Ideas for Improving the Voyager XII sound system .

[suzib6sw]

Hi Folks.. In between fixing computers at work, repairing Voyager Radios and CBs etc, I have been toying with a few thoughts and ideas that bubbled to the surface last year..

As you may already know, I personally recommend the Pioneer TG-1043R 4" speakers to replace the stock Clarion speakers. While sound is subjective and dependent on multiple factors including the listener's personal choice, I find these to be cleaner and crisper than the stock.. The Bass is tighter, but NOT increased and that removes some of the "woolly" (blaring) sound in the bass /midrange. The speakers have a separately powered tweeter so treble is cleaner..
You can get these on Ebay , Amazon and locally (though more costly) at some Walmart and most Best-Buy.
My 94 had these all round now and Im pleased..
My 86 has the Kenwood 4" sold by Best Buy and while they are better than stock, a piece of music came on the radio while I had both bikes running that confirmed my suspicions.. The Kenwood's cant cut in the top end.. Treble was noticeably lacking.

Ok.. Now.. on to things Im playing with..
A small Sub-woofer.. Yes.. that's right.. Bass on a Voyager..
I built a little 4" sub from an old Voyager speaker.. put a low pass filter on and put the speaker in a 4" pipe and cranked up the volume using the stock 10 watt amp.. Not too impressive as i got a very tubular sound so I then got a 4" to 2" end cap and effectively put a port on the end of the tube... Much better!.. I also tried blocking the tube completely and that changed the sound again.. The tube is approximately 11" long and i'm planning on mounting it inside the trunk behind the mirror utilizing a little of the hump space.. The other place would be directly above the tail light in the trunk..
For those with trunk extenders, it may be possible to mount the tube between the back seat and the trunk as long as it doesn't interfere with the passenger.. Another place is perhaps underneath the trunk..
It may be possible to even colour match the tube to the bike, but that could work out expensive..

Im also waiting delivery on a small commercially made 4" sub-woofer with its own little amp so see if that will work out better/cheaper..

In the mean time.. Does anyone have any further thoughts or wishes?

Cheers..

Pete

[debron]

Love to see photos of the sub...........

Have you thought of adding a small sub-amp?

[Chris near Kansas City]

"She rocks, her hips."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIk-A2lpGyI

Not my Elite, nor my style of music. But it rocks!

[suzib6sw]

Well I took a little time last night and put a prototype together.. 4" Pipe, a 3" / 4"drain flange dremmeled out for the speaker to fit properly.. I Rubber 4" pipe cap and a Low pass filter. This one doesnt have its own amp.. I fired it up on the bench with the Radio/amp and standard speakers and boy, does it work well in a non moving environment. Considering its size, Im impressed.
I'll paint it up this w/e and post some pics.
As for the hookup.. because putting it across one of the existing speakers will drop its impedance on just the one channel, Im going to run the sub in Bridged mode.. Looks like Clarion had something like this in mind when they designed the amp.. Anyway.. should be interesting..

Second problem... the '86's dont have the wiring in the loom back to the trunk.. So I'll have to run an adapter cable from the power amp under the left fairing.... OK.. so the '94 will be the guinea pig

Once i get the carbs back on the 94, I'll take it for a ride..
I may post a video of with and without the sub.. Problem there is, when you play it, your speakers may not be able to do it justice.. :-)


Pete

[gearheadfla]

I'm watching this very closely Pete, been wanting to have a little boom too.

[debron]

I'm watching too! Don't listen to the radio much because of the lousy sound. I have removed the rear speakers because I use the space on the rack on long trips. I Could hook up a sub to the rear speaker wires. Since I don't use the rear speakers, the fronts should not be affected by hooking up a sub to the rear speaker wires.

[suzib6sw]

Ok.. well I tested the Passive sub out this weekend..
Not that impressed to be honest.. In order to be of any use, the volume has to be cranked up and then it "kicks" in.
Putting it in the trunk didnt really help even with a ported tube to make the box resonate.. Yes, it did improve the bass, but not as I was expecting..
when it was on the bench, I did have the volume up so of course, it was much better than the un-housed speaker.

Ok.. well I do have a mini 4 inch powered Sub on the way from china via Ebay.. Thats not due to arrived for a little while..
Oh and as a FYI.. Dont bother with the Blue or red tube ones from Ebay (Yallstore and laptops_home)... They are not in stock nor do they expect any any time... I found that out after "winning" an auction and then receiving a note from them..

Watch this space, as they say.

Pete

[suzib6sw]

Well the little chinese sub arrived.. Umm... not quite what I expected but its okish.. its not really a Subwoofer as its full range and a 3" speaker not 4".. Bass wasnt bad, but nothing to write home about..
Anyway.. what I am going to do is take the amp, and add it to my home made Sub and see what that sounds like.
BUT.. here is the Bonus... I now know what I need to get to allow a SD card or Flash thumb drive with mp3's on it to add to the Voyager's radio.. I MAY be able to make a little adapter to slide into the Cassette flap or have it as an Add on box... We shall see...

Pete

[Littlebeaver]

Hey Pete, those pioneer's you mentioned, are they water proof or No. I am very interested in upgrading,, I know it will make a difference, I'm sure of it...Clearer and crisper right? Thanks for the post....

[suzib6sw]

While the cones and the suspension are waterproof the voice coil isnt. If you tranfer the mesh on front of the stock speakers to the new speakers, it will help a little.
The only truly waterproof speakers are those that have a cap over the voice coil and those are typically single cone, no tweeter etc.. Marine speakers are, of course, waterproof..
I think Pioneer describes these as water resistant , which of course, they would need to be in a car door..
I have gotten mine wet occasionally on the front and rear on the 94 and they didnt complain but they never got a soaking so, (insert disclaimer of your choice here) etc..


Pete

[Littlebeaver]

Great thanks, I'll do that mesh transfer, I wouldn't have thought of that...good info..