upgrading to horns or 2-way setup... help choose..

[noob with an RS 10+ year member]

my budget is going to be around $300-400 on a nice front stage. now im thinking about either

A) going active with a set of horns and some mids to handle midbass (2-way horn setup?)

or

B) 2-way active with DIY drivers

or

C) 2-way passive component set

for A, i was thinking something along the lines of ID horns.. and i like the idea because it doesnt take much power to get them going right? so i could trade my 2-channel for a decent 4-channel to power them all with right?

for B, i was thinking this would be a cheap route, which would yield outstanding results.. true? would it be more laborous going this route though or would trial-and-error tuning be the key here?

for C, i was thinking of going with some Seas Lotus since I read they do well in infinite baffle setups and im thinking if it could do really well in infinite baffle setups then itd prollie be a lot easier tuning these drivers as opposed to other "picky" drivers? how much do seas lotus comps go for anyway?

im upgrading from a set of infinity perfect 6.1s and am looking for something with near-perfect tonality that will literally be sweet music to my ears.. the perfects do the job in the sense that i can hear everything clearly nothing muddied or too bright (a lot of this is thanks to my audiocontrol EQX) but its kinda bland and plain.. like no staging or imaging whatsoever. im going to sound deaden when i have money and time. let me know what u guys think i should get..

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[computerparts 10+ year member]

If going with horns, make sure you can install them properly. As far under the dash and all the way to the left and right on each side. You're also going to need a 1/3 octave eq and crossover with selectable crossover points, that eqx isn't going to cut it. It doesn't take much power to get them going but you will need twice the power on your mids that you have on your horns for a good balance. I speak from experience. Once set up and tuned properly, they sound beautiful. Option C would pretty much be plug and play. Option B requires careful matching and you could end up buying and selling a lot till you get what you're looking for but great results can be had. YGPM regarding horns.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

my budget is going to be around $300-400 on a nice front stage. now im thinking about either
A) going active with a set of horns and some mids to handle midbass (2-way horn setup?)

or

B) 2-way active with DIY drivers

or

C) 2-way passive component set

for A, i was thinking something along the lines of ID horns.. and i like the idea because it doesnt take much power to get them going right? so i could trade my 2-channel for a decent 4-channel to power them all with right?

for B, i was thinking this would be a cheap route, which would yield outstanding results.. true? would it be more laborous going this route though or would trial-and-error tuning be the key here?

for C, i was thinking of going with some Seas Lotus since I read they do well in infinite baffle setups and im thinking if it could do really well in infinite baffle setups then itd prollie be a lot easier tuning these drivers as opposed to other "picky" drivers? how much do seas lotus comps go for anyway?

im upgrading from a set of infinity perfect 6.1s and am looking for something with near-perfect tonality that will literally be sweet music to my ears.. the perfects do the job in the sense that i can hear everything clearly nothing muddied or too bright (a lot of this is thanks to my audiocontrol EQX) but its kinda bland and plain.. like no staging or imaging whatsoever. im going to sound deaden when i have money and time. let me know what u guys think i should get..

While horns don't take much power, to run active you'd need a seperate amp for the horns and midbasses. So you'd still need 2 amps, that one of active setups disadvantages. In an active setup, the frequency range being amplified is chosen before it hits the amp.

If you like the way your drivers sound, but they don't image well, you need to move them around. No driver, from a 10,000 brax to a 25 dollar xplode will image well without good placement. if you want good imaging your probably going to have to do a kickpanel installation.