... I made a template ( 4 5/8 in hole ) on thin cardboard and matched against the OEM ( for rear ) speaker hole .... This showed me EXACTLY where and how much it needed to be trimmed ( beadaholic did an album here on Her install ) .... taking the Tupperware off is more time consuming than actually putting the speakers in the new holes ... If you bought the 508c's the small tweeter will also fit in the housing ...you will need to make small brackets to hold them ( I used thin sheet metal ) ... For the $ outlay the end result is AMAZING and very very cost effective for you end up with ........ good luck, if you stumble please PM me .... Merry Christmas >>>>>> Mike

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Just finished a 4 speaker upgrade on my RT.
First we started the rear right speaker were we had to cut to get the upgrade from 4 inches to 5 1/4 inches, the right one took us 3 hours, moved to the left one it took 1 hour.
We moved to the front , they took about 1 hour each, no cutting just drop in.
You absolutely have to have a Chapman tool and a dremel tool.

All and all is was a very worthy upgrade, more sound and fidelity. I chose the Hogtunes because they were designed for motorcycles and they were 2 ohm, great sounding speakers.
Changing the back speakers from 4 to 5 1/4 inches was huge, I can actually hear the rears now.

I want to thank Finless(Bob) & BLUEKNIGHT911 for the videos and advice to take this on. Finless's video was on my laptop every step of the way, I cannot thank these two enough.

Thank you for the compliment, . I'm curious about your 2 OHM speakers. other than JBL, I have found only a couple of 2 ohm speakers from other manufactures ( Bob Denman has J&M's ??? ) ..... When I did mine 3 years ago, I got a few negative comments about my sanity etc .... and opinions that they will FRY and Damage the BRP system etc.... well they haven't yet ..... I'm glad I was able to help by proving it was very doable ....... Merry Christmas .... Mike

[Kredab]

Thank you for the compliment, . I'm curious about your 2 OHM speakers. other than JBL, I have found only a couple of 2 ohm speakers from other manufactures ( Bob Denman has J&M's ??? ) ..... When I did mine 3 years ago, I got a few negative comments about my sanity etc .... and opinions that they will FRY and Damage the BRP system etc.... well they haven't yet ..... I'm glad I was able to help by proving it was very doable ....... Merry Christmas .... Mike

i went with the Hogtunes because they were made for motorcycles. I found a couple 2 ohm speakers. Kicker makes some for there Powersports line ($$). The back ones are the biggest improvement . I will know more when I can get out on the open road. Thanks again it is doable and worth it.

[Kredab]

Thank you for the compliment, . I'm curious about your 2 OHM speakers. other than JBL, I have found only a couple of 2 ohm speakers from other manufactures ( Bob Denman has J&M's ??? ) ..... When I did mine 3 years ago, I got a few negative comments about my sanity etc .... and opinions that they will FRY and Damage the BRP system etc.... well they haven't yet ..... I'm glad I was able to help by proving it was very doable ....... Merry Christmas .... Mike

Merry Christmas Mike

[finless]

Just finished a 4 speaker upgrade on my RT.
First we started the rear right speaker were we had to cut to get the upgrade from 4 inches to 5 1/4 inches, the right one took us 3 hours, moved to the left one it took 1 hour.
We moved to the front , they took about 1 hour each, no cutting just drop in.
You absolutely have to have a Chapman tool and a dremel tool.

All and all is was a very worthy upgrade, more sound and fidelity. I chose the Hogtunes because they were designed for motorcycles and they were 2 ohm, great sounding speakers.
Changing the back speakers from 4 to 5 1/4 inches was huge, I can actually hear the rears now.

I want to thank Finless(Bob) & BLUEKNIGHT911 for the videos and advice to take this on. Finless's video was on my laptop every step of the way, I cannot thank these two enough.

You are welcome! Glad it went well!
Getting those rear pods apart is a challenge like one of those puzzles

Bob

[Easy Rider]

I found a couple 2 ohm speakers.

Why 2 ohm ??
The impedance says NOTHING about the quality.
And with some amps, an impedance mis-match CAN cause distortion and damage the amp.
Not that it always will, just that it can.
And there is NO reason to change the impedance; you gain NOTHING.

[trikermutha]

Why 2 ohm ??
The impedance says NOTHING about the quality.
And with some amps, an impedance mis-match CAN cause distortion and damage the amp.
Not that it always will, just that it can.
And there is NO reason to change the impedance; you gain NOTHING.

