Woofer Options on Rainbows

[zSnb 10+ year member]

Just browsing through some of the Rainbow line speakers on the Premier-Audio.com site and I noticed that alot of their lines have the regular woofer, the "kick" woofer and the "plug" woofer. What is the difference?

Click to read more...

 

[Radridd 10+ year member]

PM Aaron at (PremierAudio)

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

The Kick version is an IB/door mounted optimized midbass driver. Its not designed to play below 80hz 12db, but excels in the 80hz-160hz kick area output and fidelity wise. They call it a 'constant Q' driver for its ability to yield a QUALITY FACTOR IB of 0.7 in ANY DOOR. Its a high Qts/very low VAS design. Essentially with 15 liters of airspace it can yield a Qts of 0.78 , and with 100 Liters that value is hardly affected to 0.71! Now this is a specialty driver IMO. Theres no hit or miss with this driver, performance is optimal from car to car, door to door. The midrange is not lacking either, it plays up to 2400hz 18db on the Rainbow passive and its consistent withthe midrange qualities of the Profi line.

The standard driver is a wonderful driver in its own right, but technically a standard driver. Natural midbass and smooth midrange. Rainbow sound. You can play these a little lower than the KICK allows you to if thats a concern. Overall good performace.

The phase plug driver is just that. A phase plug driver, yield the highest midrange detail and bass precision overall from a sq purist point of view- but its best enjoyed in a more on axis approach -say a kick panel to enjoy its capabilities. Its parameters dont show it to be the optimal IB performer the other two are for door use, and that typically affects output/response on the lower end compared to the other two.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

If your installation skills are mediocre, it seems like the best choice is the kick. That is why I made my choice because the mids are going in the door.

 

[konechiwa 10+ year member]

not necessarily because if you can't install it right then the benefits of having the kick driver instead of the regular would be washed because of the bad install. However it would have more midbass then just the regular one.

like always it comes down to price.

 

[Schuey2002 10+ year member]

On a related note: Can you purchase a pair of woofers and crossovers from say, the Rainbow CS 465.25 Germanium 6.5" set, and add them to an existing set of Rainbows?

 

[PremierAudio 10+ year member]

not necessarily because if you can't install it right then the benefits of having the kick driver instead of the regular would be washed because of the bad install. However it would have more midbass then just the regular one.
like always it comes down to price.

There is hardly anything you can mess up when installing the SLC line, and the kick version is a very forgiving set. So pretty much and door install will sound very good.

 

[ktslayer55 10+ year member]

3.5max thanks for breaking that down i have been wanting to know that myself!

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

not necessarily because if you can't install it right then the benefits of having the kick driver instead of the regular would be washed because of the bad install. However it would have more midbass then just the regular one.
like always it comes down to price.

Installation in the doors is easier than installation in the kicks.

 

[PremierAudio 10+ year member]

That is a whole different topic. I was under the assumption this is reguarding a door install.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

It is...I believe from my research and my purchase that if you are mounting in the door, it is most effective to order the profi-kick over the other two choices as it is designed for door installs.

 

[04_edge 10+ year member]

not to thread jack, but who is the rainbow dealer on here? i messaged 6spdcoupe(sp?) about them is he the right person?

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

Yes. Sometimes his replies are slow, however. He should be ordering soon as I have a special item I want.