Hella Supertone Horn Review
Surprisingly loud reading on our sound meter and the loudest in this comparison.
The Hella Supertone horns have a brash and somewhat annoying sound that should definitely get noticed!
This pair of Hella Supertone horns reads “Made in Germany” on the front diaphragm and “Made in India” on the rear part of the housing.
Apparently, these are made in India, under “strict supervision” of the Hella engineers, using German-made internals, according to the company.
Note that there are some 100% “Made in India” Hella Supertone horns for sale that do not have the same rated sound volume; make sure you get the German or German/Indian horns.
They’re expensive (see chart above); this pair cost $69.99, about twice the cost of a pair of Freeway Blasters.
The factory claims that these are rated at a claimed 118 dB at an unspecified distance, but we averaged 107.7 at 2 feet away, still plenty loud, but -10.3 dB off the claimed maximum output.
The interesting thing about the Supertones is that to the ear they really don’t seem to have much more volume than the stock horns.
And the tone doesn’t seem all that different from the stock horns either, yet they recorded the highest sound levels of any of the horns in this comparison.
They do have an annoying sound quality though, with a sort of dissonance that’s grating, and that’s probably good. They should command attention.
The GT1000 front mounts are perfect for this type of flat diaphragm horn, although the Supertones are so big, we had to finagle the mount on the Ducati’s molded horn holder by angling the bracket that holds the horns.
Some people thing they look ugly as sin, while others think they look mean and industrial!
Who knows — maybe the help with visibility too? Next step is to mount some rice-sized LED colored lights behind those big, red frames!
Conclusion
Big, loud and obnoxious, the Hella Supertone horns use a diaphragm shape similar to the wimpy stock horns on most motorcycles, but these are much louder.
It is possible that these would be easier to fit as a replacement horn than any of the other types in this comparison, especially the Stebel Nautilus type.
Hella Supertone .MP3 Sound File: Hella Supertone (0:0:17) | Motorcycle Horn Comparison
Owner Comments and Feedback
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From “T” (5/10): “I bought the Supertones based on this review. One recommendation…when installing / testing don’t do so in a closed garage. It’s very loud.”
From Hella (8/08): “In our laboratory and also due to SAE and ECE regulations, all of our horns are tested using a bracket and they are fixed to a 50 kg steel block. The measurements are taken 2 meters from the horn at different power inputs 9, 13 and 15 Volts, also the min. and max. voltage. The dBA readings are taken at all Voltages but the valid result is the one at 13V.
Each factory might use different methods but this is the one that Hella has been using for almost 100 years and is based on official regulations. We work together with Universities and Technical institutes to develop this and other techniques.