4ohm question

[Nayes]

New to this forum, hope some one can help. Kinda different area as far as vehicle. I have a older goldwing with radio and two front speakers. The speakers are updated to the brand (kicker) from Walmart 150 watts I believe. 4 ohm 4 inch. Radio pushes out 25w a side I think. Anyways if I turn up radio in order to hear it, it seems the speakers distort. I can't get it loud enough to hear it. Any suggestions?

 

[markw]

You're riding a bile and expect to be able to hear a couple of 4" speakers? I hate to tell ya, but I don't think there's too much you can do about it. Bikes aren't exactly the best acoustic environment. I don't think any speaker/amp will be able to overcome the combined engine and road noise.

 

[Nayes]

You're riding a bile and expect to be able to hear a couple of 4" speakers? I hate to tell ya, but I don't think there's too much you can do about it. Bikes aren't exactly the best acoustic environment. I don't think any speaker/amp will be able to overcome the combined engine and road noise.

I understand I'm not going to get the sound like you would in a car or truck. But just wondering if there is another way to make it a bit louder at least without speakers distorting. I was wondering if 8 ohm 4 inch speakers would change that our do nothing at all

 

[markw]

Not really. The impedance of the speakers won't make an appreciable difference.

What sound systems do is move air. The smaller the space the speaker is in, the more efficiently they can move air. Likewise, the less background noise they have to overcome makes their job easier.

you're facing the double trouble of having a large space in which you need to move the air (all of outside) and the noise of the road and bike engine to overcome. That's a double whammy.

Now, a car is a different story. It's in an enclosed space and the engine and noise is a much more attenuated thanks to insulation.

Maybe a LOT more power and larger speakers might help a little bit, but even then the improvement will be minimal. Bikes have a lot of inherent problems when it comes to sound systems.

Perhaps your local bike dealer might be able to offer a solution.

Sorry,

 

[Nayes]

Not really. The impedance of the speakers won't make an appreciable difference.

What sound systems do is move air. The smaller the space the speaker is in, the more efficiently they can move air. Likewise, the less background noise they have to overcome makes their job easier.

you're facing the double trouble of having a large space in which you need to move the air (all of outside) and the noise of the road and bike engine to overcome. That's a double whammy.

Now, a car is a different story. It's in an enclosed space and the engine and noise is a much more attenuated thanks to insulation.

Maybe a LOT more power and larger speakers might help a little bit, but even then the improvement will be minimal. Bikes have a lot of inherent problems when it comes to sound systems.

Perhaps your local bike dealer might be able to offer a solution.

Sorry,

Thanks for the info.

 

[highfigh]

I understand I'm not going to get the sound like you would in a car or truck. But just wondering if there is another way to make it a bit louder at least without speakers distorting. I was wondering if 8 ohm 4 inch speakers would change that our do nothing at all

If you block the lowest frequencies from the speakers, they won't distort as much. Don't use the Loudness or bass control to boost frequencies the speakers can't reproduce and it will be better.

If you play it so loud that it distorts badly (you're not cranking it wide open, are you?), how well can you hear other drivers and people? I know wind noise and possibly a helmet block a lot of sounds from getting to your ears, but if it needs to be that loud (and, from other drivers' perspective, annoying), maybe a smart phone or iPod and Bluetooth headphones would be a better choice. It will sound better and it won't blare distorted noise.

I have heard very few motorcycles with anything that approaches decent sound and by the time it's loud enough for the rider to hear, it's just pissing off other people.

The main effect from 8 Ohm speakers is that you'll go from 25W (very optimistically rated) to about 12W- the reason vehicles use 4 Ohm speakers is due to the limited power supply voltage.

Post a photo of the bike- if the faring has enough space, you might be able to make a fiberglass enclosure for the speakers or some kind of pod- that can help.

 

[markw]

I really can't recommend earphones/plugs/buds for motorcycles. They block the sound of other traffic and driving a bike is dangerous enough with all the ashhole drivers without giving up your sense of hearing.

 

[Nayes]

If you block the lowest frequencies from the speakers, they won't distort as much. Don't use the Loudness or bass control to boost frequencies the speakers can't reproduce and it will be better.

If you play it so loud that it distorts badly (you're not cranking it wide open, are you?), how well can you hear other drivers and people? I know wind noise and possibly a helmet block a lot of sounds from getting to your ears, but if it needs to be that loud (and, from other drivers' perspective, annoying), maybe a smart phone or iPod and Bluetooth headphones would be a better choice. It will sound better and it won't blare distorted noise.

I have heard very few motorcycles with anything that approaches decent sound and by the time it's loud enough for the rider to hear, it's just pissing off other people.

The main effect from 8 Ohm speakers is that you'll go from 25W (very optimistically rated) to about 12W- the reason vehicles use 4 Ohm speakers is due to the limited power supply voltage.

Post a photo of the bike- if the faring has enough space, you might be able to make a fiberglass enclosure for the speakers or some kind of pod- that can help.

