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Rockford Fosgate Amp Install

46K views 153 replies 34 participants last post by  skullshaker 
#1 ·
As many of you know, I had the Pyle amp in my Voyager. It worked OK but just not what I wanted. I wanted MORE!! I just started installing the Rockford Fosgate PBR300X4. Here's a few pics to show my progress. All mounted up. Now to start the wiring. Should be quick since I already had the Pyle amp in and the wiring is already modified. I post more pics as I go. This thing should ROCK!! 75W RMS/channel. Stay tuned.
 

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#105 ·
Speaker Options

Polk Audio MM6501UM are 6.6 inch marine speakers which fit in a 5.25 cut out and will handle 125 wats of continuous power. At $350 per pair they definitely are not cheap, but being marine grade they may be the best speakers for the power and the outdoor environment.
 
#113 ·
Infinity/Kenwood amp.

I have to admit a total fail on my Polk amp & speakers, too small amp blew the speakers. So I started over, barely fit the Kenwood KAC-1502S in, Infinity speakers fit perfect. 60 watts RMS per channel amp and at highway speed really just too much road noise. Around town sounds nice. Just not much you can do with open air and two 5 inch speakers.
 
#114 ·
I have to admit a total fail on my Polk amp & speakers, too small amp blew the speakers. So I started over, barely fit the Kenwood KAC-1502S in, Infinity speakers fit perfect. 60 watts RMS per channel amp and at highway speed really just too much road noise. Around town sounds nice. Just not much you can do with open air and two 5 inch speakers.
I too didn't have good luck with the install. Bottom line I couldn't find a 5 1/4" speaker that could handle any power. I now have the fosgate amp with stock speakers. I went from polk to JL Audio the speakers would just distort with any bass applied abve 0. This is with the amp being turned down to 1-2. Had I known I would never have gone through the effort of installing the unit.
 
#121 ·
speaker adapter

guys im pretty sure that you can add 6 1/2 speakers to front...http://www.cyclesounds.com/bagger-a...r-adapter-rings-6-5-inch-for-hd-fairings.html I have the fairing off and looks like these would work on the inside...I have hogtunes and these things rock with the RF amp..im not sure at this point if I will change the fronts to 6 1/2..but I am in the process of adding 6 1/2 to each saddlebag..but as far as 5-1/4 so far the hogtunes sound the best..ive tried kicker,,polk,,and pioneer..the HT seem to have better high and lows..some people have ported a couple of holes in the speaker pods..that can help or hurt...if you don't have a amp then port..if you have a RF amp or one as high powered seal everything off and turn gain up..
just my own experience not a expert or do I work for HT or any of them...also 5 1/4 aint bad if you have enough amp to seal pod completely but if you want actual bass not mid.you would have to fit a 6" somewhere..
 
#122 ·
I ported my enclosures based on advice from the speaker manufacturer, a car door speaker is designed for open back and can behave badly when placed in a sealed container. I have installed great sounding systems in cars and trucks, motorcycles are a different animal, not easy to get good results.
 
#127 ·
I am about to do this install. Can someone confirm the wiring color coding???

Seems odd that the fronts are both RED but the rear is BLUE and BLACK (main colors only, not tracers)... Not saying which is right, obviously if the poster of the wiring color coding used all the colors stated and he has 4 working speakers than it works!! I could see maybe a left/right or pos/neg issue at worst.
 
#129 ·
I have my bike pretty torn down so I physically checked the wiring and compared it to what is presented here.

I can confirm the fronts are correct. However, my rears don't match the first schematic.

I am making deductions based on the information presented so far. The alternate rear wiring schematic presented by Crab actually matches my rears. The RED on the fronts carries the + while the black carries the -. I am using that same orientation for the rear meaning the BLUE carries the + while the black carries the - signal. I believe connecting +/- backward makes the speaker out-of-phase but I doubt it would be noticeable on such a small speaker.

This is what I believe to be the correct scheme and, please, anyone who has something different than what is here please jump in and correct me!! This is by no means a confirmed schematic. Obviously Shep connected it different and it worked.

