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Best bluetooth headset for helmets?

Been using a Sena SMH-10 for the past year, sometimes streaming GPS directions or music for up to 14 hours a day. Battery life has been excellent (I can get just about 22 hours total out of it), the sound quality is superb, and much like Kornholio, folks can't believe I'm on the bike when they call me.

Only complaint is the little rubber door for the USB jack popped off. Otherwise, it's been a very good unit.
 
I have the sena 20s and its pretty good. I did change the speakers out right away to the tork xpro helmet speakers though. Now it gets really loud and has better bass for the music.
Voice controls and it has an app to make connecting to other riders easier..
Can be paired with any company's headset for the intercom feature but I've never tried it..
 
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Just ordered the Sena low profile unit - I'll be installing it this weekend!
 
rosemont83 said:
I have the sena 20s and its pretty good. I did change the speakers out right away to the tork xpro helmet speakers though. Now it gets really loud and has better base for the music.
Voice controls and it has an app to make connecting to other riders easier..
Can be paired with any company's headset for the intercom feature but I've never tried it..
Click to expand...

These are the ones you have?

http://www.amazon.com/Tork-Motorcycle-Helmet-Speakers-Control/dp/B004I6HOQA

I like the sena 20s, but the speakers it comes with are shit. Okay for music, but for calls, it's pretty fucking horrible.
 
Sena 20S - people can't tell I'm on the moto when I'm on the phone

Music is great

I use custom earbuds instead of the stock speakers.
 
weak_link said:
I just bought a Sena SMH10 Bluetooth Helmet com but it was doa out of the box. I had previously purchased one that seemed to work but would not pair with my phone so I returned it. Now I have a new phone I thought I'd try again and was a little bummed this unit is dead.

Is there a better option than the Sena units as I have not had a lot of luck with them. I want to be able to listen to music and make calls. What say you, Mighty Barf?
Click to expand...

Talk to Sena. I've never heard of anyone else having this problem.
 
rosemont83 said:
I have the sena 20s and its pretty good. I did change the speakers out right away to the tork xpro helmet speakers though. Now it gets really loud and has better base for the music.
Voice controls and it has an app to make connecting to other riders easier..
Can be paired with any company's headset for the intercom feature but I've never tried it..
Click to expand...

I used their universal function with a shark BT. Works great. range varies. but it was nice getting the 3-4 of us hooked up and riding, when we all had different BT's.


oobus said:
Just ordered the Sena low profile unit - I'll be installing it this weekend!
Click to expand...

congrats!

cant go wrong with Sena. universal function is awesome. the low profile has a n hour or two shorter battery life but it's still awesome on a day to day use. THe SMH10's we had went on for about 8-9 hours TALK time. so that was awesome.
 
rosemont83 said:
Yeah. The speakers that came with it were unacceptable but the rest of the unit is great so I just got those. Has bass and the music actually sounds good now and calls on the freeway are also loud now.
Click to expand...

Weird. I tried installing the Torks on my SMH10 and found that while they are louder, they would distort much more easily and sounded way worse than the stock speakers. From what I read, they often need more amplification than the Sena can provide to get them sounding right. Now with the 20S, I find the stock speakers just loud enough to get up to decent listening levels with my earplugs in and without being distorted (though the last couple of clicks of volume will begin to distort). The 20S speakers are overall an improvement from the SMH10s. Keep in mind the original 20S firmware limited the volume too much and they have since "unlocked" the volume level so people who use them over earplugs like me can get our perfect balance of quiet and music.
 
danate said:
Weird. I tried installing the Torks on my SMH10 and found that while they are louder, they would distort much more easily and sounded way worse than the stock speakers. From what I read, they often need more amplification than the Sena can provide to get them sounding right. Now with the 20S, I find the stock speakers just loud enough to get up to decent listening levels with my earplugs in and without being distorted (though the last couple of clicks of volume will begin to distort). The 20S speakers are overall an improvement from the SMH10s. Keep in mind the original 20S firmware limited the volume too much and they have since "unlocked" the volume level so people who use them over earplugs like me can get our perfect balance of quiet and music.
Click to expand...

Huh interesting.
Maybe I can dig up my headphones if i can find them and try it out. Still the bass response was bad and the quality when they were turned up was bad.
I felt the opposite way with the Tork lol. There's 2 though there's the xpro and the x2 and I believe the x2 were not as good as the xpro.
 
I have the SMH5. Best bang for buck regarding anything I have spent moto-related. I have a riding buddy who has the SMH10. We only had to pair it once and whenever we go out riding, all we have to do is set it to Intercom and it's instantly connected.

It has made riding much more enjoyable, especially those that do the slab and ride full time. When my set dies from a dead battery, it pisses me off because I love it so much (all it takes is a 30 min. recharge). 90% of the time I stream music to it, very rarely do I take calls (but if I need to place a pickup order, it's not half bad)
 
Return it and get a new SMH10
They are the wonderful, even if you got one that wasn't. Are you sure you charged it?
 
rosemont83 said:
Huh interesting.
Maybe I can dig up my headphones if i can find them and try it out. Still the bass response was bad and the quality when they were turned up was bad.
I felt the opposite way with the Tork lol. There's 2 though there's the xpro and the x2 and I believe the x2 were not as good as the xpro.
Click to expand...

I've had the same set of Creative EP-630s for almost 10 years. Good sound quality, durable and cheap. I bought an extra pair that I still don't need, so can give to you if you'd like to try them.
 
:laughingHave the Cardo Scala G9 great headset for Music, Phone if ever needed and talking between my buddies when we ride. Also the unit is small easy to remove from the base when not in use. easy of base install and remove just incase you want to install in a different helmet or buy the base for several different helmets. Can't go wrong with this unit had it for a few years. :thumbup
 
rosemont83 said:
Yeah. The speakers that came with it were unacceptable but the rest of the unit is great so I just got those. Has bass and the music actually sounds good now and calls on the freeway are also loud now.
Click to expand...

Got the speakers today, but the Sena 20s doesn't use the typical 1/8" for their aux port and the speakers won't plug in.

Fuckers.
 
Speaker placement is critical. While music is playing, grab your helmet and move it around. You'll be amazed at how a 1/4" change in positon will mean.
 
Ordered the Sena 20S based on this thread. So which speakers are plug and play and work well?
 
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