No I'm not cranking it wide open. If I do attempt to turn it up to hear it is going 65-70 mph. Slower speeds I can hear it just fine plus I turn it down at slower speeds. So it don't bother others. But at highway speeds Is a different story. My first thought was to upgrade the 4" speakers too 4 x 10's or 4 x 6's I would just have to fabricate an enclosure for them.

 

[highfigh]

I really can't recommend earphones/plugs/buds for motorcycles. They block the sound of other traffic and driving a bike is dangerous enough with all the ashhole drivers without giving up your sense of hearing.

Half of the time, I don't feel safe driving a cargo van and I never even considered riding a cycle. Some of the bikes I have heard were so loud that it wouldn't matter if another vehicle was coming- it would never be heard but I agree- more noise in the ears when other vehicles are around isn't a good idea.

 

[highfigh]

No I'm not cranking it wide open. If I do attempt to turn it up to hear it is going 65-70 mph. Slower speeds I can hear it just fine plus I turn it down at slower speeds. So it don't bother others. But at highway speeds Is a different story. My first thought was to upgrade the 4" speakers too 4 x 10's or 4 x 6's I would just have to fabricate an enclosure for them.

I was hoping for a shot from behind, so I could see where the speakers are. IIRC, they're a the top of the fairing, with a soft vinyl cover over a storage pocket, am I right? If it has a flat area (or even if it's not totally flat, it needs to be about 5" wide), you could make a panel to cover the storage pockets. Any small speaker should receive limited low frequency range.

 

[Nayes]

I was hoping for a shot from behind, so I could see where the speakers are. IIRC, they're a the top of the fairing, with a soft vinyl cover over a storage pocket, am I right? If it has a flat area (or even if it's not totally flat, it needs to be about 5" wide), you could make a panel to cover the storage pockets. Any small speaker should receive limited low frequency range.

Think this is what you wanted.

 

[highfigh]

Think this is what you wanted.

If you remove the speaker pods, you may find that you can fit 5-1/4" speakers by making a new mount. Check the Honda/Gold Wind forums for ideas.

Regardless, you'll need to limit the bass if you want loud and cleaner than what you're getting now. Electronically, you can do this with a non-polarized cap, about 400uF. If you can't find a 400uF cap, two 200uF caps wired parallel will work.

 

[Nayes]

If you remove the speaker pods, you may find that you can fit 5-1/4" speakers by making a new mount. Check the Honda/Gold Wind forums for ideas.

Regardless, you'll need to limit the bass if you want loud and cleaner than what you're getting now. Electronically, you can do this with a non-polarized cap, about 400uF. If you can't find a 400uF cap, two 200uF caps wired parallel will work.

Thanks but you lost me on the ( 400uF and the 200uF and wired parallel).

 

[highfigh]

Thanks but you lost me on the ( 400uF and the 200uF and wired parallel).

If you can't find a large capacitor, wiring two of them parallel adds the values. A 400 micro Farad cap on a 4 Ohm load gives a crossover point of 100Hz. It's not like the edge of a table but it's a useful frequency when bass is making a speaker distort and you'll still have lower frequencies, but the lowest won't make it to the speaker at a level that would cause problems unless you boost the bass.

 

[Nayes]

If you can't find a large capacitor, wiring two of them parallel adds the values. A 400 micro Farad cap on a 4 Ohm load gives a crossover point of 100Hz. It's not like the edge of a table but it's a useful frequency when bass is making a speaker distort and you'll still have lower frequencies, but the lowest won't make it to the speaker at a level that would cause problems unless you boost the bass.

I'm sorry I'm not really a tech type of guy. Im still not sure what you mean.

 

[highfigh]

I'm sorry I'm not really a tech type of guy. Im still not sure what you mean.

Your speakers are distorting, so you need to prevent some frequencies from reaching them. A capacitor does this. If you can't install larger speakers that can handle low frequencies, you won't be able to hear them, even if you were to boost the bass control, so you need to do it in some way. Using a small enclosure behind the speakers is one way, doing it electrically is the other.

 

[Nayes]

Your speakers are distorting, so you need to prevent some frequencies from reaching them. A capacitor does this. If you can't install larger speakers that can handle low frequencies, you won't be able to hear them, even if you were to boost the bass control, so you need to do it in some way. Using a small enclosure behind the speakers is one way, doing it electrically is the other.

Ahh so these capacitors install where? Before the speakers?

 

[highfigh]

Ahh so these capacitors install where? Before the speakers?

Pick a wire- it doesn't really matter, but the usual way is on the + wire. Make sure the bare wires can't touch anything that conducts electricity or get wet. If you can't solder, I would go to a car audio store and have them do it- soldering is best (assuming it's done correctly), or you can crimp the connections properly, which works fine if you use the kind of terminals that are sealed by heating them. Having done over 7000 vehicle installations, I wouldn't use any other method.

 

[Xploration]

Most aftermarket radios have a built in LPF which whill help with your distortion. I would reccomend an alpine radio with a LPF and the alpine power pack to give some extra juice to your speakers. and go to 4 total for louder overall volume. I see he is from the milwaukee area ^ as am I. Im out in the UWM area.