Germs VS. DLS Iridium 6.3

[CBRworm 10+ year member]

Has anyone compared the Germs to the DLS iridium 6.3i? I have recieved my DLS. On axis the mid and tweet sound awesome. I am not so happy with the 6.5 midbass. It really acts like a second midrange, and in a sealed box of about the same size as I was going to put it in in the doors there is a lot of midbass, but no kick, and no low bass. I would add some polyfill into the box, but it is not even close to what I was expecting. There also is some distortion in the midbass when I try to make it do bass comparable to what I was getting from Focal K2P's midbass running IB in dynomatted doors. I have even tried running one set bridged on one of the mmats 2120's which should be more than enough clean power to drive the speakers. I also tried running them on the Onkyo Integra in the house which has plenty of power at 4 ohms. I probably have let them run in for about 15 hours so far - they have gotten better - but I don't think the 6.5 DLS is going to fill my midbass needs.

The off axis response seems to be pretty weak, and my speaker locations are not going to be ideal.

I have been considering getting a set ScanSpeak 7" kevlar drivers to run with the DLS mid/tweet and run everything active, or I could buy a set of Germs.

I have heard and read that the Germs work great in stock locations and have good off axis response. I was under the impression that the DLS had good off-axis response as well, but what I have found is that where they will be mounted they really aren't going to perform the way I want them to.

My third option is to buy another set of Focal K2P's which I liked a lot but were a little harsh, and maybe use the DLS tweeter instead of the Focal tweeter. And either run everything active, or use the DLS crossovers to keep the tweeter crossed lower. Or I guess I could modify the Focal crossovers.

So now I have heard the DLS, and the Focal - but not the Germs.

I am drawn to the Germs because they would be easy to install - good crossovers, and everyone raves about them. I could also run them passive with a single amp.

Any suggestions?

I guess a 4th option is to go to madisound and build a complete kit from components - i am just worried about having mismatched parts and not being able to get the levels right.

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[flakko 5,000+ posts]

maybe try a different set of mids and have a hybrid set

 

[CBRworm 10+ year member]

That is kind of the direction I am leaning.

I am also drawn to the idea of just buying a set of speakers like the germs or K2p's and just install in the stock locations and enjoy. Even if the final SQ is lower - if I don't have to put a week into the install, maybe I will not be disappointed.

 

[Blazemore 10+ year member]

I could use the dls mids, and crossovers, hint

 

[Zxcvtypo 10+ year member]

That is kind of the direction I am leaning.
I am also drawn to the idea of just buying a set of speakers like the germs or K2p's and just install in the stock locations and enjoy. Even if the final SQ is lower - if I don't have to put a week into the install, maybe I will not be disappointed.

I would kill to have that car //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crying.gif.ec0ebefe590df0251476573bc49e46d8.gif

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

I dont like the mid myself. Go back to what you like IMO. The Germanium mid is much more detailed, with better attack and decay- the mids are available to be bought in pairs i do believe if you wanna try them out.

 

[CBRworm 10+ year member]

Any idea what it would cost to get just the germ mids?

I have the DLS stuff installed in the car now, still breaking them in. They are either sounding better as they break in, or I am getting used to them. At some point I might try the germ mids, I think for now I will try tuning what I have.

Overall I am pretty happy with the way the DLS stuff is sounding. At high volumes I am hearing some distortion through the tweets on passages with a lot of midrange - even if there is very little treble, I need to figure out if it is something saturating in the crossovers or possibly the amp clipping. Unless there is something wrong with the amp I am running, it shouldn't be clipping at that output level. The amps are conservatively rated at 120w per channel at 4 ohms rms. The distortion doesn't sound like the tweeter is being overdriven, it sounds more like it is coming from somewhere else in the system and being played through the tweeter.

The same amps with the focals I never was able to drive them to distortion with the same music. although it is possible that something has happened to the amp, or there is a wiring problem. It is also possible that these speakers are much less efficient than the Focals, and maybe I am clipping. I may at least temporarily set it up active. I am pretty sure that I won't hear the distortion from the tweeters set up like that until it starts to smoke. I don't want to commit to having 6 channels of amplification just for the front stage. I guess if that works it may be time to upgrade from the MMats amps to a couple 4 channel ARC or DLS amps. except that I don't want to spend much more money.

I'll probably just drive it for a while and see what happens.

 

[CBRworm 10+ year member]

Update - after a bunch of hours of listening time, and some setup changes, the Iridium's rock.

I am totally satisfied with the midrange/midbass combo now. Much better than when I first installed. My box was too small - now I am running them IB.

I ran them active for a while, but have gone back (at least temporarily) to running the passive crossovers that came with them. All I have are large 2 channel amps. 3 of them for just the front stage is too much.

My only complaint now is that the tweeter seems to be lacking in extreme high frequencies - probably due to install. It is mellow at low volumes. It seems to get exponentially louder at high volumes. Maybe after all those years with Focal I am over sensitive to loud treble.