ls2poweredgoat
5,000+ posts
Womanizer
Ahhh, time for another quick, non-professional comparison from a audiophile who has owned 3 very popular sets of mids, for those on a tight budget. The mids compared are 6.5" and 4-ohm. I posted this comparison in the "speaker" forum so others can chime in their opinion. Oh, and the comparison is going by my ACTIVE set up. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif And each mid was ran with Blaupunkt's phenomenal VC100 series tweeter, crossed at 2,500 for the low end. This isn't going to be the most "technical" review, so bare with me. My doors are fully deadened with Damplifier/Pro, inside and out, and the mids are placed in a 1" MDF baffle that is sealed with clay.
In this brief review I will be looking at Build Quality, Sound Quality, and how much Abuse each mid can take.
First off lets talk about price, each of the mids is relatively close in price, with the 720PRS mids going for around $150 shipped for a used pair (what I sold mine for). While the Dayton RS180's can be had for about $105 shipped over at Parts Express, and the ID OEM's can be had for $90 shipped from our own member, HessDawg.
Pioneer 720PRS
First off, the 720PRS mids from Pioneer. I bought the set about a year ago, and absolutely fell in love with them. The tweeter was a bit on the bright side, but VERY detailed. But lets get back to the mid. I don't want to focus on how they sounded passive, so lets talk about active. Quickly enough I had bought a mint 9855 from a local, and hopped on the active bandwagon. Greatest thing I have ever done in my time as a car audio enthusiast.
I crossed the 720PRS mids at 80hz with a 12db slope for the low end and 2,500 for the high end, not sure of the slope, might have been 12db. The mids were powered by an eD NINe.5, which I believe is around 125 rms per channel. First and foremost, the mids are VERY crisp and incredibly accurate. Midbass was very exceptional, and they sounded good with just about any type of music. These are without a doubt the mids for a SQ guy, no question about it.
Build Quality - 8/10, motor/basket is very thick and incredibly strong, but the "suede" surround isn't very durable and the cone is somewhat flimsy, it just feels weak, per say. Beautiful speaker none the less, it wins in terms of looks alone, no question. Tinsel leads were woven in the spider, VERY nice.
Sound Quality - 10/10, like I said earlier, these are the mids for the pure SQ guy. I got rid of them because money was tight, and I wanted something that could take more abuse, because I like my music piss loud, with a shit ton of midbass.
Abuse - 5/10, read above.
Image Dynamics OEM's
Oh. My. God. That was my reaction when my OEM's came. Talk about BEASTS, these ****ers are huge and they scream; "Moar Powa!!!!". Good god these are huge and sexy. If these were ***** they'd be a 38 Double-D.
The OEM's are being powered by a Eclipse XA4000, which is about 150 rms per channel, but with the gains conservatively set, where I had it for the Daytons. I hooked these bad boys up last week, set the Xover points and slopes (thanks Alex!), and sat back and enjoyed the fullest, richest midbass I have ever heard in my entire life. Good god. I had them crossed at 80hz with a 12db slope for the low end and 2,000hz with a 12db slope on the high end. Even when crossed at 80hz, they pound. So...after letting the spiders break in for a few days, I put the bastards on 63hz with a18db slope, and my jaw hit the floor. These ****ers pound, all three of my mirrors vibrate like I have a 8" sub in the back. Everything from Puddle of Mudd to Plies sounded simply amazing.
Words cannot describe these mids. Best $90 I have ever spent. I wouldn't have a problem paying $300 for them, they are THAT **** good.
Build Quality - 10/10, cone is stiff as shit, HUGE tinsel leads, basket is stamped steel, and the motor/magnet is a ****ing beast.
Sound Quality - 9/10, un-matched in this price range. Very accurate and detailed, but not quite as crisp as the 720PRS.
Abuse - 15/10, Alex Miller told me he was sending his about 175 watts crossed at around 50hz and he said they took the power like a champ. I'm sending them around 150 watts and even then they take an ungodly amount of abuse. I can't imagine other mids playing such low notes as the OEM's can. You really have to listen to these to REALLY understand what the big deal is about them.
Dayton RS-180
Ahhh, last, but certainly not least, Dayton's own RS-180 midbass, found exclusively at Parts Express. I was skeptical about buying these at first, because their main audience is home audio use, but Parag convinced me to try them out.
I was glad I listened to him. For the first week I was powering them with a Alpine PDX-4.150 and was NOT impressed, at all. They lacked any midrange and the midbass was LOL. They were crossed at 80hz with an 18db slope for the low end, and 2,000hz with a 12db slope for the high end, any higher and they broke up.
So, I sold the Alpine and bought Dalucifer's mint Eclipse XA4000. When I hooked it up, boy did it bring the Dayton's to life. Wow, what a great sounding speaker. Very nice, smooth, accurate midbass with a decent high end. They couldn't take nearly the volume of the 720PRS or the OEM's, but still sounded great nonetheless.
It took them about 2-weeks to "break in", after that period there was a noticeable difference in how they sounded. Midbass got stronger, and they sounded even richer than before.
But.....they couldn't take the volume I preferred, so I had to get rid of them. Excellent sounding speaker regardless.
Build Quality - 8/10, a somewhat weak feeling cone and a cheap basket was a turn off, plus the tiny tinsel leads, but the motor/magnet has a very nice rubber boot covering it, and it is a beefy *** mid no doubt. Just not up to par with its competition.
Sound Quality - 8/10, again just not up to par with the OEM's or 720PRS, but still GREAT sounding speakers. Sounded great with rock and decent with rap/hip hop. It was VERY frustrating to find their sweet spot in the tuning, it took me nearly 2 weeks to get it right. But in the end it was worth it, I was about to take them out of the car and throw them away I was getting so frusterated.
