Boston Z6's .......any opinions?

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

Well i sold my CDT EF51's and looking for a serious upgrade in the front. Looking at the Boston Acoustics Z6 comps, and thinking of powering them with a Kicker 850.2 amp.

So the question at hand is that the comps say they can handle 400rms and they are 3 ohms. The kicker puts out 300@4ohms and 425@2ohms. Do the Boston really like that much power and do you think the kicker is a good match?

I've pretty much decided that my amps will all be kicker just for the sake of likeness, but i'm not really set on the Boston's. Cost of the Boston's is in the neighborhood of $500 shipped so if you know something else thats comparable quality at the same price point, feel free to suggest.

Click to read more...

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

no one?

 

[MBrock4u 10+ year member]

Boston's are very nice, its just alot of money to spend. If you have the doe, I would go with them. Those speakers are amazing.

 

[Hoodlum007 10+ year member]

I just can not imagine a comp taking 400 watts rms. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif I personally would use a cleaner amp then kicker for my comps. Something along the lines of Arc, Zapco and so on.

Also look into these comps below, they have excellent reviews and the sound quality is supposd to be insane.

http://woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=1109

 

[96GTIVR6 10+ year member]

Personally I did not care for the tweeter on the Z6's I heard in a Tahoe.

 

[jiggy2dmax 10+ year member]

I have them installed right now, traded in my Crystals for them and powered them with the exact same amp you plan on getting. The tweets is definately agressive although not harsh. Its loud but not the type of loud that will give you headache or ring your ears. The midrange is greattt....I cant get enough of it and I think its the only reason I kept them. Downfall comes in the midbass where its lacks extremely to me. My crystals had a ton more midbass. For the money, I think theres better. I got mine cheap so I cant complain but if I had to pay Ebay/Retail price I would prolly look into a Active Setup. And yes, they handle the power and laugh at it although I did kick the tweeter protection in a few times.

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

hmmm....yours in the kick or the door?

 

[kublkmax 10+ year member]

The Z6's are not a bad set. I would def look at another amp. Yes the kickers are powerful but that is not clean power. Why do you think so many spl guys use them. Not many sq guys run them.

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

Personally I did not care for the tweeter on the Z6's I heard in a Tahoe.

If im not mistaken i believe i heard the Z6's yesterday.

The tweeter was way to harsh for my likings.

 

[Echo42987 10+ year member]

I love my Z6's. They get extremley loud and sound good doing it.

I don't see what the big deal is about the amp he's using? It'll power them great!

The bostons are one of the clearer sets of comps I have ever ran in my car. I've been extremley happy w/ them.

-Nick-

 

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

Have you looked into the Polk SR line?

I've heard amazing reviews with their reproduction, but a small lack of midbass.

Just a thought.

I'd imagine that the actual RMS handling on the BA's is about 150 or so, and on the Polks, it is 125-ish.

 

[jiggy2dmax 10+ year member]

hmmm....yours in the kick or the door?

Yes, there installed IB with a heavily deadened door. I personally like the agressive tweeter but many may not. If you don't care much for the MB quart tweeters, you'll prolly not care much for these. Im not sure who said the Kicker isn't clean power but thats a naive statement, just because they are used for SPL doesnt mean they're not clean amps. They take all the power that the Kicker can throw at them and seem to want more so I do believe they're rated at more than 150. I would guesstimate the Kicker is giving them about 350 a side being that they are three ohm. I do like the flexibility of the crossover, gives you plenty of options. The only thing I dislike is the midbass...like I said, if you get them for a good price then go for it but I dont think there worth Ebay Pricing or Retail. In all honesty, I somewhat liked my Crystals better and they were on the same amp and took it like a champ.

 

[blue 10+ year member]

I've probably installed 20 or more sets of the Z6 , in a lot of different cars , and with various placements for install.

They sound OK at best. You must remember , they are a design that is quite a few years old. In my opinion , the new style Pros sound better than the Z6s do , but that shouldn't be a suprise, considering the new Pros are a much newer design.

Boston has a very revealing mid-range in all of their speakers , but their tweeters do NOT sound natural. They simply don't sound like the real instruments they are trying to reproduce , at least from a musician's stand-point.

The Z6s are indeed shy in the mid-bass department, and Boston as much as admitted this when they designed their " Q-Tune " feature into their GT series amps. This equalization circuit was designed from a direct need to compensate for the Z6's lack of quality mid-bass.

For the money you're looking at spending , their are better choices.

 

[bonesninja 5,000+ posts]

well can anyone suggest something better at the same price point? i have about 800 to spend on the comps and the amp combined. i want a LOUD, CLEAN front stage. Don't really want to go active either.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

well can anyone suggest something better at the same price point? i have about 800 to spend on the comps and the amp combined. i want a LOUD, CLEAN front stage. Don't really want to go active either.

Forget what those other guys said about you needing a new amplifier. There is absolutely nothing at all wrong with the amplifier you intend on using. Great power, good build quality, etc. There is nothing "unclean" about the Kicker amps. The only way switching amplifiers would be beneficial would be if you were increasing power....which in your case is absolutely unnecessary given you already have 300w per side available.

Also, Chuck Music (cmusic) gives the Z6 an outstanding review in this thread about half way down the page;

http://forum.elitecaraudio.com/showthread.php?threadid=133747

If you don't know who he is....he's a multiple time world sound quality champion and is essentially considered to be an authority on the subject. I would trust his opinion/review more than anyone else's on this (or most any other) site. He knows what he is talking about, and knows what music should sound like.