Component sets with mellow highs?

[kincade]

Hi all; I've done quite a bit of reading and searching here for the past few days; and wanted to ask you all for a recommendation if you don't mind.

I'm searching for some 6.5" components for my STi, but having a hard time finding the right 'sound' for the right price. My ears are very sensitive to harsh highs, and I'd lke to stay with a soft dome tweeter for that reason. Budget is in the neighborhood of $200.

To follow are my impressions of what I have listened to so far:

-type s components; didn't impress me at all. Sloppy midrange and a harsh treble.

-type r components; slightly better than the r's, better low end; but not great.

-type x components; AMAZING tweeter. Exactly what I like; detailed and extended, but without any hint of harshness. However; they sounded extremely recessed in the midrange. I'm wondering if they were wired wrong or perhaps eq'd to not have the 'punch' that some of the other speakers had.

-infinity reference; wow, a silk tweeter that sounds like a metal dome! Uuuugh, these were pretty disappointing. Harsh tweeter, metallic midrange; not impressive in the slightest to me. They sounded better than the type s's, but that was about it.

-hertz high energy; Harder tweeter, but not harsh. I actually was able to listen to these in an impreza and they sounded good, but the tweeter was far too loud. He said he used the '0' db setting on the crossover, so I think there would be a way to turn them down.

-focal 165kp2; by far the best midrange and midbass of they bunch. They sounded very good. The tweeter was very detailed, but still a little too 'metallic' for my tastes. They were beyond my budget anyway.

If I could combine the midrange of the Focals with the tweeter of the Type-x's, I'd be a happy camper!

In any case, I'd love to get a few recommendations from you all. I can't find a place to demo CDT's or a/d/s locally, nor rainbows or the other brands I keep hearing about here.

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[acold7dusta 10+ year member]

where are you located? check out the rainbow SLC's. looks exactly what you are looking for

 

[kincade]

Located in SLC, UT. maybe the SLC's were meant to be! ;-)

 

[kincade]

Any idea how the SLC's compare to the CDT HD-62/M6?

 

[Hintzyboy 5,000+ posts]

PM 6spdcoupe here on the forums. He's a great guy and can give you a lot of information about the SLCs or any other Rainbow product. I believe he also deals Morel, Dynaudio, Hertz, and some other nice brands.

 

[alteraudiousa 10+ year member]

the HD's won't fit in your doors unless you mod them to accept the drivers. You don't have a very deep location, maybe 2in at most IIRC. The HD's are 2.75in deep. I think the last person i sold who speakers to who had an STi bought the EF neo series to fit.

 

[Towncar 10+ year member]

Focals midbass has never impressed me. Midrange was nice though. Check out some exile xtecs.. You would really like those..

 

[kincade]

I have the alpine SPX. . they sound like they are exactly what you want. . . where did you hear them? The midrange/midbass actually is very good. However when i had these without any deadning in the door it made a big difference. Deadning is your friend if you choose the SPX.

I actually have 2 shops here that had them on their demo boards - innovative and car concepts. But the 2nd shop I SWEAR had them wired either out of phase or eq'd. The midrange and midbass was almost non existant.

Alteraudio - I should be able to fit up to a 3" deep with the IA spacers (or home made spacers). What do you think of the HD series??

Towncar - the same shop that had the SPX had the Focals as well; it's entirely possible that they had them eq'd where I couldn't see them. But they sounded really good in their board.

 

[Towncar 10+ year member]

^^ Dont ever go off soley listening to speakers in sound rooms. When they get in cars it is completely different. Focal in general has not been known for midbass.

 

[kincade]

^^ Dont ever go off soley listening to speakers in sound rooms. When they get in cars it is completely different. Focal in general has not been known for midbass.

Absolutely; but I think it at least gives a somewhat general idea of what the speaker will sound like. i.e. if a speaker sounds really harsh and unforgiving on the board, chances are it won't be more mellow in a car.

 

[286 10+ year member]

I guess i'll chime in here, i too have an sti and currently have the polk momo mmc6500's up front. They are about 2.8" deep and the shop that did it said they could fit a little more (with a spacer obviosuly, im using a spacer currently as well)

I too am looking for the same thing as you. The stock tweeter location in the sti makes tweeter's sound a little harsher because of where its at (next to the door handle about 4" from the bottom of where the window meets the door). the momos are a slik/fabric tweet and they get harsh with sibilance once ive reached about 4 volume notches below the max w/o distortion.

I've spoken to don, and im strongly considering the rainbow germaniums. These are over 200 though so you might not even consider them, but it might be worth it if you can afford it. The adjustibility w/o having to go active plus the "cal25 famous silk tweet" seems like i should get these to sound less harsh and more detailed w/o any major eq'in other than from the xover + general h/u controls. I am just curious on how an "aluminum woofer" might differ in sound from a typical woofer cone...? More detailed, harsher, etc? Im really trying to avoid any harshness while still having rich, detailed, and smooth sounding midrange. Can anyone thats heard the germs tell me how the mid sounds compared to a typical mid on a equivalently priced set up?

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

get a big profile, low weight tweet

i had 25mm titanium tweets in the audi for a few months, and they were buttery smooth

VERY natural sounding, no harshness whatsoever

the large diameter seemed to smooth out the sometimes painful high-end shreaks

 

[MBrock4u 10+ year member]

If you are looking for sweet highs, Rainbow seems to be very high here at the forum, but unfortunantly I have never heard them. So next would be Polk audio. They are the sweetest gems I have every heard. That's what I have for front stage. The momo's are beatuful. I even added a set of db tweets in the A pillars. No doubt there are a few others, but give the Polks a listen.

 

[Pyro_By_Nature 5,000+ posts]

From what I have personally heard type S > type R's

The R's sound like complete ***.The focals are nice though //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[alteraudiousa 10+ year member]

well the HD's would be great speakers for you with great SQ and like so many say they have is laid back highs. I don't think they're too laid back as people say, they just sound good and don't get harsh. I would suggest the HD-62 with the drt-25 tweeter. Check your PMs.