help picking 3 way active components.

cronic
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Hey guys. I am in the process of the installing my system. I had planned on running 2-way with the rainbow SLC-265. While the highs were awesome I couldn’t get the midrange and midbass that I was after. Having always used 3 way active setups years ago I have decided that is direction I want to go again. So far I have built the sub enclosure, door pods for 6.5” midbass, and floor pods for 4” mids and tweets. That brings me to my current dilemma. Having not keep up with car audio for the last 10 years I am having difficulty deciding on what I want in way of speakers. The system will have the following components:

Eclipse CD7000

PPI PRO650 50 X 4 for mids, midbass, and tweets and 600w for the single 12 sub.

Currently have an old rf dvc hx2 12” in 1.25 cubic feet sealed, but will probably go with an idmax 12” in the future.

So my question is what should I go with for the 6.5, 4, and tweets. My critera is the tweets must be soft dome preferably silk, and the 6.5” can’t be deeper than 3.125” and must have awesome midbass. I have considered the cx image dynamics but am not sure. What do you guys suggest? My budget is 500.00 max and used will be fine if it allows me to gain performance for the price.

 
Only 3.125" deep for a midbass //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif :( //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 
Only 3.125" deep for a midbass //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif :( //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

you can find some pretty **** solid midbass witha 3.1" mounting depth.

my "mounting depth" was 2.25 and i fit some poly mids in my doors (3.5)

 
Only 3.125" deep for a midbass //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif :( //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif
Yep thats after building the door pods out 1.5", so yeah the doors are very shallow.

 
Are these pods sealed enclosures or is it IB ?
They door pods were originally sealed but the volume was way to small to give adequate mid bass response, they are now opened up and will use the door cavity as the enclosure. They floor pods are sealed.

 
Soooooo many options.

Take a look at http://www.diymobileaudio.com

It's a site dedicated to active setups, and has a ton of reviews on many, many different drivers, to include DIY drivers like Seas, Peerless, Dayton, etc, etc, etc.

It really depends on budget. With DIY drivers like mentioned above, you can get a GREAT price to performance ratio.

Can you fit a 7" driver? That would open up a ton of options.

 
So, what is the best 6.5 - 7" out there for 60 Hz - 300 Hz applications?
For pure midbass, the Peerless SLS 6.5" woofer is great. However, it's a bit deep for your installation. Great price, and great performance. It has a ton of Xmax, and is very inexpensive. Drawback is that it's basically useless above 500 hz. Since you're doing a 3-way, that's not a problem.

http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=143&products_id=8234

Another great candidate is the Seas L18. Very snappy midbass, with real good ability to drop down low. Again though, it's right on the border of being able to fit in your installation.

The L18 is a great driver for home audio, and is used in a lot of 2-way DIY systems out there. However, in a car, it's VERY difficult to work with, and is usually just relegated to midbass duties.

http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=149&products_id=818

Here's a rarely looked at little gem. It's a bit difficult to work with as it needs a pretty steep slope on the low end, but if you do that, it's midbass performance is well controlled. It has a tendency to try and produce more low end than it's physically capable. It fits your bill for size requirements.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=296-410

Just some suggestions.

 
wow, thanks MiniVanMan for the great info.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

The sls does look like a great value and deserves my attention. I think I can make it fit. I have my eyes on a set of scan speak 18w revalators. If, and thats a big if, I can get them at a decent price I might go that route. If not I will try those sls out.

 
The Revs are wasted in a 3-way. There's no point in paying $150-200 for a speaker that uses only a fraction of it's usable bandwidth. There are plenty of cheaper drivers out there that can perform alongside the Revs for a fraction of the price with the bandwidth you're talking about. The Seas Prestige series drivers come to mind as having great midbass.

 
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