DB 525 4 ohm Speakers (Will they work on a 8 ohm Harley Radio)

jjr

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I have a 03 Harley Ultra Classic with a 160 watt radio ( 40wpc x 4 - 8 ohm) factory speakers.

I noticed that the 525 speakers are rated at 4 ohm and had also read somewhere that the 4 ohm was a nominal rating???

The maker of the Harley Radio is a company called Radio Sound in KY. I did call them and asked if it would be ok to run 4 ohm speakers om there 8 ohm radio?

I was told that if I did that I would cause a early failure of the radios amp. The person I was speaking with did not sound like a techinical person but in my owners manual that radio is rated at 8 ohms.

I really would like to use the 525's in my bike , perhaps any other HD owners or techinical folks could pass on some info.

Thanks,
John

exalted512

Well, 4 ohm is a lower impedance than 8, but most factory radios that are pushing 8 ohm speakers can drive 4 ohm speakers without premature failure. My personal advice is to find a harley forum because im sure that theyve had people who have switched out speakers and could tell you from first hand experience.
-Cody

PoweredByDodge

I would not try it.

Almost all, if not all, 'in dash radios' or 'headunits' or whatever you want to call them use integrated amplifiers. In short, it's a little chip. They are in no way meant to be driven below their rated impedance (ohms).

You will - 99 out of 100 times - cook a headunit that way.

Vestax

You can run both pairs in series for an 8 ohm load.. by then, you'd clip the internal amp since you'll be splitting the power between 2 drivers. Don't do it.

PoweredByDodge

well - you wont clip out unless you turn the volume up so much that it clips due to power output -- which is much more likely with "half" powered speakers.... so ya - i agree

jjr

PoweredByDodge wrote:

I would not try it.

Almost all, if not all, 'in dash radios' or 'headunits' or whatever you want to call them use integrated amplifiers. In short, it's a little chip. They are in no way meant to be driven below their rated impedance (ohms).

You will - 99 out of 100 times - cook a headunit that way.

Ok I called Polk tech support and asked them the same question ( this question I was told has been asked for years) and the reply was that go ahead and use them you will not have a problem!

Polk said that they get calls dailey about this same application and have know of there use on the Harleys for quite some time and never a problem.

So I installed the fronts on my 03 Ultra Classic and they simply blew me away! Then went on to install the rears.

The left rear was a very tight install and the right simply would not fit due to depth. So I put the OEM HD speakers back in and all toghter it sounds fantastic.

So now I have been looking for a company that makes a spacer ring that would be around 3/8" or a little less so I could use the 525's in the rear. I did hook up the 525's and just layed them in the rear speaker pods and gave a listen proir to reinstalling the OEM units.

Well all I can say is that I must have the 525's in the rear. There just has to be a was as that sound soooooooooooo sweet!