Technical question / Upgrading my Scala Q2

[Leskid]

I love my Cardo Scala Q2 multiset for phone and intercom. Works great. But when you plug an ipod in, well, it just plain sucks

So I bought a pair of Koss PortaPro headphones (thunderous bass / fidelity in a very small sized speaker), thinking I'll replace the scala speakers in my helmet. Before beginning, I called Cardos' tech support desk to find out what the impedance is, to see how far off it is from the PortaPros 60ohms.

.5 watts at FOUR ohms?????

While I obviously don't have to worry about over-driving the scalas' amplifier since the portapros have 15X the line resistance, can anyone think of a reason it would NOT be a good idea? (I'm thinking worst-case, I'll blow-up the $45 headphone speakers.... which I'm willing to live with as a risk). I would NOT want to toast one of my Q2 thingies though.

If this actually does work, I imagine my helmet will sound like it's got a subwoofer in it. So any input is welcome / appreciated.

 

[RaYzerman19]

I'm interested in doing the same thing....... the wires are small.......... I'll be happy to hear from some better experts in electronics than me. Don't want to ruin a Q2 unit. 60 ohms, are you sure that's right?

 

[tbwrench]

I cut one up last year. The wires are very hard to work with as they are more like conductive thread. I have a ton of electronic experience and fix guitar amplifiers for a hobby. I gave up. The ohm thing will be a problem as well you wont get much volume if you can get it to work. New headsets are under 50.00 from cardo/scala website. I have been wearing ear buds and using them for fidelity and turning up my q2 for the phone/gps instructions. Yhe best headset I have ever heard was from J&M but they dont have FM. I am tempted to get somthing else other than the Q2 even somthing wired would be ok as long as I could get GPS, Phone, FM radio, Radar detector beeps I would be happy. Anyone else have any ideas?

TBWRENCH

 

[Lyman]

damn, i jus orderd this headset too

 

[Leskid]

I'm interested in doing the same thing....... the wires are small.......... I'll be happy to hear from some better experts in electronics than me. Don't want to ruin a Q2 unit. 60 ohms, are you sure that's right?

Yep, I googled it prior to ordering the portapros on ebay, plus it says so right on the box

but if tbwrench is experienced with finer wiring and gave-up, maybe it's a dead issue. Or maybe not..... hold the phone here

In this pic, you can see how I have my scala speaker positioned at an angle, to be in closer contact with my ears (it's the only way I can hear them).

I just tried and the Koss speakers (yellow outline) sit-in nice & neat. And as a test, I put the helmet on... nice & comfortable AND when I plugged-in my ipod, we have good sound! Hey, it's actually easier to just run dual system, as my helmet does accommodate both simultaneously

Don't laugh but I already had applied pieces of heavy velcro to my helmet and my ipod nano so it could plug into the the scala. I guess now, it'll just be going directly to the speakers. Unless it's raining, of course.

This way, there are no wires running from my helmet for ANYTHING anymore. If this get-up works well tonight on a ride, I'll take some better pics of the whole thing and post a new thread.

I'm interested in doing the same thing....... the wires are small.......... I'll be happy to hear from some better experts in electronics than me. Don't want to ruin a Q2 unit. 60 ohms, are you sure that's right?

Yep, I googled it prior to ordering the portapros on ebay, plus it says so right on the box

but if tbwrench is experienced with finer wiring and gave-up, maybe it's a dead issue. Or maybe not..... hold the phone here

In this pic, you can see how I have my scala speaker positioned at an angle, to be in closer contact with my ears (it's the only way I can hear them).

I just tried and the Koss speakers (yellow outline) sit-in nice & neat. And as a test, I put the helmet on... nice & comfortable AND when I plugged-in my ipod, we have good sound! Hey, it's actually easier to just run dual system, as my helmet does accommodate both simultaneously

Don't laugh but I already had applied pieces of heavy velcro to my helmet and my ipod nano so it could plug into the the scala. I guess now, it'll just be going directly to the speakers. Unless it's raining, of course.

