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Iron Butt
Posts: 763
Anderson, IN (48mi NE of downtown Indianapolis) | I have been toying with subs on the Vision for a while. I am finding that at 70mph you can only hear the higher frequencies. The bass is dissipated too much to be noticable from a practicle sub (practicle meaning one that doesn't take up all the trunk space).
I got good bass response from a 10" self-powered 250w marine sub at a standstill. At highway speed the sound level wasn't worth the loss of cargo space.
I have this same problem in boats. Unlike cars there is no enclosure above you to hold the sound waves in. At speed, the bass disappears in a boat too. What I found is the low-pass x-over has to be set very high. This gives it a boomy muddy sound when docked, but cleans up with speed. Without going too far into detail, I was able to find a happy median with the right subs and their placement.
I am a bit newer to motorcycle installations, but I'm learning. I'm realizing that without the cabin like a car or at least a bottom hull like a boat, there is nothing to contain the low frequencies. The four speakers are pointing directly at your face so you get good sound from them even at speed. The sub, however, has to mounted somewhere remote. Even though lower frequencies are omni-directional they still don't make it to your ears at speed on a motorcycle. Also, part of music is feel. You can feel kick drums and a good bass note. Most motorcycles have aftermarket pipes and produce low and loud sound. I believe this in combination with the inherent vibration of bikes heavily masks the sub's sound waves.
I'm coming to the conclusion that it will take a big sub and lots of power to match the level of the other 4 drivers at highway speed. I did a test with a 15" 400w JBL mounted on the passenger seat. It worked quit well, but it was not practical at all.
There is video in another thread of a nice sub install.
http://www.Vision-riders.com/bb/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=5526&pos...
Judging by the craftsmanship of the whole bike I bet the sound system is superb. I wonder how the bass response is at 70mph.
If anyone has been successful with a hidden sub without losing too much cargo space and can still hear it at highway speed, please let me know.
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Iron Butt
Posts: 804
Perry Hall, MD | Just a thought from someone that knows nothing about a good sound system, so take it for what it's worth.
I'm running the stock exhaust and notice that the deepest sound I hear in coming from the intake. Any chance of using the intake chamber to boost the bass sound? |
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | lennyb,
That is a interesting thought......If someone had a 2 into 1 exhaust....could they use the other (unused) pipe for a low frequency resonator? |
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Cruiser
Posts: 135
Yellowknife, NT Canada | A 6" sub located up under the the central dash may help, use a neo magnet to max the response without the weight or size. Ultimately a driver built into the front fairing with a bass port coming back at the driver might work well too. Would be a custom piece of work to get it into the front fairing though.
Good Luck |
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Tourer
Posts: 366
Albuquerque, NM | Here is an alternative...Bass Shakers. These are 16 ohm and only 1" high. I doubt that there is an inch of room under the seat. 4 of these would probably require a modified seat.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-388 |
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Subwoofer on a Vision