Harley Davidson Sound System: Aquatic AV

Junior here with Lifestyle Cycles, and today I'm here with audio expert Kevin Martin. We’re going to talk about some of the products from Aquatic AV for your Harley-Davidson. So, Kevin, let’s jump right into this. You know, there’s a whole table full of stuff, and I’ve got a lot of questions. I’ve heard a lot about this stuff, and I know you’ve been installing it for 20 years. Tell me, how long have you been doing this, and a little bit about these head units.

Well, I’m really excited to bring the Aquatic AV line in. I’ve been working with Bob on this stuff since 2011. I got to help be on the design team, really bringing a great, robust radio to the Harley market that plugs in and bolts in the same way a stock radio does. But it gives you a bunch of options: Bluetooth, AM/FM, EQs, external charging ports, and the ability to go plug and play. We can go with a single-color mono screen or a full-color screen. These radios are great to drop right in, deck power amplified, and they’re just robust—damn near bulletproof—and they just work forever. We used to take these to shows, and we’d sell out every time. We’d go through pallets of these a month. So, I’ve been really looking forward to bringing the Aquatic AV line into Lifestyle Cycles because I know that Bob does a great job taking care of his customers. He’s now expanded into having a full amplifier line of brackets, plug-and-play power harnesses. He’s got great two and four-channel amplifiers that put out great power in a condensed area, right inside of your fairing, not putting anything out into your saddlebags or anything.

You know, before we talk about the amplifier, I want to ask a couple of questions about these head units that we’re talking about. My God, I’ve got to tell you, this thing here has some weight. It’s made out of billet aluminum. I can already tell this thing’s going to be a home run. It’s completely plug-and-play and waterproof. Wow! I’ve held a lot of car stereos in my life, and this is not a car stereo. This is well-built, has some weight to it, and it’s impressive just by how it’s built and manufactured. Tell me about this unit here.

Okay, so this is the 5 BTH. It does have a removable face. That’s a great feature. Inside of here, it does have a USB charger, so you can put your phone inside if you want. It also has an auxiliary cord if you want to use that. However, if you do that, none of your hand controls will control anything other than volume on the bike. You put the faceplate back on; it’s a nice firm click. It’s all solid; you don’t have to worry about anything getting inside.

Now, how much output does this have? How much power does this head unit just by itself have?

Well, by itself, it has 50x4, 200 watts into 2 ohms. And then, if you’re running deck power, it does come with a connector on the back with the factory color wires that are on your bike from 98 to 2013. It comes with this plug, so you can just plug right into those wires. If you want to go to an amplifier, it does have a set of 2-volt RCA outputs that are marked “rear out” that you can go to an amplifier.

Okay, so this sounds like a fantastic plug-and-play unit that you can put right into your factory fairing. It’s going to go together easily. Does it require a technician or a certified tech to install this, or is it something that our audience can do at home easily? How hard is this?

This is literally take your fairing off, and, again, this will actually work on Street Glide or Road Glide from 98 to 2013. Take your fairing off, unplug the antenna off the back, the factory Harley 23-pin connector off the back, four bolts on the side. Your stock radio comes out; reverse the process to drop this radio right back in.

Now, here’s another question. I know it’s a little off from what we’re talking about, but these are waterproof. Can you use these in marine applications too? I mean, how waterproof are they really?

Actually, they are completely waterproof. They are IPX5 rated. What’s really great is, if you get this radio for your bike, they also make a more affordable unit in both models that is a universal fit, so it doesn’t have the 23-pin connector for hand controls because you don’t need all that extra feature if you want to put it in your spa, your boat, or whatever.

Okay, so they have different models, but they’re all waterproof.

Absolutely. Everything from Aquatic AV is from the marine world, so they make everything great. I don’t care where you’re at; you’re going to get caught in the rain sooner or later. You’re going to be in Sturgis, and it comes down—there’s no choice. I’ve seen so many of these car stereos that people put in their bikes just short out, fairing smoking—it’s a bad scene. Or even just washing your bike.

Yeah, even washing your bike—same deal.

Okay, so now, what do we have over here?

So here, this is a little different. This is actually their upgraded unit. This is the AQ-M5-UBTS. This comes with a full-color screen, and unlike that one, which just has an open compartment, this actually has a sliding tray that comes out. You can put your phone into it with some ratcheting jaws. Super cool. This USB not only charges but actually will play through the radio as well. So, you can put your phone in here or plug a thumb drive in. Everything works great. Put it in there, lock it down, and if you’re away from your bike, this one actually comes with a secondary faceplate. If you’re worried about somebody stealing your other one, it has a nice little trim plate to keep all the debris out and things like that. Again, there’s a real tight seal on here, so you want to make sure you push it down real tight because you don’t want this thing popping off right after you go about 2 miles down the road and then you’ve got to buy a new screen.

Now, one of the questions I have—looking at this, I see four RCA jacks on the back of this one and more on the back of this one. What exactly is different with all the additional wires back here?

Well, this radio here, the entry-level model, has a set of RCA inputs and a set of RCA outputs. This radio has a set of RCA inputs, as well as front, rear, and subwoofer outputs, and you can actually control the subwoofer volume on this radio. This one will also do Sirius Satellite Radio (XM), which this one does not. This one has a USB that comes off the back, which you can use with this cord to go down to the cigarette lighter port of your bike, so you can actually charge your phone if it’s out on your handlebars. This one does not play data; it only charges on the outside of the radio as well.

So, this one here can be used for a lot more applications, although this will solve everyone’s problems. This you can put in—it's plug-and-play. If you want something that’s less expensive but really nice, this one is not much more. Both of them come with a 2-year warranty. However, this one I can get you in the door for under $400, and this one, with all the extra options, is still under $600. How do you beat that?

You can’t. For a great purpose-built radio like this, you really can’t go wrong. And you know what? The one thing about Harley audio—I’ve ridden Harleys all my life. The sound is garbage; it doesn’t sound very good. There’s no volume, and it’s, for lack of a better word, just underwhelming. You buy this expensive bike, and it sounds like crap. You drop one of these radios in, and even on deck power, you’re going to be louder and cleaner than what the stock bike already was. But then, if you step up into an amplifier, they’ve got a full range of RGB speakers for front and rear. They take you from a 5 1/4-inch speaker on the 98 to 2013, up to a 6 1/2-inch. They’ve got their kits for the 98 to 2013 and their 14 to 23 bikes. Drop them right in. You have a little app on your phone, and you can change the colors on the speakers if you want. It’s a really great kit. Too bad this thing goes inside your fairing because I’ve got to tell you, this thing is a piece of art. I wish people could see this in my bike. This is really, really nice, and it works great with their full line of amplifier brackets. They’re going to cover any bike from 98 to 23.

So now, all these wiring kits here—I’m assuming that, obviously, this is the battery connector. What are all these other things that this thing comes with?

This is going to be the connections for the amplifier. And if you buy the kit from us here at Lifestyle, we will make this completely plug-and-play for you when it gets to you. So, you won’t have to figure out what wires go where. It’s always about buying a good product, but you want to make sure it’s done right. You can always come here to Lifestyle Cycles, and we’ll have it dialed in and put it in for you if you want to.

Perfect. I have a ton of questions. I think I’ve got everything I need. I appreciate you coming out. We’re going to have to do another segment with amplifiers and speakers. Maybe we’ll bring Bob in as well, and we’ll talk a little bit more about that. So, thank you, Kevin.

Thanks for having me.