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Cruiser
Posts: 277
Apopka, FL | Ive seen several threads a while back on amps for our bikes. The probable fav seems to be the Alpine. Many have said that, while better than factory, it is lacking in the PUNCH department. But electronics change so rapidly, I was wondering what others have used more recently with better results. I just recently purchased 4 Polk Audio speakers (waiting on amp before installing) and would like to let them speak a bit better! Any new ideas? Needs to be a relatively easy install. I don't want to take an electronics course... |
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Cruiser
Posts: 160
Camas Washington | I have the Alpine and its plenty. I'm a bit of a stereo geek so I'm not sure why people say it does not pack enough power. There comes a point to were its not about power but clarity. I can go down the highway at 80 mph with a 3/4 helmet and hear it fine with clarity at volume level 11-12. My son is a Sr in college studying sound engineering. Before I purchased the Alpine he filled me in on the different amps I was looking at. For the cost and what you will get out of the sound being on a bike, the Alpine is the way to go. I'll put it up against the hawg and others those on this site swear are the better than the Alpine. Without a trained ear you won't notice much difference.
Now we are going to hear from those that have much more expensive units, blah blah blah. They will do it to justfy the cost they spent. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 965
New York State | I have the stock radio with stock speakers and a 3rd Gen Ipod.
Works fantastic
extra cost $0.00
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Fairburn, GA | I have added the Polk speakers and the Arc KS 125.4 mini and those speakers are really nice. I think the Alpine and those speakers will be a nice setup as well. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 249
Phenix City AL. | Where did you mount the arc. |
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Fairburn, GA | I had to mount it in the left bag. Although it says its a mini amp it would not fit anywhere else. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 249
Phenix City AL. | I have all my parts for my install and will install the system soon. I guess its going in the bag, just have to figure out some sort of guard to keep things from laying onthe amp, when I need to pack the bag with stuff. anything I sould look out for when installing the set up? I am running the same system you are, arc amp with polk speakers. You are right up the high way, maybe we could meet up so I could look at your install, befor I do mine.
Edited by jb.hatch 2012-02-24 1:39 PM
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | You can put the amp in the right bag. That bag is a little cooler. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 277
Apopka, FL | Sounds like the Alpine amp is in my near future then. Getting a pile of stuff I need to install. Usually, the Yanks do these kinda things in the Winter. Down here, it's riding time! LOL!
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Cruiser
Posts: 162
Extreme Southern, AZ United States | What version of Alpine do you have? |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 669
Peachtree City, GA | jb.hatch - 2012-02-24 2:38 PM
I have all my parts for my install and will install the system soon. I guess its going in the bag, just have to figure out some sort of guard to keep things from laying onthe amp, when I need to pack the bag with stuff. anything I sould look out for when installing the set up? I am running the same system you are, arc amp with polk speakers. You are right up the high way, maybe we could meet up so I could look at your install, befor I do mine.
Side wall or top of the bag works better... Then nothing will sit on top of it...
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Cruiser
Posts: 74
Navarre, FL | I have the Rockford Fosgate PBR 300x4. 75W RMS x 4, compact sounds great. I have run it for 4 months and I keep it cranked, zero problems. You can find it for less than $170. Mine is mounted on top of the left gas tank. |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 17
| i recently upgraded my speakers.. and installed the Rockford Forsgate 300 watt amp in the right saddle bag.. i think that i am getting heat related issues inside the right saddle bag... stereo loses power (actually stereo remains on - no sound - so i am assuming the amp is shutting itself off so it doesn't melt or break) .. if i open bag.. and wait a bit.. it starts working again...
i am looking for a proven solution to this issue.. i figure someone else has dealt with it...
any suggestions (based on experience ... meaning ... you have an amp.. mounted in a saddle bag on your vision)... and you have solved this heat issue.. or done something to prevent heat issue in the first place....
cooling fan... ventillation holes in bag?
not looking for a philosophical discussion on stereos.. or Visions.. or whether i should or shouldn't have added an amplifier... or whether i should add a Cam to the bike and change my windscreen...
looking for a solution.. and guidance...
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Cruiser
Posts: 188
| I had the RF PBR 300x4 amp and cooked it. Before that I had the alpine amp, The alpine just didn't have the power is was looking for. I usually ride with a half helmet and ear plugs, without the ear plugs the alpine did the job, with ear plugs not so much. Upgraded to the RF which had the power but I think running the RF at high gain at full blast for hours on end in 100 degree heat last summer was too much for it. Both were installed in the trunk stem.
I replaced the RF with the Arc KS125.4. The Arc runs way cooler, just warm the the touch where the RF was always hot, nearly burning to the touch, not surprising when you consider the Arc is a class H amp and the RF is a class AB. The Arc also seem to power my kicker ps speakers better as well. Plenty of power to spare. The issue is I have yet to find a home for the Arc. At the moment I have it hacked into the trunk. |
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Fountain Inn, SC United States | As I understand it, the Arc KS125.4 is about 2x the price of the RF PBR 300x4 ($450 vs $180) and almost 2x the size (Arc: 11.5″ x 5.15″ x 1.7″ vs RF: 6.75" x 4.25" x 1.53"). The Arc does run cooler and has pretty good specs (see pdf link below).
http://www.arcaudio.com/pdfs/reviews/product-reviews/mini4.pdf
If the Rockford Fosgate could be kept cooler (it runs hot), I think it would be a no brainer. One other difference is that while they both have a bass boost (Arc: +15db @ 45hz, RF: +18@35hz), the Arc's is probably more useful since its more in a range that a 5.25" speaker can reproduce.