Fronts:
Left:
+ RED/white
- BLACK/red

Right:
+ RED/blue
- BLACK/orange

Rears:
Left (clear plug):
+ BLUE/white
- BLACK/blue

Right (black plug):
+ BLUE/red
- BLACK/white

I am using Crab's comment to orient left/right on the rear. Anyone ever do a balance/fade to check the speaker output?
 
#130 ·
I know this is a year-and-a-half old thread so sorry for digging this up. Since I now have the 6.5" speakers with the adapters I am looking to connect my RF 300x4 amp. I traced the wiring and came up with the schematic above. Can anyone confirm this wiring diagram before I start cutting wires? lol!

I only have the two fronts right now anyway. Hey, maybe it's time to design something for the rears to hold 6.5" speakers, too!! :) :) :)
 
#131 ·
When you are ready to install the amp and have the cowl removed it is easy as pie to confirm the wiring for the speakers. Some have said the colors are different from year to year. The vaquero has the same harness as the voyager. The rear speaker wires are there but not hooked up under the seat. If I remember correctly they are connected to the radio. When I installed my fosgate amp I just used the fade control to run the fronts only and it works fine.
 
#136 ·
Anyone install an AMP and the XM Radio in the Voyager/Vaquero?

I already have the XM Radio installed, and most folks seem to install the amp in that location. I was wondering what other locations people have used.
 
#137 ·
I hadn't thought of putting XM onboard. Do you plug into the AUX?

My next step after the finishing the speaker/amp upgrade is going to be the iPod cable. I wouldn't be able to have streaming capability b/c I have an android so I'll only be using an ipod or iphone (non-activated) to crank some tunes from a playlist. We were on a covered-bridge ride yesterday (holy gorgeous day) but the radio reception SUCKS so I need some tunes to compliment this system!!

I believe Ray recommended AC/DC??! lol!
 
#138 ·
I have the Kawasaki XM Radio adapter installed. It sits right above the factory stereo inside the fairing and connects directly...5 minute install :p

How that seems to be the most common place to put an amp...was looking for some alternative locations.

Best that I can tell...

Rockford Fosgate - 6.75" L x 4.25" W x 1.53" H 75w x4 RMS
Clarion - 7" L x 2.8" W x 1.4" H 50w x 4 RMS
Kenwood - 5.5" L x 3 9/16" W x 1 5/16" H 45w x 4 RMS

All are pretty close in dimensions.
 
#140 ·
I use a Onyx portable XM receiver. I use it in my company truck and put a install kit on my bike. Goes thru the AUX. Also pipe my Garmin 660 audio thru it using a Mix-It audio mixer. Works great for traveling.
 
#142 ·
I just did my 2015 charcoal Vaquero with RF 2 ch punch and Kicker speakers - sounds good. I worked at Roaring Toyz machine shop and we are trying to find a way to have a good rear speaker setup. I'm thinking make a wedge spacer from plastic with 3d printer. Still need to cut a hole in the bag. 6 x 9 maybe. I have seen another guy on here who did the same with mounting 6 1/2 to the front on top of the inner fairing.

Just got the bike back - we put on Freedom black pipes, PC-V and RT air cleaner. Plus 9" RT burly ape hangers and modified a slip streamer windshield to clear the bars. Just need some dyno time now but its ride able with a 2011 map. We used the bike to mock up for big front wheels with ABS. coming soon. added the iPod adapter - nice. I was going to get that Sirius thing but too much money.
 
#146 · (Edited)
I ended up with the 2 ohm kickers with Rockford Fosgate 2 channel punch amp

Kicker 10 PS5250 5-¼" 2-way Marine Speakers

 
#149 ·
P., Those bars look really good. I also used the same speakers but chose to carefully cut out and remove the 2 top 'spokes' on them using a small hacksaw blade, so that the grill cleared them cause I was concerned about vibration. No issues so far and sound great with a Clarion XC1410 amp. Cheers.
 
#147 ·
I think those are the ones I saw with side view - did you use the harley speaker adapters in reverse ?
 
#150 ·
 
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