Germs vs. Oz 180

[Audio Junkies 10+ year member]

Yeah, they're both great. I couldn't have picked a harder pair of component sets to decide between. At least you'll be happy no matter what you decide.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

I wasn't aware of the ability to change the woofer crossover point. But almost every crossover can attenuate the tweeter.
The OZ can attenuate and change the phase of the speakers.

Changing the phase of the speakers on a xover isnt anything special- you can do it WITH ANY crossover- simply reverse the polarity of the wiring.

The germs allow you to play with the phase RELATIONSHIP between the tweeter AND woofer, at multiple points- ensuring however you install your speakers, you have better flexibility for optimal sound WITH the passive xover.

Speaking of audiophile xovers..

The Germs..

*You can bi-amp, bi-wire

*4-level attenuation for tweeter level.

*You can disable protections using supplied silver wire jumpers

*Uses high grade silver wire connectors

* Variable xover points for tweeter and woofer

More..http://car.rainbow-audio.de/products/technology.php?lan=2&pro=1&lin=17&kom=3

Dunno about the OZ woofer build, but the Germs have a copper shortcut ring in the magnet system and copper cap on the pole piece to linearize impedance and lower distortions.

For the price, build and flexibility there arent too many options like it in their price range.

 

[addisdar 10+ year member]

OZ Crossover features

12 dB asymmetrical 2nd Order crossover alignment

Audiophile grade air core inductors and mylar capacitors

0/-3/-6 dB tweeter attenuation switch

Optical illumination tweeter protection

Impedance matching components

Tweeter phase selection 0 degrees / 180 degrees

Gold plated terminals

Crossover chassis designed for easy surface or flush mounting

In the end, it just boils down to what sounds good to you in your price range. Both sets offer great crossovers.

 

[headless 10+ year member]

In the end, it just boils down to what sounds good to you in your price range. Both sets offer great crossovers.

If you think they are identical you may be confused; - the OZ set doesn't have tweakable crossover points like the Germaniums, and the Germanium tweeter attenuation is superior; the fourth level of attenuation not only attenuates -6db, but also includes a gradual -2db slope going from 2.5khz up to 20khz to help round off the ultra high freq's for tweeter mounting very close to the listeners ear. The Germanium crossover's allow you to adjust both the woofer low-pass frequency AND the tweeter high-pass frequency independently giving you the ability to underlap or overlap the tweets...and of course you can always simply swap a single wire location to change phase. Personally, I got nasty peaks around 2khz with the tweets and woofers both set to 2.2khz, so adjusted up to 2.6khz and eliminated the problem...which allowed me to attenuate the tweets less giving a fuller sound overall. I might've been able to accomplish this with EQ settings, but not really in the same way and i'd be using several PEQ bands on my setup just for that purpose. Some of the things the Germanium x-over offer are simply not possible without going fully active with the OZ set. The question, of course, comes back to the buyer and weather or not they find these features beneficial. Unfortunately, if you go with the OZ's and discover those features would be useful afterall, you're stuck without them //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[theothermike 10+ year member]

Audio Junkies ne relation to the website? Ur in TAMPA too

Pm me plz

 

[addisdar 10+ year member]

If you think they are identical you may be confused; - the OZ set doesn't have tweakable crossover points like the Germaniums, and the Germanium tweeter attenuation is superior; the fourth level of attenuation not only attenuates -6db, but also includes a gradual -2db slope going from 2.5khz up to 20khz to help round off the ultra high freq's for tweeter mounting very close to the listeners ear. The Germanium crossover's allow you to adjust both the woofer low-pass frequency AND the tweeter high-pass frequency independently giving you the ability to underlap or overlap the tweets...and of course you can always simply swap a single wire location to change phase. Personally, I got nasty peaks around 2khz with the tweets and woofers both set to 2.2khz, so adjusted up to 2.6khz and eliminated the problem...which allowed me to attenuate the tweets less giving a fuller sound overall. I might've been able to accomplish this with EQ settings, but not really in the same way and i'd be using several PEQ bands on my setup just for that purpose. Some of the things the Germanium x-over offer are simply not possible without going fully active with the OZ set. The question, of course, comes back to the buyer and weather or not they find these features beneficial. Unfortunately, if you go with the OZ's and discover those features would be useful afterall, you're stuck without them //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Did I ever say once that they were identical crossovers? No, i didn't. You might want to go back and read the full post. I never once said the crossovers were identical. All that was said, was that they both offered great crossovers.