Some have used a 2 Ohm speaker and works fine on the Spyder.

[trikermutha]

Can speaker spacers be used on the Spyder like they use on the Harley's? Not sure if anyone has tried it yet or not?

You can use the stock speaker hole but use a larger speaker with the spacer.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Some have used a 2 Ohm speaker and works fine on the Spyder.

My JBL's ( 4 ) are all 2 ohm and they work fabulous .....Bob D has 2 ohm speakers ( I checked this ) & I think they are J&M or J&L and I have heard His and they sound great also .... but He paid a lot more than I did for the JBL's ............. Mike

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Can speaker spacers be used on the Spyder like they use on the Harley's? Not sure if anyone has tried it yet or not?

You can use the stock speaker hole but use a larger speaker with the spacer.

I considered doing it this way but I decided making the Hole larger ..... Right now I can't remember why , it was almost 3 years ago .................Senility su*ks ............Mike

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Why 2 ohm ??
The impedance says NOTHING about the quality.
And with some amps, an impedance mis-match CAN cause distortion and damage the amp.
Not that it always will, just that it can.
And there is NO reason to change the impedance; you gain NOTHING.

My answer to the above would just make you cranky ....... so I'll leave it at " you are just being you " .........annnnnnnnnnnnnnd.... Merry Christmas .......Mike

[Kredab]

Can speaker spacers be used on the Spyder like they use on the Harley's? Not sure if anyone has tried it yet or not?

You can use the stock speaker hole but use a larger speaker with the spacer.

After having the rear pods apart , I would say no. On the fronts you might be able to space out but the spacer and new speaker does not have much room before the grille. Nice thought

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

The " maybe, can't, and or will destroy the OEM radio -THEORY " etc. that keeps showing up here is getting tiresome .... Mine are 2 ohm and have been used for over 30,000 miles and haven't ruined anything ...Exept the above Theory .. ...annnnnnnnnd Merry Christmas ..... Mike

[Kredab]

Why 2 ohm ??
The impedance says NOTHING about the quality.
And with some amps, an impedance mis-match CAN cause distortion and damage the amp.
Not that it always will, just that it can.
And there is NO reason to change the impedance; you gain NOTHING.

I decided to try the 2 ohm speakers , from what I understand is it will take less power to drive a 2 ohm speaker , which are not that easy to find. In doing my research I went to the highest specs I could and within my budget. If I'm wrong about the reasoning who cares , I have better fidelity and bigger volume , I will not run it full out but I don't have to like I did with stock. Next move might be an amp and I already have the speakers to back it up. The rear change to 5 1/4 was a huge upgrade. My Rt sounds amazing .

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

After having the rear pods apart , I would say no. On the fronts you might be able to space out but the spacer and new speaker does not have much room before the grille. Nice thought

​For Front speakers - Why would someone use spacers when replacing one 5.25" speaker .....with another 5.25 speaker ...............Mike

[Kredab]

​For Front speakers - Why would someone use spacers when replacing one 5.25" speaker .....with another 5.25 speaker ...............Mike

The spacers would be to go to 6 1/4 's or 6 1/2's

[trikermutha]

I was thinking more rear than fronts using a spacer But if I were to go that big of a speaker a amp would have to be added. Lees strain on the stock amp IMO.

when I had my Harley I used spacers on the rear speaker pods forgot what size speaker I used tho

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

The spacers would be to go to 6 1/4 's or 6 1/2's

Well I'll let you pioneer those ............. imho ... neither will fit into the space provided by BRP ........ Mike

[Easy Rider]

Some have used a 2 Ohm speaker and works fine on the Spyder.

But the question is: WHY ??

If you want XYZ speakers and they make that model in 2,4,8, and 16 ohm versions, why would you NOT get the ones that match the output of your amp ??

[Easy Rider]

I decided to try the 2 ohm speakers , from what I understand is it will take less power to drive a 2 ohm speaker , .

That understanding is wrong.
If you really want to know, call the company that made your speakers and ask them.

[mikeytheb]

Speaker impedance mis-match can (but does not always) cause issues. When I do this I will choose speakers of the same impedance as BRP designed (or had some radio company design for them).

By the way, does anyone know what the factory speakers are?