Overkill for Polk SR6500's??

[rotormotor 10+ year member]

hi i have a 3rd gen mazda rx7, and have 2 sets of polk sr6500's for the front and rear stage. im trying to decide on a head unit but i wanted to ask for some advice before i go off the deep end. ive narrowed it down to two options:

Nakamichi CD500

Nakamichi cd700II

the cd500 is $450, and the cd700II is $1200!!! yes money is a big factor in my decision as the cd700II is more than TWICE the cd500. also the cd700 is a "dead head" so id need to add a nice amp to it as well which will significantly raise the price even further just to get it up and running. so my questions are

1. is the 700 twice the head unit for the price?

2. is it even worth throwing such an expensive head unit at the polk 6500's or are they of a high enough quality that an ultra high end head unit would not be wasted on them?

thanks for your advice, heath //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

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[rotormotor 10+ year member]

bump

 

[probmxstyle 10+ year member]

Well the polks are very accurate speakers. If you dont have a clean signal going to them you will hear it. But I would say the $400 unit would suit you fine as. I hope you know you will need to run an amp reguardless with either unit to really make the speakers shine. Get rid of the polks if you plan on just running them off h/u power.

 

[rotormotor 10+ year member]

Well the polks are very accurate speakers. If you dont have a clean signal going to them you will hear it. But I would say the $400 unit would suit you fine as. I hope you know you will need to run an amp reguardless with either unit to really make the speakers shine. Get rid of the polks if you plan on just running them off h/u power.

thanks and ill be asking next for recommendations for a very nice amp that would suit the polks well. at the moment im just trying to figure out if ill actually be able to hear a significant difference between the cd500 and cd700II (especially since its in a car with road noise etc factored in). also i know the polks are great speakers, but i do realize that theyre not the ultimate "TOP SHELF" comps, and for the price the nakamichi 700II it seems to be in that ultra-premium range. im just not sure if nakamichi surpasses the polks by a great distance, to the point that any gains within the entire system are lost in the limitations of the SR6500's. sorry if i sound like a newb, but i am //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif and there is a steep learning curve. -heath

 

[genxx 10+ year member]

The SR6500 are very very good set of comps. I considered the polk 6500 on the higher-end. Why do you think you are going to be able to hear a major difference through your speakers by how high up the food chain in the HU department you go.

If you are looking for a great SQ deck then your generally looking for these things no matter who makes it:

24 Bit DAC--Burr Brown being the better IMO

4 volt or higher pre-out voltage

EQ ability

Quality of internals

X-over ability if going active

Here are some HU for to look at that are considered many to be on top of the SQ heap. This is not all just a short list off the top of my head. Just compare them to either Nakamichi you mentioned to help you sort out the Naks. I think most would consider the CD700 equal to or be better than some of the deck listed.

Alpine 7909, 9835, 9855

Eclipse 8053, 8443, 8454, 8455

Clarion DRZ9255

RockFord (Denford) RFX8250

A bunch of the Denon HU

If you are looking for all SQ then look into a mid to higher end amp, this is personnel preference though. However, there are some very good budget amps out there that will shock you.

 

[dwynne 10+ year member]

I would sell the rear SR6500s (to someone nice, like me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif ) and put the extra money into the head unit, amp, and sub systems.

Having $450-750 (depending on where you get them) components mounted in the rear of your 7 is just a big waste of money.

Dennis

 

[Monologuist 10+ year member]

I would invest in a head unit with Time Alignment and nice Crossover features (and good EQ's). The Nakamichi decks lack in this regard. Having Time Laignment alone will make more of a difference in achieving the optimal sound in your car than just about anything else, particularly if your speaker placement is less than ideal. I ma using the Clarion DXZ775USB at the moment, but will probably switch to the new Alpine 9887 when it comes out in a few weeks.

I've had a pair of SR6500's in my frontstage for 3 weeks now. They're just starting to break-in really nicely. I found that setting the tweeter levels was key to getting the optimal sound. I have mine powered by two channels of an Alpine PDX-4.100 and they sound great paired together. I also have a Boston Acoustics GT-22 that I have tried on them and that also sounds great, but different. The Alpine give them a bit tighter and cleaner sound, particularly in the midbass. The Boston amp has more air up top, and the dynamics are better. I've heard the Polk c400.4 matches well with them as well. Just make sure you've got a good 100W/channel going to these things, or more.

Bottom line is these speakers have a lot of potential, but I think your $$ would be well spent towards processing features to optimize the sound. (As opposed to a head unit where the money is strictly going into everything but, like the Nakamichis).

 

[rotormotor 10+ year member]

well.... unfortunately my worst side got the best of me and i went for the CD700II

the last piece of the puzzle is now an amp, so does anyone have recommendations for an amp for a cd700II and polk SR6500's front and back in a 3rd gen rx7?

 

[genxx 10+ year member]

Well since you are spending on the higher end. I would take a look at Audison, ARC, Zapco, Genesis, TRU for amps. I think Sinfoni might be a little to high for you but you can check them out.

I have been very happy with the Audison and ARC amps. I would also look at the Eclipse XA and JL slash lines. The Diamond amps are nice to especially the older D7 line you can still find new if you look.

 

[rotormotor 10+ year member]

Well since you are spending on the higher end. I would take a look at Audison, ARC, Zapco, Genesis, TRU for amps. I think Sinfoni might be a little to high for you but you can check them out.
I have been very happy with the Audison and ARC amps. I would also look at the Eclipse XA and JL slash lines. The Diamond amps are nice to especially the older D7 line you can still find new if you look.

thanks for the recommendations //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/toast.gif.bc0657bf54b9ee653b6438524461341e.gif ... after looking at various models im leaning towards the Audison vrx 4.300 . the only thing im trying to figure out is where the hell to mount the thing (and the 4 rather large x-overs for my polk SR's). im going for a stealth install, but i cant find anywhere to hide a 4ch. amp and the x-overs. i was hoping under the seats but i just measured and theres no room under there for anything more than loose change. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[genxx 10+ year member]

Might check out the LRx line thats what I have in one of my vehicles and I wuv them. I really like the Audison line of amps. My fav is the ARC amps but thats personnel preference.

 

[tbasile1 10+ year member]

Audison amps = //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yumyum.gif.0556df42231b304b9c995aefd13928a8.gif

Amazing amps man!!!!

 

[dwynne 10+ year member]

thanks for the recommendations //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/toast.gif.bc0657bf54b9ee653b6438524461341e.gif ... after looking at various models im leaning towards the Audison vrx 4.300 . the only thing im trying to figure out is where the hell to mount the thing (and the 4 rather large x-overs for my polk SR's). im going for a stealth install, but i cant find anywhere to hide a 4ch. amp and the x-overs. i was hoping under the seats but i just measured and theres no room under there for anything more than loose change. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Why not lose the components in the rear and go active with the fronts? Use the 4 channel amp to drive one pair of SR6500s in the front active - then you have 0 Polk passive x-overs to hide. If your HU can do the x-over then you don't even have to buy/hide an external active crossover.

Dennis

 

[skydeaner 10+ year member]

Why not lose the components in the rear and go active with the fronts? Use the 4 channel amp to drive one pair of SR6500s in the front active - then you have 0 Polk passive x-overs to hide. If your HU can do the x-over then you don't even have to buy/hide an external active crossover.
Dennis

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/applause.gif.bb805d8088f72dbc2fe808c29e85fb4c.gif

 

[cougarsd 10+ year member]

if you want to hide (in case not going active) trunk is always a good place to hide, besides it is very accesible whenever you want to make a change on the set up.