Alpine vs. JL vs. Diamond vs. Boston vs . . .

[SuperBlack350z 10+ year member]

Hey all. I'm looking to replace my components in the next few months and I'm kind of hung up. The lack of a decent place to demo speakers is disappointing, so I'm hoping some opinions will help me. What I have now is the Alpine Type R's. What I had before those was the Diamond HEX s600a's. These were in my last car, and I absolutely loved them. When I got my new car, I sold the speakers with the old car and got a new set of the s600's. Had problems with the crossovers so the highs were SCREAMING, sent them in for new crossovers, same problems. I got an offer on the Diamonds and sold them and got the Alpines because I got them cheap through work. So now I'm looking for something better. I think I've narrowed it down to the Boston Pro60's, but I wanted to see what everyone thought. I've read some good reviews of the JL Audio XR's, and everybody's nuts for JL Audio, but everybody's nuts for Sony too and I think they generally put out a crap product. My impression of JL back when I was looking and settled on the Diamonds, was that they were kind of hollow sounding, I guess you'd say. Maybe a little echo-y. So . . . maybe that's changed. As much as I loved my first Diamonds, I'm really not looking into going back to them due to the problems I had with the last set. I really like the Alpine's mid bass, and the tweeter is nice and soft, and they're pretty clear, but not as crystal clear as the Diamonds. So . . . basically I want the strong mid bass of the Alpines but the crystal clear sound of the Diamonds. Sorry this kind of rambles, but the way I am, if I don't buy the right thing and find something better later I'll agonize over it. So, thanks for reading this long, long post, and for any suggestions. Thanks.

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[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

What products do the local dealers to you carry?

Best bet is too go out there and audition some new things. Theres certainly alot more out there than the above listed, so why restrict yourself before making a decision?

No one on here or anywhere else can tell you what sounds good to Your ears.

 

[SuperBlack350z 10+ year member]

I'm probably looking at sticking with Sound Advice (Tweeter) whose main higher end brands are JL, Boston, and Focal. I listened to the Boston's vs. the Focals (I can't remember what Focal series, but they were about the same price as the Pro60's) and I thought the Boston's had a little fuller sound, but the demo was kind of crappy. The guy started demoing with Satellite radio, which sounded like absolute garbage, so he got a mix CD that was probably about 92 kbps, so it wasn't the best demo. I have a friend who works at the Sound Advice near me, so I'm looking at probably getting a discount on whatever they sell, so that's why I'm really looking at sticking with what they've got there. I considered the Boston Z6's, but I think that's a little more than I want to get into. I'm going to go to Sound Advice and demo stuff with my friend so I can use whatever source I want, but I just wanted to get a few opinions of what to listen for with each manufacturer.

 

[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

Both are solid products, Definately do a demo with your music/CD and take it from there. I dont think you could go wrong with either.

Let us know what ya decide on.

 

[bri487 5,000+ posts]

you can get mid bass out of any speaker with the right processing and amplifier power behind it. are you going to be amplifying these components?

the boston pros are a good speaker. they have a good balance of

mid bass/mid/highs. i would definitly take a listen to those things. but your best bet is to track down and listen to as many sets as you can. get an idea of everything out there and narrow them down one by one.

 

[SuperBlack350z 10+ year member]

Hey, I guess I should have said, I'm probably going to use my Diamond D5 600.2 (125x2@4ohms) to power the comps. I like the fact that the Bostons run at 3 ohms, so you get some free power //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[christiankills 10+ year member]

I'm sorry, this might sound kind of random. SuperBlack350z, do you work for best buy?

I also live in tampa, and a guy from best buy had the same problem with the hex's.

 

[SuperBlack350z 10+ year member]

Yeah, I do, the one at Citrus Park. I remember talking to you.