I have the RF POBR300x4 and aside from the heat, it's been an amazing amp that sounds great and really delivers plenty of clear volume at highway speeds. That said, if $$ was not an issue, the Arc would be a great choice. Both amps can be mounted on the inside wall of the left saddblebag (the cooler saddlebag). I used industrial velcro (3m DualLock) and its stays put until I need to pry it out.
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Cruiser
Posts: 188
| I paid $300 for the Arc off of eBay, new in box. It's about 150% more than what I paid for the RF amp. I think the RF amp would be a good amp for light duty like tweeters or something, but asking it to run at full bore at high gain in already warm spots, is just too much for it. I will say, before it let the smoke out, it was a real nice sounding piece of equipment. In my opinion Rockford could have added larger heat sinks to it to help keep it cool.
If I were to do it again with the Rockford, I would probably mount it in the fearing where there is more air movement. I don't know what a fan will add if you keep the location in the bags or trunk stem, which are locations that are already warm. The approach temps are just too close.
I am going to tear my fairing down on the Vision to see if I can get the Arc to fit in there, I don't want it to just fit, I also want to have access to it for adjustments and such.
If I can't get it to fit in the fairing it will most likely go in the trunk. I very rarely take my trunk off anyway.
Kevin |
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Fairburn, GA | Rick...i did not realize if you were addressing the thread to me on meeting up or looking at my install. But if you would like pics or something i will post or send to your email or try and meet.
Ken |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 17
| very interesting.. i did not realize that others were having issues with the Rockford running hot..
i dropped my bike off today at a highly qualified stereo installer to trouble shoot the amp.. and to have a fan installed... and some ventillation holes drilled ... (he is also adding LED lights to the interior of the saddle bags with a switch.. so i can see things at night on the side of the road)... and the bike was going there anyway for the lights.. so i will kill two birds with one stone... .
he told me that he used the same amp recently (about 9 months ago) in the trunk of a Volvo.. and hasn't had any issues with it... and thought it was unusual to be getting so hot as to go into 'protective mode' ....
he is going to try to let the amp run at decent output in his shop.. to reproduce the problem.. before addressing it... as opposed to simply adding the fan....
i am very happy with the sound.. and the power output... hopefully i don't fry the amp...
i am just trying to get this fixed by Tuesday... leave for Daytona on Wednesday...
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 39
Georgia | My attempt at keeping the RF amp cool.....if this fails then I will consider the Arc in the same location....but I don't want to drill holes in my saddle bag. Time will tell.....
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Cruiser
Posts: 188
| cryptodogg - 2012-03-11 10:10 AM
My attempt at keeping the RF amp cool.....if this fails then I will consider the Arc in the same location....but I don't want to drill holes in my saddle bag. Time will tell.....
I dig your setup, nice thinking! |
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Fountain Inn, SC United States | Stacey - interesting application!
Where is the amp mounted?
What exactly am I looking at in the 2nd photo? Is the fan turned over and blowing TOWARD the amp?
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Fountain Inn, SC United States | Another question for you Rockford Fosgate users...
The auto-on sensing works great but I find that once its on, it doesn't shut off even if you turn the radio off so it continues to heat up. The only way I can shut it down is to shut off the bike.
Has anyone found a way to shut the amp off once the radio is turned off?
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 39
Georgia | Jedi Jeff - 2012-03-11 10:58 PM
Stacey - interesting application!
Where is the amp mounted?
What exactly am I looking at in the 2nd photo? Is the fan turned over and blowing TOWARD the amp?
Right side saddle bag ceiling.
The heat sink came with the fan installed, I never thought to check the direction of the fan. I know the purpose of thw fan is to cool the heat sink fins and the purpose of the heat sink fins is to pull heat from the amp and disipate the heat over a larger surface area. The fan can't be flipped so hopefully the company that creates this custom heat sink knew what they were doing. The heat sink was originally designed for slot machines in las Vegas. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 188
| Jedi Jeff - 2012-03-12 8:01 AM
Another question for you Rockford Fosgate users...
The auto-on sensing works great but I find that once its on, it doesn't shut off even if you turn the radio off so it continues to heat up. The only way I can shut it down is to shut off the bike.
Has anyone found a way to shut the amp off once the radio is turned off?
Eventually as I cooked my RF amp, it decided it didn't want to turn off... Ever. So I ended up installing a relay on the power to the amp, that took care of the not turning off issue. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 669
Peachtree City, GA | cryptodogg - 2012-03-12 11:44 AM
Jedi Jeff - 2012-03-11 10:58 PM
Stacey - interesting application!
Where is the amp mounted?
What exactly am I looking at in the 2nd photo? Is the fan turned over and blowing TOWARD the amp?
Right side saddle bag ceiling.
The heat sink came with the fan installed, I never thought to check the direction of the fan. I know the purpose of thw fan is to cool the heat sink fins and the purpose of the heat sink fins is to pull heat from the amp and disipate the heat over a larger surface area. The fan can't be flipped so hopefully the company that creates this custom heat sink knew what they were doing. The heat sink was originally designed for slot machines in las Vegas.
Why is it I have a picture in my head of you feeding your Vision quarters now????
Look great!
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