This way, there are no wires running from my helmet for ANYTHING anymore. If this get-up works well tonight on a ride, I'll take some better pics of the whole thing and post a new thread.

 

[tbwrench]

I'm interested in doing the same thing....... the wires are small.......... I'll be happy to hear from some better experts in electronics than me. Don't want to ruin a Q2 unit. 60 ohms, are you sure that's right?

Yep, I googled it prior to ordering the portapros on ebay, plus it says so right on the box

but if tbwrench is experienced with finer wiring and gave-up, maybe it's a dead issue. Or maybe not..... hold the phone here

In this pic, you can see how I have my scala speaker positioned at an angle, to be in closer contact with my ears (it's the only way I can hear them).

I just tried and the Koss speakers (yellow outline) sit-in nice & neat. And as a test, I put the helmet on... nice & comfortable AND when I plugged-in my ipod, we have good sound! Hey, it's actually easier to just run dual system, as my helmet does accommodate both simultaneously

Don't laugh but I already had applied pieces of heavy velcro to my helmet and my ipod nano so it could plug into the the scala. I guess now, it'll just be going directly to the speakers. Unless it's raining, of course.

This way, there are no wires running from my helmet for ANYTHING anymore. If this get-up works well tonight on a ride, I'll take some better pics of the whole thing and post a new thread.

I'm interested in doing the same thing....... the wires are small.......... I'll be happy to hear from some better experts in electronics than me. Don't want to ruin a Q2 unit. 60 ohms, are you sure that's right?

Yep, I googled it prior to ordering the portapros on ebay, plus it says so right on the box

but if tbwrench is experienced with finer wiring and gave-up, maybe it's a dead issue. Or maybe not..... hold the phone here

In this pic, you can see how I have my scala speaker positioned at an angle, to be in closer contact with my ears (it's the only way I can hear them).

I just tried and the Koss speakers (yellow outline) sit-in nice & neat. And as a test, I put the helmet on... nice & comfortable AND when I plugged-in my ipod, we have good sound! Hey, it's actually easier to just run dual system, as my helmet does accommodate both simultaneously

Don't laugh but I already had applied pieces of heavy velcro to my helmet and my ipod nano so it could plug into the the scala. I guess now, it'll just be going directly to the speakers. Unless it's raining, of course.

This way, there are no wires running from my helmet for ANYTHING anymore. If this get-up works well tonight on a ride, I'll take some better pics of the whole thing and post a new thread.

Is there a model number for the koss speakers or where can we get'em? I have been doing the same thing with in ear ear buds but would like to put in speakers like you have. Thanks, TBW

 

[Leskid]

Is there a model number for the koss speakers or where can we get'em? I have been doing the same thing with in ear ear buds but would like to put in speakers like you have. Thanks, TBW

yep: Koss PortaPros. They kick-ass as far as headphones are concerned. They're a small folding-type of headset and the speaker units simply snap-out including the foam pads so they're easily velcroed in to your helmet.

On ebay, you'll have no problem finding them

 

[RaYzerman19]

I cut one up last year. The wires are very hard to work with as they are more like conductive thread. I have a ton of electronic experience and fix guitar amplifiers for a hobby. I gave up. The ohm thing will be a problem as well you wont get much volume if you can get it to work. New headsets are under 50.00 from cardo/scala website. I have been wearing ear buds and using them for fidelity and turning up my q2 for the phone/gps instructions. Yhe best headset I have ever heard was from J&M but they dont have FM. I am tempted to get somthing else other than the Q2 even somthing wired would be ok as long as I could get GPS, Phone, FM radio, Radar detector beeps I would be happy. Anyone else have any ideas?TBWRENCH

With your experience, rather than try to splice the wires, do you think it is possible to REPLACE the wires with real wire right from the board to the new speakers? I haven't dug into this, but if you've ruined one, perhaps you could let us know if it's easier to open up the unit and replace the wires.

Of course, the next question, what replacement speakers do we use.... I was thinking speakers from Edsets but difficult to find specs.

Thanks, Ray.