I haven't seen any specific info regarding this on the forum, so sorry if this is a duplication of some sort.
I am one who really prefers are "warm" or "smooth" sound from a speaker. However, this does not mean dull or muddy either. But it does seem that most car speakers I hear are overly bright/harsh/tinny for my tastes. Perhaps this is to compensate for road noise or something, but I have a very quiet car so this is really not an issue.
I currently have ARC6000 components installed in my doors and A-pillars. I really thought these would be "it." I got them from one of my favorite local dealers and one selling point was that they are made in the USA (pretty rare these days for this kind of thing).
Everything seemed good on paper: silk dome, adjustable crossover settings, etc. — but in the end I found them to be too bright. I've turned down the tweeters as much as possible on the crossovers and used the EQ on my deck, and even did some funky things trying to dampen them with various materials. I have gotten them to the point of at least being bearable, but there is simply something about the tone color that I don't think I'll ever completely like.
Don't get me wrong, they are great speakers, some of the clearest I've ever heard. I'm sure many people would love them and think I'm crazy. But they are just not my taste.
I would like to stay buying locally here if possible. My other main dealer is heavy into the JL stuff and gives me great discounts off the retail prices. I've heard the older XR650 line, and these are REALLY bright too. The owner of the store has some Evolution C5 650s in his truck which I did get to hear, and while they "seemed" to be more to my liking it was hard to make a perfect comparison since his staging is totally different than mine and I'm in a car.
As for home speakers, I'm currently using Event ASP6 studio monitors in my home studio and an old-school JBL SCS120 surround sound system in my living room. These both sound great to my ears — a perfect blend of warmth and clarity. The JBLs are actually a bit on the metallic side (titanium tweeters), but they are still very pleasing to my ears. If I could just get my car system to sound more like my home system I'd be a happy camper.
The remaining dealer in town I'd consider doing business with specializes in RE speakers, but he only keeps the lower-end stuff in stock. I'd say my price range for a pair of 6.5 components is somewhere around $500, although it doesn't have to be that much.
I've heard that JBL 660GTis are "the bomb," but I have no idea what they actually sound like. Material-wise they seem similar to my home speakers, but I know this can be misleading. These are over my planned budget, but if they really did sound amazing and to my liking I may consider them.
For the record, I did audition some high-end Polks and those simply took my ears off (ouch!) I've also tried some higher-end Bostons, Kenwoods, and Alpines... In my opinion they were in the range of mediocre to decent in terms of sound quality — but really not what I'm looking for.
I've also heard the Sonys, Pioneers, and such at Walmart... But no use wasting time talking about those. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
If it matters, the rest of my system is JL Audio Evolution C2 6x9s in back and a 10W7 sub in sealed ProWedge enclosure in the trunk, all powered by a JL HD900/5 amp. Works real slick for me, just need to find some tweeters (and probably some matching 6.5" woofers) that are a bit more to my liking.
The one thing that I do love about my ARCs is the lower crossover point, around 2.8K. Many components cross-over closer to 4-5K, which is about an octave-and-a-half higher. And I really do think it helps to have more sound coming out of the tweeters up high than from down in the door panels.
Any suggestions or input would be much appreciated. I was going to post links to some of the above-mentioned models, but as I'm a newbie it won't let me post any. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif
Anyway, thanks in advance.
I am one who really prefers are "warm" or "smooth" sound from a speaker. However, this does not mean dull or muddy either. But it does seem that most car speakers I hear are overly bright/harsh/tinny for my tastes. Perhaps this is to compensate for road noise or something, but I have a very quiet car so this is really not an issue.
I currently have ARC6000 components installed in my doors and A-pillars. I really thought these would be "it." I got them from one of my favorite local dealers and one selling point was that they are made in the USA (pretty rare these days for this kind of thing).
Everything seemed good on paper: silk dome, adjustable crossover settings, etc. — but in the end I found them to be too bright. I've turned down the tweeters as much as possible on the crossovers and used the EQ on my deck, and even did some funky things trying to dampen them with various materials. I have gotten them to the point of at least being bearable, but there is simply something about the tone color that I don't think I'll ever completely like.
Don't get me wrong, they are great speakers, some of the clearest I've ever heard. I'm sure many people would love them and think I'm crazy. But they are just not my taste.
I would like to stay buying locally here if possible. My other main dealer is heavy into the JL stuff and gives me great discounts off the retail prices. I've heard the older XR650 line, and these are REALLY bright too. The owner of the store has some Evolution C5 650s in his truck which I did get to hear, and while they "seemed" to be more to my liking it was hard to make a perfect comparison since his staging is totally different than mine and I'm in a car.
As for home speakers, I'm currently using Event ASP6 studio monitors in my home studio and an old-school JBL SCS120 surround sound system in my living room. These both sound great to my ears — a perfect blend of warmth and clarity. The JBLs are actually a bit on the metallic side (titanium tweeters), but they are still very pleasing to my ears. If I could just get my car system to sound more like my home system I'd be a happy camper.
The remaining dealer in town I'd consider doing business with specializes in RE speakers, but he only keeps the lower-end stuff in stock. I'd say my price range for a pair of 6.5 components is somewhere around $500, although it doesn't have to be that much.
I've heard that JBL 660GTis are "the bomb," but I have no idea what they actually sound like. Material-wise they seem similar to my home speakers, but I know this can be misleading. These are over my planned budget, but if they really did sound amazing and to my liking I may consider them.
For the record, I did audition some high-end Polks and those simply took my ears off (ouch!) I've also tried some higher-end Bostons, Kenwoods, and Alpines... In my opinion they were in the range of mediocre to decent in terms of sound quality — but really not what I'm looking for.
I've also heard the Sonys, Pioneers, and such at Walmart... But no use wasting time talking about those. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
If it matters, the rest of my system is JL Audio Evolution C2 6x9s in back and a 10W7 sub in sealed ProWedge enclosure in the trunk, all powered by a JL HD900/5 amp. Works real slick for me, just need to find some tweeters (and probably some matching 6.5" woofers) that are a bit more to my liking.
The one thing that I do love about my ARCs is the lower crossover point, around 2.8K. Many components cross-over closer to 4-5K, which is about an octave-and-a-half higher. And I really do think it helps to have more sound coming out of the tweeters up high than from down in the door panels.
Any suggestions or input would be much appreciated. I was going to post links to some of the above-mentioned models, but as I'm a newbie it won't let me post any. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif
Anyway, thanks in advance.
