Any suggestions on helmet speakers

[Warlock]

Thinking about putting some speakers in my helmet. Have looked at the Tork Xpro and Tork 2 speakers. Anyone here using these? Have tried the ear plugs and thought about the custom made, but for some reason every-time I wear ear plugs for extended period I get ear problems. That's why I wear ear muffs offshore.
David

[wdvalk]

j&m work great for me

[Chrisj CMA]

Thinking about putting some speakers in my helmet. Have looked at the Tork Xpro and Tork 2 speakers. Anyone here using these? Have tried the ear plugs and thought about the custom made, but for some reason every-time I wear ear plugs for extended period I get ear problems. That's why I wear ear muffs offshore.
David

I buy $10 panasonic (or Sony) clip on ear speakers, shove them in the ear well and hide the wires, maybe a nip of sewing thread here or there and its all good.  Better sound than the expensive m/c ones

[R J]

David, these are my ones of choice.

The guy I originally bought them off of owned Cycle Comm.   When he passed away Air Ride bought out his rights to how the speakers were made.

The current set in my helmet have been in 12 helmets and the only thing I have ever had trouble with was the cord that hooks  to the helmet for the sound to come through.

http://www.airrider.com/

I'm guessing these, ( I got 3 sets in 3 different helmets) are around 15 years old.  Let's see some of that J&M junk go that long and still work.   LOL

[Bob E.]

Before I got my handlebar mounted speakers, I ran a cheap, simple CD player from Target...I think it cost $14.  I took the headphones, the kind with the over-the-head plastic strap, and removed the foam and cut the speaker plates off of the head band, leaving the wires attached.  This left me with a flat plastic base about the size of a 50 cent piece with the tiny speaker attached.  I cut a slit in the helmet liner on each side of the ear pocket (full-faced Shoei) and slipped the speaker bases in there, leaving the wires coming out at the bottom edge of the helmet.  I'll tell you, for $14, it couldn't have worked any better.

[Dougger]

I have three sets of the J&M 279 mid price sets that work well for us.
Looked at the J&M Elite, but couldn't justify the additional price.

[DarkMeister]

I've been looking for a long time too. Still looking. Just when I thought I had it figured out (aha! 5 pins! Lower cords!) I see members here swearing by bluetooth. I'm back to squre one. Stumped as ever.
In order to narrow down the requirements based on proposed use, I discounted stuff that will let my helmet instruct the cellphone to interrupt the video playing on my windshield, in order to have it place a call to my fridge and order it to turn the icemaker off for 36 hours.
Since I've only owned the Valk for a year, I'm far from understanding the contraption that works the allegedely-present stereo.

Nosiree - just want something that will let me exchange an occasional grunt with the old lady sweetheart.
J&M has decent feedback from folks who have them, but pricey. Most 'deals' on them do not include the jigammajigies...cords...whatever.
What really sears my posterior, though, is when we do a three hour drive in a cage. I noticed that we exchange a grand total of 20 words over 200 miles. That's one word/grunt for every ten miles, not necessarily spaced that way. (Depends on how the gas stations are clustered)

Thus the dilema: how much to spend, in order to listen to miles of angry silence? When a simple jab in the kidneys will communicate just as effectively that I may have missed a turn?

Like I said - still looking.

[DarkMeister]

ChrisJ: your idea sounds like the sort of deal I'd appreciate, to test the waters with headsets on the cheap. But - how does your set-up hook into the rest of the system? Is it like a universal end, or something?

[sugerbear]

i have the j&m elite. not worth the money

[alph]

Thinking about putting some speakers in my helmet. Have looked at the Tork Xpro and Tork 2 speakers. Anyone here using these? Have tried the ear plugs and thought about the custom made, but for some reason every-time I wear ear plugs for extended period I get ear problems. That's why I wear ear muffs offshore.
David

I buy $10 panasonic (or Sony) clip on ear speakers, shove them in the ear well and hide the wires, maybe a nip of sewing thread here or there and its all good.  Better sound than the expensive m/c ones

I agree with Chris. 

I like these;  http://www.bing.com/shopping/panasonic-rp-hje120-k-headphones/p/FE17AFE4CE1453B40001?q=Panasonic+RP+HJE120-K+-+headphones&FORM=CMOPEG

If you’re going to just listen to music while you ride.  They’ll block out all the wind noise ‘cause they fit snuggly into your ear channel.  Good sound also.  I’ll run the wires up underneath my jacket behind my back just so that I don’t have the cords flopping in my face when I ride.

[BigAl]

J & M speakers and mic for the CB>

Have worked good for a year now.

You can get them just about anywhere.

[Scott in Ok]

For those looking for headsets and helmet speakers.... You need to specify what your application is.  Warlock for example doesn't have an Interstate(unless he bought one recently), so he's just looking for helmet speakers with a mini jack to plug into an I-Pod like device.  That narrows the options.  When I had my standard I tried a lot of different things.  I tried the ChrisJ method of hacking up cheap headphones.  I tried the foam in ear type. Ultimately I ended up with some IMC helmet speakers.  They are low profile, and have a removable cord so you don't have to deal with excess cord if you don't plan on listening to music. (I hated having a dangling cord when I was on the bike without a music player.)  This is the one I had: http://www.sierra-mc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=IMC-HS-200U  Its not the highest quality, high fidelity speaker in the world but it worked well for me. 

