Hey guys, great website! I've already decided on what headunit, subs, and amp I going to use for my set-up but at a wall right now trying to decide on my fronts and maybe something simple for rear fill. I want something that is going to give a very true and realistic surrounding! I've used JL, Kicker, Orion, and Infinity it in the past but was never really happy with them b/c they were too harsh or some were just way to bright. made the interior of the car sound like a tin can.

I listen to a variety of music but mainly house/dance and techno. And oddly enough I have alot of live / concert sets. So just those two styles alone have a lot voice (alot of female), horn, whistle, and acoustics. With the lower budgeted kits I've used before they just didn't do what I was after for a true and realistic sound. So this time around I want to jump up the budget alittle and just do it right the first time, especially considering how small of an interior space we're dealing with this time! Looking for something that could almost create a sound as if I was sitting right in the middle of it or next to the voice!

With you guys now knowing the above and what I'm after can anyone with some first hand knowledge or experience give some suggestions on a few component kits to look at for the fronts and a well matched rear or maybe even just mids for the rear? Thanks alot for any help!!

 

Focal Utopias
MB Quart QSD
CDT Eurosports
Rainbow Pros

Any of these $500 up comps will get you the best sounding vocals and detail that you looking from a concert.

 

Thanks! I see you specificly mentioned concert listening. Would these be a speaker that would also be able to handle and produce the same for styles like a heavy/fast house or techno being the main type of music I listen to?

 

KJ,
These speakers will definetely reproduce any kind of music and even some imperfections of recording! The Mb ranks up there with clarity and powerful instrument detail, while the Rainbow Pros and CDT will give you powerful midbass in the comparison to a strong 8 inch sub from their mids. Focals are a good overall speaker and excel in all characteristics. Keep in mind these are top of line components from each manufacturer cept the Rainbows which have their GODLY $7000 References that I heard at the CES. Having listening to those Rainbow 3 Ways playing Hotel California in kickpanels, makes my aftermarket speakers sound worse then BOSE!!!

 

I'd go with the MB Quarts. I've had 2 separate competition systms in a 4RUnner, and both times I used the MB Quarts as Mids/Highs. I've heard both the QSD and the PSD, and personally I couldnt really tell much of a difference. I know the QSD's are more expensive, but to me, the PSD's seemed to have more clarity.

 

Yikes, just did some quick looking around and seems that all of those are a good $600+ just for a set! I was looking to jump up in quality but maybe those are a bit much LOL. Does anyone have experience on the following speakers / brands? Good or bad?

Focal Polykevlar 165K2

Image Dynamics CXS6

Crystal CSc60s

Oz Audio Matrix 180CS

 

You should also consider A/D/S as well. Their reproducibility in musical truism is quite impressive.

 

Alright, first off we have to get several things straight. 1. What HU, amp & subs are you going with. 2. What exactly are you willing to pay because if $600 is too high then you're not going to do yourself that much justice.

Focal Polykevlars- decent speakers but a great sound reproducer IMO. They have midbass and super bright tweeters that often detracts from overall sound quality.

ID CXS6 - I'm not a big fan of these personally, often times they sound hollow. ID makes great subs but lake on their speaker quality.

Crystal CS - Only heard them once on an up-amped system so I won't comment.

OZ 180CS - Very nice set but often times they get overworked real fast and the woofers will pop some under a barrage of fast mids. Not a great choice IMO for a high quality sound reproducer but I'd probably take them if I were running them for rear speakers powered off the HU.

I'll also throw out two options that should fit your budget.

Diamond top of the line (sorry can't remember the model number) - these have excellent woofers and their silk dome tweeters are amazing, although sometimes lacking in overall tonal quality for very sharp sounding highs (think Pink Floyd Time or Money). These run around $540 or so.

Boston Pro 6.5 - excellent speakers that reproduce music very very well. Often times they are dinged by people for not having overly powerful midbass but they do reproduce the sounds perfectly. The Boston tweeters are some of the best out there. The 6.5 Pros run $450 and the 6.5.3s (adds 4.5" woofer) are around $700.

 

If it came down to the Focal Utopias or MB Quart QSD, which would you go with up front? And then what would you match them with for some rear fill? Or just not do any rears?

 

Kenwood Excelon Z910DVD
JL 450/4
JL 300/2
JL 12IB4

 

Defintely ditch the rear fill if your going a good set of components, you wont really tell the difference nor would u want nething from the rear if you just save the money for a better set of comps. The Zs cabin is small enough that a good sets of comps are able to disperse the music throughout the cabin. Some people have said the polykevlars sound better then the K2s, I think probaby because they lack the power to push these. Take a lookat Ebay, you could find those comps listed at just around $500 or less.

 

Diamond audio s600s. Great all around speaker and they can handle a ton of power.

 

I cant believe no one is mentioning Dynaudio.

 

Definitely don't due rear fill, take the money you were going to spend on them and put them to your front speakers. You've got some great quality amps, HU, & sub, don't skimp on the front components now.

 

I just put in the Focal 165K2's and I love them! I'm not an audiophile by any stretch, but they may be too bright for you. I do listen to the same types of music you do, but the sound excellent to me.

Mike

 

I was reading up on those too! if you dont mind, where did you get them and how much? What amp you running them with? did you do rears?

 

I got them from EBay, only paid @ 250.00. I put Focal's coax in the rear.

I put in an Alpine 7893 HU and am powering them from the HU. I have an Alpine MRD 500 for powereing the sub (when I add it).

Hope this answers your questions...

Mike

 

since you're running a z910 kenwood, i would assume that you'll want to watch some movies sometime. So i would do some type of rear fill, but not much. If it were a strictly music only system i would say to just get some kick *** front staging and don't worry about the rear, however you're going to be running a video system as well. Even though you might add the 5.1 processor, I find that some rear fill will make a movie sound better overall than having just a front stage.
As far as a good set of components for under the $600 range, I would highly suggest the boston pro 6.5's they have a great tweeter that isn't overly metallic sounding, and a very accurate midrange. Also they use some very good parts in their crossovers (1% mylar caps) And if you didn't want to spend the $450 retail for the pros, you could go with their RC series components. They're not quite as clean but sound great for all types of music and have a very strong midbass, they also offer an ambient tweeter upgrade (add a second set of tweeters in the front stage for effect). the 6.5 RC set should run you about $275. Just my $.02

 

hey anyone have comments on the MB Quart PSD 216's ("Premium Line") kit? Just spoke to a friend and he is swearing by them?! Been searching around and really surprised how cheaply priced they are, found tons of they at eBay for $225 or less.

 

If you are going to spend some money on your front stage, spend it wisely on a nice set of Boston Proseries 6.5s...this set totally rocks, and as far as realism goes, I think they would be hard to beat. They are some of the best sounding, well-built component sets I have ever listened to...

Just my $.02