Helmet speakers..?

[stevewestern]

Any recommendations for bluetooth helmet speakers ?
I have no burning desire to answer my phone, don't really want to listen to my satnav, but a few tunes might be enjoyed on a long ride.
The idea of paying out a couple of hundred for a SENA system, especially when the speakers seem to be slagged off seems a bit rich, but if I can get some better speakers to go with it then it may be a possible, but if not just a decent set of bluetooth speakers to pair with my phone might do.

[Froglodyte]

Freedcon. Excellent sound quality and around £50ish.

[Ianmc]

   +1 for Freedcom.

[TLPower]

JBL with Cardo.

Bangin' tunes innit Bro'?

Seriously the standard Cardo speakers are plenty but I was lured by the JBL marketing and a decent BlackFriday deal (£67). To be honest they are not really worth it.

[stevewestern]

Thanks for the replies - I'll do some research....!

[Rixington43]

Cheers for the JBL upgrade review there TL, I have a packtalk which I love and have been toying with the JBL upgrade for music. Might spend it on wine instead.

[SuzukiSte]

The new Sena HD ones sound great take a look.

[stevewestern]

Having lashed out on a new and expensive helmet it wasn't too hard for the smiley lady to convince me that the SENA slr2 was worth getting.
I now have a Shoei GT-Air 2 helmet. Wow, I had no idea a helmet could be so quiet and comfy. My previous helmet was/is a Nolan something - 87 ? Cost about £180 a couple of years ago. It seemed to be fine, but I couldn't work out why I was getting so much buffeting despite me fitting a Givi touring screen screen and Aprillia mirrors. New helmet, almost no buffeting at all, and so quiet. A bit hard to pull on, but amazingly comfy, money very well spent.
Anyway, I spent an hour or so last night trying to follow the woeful instructions and get the SENA fitted - I've never bought anything and immediately pulled it apart with no idea what I was doing, but eventually I figured it out. I'm sure there must be a YouTube video but I had figured it can't be so hard so didn't bother looking.
The annoying thing is that the HD speakers don't seem available anywhere for next day or even day after delivery, so I've had to order some from Louis Motorrad which will arrive at some stage but will involve me pulling out all the padding again.
What's the rush ?
Tomorrow I'm heading up from Cornwall to London and then on to the Midlands, then back to London, then home over the space of 4 days. Despite riding bikes for over 50 years I've never done such a long ride, so am hoping I can now figure out how to use the bleedin' thing and that my DanMedica gel seat thing helps keep my delicate backside comfy...
Thanks for the suggestions, now to dig out my Osmond's CD's and load them onto the phone. Crazy Horses indeed !

[TLPower]

(Grip)Puppy Love?

[Hugo Magnus]

Speakers are very old tech, thus not dear to produce, why are they not fitted to helmets as standard? My lining has never been the same since I fitted speakers.

[Rixington43]

Slight resurrection again but a follow up to the OP.
I just caved and pulled the trigger on the JBL 45mm Audio Set upgrade for my Cardo Packtalk.
Significant improvement for me with much more low end (not boomy though) and a reduction in harshness. They fit into the ear recesses on my HJC very easily and neatly but can't comment on other helmet brands as they are quite a bit bigger than the standard drivers.
The audio profiles that unlock with the more recent Cardo units are not that useful in my opinion. Bass Boost is a touch boomy and the vocal profile re-introduces the harshness to music, although it might be useful if you only ever use the unit for comms as it accentuates mid-range for voices quite nicely. Adding these to any unit would provide a good upgrade to sound quality if you are an enjoyer of music whilst riding, especially music types that benefit from a bit more clout (I'm a Metal Head).
Are they worth the £70 odd they cost?
For me yes, my house is full of expensive speakers and headphones and god knows what I spent on my car audio so it's a drop in the ocean compared to my other bike gear. Probably only worth it for music though rather than comms only.

[TLPower]

Seventy quids is an excellent price, since my less than positive review I have started using a different app to play music. Strangely this has improved the sound quality, though without swapping back to the standard speakers I wouldn't like to say if the improvement is worth it or not.   

[Rixington43]

Usual props for SportsBikeShop, cheap and quick.