CH8

Description

CICADA AUDIO – The “New kids” on the block

The new Cicada Audio CH8.4 speakers are a perfect solution for 2014 and later Harley baggers and other motorcycles. More output, lower frequency (NOT sub bass)  Use HIGHER sensitivity speakers (like our Cicada CoAx Horns speakers) and lower power/LOWER current draw amplifiers so you get the sound you deserve.   Without sacrificing clarity and sound quality.    Like All 8 inch speakers these speakers are NOT an easy fit into most bags.  Typically, the bags are designed for 5 X 7’s NOT for 8-inch speakers.  This is REALLY for Professional Installers to install.  DO NOT grind on the frame to make it fit!  That VOIDS the warranty.   Great speaker you need to work a little to mount.  That’s all.

Designed AND Built Specifically for Harley

Cicada Audio was started to develop and sell product… SPECIFICALLY for Harley-Davidsons. Even though you’ve probably never heard of Cicada Audio….our president and head engineer has been designing 12V audio for over 30 years.  He has 5 design and engineering awards and 2 design patents.  He’s developed 1,000’s of products in that time many gaining “cult” statuses. He REALLY knows 12-volt audio.  He saw that there was a real need for some new thinking and new direction in audio.  Specifically “motorcycle audio”.  We, at Cicada Audio, don’t do “car” audio, we don’t do “marine” audio, we don’t do “powersport” audio.  We ONLY do Harley Davidson™ audio …PERIOD!@!!

Our first products are CoAx Horn drivers. These drivers handle more power, are louder, play lower, with more authority and sound better right out of the box than any other pro audio type speaker for Harley applications. We’ve built these speakers with the best materials we can use and keep sensitivity and sound quality as high as possible. With 2-inch voice coil’s on the midbass driver and 1.4-inch voice coil on the aluminum diaphragm tweeter, we’ve built-in extreme sensitivity for unreal output and high heat dissipation. Light weight neodymium magnets and mounting dimensions specific to late model Harley fairings, these speakers are way beyond all the competition.

Along the same lines, the cone materials surround, and finishes have passed extensive UV exposure testing to ensure these speakers will look and sound amazing for years to come. The coaxially – horn-loaded tweeter design offers amazing efficiency and clarity.  These are NOT “WaterProof” speakers as to make a “Horn Speaker ” waterproof is almost impossible.  They are “water resistant” for sure…   Biggest issue is cone material. Plus the minor detail that the horn acts as a funnel for water!!  Minor detail!!

Trust me, I would have used “Unobtanium” for cone material (or Kevlar, or Balsa Wood or Carbon Fiber to name a few) BUT the issue is to keep sensitivity high (that 1W/1M stuff) the cone has to be light.  And I tried all the cool materials.  It dropped sensitivity more than 3 dB.  That AIN’T good!   Why the hell would you have a tweeter that is 107dB 1W/1M and a midbass at 94 dB???  That’s just stupid!  (sorry!!)   It just is!!!

Anyway….after playing with CoAx horn speakers for 5 yrs …this is where I am at.  They do have HIGH power handling (I have guys putting 500 WRMS to them!) BUT…you don’t NEED 500 watts RMS to  get them going.  My DSP125.4D (aka DSP150.4D – just a model change) does a great job. especially if you use my 2 ohm versions.   My  distributor in the Midwest (CE-GUYS) has a pair of CH65.4’s running in the fairing with the DSP125.4D – BRIDGED!  And he says (and a whole lot of other people at these Bike Shows he goes to) is the LOUDEST 2 speaker bike they have every heard…and GREAT sounding to boot!.

So you can get crazy and puts TONS of power on my speakers..  BUT..you don’t have too.  You could get really crazy and use my CX250.2D amplifier (again @ 2 ohms!)   and run that front and rear (2-CX250.2D, CH65.4 front and CH69.4 rear) with my DSP88.    Thats over 1,000 WRMS.  Power is good…BUT not free.  Takes energy to make energy.   In this case CURRENT.  But..lets go down this path and see what happens with more and more power.  To show you the difference power does…lets just do the DB Log!   This will show you what is happening with power (it ain’t pretty!!)

Lets start off with the total speaker sensitivity at 100dB (combined midbass and horn sensitivity – average)

SO THE RULE IS  – FOR EVERY DOUBLING OF POWER YOU GET A INCREASE OF 3DB

100dB =1 Watt
103dB =2 Watt
106dB =4 Watt
109dB =8 Watt
112dB =16 Watt
115dB =32 Watt
118dB =64 Watt
121dB =128 Watt
THIS IS WHERE IT STARTS GETTING UGLY ABOUT POWER!!!
124dB =256 Watt
127dB =506 Watt
130dB =1012 Watt (Remember this is ONLY 3dB more!!  Which is barely audible!!!)
133dB =2024 Watt (Yep!!   Same as above!! But WAY more current draw!)

Power is good…BUT power is BAD too!  As you do NOT have unlimited current (or voltage) on your bike!!  I didn’t notice a power cord hooked directly to Hoover Dam???  A REALLY long power cord!!

A lot of you will think..what are you talking about …I have friends that have over 2,000 watts on their bikes with no issues .  Yeah…un Huh…on a STOCK HD battery?   I think NOT.  They upgraded to a NANO LimitLess battery or a Braille G30HC!! -which is the way to GO!!!

Current draw is calculated by this simply formula (again…basically Ohm’s law, but there is NO assumption of 100% efficiency!!)

TOTAL POWER X 2 DIVIDED BY DC VOLTAGE.  

So take 2000 Watts RMS X 2 divided by 12 volts = 333 amperes of current draw!  But the “times 2” part assumes a Class A/B amplifier.  All my amplifiers are Full Range Class D.  NO A/B amplifiers!   So that means you need to multiple the 333 amperes  times 0.7  ..or 233 amperes of current FULL power (with test tones – which never happens in real world) Under music conditions (NOT test tones) you’ll be down 10dB because of the “Crest Factor” of music.  That means average current draw on the 2,000 watt bike system is only 20 amperes, with PEAKS of 233 amps.

SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?

It means that with MY speakers the more the merrier!  BUT…you don’t HAVE to have 500 watts RMS to get the “Full Potential” out of them.  For the CH65.4/CH65.2 CoAx Horn speakers  I would recommend the DSP125.4D/DSP150.4D/CX150.4D or the CX250.2D.  Or even more (BDA400.4D which won’t be available till March)

FITMENT APPLICATIONS:

All Cicada Audio 8 inch and 6 X 9;s are “CUSTOM “ fitted.  They do NOT drop in for an easy install (but neither does 95% of all 6 X 9’s and 100% of ALL 8 inch. These are ALL CUSTOM fitted.  We recommend you find a really good motorcycle audio guy to do your install.

NOTE: Will fit other motorcycle brands, with some expert assistance from your local Cicada Audio Dealer (go to our Dealer Locator to find that guy!!!) 

Also, as a added benefit, we’ve designed an easily replaceable Horn Tweeter Diaphragm.  We at Cicada always assume worst case scenarios!  Just in case!!! We are trying to be the solution-based company for YOU!