harshglare
Junior Member
Review of Subwoofer or Speaker:
6-1/2" 200W RMS PPI Power Class Series 3-way Component Car Speaker System
RMS Power Range : 100 Watts
Frequency response: 60-20000 Hz
Diameter: 6.5 Inch
Kevlar and paper mid-range cone with laminated foam backing
Butyl rubber surround
3/4" Aluminum dome tweeter with 3/4" voice coil
Solid phase plug
External crossover networks designed for 3-way component systems
CCAW 2" High temperature voice coil with Kapton former
Low resonance polyphenylene sulfide basket
Inverted and dimpled aluminum tweeter diaphragm
3 ohms impedance
High strength Neodymium magnet structure
Top-mount depth: 2-5/8"
Also available in a 2-Way Component System
These speakers along with the crossovers are incredibly designed and well thought out.
Build quality was poor.
The soldering on the tweeters were EXTREMELY poor and were not adequately insulated on one of them, raising concerns about a possible short: the fix was easy enough but build quality like that on pricey components is UNACCEPTABLE.
The mid-range was almost worth the price of the whole system and build was flawless: what I liked about these was that they fit PERFECTLY in the door pods of my MACH 360 system in my Mustang. I accidentally "tested" them at almost full range (more on that later) and saw that they had great excursion.
The mid-bass/woofers were another example of great design and FAILED execution due to build quality:
I could see some glue smeared behind the surround of one of the woofers and that would normally not be a cause for concern but seeing how poorly the tweeters were built, I decided to test the compliance of the speaker by gently pushing the cone in: one of the speakers was stiffer than the other: this was another MAJOR disappointment for me: how can PPI put out such poorly built speakers?
I decided to run the woofers on a 60hz test tone, free air to "break them in" and found that it did not help.
The crossovers look great except for one MAJOR issue: there is a button that PPI proudly points out that converts the crossover from a two way to a three way: bravo for PPI except that this switch is VERY EASY to accidentally be hit and switch the crossover resulting in sending very low and potentially damaging frequencies to the mid-range drivers. WOW. that is how I saw the mids handle lower frequencies.
Fixed that as well by permanently securing the switch in the proper position (jumpers would have been a better idea).
Installed the system according to PPI's recommendation with the mids and tweets high up (contrary to what I normally do) and found that the whole system was the worse sounding system I have ever heard!
No imaging. Peaks and valleys thru out the frequency response. At this point, I can't tell if this is due to speaker placement or poor crossover design: I'll give PPI the benefit of the doubt and chalk this issue up to speaker placement.
Thankfully I have a four way amp (a PPI PCX 480 from back in the day) and could passively control the crossover points: but this added a level of complexity I wanted to avoid.
I am STILL trying to tune the system and believe that speaker placement may have added some phase issues (for all I know, the speakers may not all BE in phase due to build issues).
Power handling is phenomenal and is the systems saving grace.
After three weeks with this product, I hope to get this system in tune: if you are an advanced user, you might find this challenge fun...
...if you are an average user or don't want to mess around with EXTENSIVE tuning issues, get a co-axial.
Truly a mixed bag from PPI:
neodymium motors deliver
2 inch woofer VC deliver
the mids fit in tight spaces
build quality is SERIOUSLY flawed and should be a major concern for the average Joe
I advise anyone who buys this system to try to place all the drivers in close proximity to each other and hope that the crossover is not the issue.
6-1/2" 200W RMS PPI Power Class Series 3-way Component Car Speaker System
RMS Power Range : 100 Watts
Frequency response: 60-20000 Hz
Diameter: 6.5 Inch
Kevlar and paper mid-range cone with laminated foam backing
Butyl rubber surround
3/4" Aluminum dome tweeter with 3/4" voice coil
Solid phase plug
External crossover networks designed for 3-way component systems
CCAW 2" High temperature voice coil with Kapton former
Low resonance polyphenylene sulfide basket
Inverted and dimpled aluminum tweeter diaphragm
3 ohms impedance
High strength Neodymium magnet structure
Top-mount depth: 2-5/8"
Also available in a 2-Way Component System
These speakers along with the crossovers are incredibly designed and well thought out.
Build quality was poor.
The soldering on the tweeters were EXTREMELY poor and were not adequately insulated on one of them, raising concerns about a possible short: the fix was easy enough but build quality like that on pricey components is UNACCEPTABLE.
The mid-range was almost worth the price of the whole system and build was flawless: what I liked about these was that they fit PERFECTLY in the door pods of my MACH 360 system in my Mustang. I accidentally "tested" them at almost full range (more on that later) and saw that they had great excursion.
The mid-bass/woofers were another example of great design and FAILED execution due to build quality:
I could see some glue smeared behind the surround of one of the woofers and that would normally not be a cause for concern but seeing how poorly the tweeters were built, I decided to test the compliance of the speaker by gently pushing the cone in: one of the speakers was stiffer than the other: this was another MAJOR disappointment for me: how can PPI put out such poorly built speakers?
I decided to run the woofers on a 60hz test tone, free air to "break them in" and found that it did not help.
The crossovers look great except for one MAJOR issue: there is a button that PPI proudly points out that converts the crossover from a two way to a three way: bravo for PPI except that this switch is VERY EASY to accidentally be hit and switch the crossover resulting in sending very low and potentially damaging frequencies to the mid-range drivers. WOW. that is how I saw the mids handle lower frequencies.
Fixed that as well by permanently securing the switch in the proper position (jumpers would have been a better idea).
Installed the system according to PPI's recommendation with the mids and tweets high up (contrary to what I normally do) and found that the whole system was the worse sounding system I have ever heard!
No imaging. Peaks and valleys thru out the frequency response. At this point, I can't tell if this is due to speaker placement or poor crossover design: I'll give PPI the benefit of the doubt and chalk this issue up to speaker placement.
Thankfully I have a four way amp (a PPI PCX 480 from back in the day) and could passively control the crossover points: but this added a level of complexity I wanted to avoid.
I am STILL trying to tune the system and believe that speaker placement may have added some phase issues (for all I know, the speakers may not all BE in phase due to build issues).
Power handling is phenomenal and is the systems saving grace.
After three weeks with this product, I hope to get this system in tune: if you are an advanced user, you might find this challenge fun...
...if you are an average user or don't want to mess around with EXTENSIVE tuning issues, get a co-axial.
Truly a mixed bag from PPI:
neodymium motors deliver
2 inch woofer VC deliver
the mids fit in tight spaces
build quality is SERIOUSLY flawed and should be a major concern for the average Joe
I advise anyone who buys this system to try to place all the drivers in close proximity to each other and hope that the crossover is not the issue.