Now, for the Interstate folks.....the whole ballgame changes.  You gotta have that 5 pin din hookup cord.  Since I had good luck with the IMC helmet speakers, I bought a full IMC headset with the 5 pin hookup cord.  At $75, it seemed cheap enough.  It worked well for about 6 months and then I started having trouble with it.  The mic worked half the time, then one of the speakers would work occasionally.  I spent as much time wiggling the wires and repairing them as I did actually using it. 

I'm currently using a J&M headset.  This one to be exact: http://www.sierra-mc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=JM-HS-BCD279-OF-HO

Seems to be of very good construction.  The speakers have the vinyl covered foam pads to seal against your ear, the clamp secures tightly on my flip front helmet and the connections have worked very well over time.  I've used them for over two years now with no problems. You do have to have deep speaker pockets in your helmet for these to work though.

In my wifes 3/4 helmet, I went with this headset because of the low profile speakers: http://www.sierra-mc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=JM-HS-BCD279-UN-HO

My choices might not be for you, they are just the choices I made....

-Scott

[Warlock]

Thinking about putting some speakers in my helmet. Have looked at the Tork Xpro and Tork 2 speakers. Anyone here using these? Have tried the ear plugs and thought about the custom made, but for some reason every-time I wear ear plugs for extended period I get ear problems. That's why I wear ear muffs offshore.
David

I buy $10 panasonic (or Sony) clip on ear speakers, shove them in the ear well and hide the wires, maybe a nip of sewing thread here or there and its all good.  Better sound than the expensive m/c ones

Went by Wally world and picked up a set of the Panasonic clip behind the ear muff super thin ones. So far they are working great. $8.50 a pair. I also added the Boostaroo amplifier.
David

[Warlock]

For those looking for headsets and helmet speakers.... You need to specify what your application is.  Warlock for example doesn't have an Interstate(unless he bought one recently), so he's just looking for helmet speakers with a mini jack to plug into an I-Pod like device.  That narrows the options.  When I had my standard I tried a lot of different things.  I tried the ChrisJ method of hacking up cheap headphones.  I tried the foam in ear type. Ultimately I ended up with some IMC helmet speakers.  They are low profile, and have a removable cord so you don't have to deal with excess cord if you don't plan on listening to music. (I hated having a dangling cord when I was on the bike without a music player.)  This is the one I had: http://www.sierra-mc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=IMC-HS-200U  Its not the highest quality, high fidelity speaker in the world but it worked well for me. 
Them look kinda like the Tork speakers. I might see how long the cheap ones holds up.
David

Now, for the Interstate folks.....the whole ballgame changes.  You gotta have that 5 pin din hookup cord.  Since I had good luck with the IMC helmet speakers, I bought a full IMC headset with the 5 pin hookup cord.  At $75, it seemed cheap enough.  It worked well for about 6 months and then I started having trouble with it.  The mic worked half the time, then one of the speakers would work occasionally.  I spent as much time wiggling the wires and repairing them as I did actually using it. 

I'm currently using a J&M headset.  This one to be exact: http://www.sierra-mc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=JM-HS-BCD279-OF-HO

Seems to be of very good construction.  The speakers have the vinyl covered foam pads to seal against your ear, the clamp secures tightly on my flip front helmet and the connections have worked very well over time.  I've used them for over two years now with no problems. You do have to have deep speaker pockets in your helmet for these to work though.

In my wifes 3/4 helmet, I went with this headset because of the low profile speakers: http://www.sierra-mc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=JM-HS-BCD279-UN-HO

My choices might not be for you, they are just the choices I made....

-Scott

[wdvalk]

had the air riders,junk

[Dougger]

Scott, The same set up that we have, works good. Probably will have to tape part of the mike to eliminate air noise

[Kymbo]

I use the $10 specials off ebay that velcro into the helmet .Work fine for a bit of music Come with volume control on the cord and just plug into Ipod

[Chattanooga Mark]

http://www.edsets.com/

Four years and still doing well.

Mark

[Crazyhorse]

Warlock what about that tire size we talk about at the GOTF's. I need to order a new front tire.

[LemonDrop]

I have EdSets also, for ab out 6 years without any problems or complaints,  When I bought them they were cheaper than J&M and people said they were the same quality.

BTW EdSets have discontinued the 5-pin lower cord, and closing out what they have left for $15.00

[Warlock]

Warlock what about that tire size we talk about at the GOTF's. I need to order a new front tire.

The size is a 130/90/17  at jake wilson
http://www.jakewilson.com/productDetail.do?navTitle=Motorcycle+Tires&webCatId=57&navType=type&webTypeId=443&prodFamilyId=22938&listingId=&sizeAttr=5396
David

[Crazyhorse]

Thanks David  .