6.5" 2 way passive components for SQ ~$700 recommendations..........

[specie 10+ year member]

Been away from car audio for about 3 years and I know new brands/lines come out so often that I need help to find a good set of components. Was busy with trying to make car go fast......wasted too much money and now want to go back to having a nice SQ setup.

Here's what I'll be using:

-'08 Lexus IS (Mark Levinson stereo/navi which is integrated into the car so have to use the stock HU)

- Either MS8 or Audison Bit 10

- I still have a collection of amps that I can use

- Jbl W12GTI or IDMax 12"

What I have used/heard before:

-Hertz HSK 6.5s. I found the bass to be lacking and tweeters were okay. Weren't overly bright but also missing some details. I listened to my friend's set of of MLKs and I really like the sounds from them. Loved the tweeters. Music would be mostly r&b and pop but I listen to almost everything.

Price:

-I'm looking to spend up to $700 for a nice set of components (I don't mind buying used components). What are some quality sets that performs phenomenally? I spent a couple hours searching and saw PHd come up a few times.

Thanks!

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[marc2112 10+ year member]

Hertz, Phd, Hybrid, ID, Dyn... lots of great brands out there but the best thing to do is keep auditioning. Maybe you'll end up buying a 200$ set who knows //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

 

[CerwinVega_Fan 10+ year member]

dynaudio

 

[Andrew12 10+ year member]

Hybrid Audio Clarus

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

My recommendation is to make the MX-Designs MX-362-M6 3-way system adapt to your stock speaker locations. This will give you a 6.7" midbass woofer, 2" mid/tweeter, and a 1" silk tweeter for each side up front. You can see this in our Toyota Tundra speaker upgrade kit:

Toyota Tundra MX-Designs Front and Rear Perfect Fit Speaker Kit | Easy Way Electronics

 

[robertlugo213]

Hey buddy. I have the audison voce and tge sound is awesome. I like to go active though. The legatia se series are by far my choice. The l3se mid/tweeter is an impressive"driver". It can produce I belive from 118hz to 18, 000khz. That's amazing. The hertz tweeters are too bright; specially the ht25. I will not recommend those. The ht28 are somewhat better. You can check ebay from top seller. Do NOT buy overseas. They are fake. Hope this helps

 

[gstokes]

My recommendation is to make the MX-Designs MX-362-M6 3-way system adapt to your stock speaker locations. This will give you a 6.7" midbass woofer, 2" mid/tweeter, and a 1" silk tweeter for each side up front. You can see this in our Toyota Tundra speaker upgrade kit:Toyota Tundra MX-Designs Front and Rear Perfect Fit Speaker Kit | Easy Way Electronics

x 2, that kit is highly recommended on the Toyota Tundra forums..

 

[whitemax 10+ year member]

Scanspeak....these are a little more, but well worth the price.

The Madisound Speaker Store

 

[fly_marlin]

From recommendations I've seen, I'd like to second HAT Clarus and also add Focal PS 165 FX - I almost bought those myself and have yet to read 1 bad review on them. They use some new flax fiber cone thing (sorry for the highly technical lingo) and are amazing on all accounts. Have never personally heard them though.

 

[RUGERJITSU 10+ year member]

i got a pair of focal 6.5 flax components...they are the cats meow. incredible sound.

 

[fly_marlin]

They won some Australian award for 2014 speaker of the year under $1000.

Sound+Image Awards 2014 | Sound+Image

Should be pretty happy with them.

 

[specie 10+ year member]

The Focal Flax looks awesome and the price is nice too. Can't find too many reviews on them though.

 

[tat2bass 10+ year member]

Hertz HSK 165XL. They come with a larger tweeter than the regular HSK line. 28mm vs 25mm. The mid though is the biggest difference. The mid on the XL line is absolutely amazing. Provides tons of midbass and makes up for anything the regular HSK line is missing.

The tweeters from the HSK line are the same size format as the MLK line you liked.

They can also handle a ton of power so that you can run enough power to really get the transient response of most music.

If you get this set though, I recommend running them active. The set is rated for 150w but when ran active, each mid can easily handle 150 a piece. I installed a set for a friend and ran them on a set of channels bridged receiving 230w each and crossed them at 60Hz with an 18DB slope. Were in heavily treated doors and sounded incredible. Could rattle the rear view mirror

 

[neo_styles 10+ year member]

Those HSKs should perform very well in the midbass department. I would say it might be more worth your time to take some of the budget you were going to apply to new drivers and work on treating your doors for better midbass performance. Things like sealing off any air gaps in the doors, eliminating any backwave interference, and decoupling them from the doors should give you tremendous gains.

That being said, if you're just getting tired of the sound from the HSKs (which is perfectly understandable), I would take a serious look at the HAT Clarus and Rainbow Germaniums (used). Every now and then, you'll also find a set of Illusion Carbons for sale on DIYMA and they might go for within your budget. Otherwise, piecing together a set of raw drivers and making your own crossover might be the way to go. Give Madisound a look and pay specific attention to the following:

Silver Flute 6.5"

ScanSpeak Illuminator (18WU...need a lot of clearance for mounting, though)

SB Acoustics 6.5" (they also make a ring radiator tweeter that should pair very well for it, though it is a large format tweeter)

Eton Symphony 7" midrange (pricey, but a PHENOMENAL driver for midrange clarity)

ScanSpeak D3004 (one of the best tweeters I've ever heard)

Especially when you consider the price of amplifiers with active crossovers (like the PPI P900.4), going active may not be unrealistic for you.