While on my Hawaaiin Longoard I came accross this review on the Rainbows,and found it informative and helpful.Since it didn't really follow the guidelines of the other thread I started I figured it might be better off on it's own.
Recently added the vanadium midrange in with both the Profi set and Power set.
Due to instalation limitations, the speakers were listened to in my house in prebuilt sealed enclosures rather then in my car. Important to note is that the midrange unit should be sealed off, but because i had nothing to mount it in it was run free air. This took away a little from the midrange 'weight', but it still sounded fantastic regardless. The speakers were connected up to my Logitech Z-560 computer sub/amp which provided neither the best crossover points, nor the highest quality of amplification. Source was a creative X-fi Platinum sound card.
Here are my conclusions:
Setup 1: Profi Tweeter, Vanadium mid, Profi Phase Plug midbass
Overall impresions - Great overall sound. The detail is outstanding in that you tend to hear everything in the music. Not as soft or boring as many would probably expect - the set really sounds very lively. Midbass seemed nice. Overall its a very, very nice speaker set, but it's hard to write alot about them when youve heard the second setup below - the latter just has so many interesting factor to dicuss!
Setup 2: Power Tweeter, Vanadium mid, Power Midbass
Wow is all I can say. The first thing you notice is the midbass - it's just increadible. After listening to these and going back to the profis, they sounded tiny and thin in comparison. I've never heard a midbass speaker with this much impact before, and it really does add an increadible amount to overall character of the sound. Everything from rock, to rnb, to dance just sounds much more solid and 'full'. Particularly noticable is the weight behind kickdrums that are so solid you can practically 'feel' them, and deep male vocals that come out so deep it sends a shiver down your spine. Everything just sounds so 'real'.
The character if the midrange from the Power unit is great. It is an extremely refined driver, and vocals sound to me to be smoother and more natural then they do out of the Profi midbass - but unfortunately and understandably they just dont extend as high. There is a noticable gap between the midbass unit and the tweeter that is too high for the midbass to reach, and too low for the tweeters to get to. This proves to be the one single accosutic weakness of the Power 2-way set, and when adding in the vanadium mid I noticed this immediately.
With the Midrange to fill in the gap, suddenlly music that wasnt even there was coming out in full force. All of those subtle little details that the big 7 incher just couldn't seem to quite reach. The combination is an absolute match made in heaven (and even match visually!) and really makes me wonder why rainbow didnt make a three way power set from the factory.
Onto the tweeter. Comparing the two, they are surprisingly quite different in character. The Power tweet is softer, warmer and smoother which not surprisingly matches it well with the characteristics of the 7" midbass unit. The Profi tweeter in comparison seemed more 'dry' sounding, and perhaps a tad scratchy in comparison. However, the Profi tweeter extends further, while the power tends to drop of a little earlier and ultimately doesn't have the outright top end etension and detail of the profi. It's a 50-50 situation where neither is clearly better, it's dependant purely on what you like. If you prefer refinement above overall extention then the Power tweeter is IMO a clearly better option. A tad of top end EQ tends to bring it out great. If you a more of a fan of outright detail and extension there you would prefer the Profi.
Off axis response favours the Power tweet. I don't know whether it's because of the larger dome, or the basket characteristics or what, but when mounted off axis the Power tweeter seems to lose alot less detail then the Profi. While the power becomes only slightly toned down off axis, the profi seems more of an 'on off switch'. When mounted off axis (i'm talking like, 90 degrees off axis) the Profi loses alot of it's top end extension, and alot of the finer details seem to dissapear. It's not bad, still just as good as alot of other tweeters i've heard, but it just doesn't hold itself quite as effectively as the Power tweeter when it's mouted off axis. I noticed the the most when I at one stage had both sets down in the kicks, 90 degrees off axis. The Power tweet was hitting higher notes that weren't there on the profi - yet when mounted on axis the Profi clearly has the better top end extension. Quite unusual how the Power just doesn't seem to loose all that much when mounted off axis.
As far as tonal ballance goes, I find the power tweeter to be more laid back and to just sound more natural. The profi to me sounds a tad more forceful (but only when compared to the Power). In my brief chance to hear a Rainbow Platinum tweeter, I'd say the style of sound of the power is very similar to the Platinum, although the Platinum is a little more detailed and smoother again.
On the Platinums now..very nice. A very smooth laid back tweeter, but they do an amazing job of bringing out female vocals with increadible presence. I heard them off axis, so it was hard to guage what their overall top end exnention was like, but id say it would probably be quite similar to that of the profi. Was a very natural and very pleasant tweeter to listen to, and I would absolutely die to hear the Power midbass and vanadium mid running as a three way with Platinum tweeters - a direction im seriously considering taking. The Platinums were listened to in a car (not in my house) and run back to back with Profi vanadium tweeters. My best description would be similar extension to the Vanadium, but an overall smoother, more natural and more refined output.
The results for the Profis and Powers were the results i got when mounted up in the house, so there were no incar issues (resonances, refletions etc) to alter the tonal qualities of the tweeters. Likewise, when I briefly isntalled the power midbass units into a car door without sound deadening, the midbass was even more impressive then it was in the house (probably due to the home amp's high crossover points). I can only imagine how impressive it will be in a properly designed and deadened door installation.
Recently added the vanadium midrange in with both the Profi set and Power set.
Due to instalation limitations, the speakers were listened to in my house in prebuilt sealed enclosures rather then in my car. Important to note is that the midrange unit should be sealed off, but because i had nothing to mount it in it was run free air. This took away a little from the midrange 'weight', but it still sounded fantastic regardless. The speakers were connected up to my Logitech Z-560 computer sub/amp which provided neither the best crossover points, nor the highest quality of amplification. Source was a creative X-fi Platinum sound card.
Here are my conclusions:
Setup 1: Profi Tweeter, Vanadium mid, Profi Phase Plug midbass
Overall impresions - Great overall sound. The detail is outstanding in that you tend to hear everything in the music. Not as soft or boring as many would probably expect - the set really sounds very lively. Midbass seemed nice. Overall its a very, very nice speaker set, but it's hard to write alot about them when youve heard the second setup below - the latter just has so many interesting factor to dicuss!
Setup 2: Power Tweeter, Vanadium mid, Power Midbass
Wow is all I can say. The first thing you notice is the midbass - it's just increadible. After listening to these and going back to the profis, they sounded tiny and thin in comparison. I've never heard a midbass speaker with this much impact before, and it really does add an increadible amount to overall character of the sound. Everything from rock, to rnb, to dance just sounds much more solid and 'full'. Particularly noticable is the weight behind kickdrums that are so solid you can practically 'feel' them, and deep male vocals that come out so deep it sends a shiver down your spine. Everything just sounds so 'real'.
The character if the midrange from the Power unit is great. It is an extremely refined driver, and vocals sound to me to be smoother and more natural then they do out of the Profi midbass - but unfortunately and understandably they just dont extend as high. There is a noticable gap between the midbass unit and the tweeter that is too high for the midbass to reach, and too low for the tweeters to get to. This proves to be the one single accosutic weakness of the Power 2-way set, and when adding in the vanadium mid I noticed this immediately.
With the Midrange to fill in the gap, suddenlly music that wasnt even there was coming out in full force. All of those subtle little details that the big 7 incher just couldn't seem to quite reach. The combination is an absolute match made in heaven (and even match visually!) and really makes me wonder why rainbow didnt make a three way power set from the factory.
Onto the tweeter. Comparing the two, they are surprisingly quite different in character. The Power tweet is softer, warmer and smoother which not surprisingly matches it well with the characteristics of the 7" midbass unit. The Profi tweeter in comparison seemed more 'dry' sounding, and perhaps a tad scratchy in comparison. However, the Profi tweeter extends further, while the power tends to drop of a little earlier and ultimately doesn't have the outright top end etension and detail of the profi. It's a 50-50 situation where neither is clearly better, it's dependant purely on what you like. If you prefer refinement above overall extention then the Power tweeter is IMO a clearly better option. A tad of top end EQ tends to bring it out great. If you a more of a fan of outright detail and extension there you would prefer the Profi.
Off axis response favours the Power tweet. I don't know whether it's because of the larger dome, or the basket characteristics or what, but when mounted off axis the Power tweeter seems to lose alot less detail then the Profi. While the power becomes only slightly toned down off axis, the profi seems more of an 'on off switch'. When mounted off axis (i'm talking like, 90 degrees off axis) the Profi loses alot of it's top end extension, and alot of the finer details seem to dissapear. It's not bad, still just as good as alot of other tweeters i've heard, but it just doesn't hold itself quite as effectively as the Power tweeter when it's mouted off axis. I noticed the the most when I at one stage had both sets down in the kicks, 90 degrees off axis. The Power tweet was hitting higher notes that weren't there on the profi - yet when mounted on axis the Profi clearly has the better top end extension. Quite unusual how the Power just doesn't seem to loose all that much when mounted off axis.
As far as tonal ballance goes, I find the power tweeter to be more laid back and to just sound more natural. The profi to me sounds a tad more forceful (but only when compared to the Power). In my brief chance to hear a Rainbow Platinum tweeter, I'd say the style of sound of the power is very similar to the Platinum, although the Platinum is a little more detailed and smoother again.
On the Platinums now..very nice. A very smooth laid back tweeter, but they do an amazing job of bringing out female vocals with increadible presence. I heard them off axis, so it was hard to guage what their overall top end exnention was like, but id say it would probably be quite similar to that of the profi. Was a very natural and very pleasant tweeter to listen to, and I would absolutely die to hear the Power midbass and vanadium mid running as a three way with Platinum tweeters - a direction im seriously considering taking. The Platinums were listened to in a car (not in my house) and run back to back with Profi vanadium tweeters. My best description would be similar extension to the Vanadium, but an overall smoother, more natural and more refined output.
The results for the Profis and Powers were the results i got when mounted up in the house, so there were no incar issues (resonances, refletions etc) to alter the tonal qualities of the tweeters. Likewise, when I briefly isntalled the power midbass units into a car door without sound deadening, the midbass was even more impressive then it was in the house (probably due to the home amp's high crossover points). I can only imagine how impressive it will be in a properly designed and deadened door installation.
