If you have actually installed a decent component set under $450 and are satisfied, please chime in on :

1) install issues - Mid-woofer depth, tweeter size
2) sound quality
3) ability to handle high power
4) treble quality - harsh, bright, just right
5) crossovers

I'm especially interested in feedback on :

ADS
Diamond Audio Hex
Boston Acoustics Pro 6.5
Phoenix Gold Titanium Elite
Focal 165V slim
Others

thanks

 

make you own ... you got an active EQ ... you are ready to go

Seas Millennium Excel line is calling your name

Seriously though ... any of the above and you cannot go wrong. I would pick the Bostons just because I know they are good having listened to them extensively .. but all others are in the same field with them. I just dont have enough seat time with them to make a recommendation. Each will have their own "signature sound" .. it just depends on what your ears prefer.

best advice ... find a set of each in someones car and listen for a while. easier said than done though

good luck man
jim

 

I have experience with those.

Stay away from any ADS you can buy. After directed bought them out, their build quality suffered like any company directed has bought out...PPI(need I say more). The old school ADS were outstanding. I like them better than anything I've ever heard to date. The old school ADS speakers handle 220 watts from my PG xenon 200.4 just fine. *edit* I have not heard new ADS, they might be okay but with directed's history of totally screwing good companies I wouldnt expect much from them. Eh, I may order a set just to check them out.

The Pro series bostons are harsh and bright for my ears. They remind me of the midbass shy Diamond Hex series. The pros do however seem to be un blowable. A friend of mine tried to blow his before he traded in for a set of 3 way ADS....they would not die.

I have heard the PG elites in sealed kick panels once. They have a bright tweeter that can be adjusted with the advanced crossover networks included. The response from the woofers out did my ADS woofers...granted they were in kick panels. Though I have not heard any Dynaudio componets, I have heard the Elites rival the dynaudios in everything but midbass response, but even then, they were damn close.

The Elites woofers are the shallowest of the group mentioned. Also, the elites are morel made and rebadged for PG. With that said, check out morel also.

I also own a set of PG elite 9 inch midbass speakers as you may know. They are what completes my system IMO.

Elites handle power well also.*edit* Elites are no longer made but PG has some pairs left that can be gotten through a dealer. Once they are gone, thats it.

 

seas are nice from what I have heard...

 

Diamond Audio here...love them! Not a single snap, crackle, or pop! LOL
They sound really great. Couldn't be happier!

 

Thanks guys, I have the DA Hex and as you said Alex, they lack mid-bass. I was trying to impress a friend last week in the car and all he could say is the "Bass and highs sounded great, but there was something missing in the middle."

I also had to radically adjust the 1k - 2k freq range of the Hex's down with my E/Q. It's not the tweeters that annoy me, but the upper range of the mid (weird)

Maybe the CM3's are better at reproducing mid freqs. What about the Focal Vslim..very small magnet that might clear the window, and they have a good rep.

I didn't know that PG was Morel. Interesting.

 

well morel made the speakers, PG bough the speakers and just put their name on it and made a crossover network for the speakers.

A wise move by PG.

I have heard rumors of a new series of PG speakers that bases of the new LE editions of the Xenon amp series called Xenon Onyx.

The Onyx amps will be pretty neat, the Onyx speakers should be great too.

 

Now that I read that just allow me to clarify that I have the CM3...not the HEX. I wasn't thinking straight. LOL

 

BTW...mine went in with no problems. Clear the window with ease.

 

I have the DA Hex with Aluminum tweets. Too bright for my taste. Did you get the silk tweets? How do they sound? I.m thinking about swapping them out for Bostons...

 

My bad, I see you have the silk.

 

I have DA Hex and they sound great. Precise highs and lows but I would also agree that the mid freq are a bit lacking but still great speakers. As far as mounts, I went to home depot and bought some particle board and fabricated mounts as these speakers are heavy along with that are somewhat expensive so it deserved a strong base to attach to. Tweeters I used a rotozip and cut into the tweeter pods as these can not take place of the original tweeters without some sort of cutting of the hole for a clean look.

 

No prob, the silks aren't much better IMO. I tampered things down a bit by placing the tweets in the kick panels, setting them at -2db and using the PG EQ a bit.

But, after tinkering a lot, I personally found the tweets weren't the real issue for the type of music I listen to. It's the high end of the mids (1.5 to 2.5khz) that are too harsh, and the fact that they don't seem to produce much mid-bass.

 

I have heard that from people who owned diamond speakers in the past

 

Yeah ricer, I did a similar mount, but on two pieces of MDF glued together. The outer edge of the mid just about touches the door panel though.

For certain music I do like the Hex's, don't get me wrong. Hotel California for instance sounds great. But other songs seem to be lacking middle or are too harsh in certain freq ranges.

I noticed while my door was apart that the window actually travels down lower than the flush edge. I wonder if the spkr magnet is low enough to allow the window to lower fully and be used as the stop.. I mean if you put some foam on the magnet to protect it..crazy idea?

 

My brother loves Diamond, too bright for my taste. The BA Pro are bright but tolerable. +1 what Ahsmo said about ADS.

If you come across a dealer for PHD components, I'd suggest those. The sound is very different from other brands, very "forward" speakers. Unfortunately I can't find their site for info. This week I can get more info from the shop I go to. I believe they are made in Italy.

Edit: Found a link with a review.
http://202.186.86.35/audio/story.asp...file/13icezone

 

Seas sound pretty good.

For $479 you can get the Seas Lotus Performance

http://www.mobilesq.com/products/get_product.php?id=1

 

Get the new Boston Pro 60s over the out dated (1998 -lol) Pro 6.5s. You can get them under $450 on woofersetc.com. With that said, I still use the old Pro series in my daily driver.

 

Since your are looking to spend some cash on components, Rainbow Audio!!

 

I am also looking for some componets as well as a sub. The componets I was looking at are:

Image dynamics
http://www.sounddomain.com/sku/IDSCXS62

Diamond audio hexs
http://www.woofersetc.com/product.asp?0=0&1=0&3=1168

MB quart q's
http://www.woofersetc.com/product.asp?0=0&1=0&3=1229

dunno if any of those three help you any. The quarts are expensive, Im starting to shy away from the diamonds since the consensus from everyone here and everywhere else that I talk to all have the same thing to say about them. I wanted infinity kappas for a long time untill I heard nothing but disapointment stories about them. So leaning towards the MB quarts or ID's.