Abuse - 3/10, just couldn't handle the power or take the volume I preferred. I like my music VERY loud and they just couldn't do it.
I hope you enjoyed the review, I know it wasn't very technical, I did the best I could. Hopefully it will help some of you out when choosing a budget midbass to run active, which by the way is totally worth it.
//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif
In this brief review I will be looking at Build Quality, Sound Quality, and how much Abuse each mid can take.
First off lets talk about price, each of the mids is relatively close in price, with the 720PRS mids going for around $150 shipped for a used pair (what I sold mine for). While the Dayton RS180's can be had for about $105 shipped over at Parts Express, and the ID OEM's can be had for $90 shipped from our own member, HessDawg.
Pioneer 720PRS
First off, the 720PRS mids from Pioneer. I bought the set about a year ago, and absolutely fell in love with them. The tweeter was a bit on the bright side, but VERY detailed. But lets get back to the mid. I don't want to focus on how they sounded passive, so lets talk about active. Quickly enough I had bought a mint 9855 from a local, and hopped on the active bandwagon. Greatest thing I have ever done in my time as a car audio enthusiast.
I crossed the 720PRS mids at 80hz with a 12db slope for the low end and 2,500 for the high end, not sure of the slope, might have been 12db. The mids were powered by an eD NINe.5, which I believe is around 125 rms per channel. First and foremost, the mids are VERY crisp and incredibly accurate. Midbass was very exceptional, and they sounded good with just about any type of music. These are without a doubt the mids for a SQ guy, no question about it.
Build Quality - 8/10, motor/basket is very thick and incredibly strong, but the "suede" surround isn't very durable and the cone is somewhat flimsy, it just feels weak, per say. Beautiful speaker none the less, it wins in terms of looks alone, no question. Tinsel leads were woven in the spider, VERY nice.
Sound Quality - 10/10, like I said earlier, these are the mids for the pure SQ guy. I got rid of them because money was tight, and I wanted something that could take more abuse, because I like my music piss loud, with a shit ton of midbass.
Abuse - 5/10, read above.
Image Dynamics OEM's
Oh. My. God. That was my reaction when my OEM's came. Talk about BEASTS, these ****ers are huge and they scream; "Moar Powa!!!!". Good god these are huge and sexy. If these were ***** they'd be a 38 Double-D.
The OEM's are being powered by a Eclipse XA4000, which is about 150 rms per channel, but with the gains conservatively set, where I had it for the Daytons. I hooked these bad boys up last week, set the Xover points and slopes (thanks Alex!), and sat back and enjoyed the fullest, richest midbass I have ever heard in my entire life. Good god. I had them crossed at 80hz with a 12db slope for the low end and 2,000hz with a 12db slope on the high end. Even when crossed at 80hz, they pound. So...after letting the spiders break in for a few days, I put the bastards on 63hz with a18db slope, and my jaw hit the floor. These ****ers pound, all three of my mirrors vibrate like I have a 8" sub in the back. Everything from Puddle of Mudd to Plies sounded simply amazing.
Words cannot describe these mids. Best $90 I have ever spent. I wouldn't have a problem paying $300 for them, they are THAT **** good.
Build Quality - 10/10, cone is stiff as shit, HUGE tinsel leads, basket is stamped steel, and the motor/magnet is a ****ing beast.
Sound Quality - 9/10, un-matched in this price range. Very accurate and detailed, but not quite as crisp as the 720PRS.
Abuse - 15/10, Alex Miller told me he was sending his about 175 watts crossed at around 50hz and he said they took the power like a champ. I'm sending them around 150 watts and even then they take an ungodly amount of abuse. I can't imagine other mids playing such low notes as the OEM's can. You really have to listen to these to REALLY understand what the big deal is about them.
Dayton RS-180
Ahhh, last, but certainly not least, Dayton's own RS-180 midbass, found exclusively at Parts Express. I was skeptical about buying these at first, because their main audience is home audio use, but Parag convinced me to try them out.
I was glad I listened to him. For the first week I was powering them with a Alpine PDX-4.150 and was NOT impressed, at all. They lacked any midrange and the midbass was LOL. They were crossed at 80hz with an 18db slope for the low end, and 2,000hz with a 12db slope for the high end, any higher and they broke up.
So, I sold the Alpine and bought Dalucifer's mint Eclipse XA4000. When I hooked it up, boy did it bring the Dayton's to life. Wow, what a great sounding speaker. Very nice, smooth, accurate midbass with a decent high end. They couldn't take nearly the volume of the 720PRS or the OEM's, but still sounded great nonetheless.
It took them about 2-weeks to "break in", after that period there was a noticeable difference in how they sounded. Midbass got stronger, and they sounded even richer than before.
But.....they couldn't take the volume I preferred, so I had to get rid of them. Excellent sounding speaker regardless.
Build Quality - 8/10, a somewhat weak feeling cone and a cheap basket was a turn off, plus the tiny tinsel leads, but the motor/magnet has a very nice rubber boot covering it, and it is a beefy *** mid no doubt. Just not up to par with its competition.
Sound Quality - 8/10, again just not up to par with the OEM's or 720PRS, but still GREAT sounding speakers. Sounded great with rock and decent with rap/hip hop. It was VERY frustrating to find their sweet spot in the tuning, it took me nearly 2 weeks to get it right. But in the end it was worth it, I was about to take them out of the car and throw them away I was getting so frusterated.
Abuse - 3/10, just couldn't handle the power or take the volume I preferred. I like my music VERY loud and they just couldn't do it.
I hope you enjoyed the review, I know it wasn't very technical, I did the best I could. Hopefully it will help some of you out when choosing a budget midbass to run active, which by the way is totally worth it.
//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif
