Kenwood Excelon Motorsport XM65R 6.5 Inch Coaxial Speaker Review

We should be able to enjoy our tunes in whatever vehicle we drive. But if it’s more of a ride then a drive, because it’s a Harley Davidson, Kenwood has you covered there as well. They have a new line of products for certain models of 2014 and up Harley Davidson motorcycles, which are part of Kenwood’s motorsport line. Up for review is their Kenwood Excelon Motorsport XM65R, MSRP is $199.

 

Features and specs:

IMPP Woofer Cones

1” (PEI) Dome Tweeters

Neodymium Magnet Material

Metal Mesh Grilles for Ultra® Included

Impedance: 2 Ohm

Mounting Depth: 2.”

Sensitivity: 92dB

Frequency Response: 40Hz-25kHz

RMS Power Handling: 150W

Peak Power Handling: 300W

2-Year Warranty

 

The Kenwood Excelon Motorsport XM65R came in a standard box with specs of the speaker. Opening the box revealed a very well protected speaker held in place by custom molded Styrofoam. Materials used in construction was mostly plastic. Quality of materials as well as fit and finish, was excellent. Also included was the owner’s manual.

 

I absolutely love the design of the Kenwood Excelon Motorsport XM65R. Loud typically means high power handling. High power handling means larger magnet. But larger magnet means deeper location space is needed. To combat against that, Kenwood went with Neodymium for the magnet. It’s a higher cost, but is a much smaller magnet size. To help shave some cost, they went with a plastic gasket. While it’s cheaper to make then steal or cast aluminum, there’s also no concern of potential rust in the future. And it also has improved acoustic properties as well, such as reduced resonance.

 

The design also helps with limited depth. The Neodymium magnet helps with this, but so does the speaker design. The rubber surround is surprisingly inverted. This allows for the same level of performance, but less space needed. Kenwood also took the need steps for the speaker to handle the elements, with water resistance materials. After all, being on a motorcycle, these could get rained on. This is a thoughtfully designed speaker that Kenwood executed in spades. Now let’s see how it sounds.

 

Styx: Renegade- vocals were silky smooth with very good texture of the timbre, and excellent harmonics!  Kick drum had good low-end extension.  Cymbals were crisp and clean.  Drums had good dynamics, depth, and played with authority.  Guitar was nice and raw.  It just wanted to play loud, and sounded great doing it!

Guns & Roses: Patience-  the whistling was smoother than Dove chocolate, with excellent harmonics.  Resolution of the acoustic guitar was better than expected, very crisp and clean, being able to hear the decay of the strings.  Vocals also had very good resolution of the timbre.  Soundstage was also not just wide but also deep.  And imaging was also good.

Rush: Tom Sawyer- drums were nice and dynamic with great depth.  Cymbals were crisp and clean with very good resolution of the contact of the stick on the metal cymbal.  Kick drum played deep with very good authority.  And the other drums: the high tom, medium tom, and floor tom, had very good dynamics and great pitch definition of the midbass.  Vocals were nice and raw with nice texture.

Kenwood did an excellent job in the design and execution of the Kenwood Excelon Motorsport XM65R 6.5” coaxial speaker. Designed for the Harley Davidson motorcycle, it can handle a lot of power, plays loud, and can handle the elements. So when you are out enjoying the outdoors on your Harley Davidson, and that certain song like Tom Sawyer some on and it has to be blasted….it also sounds great doing it! Based on its design, features, quality and performance, the Kenwood XM65R has earned our Highly Recommended award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.kenwood.com.