Rainbow Profis compared to Diamond Hex .... or Warm vs. Detailed ....

[blue 10+ year member]

Having lived with my Profis for a month now , and having them now finely tuned , I decided to write about how they stacked up to the Hex's they replaced ....

That got me to thinking about the High End home audio store I once owned , and how EVERY customer fell into basically two catagories , with a very small attached third catagory .....

We found that every customer that walked in could be sold , by finding what basic sound appealed to their ears. Some of the systems we sold leaned towards a warmer sound .... Brands like PSB , Linn , Vandersteen , Ariel Acoustics , ect ....

Whereas the other crowd liked a VERY detailed sound with TONS of resolution ... Brands like Energy Veritas , JM Labs , Pro Ac , Martin Logan, ect .....

A few , and only a few customers wanted both ... warmth AND resolution / detail ...... Well , every customer wanted that , but few could afford it , because systems that do that PERFECTLY , cost HUGE amounts of cash !!! In car stereo terms , this is the sound the IASCA Nationals winners have in their car ... only better //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

Car stereo fanatics fall into those exact same preferences , and you can tell by what they reccomend.

SO WHICH ONE IS CORRECT ?

The only way to know the answer to that , would be to have been in the recording studio with the muscians , and KNOW just how the sound was when recorded. I'm lucky to have a leg up here , because I spent 17 yrs as a professional musician , and recorded 7 CD's in the studio. I have my own music to use as a reference ..... I also now sub contract to other bands as an engineer and consultant in the studio .......

Having said all of that , here's how the Rainbow Profis stacked up in my car :

The Rainbow's tweeter is MUCH , MUCH better .... Maybe the best I've heard in car audio. The Rainbow's have MUCH more mid bass , and in my car it was even too much. The Rainbow's have beter soundstaging , making sounds seem to come from way out on my hood.

The Diamond Hex's tweeter could get very bright , or harsh ..... But cutting frequencies from 5 to 7k tamed almost all of that. The Hexs also had less mid bass , but it was cleaner and more detailed mid bass. You could actually hear the mallet strike the kick drum's head. The mid bass needed warmth , and boosting frequencies from 100 to 400 hz achieved this. The Hex's drew out more details in the recording than ANY speakers I have ever owned in my car , allowing me to hear VERY deep into the recording.

BOTH sets could play louder than I wanted my deaf ears to be subjected to ! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

Overall , I much prefer the sound of the Profis , but on some multi layered , complex music passages , i do miss the resloution of the Hexs .....

Then again , I always leaned toward the "warm " camp ..... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Hope this helps someone , and if you disagree with my opinion , that's because you don't have MY two ears , and no two people hear the same //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

This review was written for Noob with an RS ..... who should NOT be trying to dissuade his friend to buy Hex's , when his budget is only $250 ... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

Click to read more...

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

good review

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

you should look into Dynaudio products. Especially the three way sets (system 340 and system 360). Detail an warmth abound.

 

[skierxx5556 10+ year member]

Awesome write up!!!

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

wonder what you would've thought of the midbass/midrange had you chosen the standard mid or phase plug....//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

good write up...

 

[blue 10+ year member]

you should look into Dynaudio products. Especially the three way sets (system 340 and system 360). Detail an warmth abound.

Used Dynaudio for YEARS ..... Good sound ....VERY low power handling for rock music .... X-overs saturated easily ....

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

who are you? samples of your music?

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

nice review,i never liked my HEX's till I swapped tweeters to LPGs and adjusted to -3db

now my HEXs really sound good.

How much power were you feeding your HEX's?

