installing headphone jack
- Thread starter iowatree
- Start date
Just a suggestion for you guys that have the Harmon Kardon system and are planning on using headsets / earphones.
TURN THE VOLUME AS LOW AS POSSIBLE AS A PRECAUTION BEFORE PLUGGING IN YOUR HEADSET/ EARPHONE
Harmon Kardon systems are rated at 40 watts ... Thats a lot of power. I tried to get some info on their site as to how much power went to each speaker. Just got total power of 40 watts.
Lets assume for this discussion its 20 watts to the left and 20 to the right speaker.
I used this site "mediatech.com" as a reference for headset and earphone stats. Headsets / earphones are designed to work thru a seperate amp which reduces power and matches heaset ohms to amp ohms.
Max input power to a headset is 100 milliwatts or 1/10 of one watt.
Max input power to a earphone is 10 milliwatts or 1/100 of one watt.
Depending on how this is done you could end up running full power through your headphone / earphone. Now, I have never tried this , but if you do the math you could possibly blow your headset and THAT VERY EXPENSIVE RADIO.
TURN THE VOLUME AS LOW AS POSSIBLE AS A PRECAUTION BEFORE PLUGGING IN YOUR HEADSET/ EARPHONE
Harmon Kardon systems are rated at 40 watts ... Thats a lot of power. I tried to get some info on their site as to how much power went to each speaker. Just got total power of 40 watts.
Lets assume for this discussion its 20 watts to the left and 20 to the right speaker.
I used this site "mediatech.com" as a reference for headset and earphone stats. Headsets / earphones are designed to work thru a seperate amp which reduces power and matches heaset ohms to amp ohms.
Max input power to a headset is 100 milliwatts or 1/10 of one watt.
Max input power to a earphone is 10 milliwatts or 1/100 of one watt.
Depending on how this is done you could end up running full power through your headphone / earphone. Now, I have never tried this , but if you do the math you could possibly blow your headset and THAT VERY EXPENSIVE RADIO.
ProF
Junior Member
Is that true? I never ran into that issue when hooking up headphones to home stereo, and when I looked at the diagrams for the Harley radio (I have the older, 2003 radio), there didn't appear to be a separate amp to supply the helmet earphones on the RKs.
ProF there may not be a seperate amp , but there will be some sort of resister network that which will match headphones impedance to the amp impedance while reducing the amount power to the headphones when they are plugged in.
As for hooking up headphones to your home stereo , I really cant answere that as there are to many unknowns and its been 30 yrs since I worked in the television repair industry.
Yes, your headphones may work fine on your system, but I dont know the true RMS power rating of your system or headset impedance.
If you are running a low wattage amp its not a big deal, but as power increases it does become a big deal.
Think of it like this.
You bought a brand new HD and added a Nitrous kit running at low pressure without any further modifications to your bike. Depending how you ride it you could go years before any serious breakdown occurrs. Its no different with your stereo modification..
As radio/amp wattage increase so can the possibilty of headset failure.
Google - Connect headphones to amplifiers speaker output
Theres some good stuff there.
As for hooking up headphones to your home stereo , I really cant answere that as there are to many unknowns and its been 30 yrs since I worked in the television repair industry.
Yes, your headphones may work fine on your system, but I dont know the true RMS power rating of your system or headset impedance.
If you are running a low wattage amp its not a big deal, but as power increases it does become a big deal.
Think of it like this.
You bought a brand new HD and added a Nitrous kit running at low pressure without any further modifications to your bike. Depending how you ride it you could go years before any serious breakdown occurrs. Its no different with your stereo modification..
As radio/amp wattage increase so can the possibilty of headset failure.
Google - Connect headphones to amplifiers speaker output
Theres some good stuff there.
ProF
Junior Member
The Hogtunes arrived today and I installed them. First impressions: I'm not all that impressed. They're louder, they're clearer, they sound better, BUT, and maybe it's just the nature of the beast, there's still too much road and exhaust noise at speeds over 30mph to have a pleasant listening experience.
I only tested them for a few minutes around town, so I'll reserve final judgment for a few days.
BTW, putting the outer fairing back on was a pia. Whoever took it off last stripped out 3 of the six screws, and lining it up by myself was fun and games. Not hard, really, but just awkward and annoying. Finally got it on, but those silly plastic edge liners are now coming loose. Don't know what their purpose is, other than cosmetic, because they certainly don't seal the juncture between the two pieces of plastic. A strip of black electrician's tape would be a hundred times more effective if one wanted to keep the water out.
I only tested them for a few minutes around town, so I'll reserve final judgment for a few days.
BTW, putting the outer fairing back on was a pia. Whoever took it off last stripped out 3 of the six screws, and lining it up by myself was fun and games. Not hard, really, but just awkward and annoying. Finally got it on, but those silly plastic edge liners are now coming loose. Don't know what their purpose is, other than cosmetic, because they certainly don't seal the juncture between the two pieces of plastic. A strip of black electrician's tape would be a hundred times more effective if one wanted to keep the water out.
iowatree
Member
ProF I also received and installed my Hogtunes speakers today. They are louder and clearer. I think they will be ok. I Didn't get to road test still raining in St. Louis. While apart I was going to install powered hidden intenna. I hooked up and tried before reassembling and glade I did, It wasn't worth a crape. I will put up with the whip to get a lot better reception.......iowatree
larryb
Member
Ok, if you listen to what the dealer tells you, you can't do this, but i did.
I added a CB module to my 09 RG, all plug and play till i had to route the switch wires through the bars, 14 wires, some solder. put it all together, using the stock antenna with a splitter. yesterday while coming back from AL i was talking with a trucker 4 miles away clear as a bell. only one issue, threw a code that said there was a pinched wire in the switch housing, opened it up and viola, works fine.
But as far a music goes, I have a J&M headset in my helmet and I switch back and forth. but need better speakers in the fairing. I may check out J&M.
Biggest pain was getting that fairing back on.
I added a CB module to my 09 RG, all plug and play till i had to route the switch wires through the bars, 14 wires, some solder. put it all together, using the stock antenna with a splitter. yesterday while coming back from AL i was talking with a trucker 4 miles away clear as a bell. only one issue, threw a code that said there was a pinched wire in the switch housing, opened it up and viola, works fine.
But as far a music goes, I have a J&M headset in my helmet and I switch back and forth. but need better speakers in the fairing. I may check out J&M.
Biggest pain was getting that fairing back on.
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