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Did I ever say once that they were identical crossovers? No, i didn't. You might want to go back and read the full post. I never once said the crossovers were identical. All that was said, was that they both offered great crossovers.

My fault; I thought that by using a single statement to cover both crossovers, you were implying that they were identical or equal. Saying 'they both offer great crossovers' is a bit misleading, wouldn't you say? It appears you're aware that they are quite different, but others who read your statements might not have realised without clarification that you'd get better crossovers with the Germanium set. No hard feelings, no need to get defensive //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

Oz Audio has had so many complaints from customers about Onlinecarstereo.com it isn't even funny. All of them have to do with placing orders and not receiving any product. It isn't surprising considering they aren't authorized to sell anything made by Oz Audio and are losing money at $300 shipped for the 180CS.
Authorized Online Retailers for Oz Audio: http://www.ozaudio.com/jti/internetpolicy.htm

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I would like to know how it is that you know of these complaints.

Did the customers receive timely refunds when the merchandise was out of stock?

Thanks.

 

[addisdar 10+ year member]

My fault; I thought that by using a single statement to cover both crossovers, you were implying that they were identical or equal. Saying 'they both offer great crossovers' is a bit misleading, wouldn't you say? It appears you're aware that they are quite different, but others who read your statements might not have realised without clarification that you'd get better crossovers with the Germanium set. No hard feelings, no need to get defensive //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Wouldn't say it is misleading at all. It is not like we are talking about an eletrolyte based crossovers to either the OZ or the Germs. If so, then the statement would be false, but since neither use those materials and they both only use high quality parts in them, then saying they both offer great crossovers is right on target. The most important part is what they are built with and not the features. You need to make sure that they can crossover the frequencies fast enough. They both are on par on quaility, but the germs win on additional features.

Not trying to seem defensive, sorry if I come across that way. I just go not like being accused of saying one thing when it isn't true. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

It's all good though.

 

[suleman36 10+ year member]

Whats the best price on the Rainbows by somone authorized ?

I can get the OZ Audio CS 180's for $325 plus tax at a local dealer.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Whats the best price on the Rainbows by somone authorized ?
I can get the OZ Audio CS 180's for $325 plus tax at a local dealer.

The Germs go for ~$450.

They are on different price brackets on the street, one is a domestic product with very little manufacturer protection of the dealer base and its products worth (i.e. internet sales below map ) , the other is a more rare-newer line that is imported from Germany-smaller dealer base.

The comparisons on these sets... end in this thread. The Germs are a newer, more flexible set out of the box. End of discussion.

Wanna discuss how they sound? Use them in your car, take subjective opinions with a grain of salt.

 

[suleman36 10+ year member]

I just wish i could hear the rainbows but i dont have any dealers that sell rainbows here. For the price, the 180 CS looks nice.

 

[Audio Junkies 10+ year member]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I would like to know how it is that you know of these complaints.

Did the customers receive timely refunds when the merchandise was out of stock?

Thanks.

I'm an authorized Oz retailer and I heard it from them directly. I have no idea about refunds, all I know is that they have been getting lots of complaints about Onlinecarstereo.com.

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

I'm an authorized Oz retailer and I heard it from them directly. I have no idea about refunds, all I know is that they have been getting lots of complaints about Onlinecarstereo.com.

Thanks.

 

[djdilliodon 10+ year member]

while i have never used the Rainbow germ set i have had my far share of sets with complicated passive xovers. One includes the cdt hex6000 which has 5880 possible sound control adjustments in 3 way mode and 2940 in 2 way mode. To be honest i didnt even use 10% of that number and after awhile switched to the ES-300 xover cause i really had no use for the added features. Now a days with so many people starting to go active the main concern in my opinion is just getting a passive that is built solid with the best quality parts and the drivers and tweeters as best as you can afford.

just my .02