 

[noob with an RS 10+ year member]

This review was written for Noob with an RS ..... who should NOT be trying to dissuade his friend to buy Hex's , when his budget is only $250 ... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

first of all, my buddy is not limited to 250 but he doesnt have a limitless budget. and i wasnt trying to dissuade him to buy hex's. i was simply doing the research for him because he doesn't know anything about car audio and he asked me about the hex's in general cuz he heard from someone else they were good.. and i didn't know anything about them so of course im going to come here on ca.com to see what u guys think about reconsidering other components, especially the not-so-big brand names that can be had for cheap and surpass other name-brands quality. one particular brand being ology audio.. but using a 3-inch tweeter in a brand new RSX isnt a good option for him cuz i dont think he would want to cut up his door panel. if my intentions were to stop him from buying hex's i would've simply told him not to, told him to settle with infinity references (another option hes considering), and not ever ask for your guys' opinions. i thank u for ur in-depth review and ill be telling him he cant go wrong with the hex's.. especially with his ear.. and by that, i dont mean hes a dumbass.. just that he hasnt heard many hi-end systems. and quite honestly, i haven't either.. except mine . but i'm sure when i upgrade my speakers to ology or another it will be like heaven and a whole new ballpark to me. my main objective was to seek other components in the same price range as hex's that can stacc up against the hex's easily... maybe the ID chameleons or a certain line of CDTs??? but i guess no ones heard hex's and the others mentioned for me to recommend with confidence. i would feel bad if he bought hex's and then later on i read about some components that sound GREAT for much cheaper. i remember reading some flaws about the hex's a while bacc here from some people here on this board but then again ive heard many great things about them.. who knows.. but anyway, i dont think the hex's can even be had for 250 new.. not even on ebay.

 

[Starky 10+ year member]

how much do those rainbows cost, and whats their RMS?

 

[blue 10+ year member]

nice review,i never liked my HEX's till I swapped tweeters to LPGs and adjusted to -3dbnow my HEXs really sound good.

How much power were you feeding your HEX's?

Hex's were getting 180 w per/ch ......

 

[blue 10+ year member]

how much do those rainbows cost, and whats their RMS?

The Rainbows can be had for around $550 .......

I'm giving mine about 360 w per/ch .....//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[DiamondFanatic 10+ year member]

Good review. I really am hoping to get a chance to hear some rainbow speakers at some point. I really enjoy my Hex's though, I have the silk tweeters and they are getting ~75 watts from my d6600.4.

 

[blue 10+ year member]

first of all, my buddy is not limited to 250 but he doesnt have a limitless budget. and i wasnt trying to dissuade him to buy hex's. i was simply doing the research for him because he doesn't know anything about car audio and he asked me about the hex's in general cuz he heard from someone else they were good.. and i didn't know anything about them so of course im going to come here on ca.com to see what u guys think about reconsidering other components, especially the not-so-big brand names that can be had for cheap and surpass other name-brands quality. one particular brand being ology audio.. but using a 3-inch tweeter in a brand new RSX isnt a good option for him cuz i dont think he would want to cut up his door panel. if my intentions were to stop him from buying hex's i would've simply told him not to, told him to settle with infinity references (another option hes considering), and not ever ask for your guys' opinions. i thank u for ur in-depth review and ill be telling him he cant go wrong with the hex's.. especially with his ear.. and by that, i dont mean hes a dumbass.. just that he hasnt heard many hi-end systems. and quite honestly, i haven't either.. except mine . but i'm sure when i upgrade my speakers to ology or another it will be like heaven and a whole new ballpark to me. my main objective was to seek other components in the same price range as hex's that can stacc up against the hex's easily... maybe the ID chameleons or a certain line of CDTs??? but i guess no ones heard hex's and the others mentioned for me to recommend with confidence. i would feel bad if he bought hex's and then later on i read about some components that sound GREAT for much cheaper. i remember reading some flaws about the hex's a while bacc here from some people here on this board but then again ive heard many great things about them.. who knows.. but anyway, i dont think the hex's can even be had for 250 new.. not even on ebay.

OK ...... Understood. Here's what you have to know then : Seeing how the Hexs can be had for $200 .... NOTHING can compete with them.

I have owned CDTs , and Image Dynamics , also Focal , Dynaudio , ADS , Morel , Boston Acoustics Pro , and a slew of others.

That does NOT make me special ..... only a fairly good reference point //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

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