Sena 20s Helmet Speakers | GTAMotorcycle.com

Sena 20s Helmet Speakers

mistersouthpaw

mistersouthpaw

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Has anyone noticed the music sound quality on the sena 20s to be pretty crappy? My placement is good and everything... its just so tinny with piercing highs..for a very expensive unit (I bought the dual pack) I thought it would be top notch..

anyway.. anyone have any first hand experience with swapping the speakers off the sena sets? and what speakers would you recommend?


I like nice bass in my speakers.. maybe ill strap a power supply to myself and mount an amp with subwoofers in my helmet lol
 
yea I saw those too... just the price :(.. I didnt want to fork out that much and then they turn out to be just as bad or distort at higher volume etc

they are good though yea?

edit: haha yea I was a little concerned about that... lets see if any one else has swapped theirs

worst comes to worst I could always just solder on whatever speakers I want I guess but Id rather not
 
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thats what I was thinking... would be alot cheaper too

edit: the 20s has a headphone input.. I bet id be able to just get any over ear headphones and break them out of their shell and I wouldnt even have to do any soldering except perhaps shortening the cable
 
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The one point I read in one other forum about this issue is the 20S may not have enough power to support better quality speakers.

But Im no expert in this kind of technology so who knows.
 
You can just grab almost whatever headphones and gut them, but I'd really suggest against it and look up what others have used instead.
Try to find speakers that are very thin, otherwise you'll have them pressing into your ears and causing discomfort.
 
This is the review of that mod in my second link

"This speaker swap is ~by FAR~ the most bang for the buck I've had.
The sound clarity, tone and volume are greatly improved.
The most important change to me is the "focus" of the output.
The Sena units seemed ( to my ears) to be pinpoint devices. They were VERY sensitive to their placement vs. my ears.
I had to relocate them in the lid to get the sound into my ears, to the point that the best position to hear them was the worst position for comfort.
The new speakers are like a flood light to the original's laser beam of sound. The new units can be recessed into the helmet's pocket without regard for placement because they just flood the area with sound. They also have the volume to support this and the power handling to suffer less distortion at higher levels.
YMMV
I LOVE the upgrade; I have talked with others who weren't quite as enamored so it's not universal.
Re: distortion: the stock HD radio (2010 ultra) just blows for sound quality. If you get bad distortion in the headset, it's primarily the radio, NOT the headset. Don't turn the radio up loud and the headset volume down to control it, you get a ton of distortion from the radio operating above about 60%.
Instead, keep the sena volume at max and keep the HD radio control at low levels. No more distortion issue and easy use of the handlebar volume control."
 
Ill play around with a couple different options and ill post up what was the best solution for me.. Ive got some headphones that are decent that I dont mind ripping apart to try.. if still not up to par I may purchase some upgrade speakers and let you know how they are...

in terms of discomfort from thick speakers.. I have a recessed pocket for speakers in my helmet so I dont see it being a huge issue but I will definitely keep that in mind
 
Sena 20s have earphone jack - why hoop jump. ALL in helmet speakers will sound like crap against decent earphones.
The port is there for a reason.
 
Yea, the Sena speakers do suck. They always seem to shift around, even though my helmet (RX-Q) has a quasi-speaker pocket area, the velcro just doesn't seem to adhere well to it. But unless they are perfectly 'centered' then the audio is hard to make out.

MacDoc said:
Sena 20s have earphone jack - why hoop jump. ALL in helmet speakers will sound like crap against decent earphones.
The port is there for a reason.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying it isn't an option for some (I have a nice pair of Westone IEMs) but I -hate- (most) earplugs / IEMs when on my motorcycle. Gives me this "pressure" that is distracting and the lack of noise input is creepy. I instead wear shooting range earplugs that allow some noise in and consequently, air, so the pressure isn't there and I can still hear the important noises around me. So having a good speaker allows me to get around that.
 
Most earplugs are at -33 dB attentuation while most earphones are around -26 so they do let in a reasonable amount of ambient noise.

When I originally had the Scala I would wear earplugs while using the Scala anyways.....no option then.
Main reason I put out the substantial dollars for the SENA set was for that jack.
 
MacDoc said:
Most earplugs are at -33 dB attentuation while most earphones are around -26 so they do let in a reasonable amount of ambient noise.

When I originally had the Scala I would wear earplugs while using the Scala anyways.....no option then.
Main reason I put out the substantial dollars for the SENA set was for that jack.
Click to expand...


I just want something permanently installed in my helmet.. Should have mentioned that
 
The Sena SMH10 I bought from brownelvis on this forum had the original speakers removed and speakers from a JVC headset with the same impedance replaced -- and it sounds awesome. I went from using earbuds to using ear plugs with the speakers in... as for me it is less hassle. I can understand if you don't want to hack an expensive system though... unless your mount has detachable speakers and you aren't taking a big risk by hacking in better speakers, that is.

The speakers have a velcro backing right? On my helmet (neotec) I removed the fabric cover at the ear spots and put on some stick on velcro from the dollar store. The speakers stay in place now.
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