Audio Guru help needed

[thill]

If you let us know what your budget is for speakers, we can help you.

[Thongpocket]

Originally Posted by thill

If you let us know what your budget is for speakers, we can help you.

I just remembered I have an Alpine PHA-H100 processor somewhere. I would like to stay under $500 for components but I bet those $1600 speakers sound amazing.

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[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Thongpocket

I just remembered I have an Alpine PHA-H100 processor somewhere. I would like to stay under $500 for components but I bet those $1600 speakers sound amazing.

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i hate giving speaker recommendations because sound is a personal preference.

personally, i'm done with car audio specific speakers and never going back. and this is why:

before i finally made up my mind on the setup i mentioned before, i went everywhere trying different gear. i demoed jl's top of the line ZR series($900), the hertz Mille series, in both 2 and 3 way flavors($900+)(i preferred the 2 way iteration, as the mid added too much 'thickness' to vocals), and just about everything in between(focal, alpine, pioneer, etc).

it was to the point where dropping $1000 or so on a component set i wasn't happy with was the only option. they all had the same deficiencies to my ear as the $150 coaxial sets that everyone uses as factory replacements. bass was always underwhelming, the tweeters were always harsh and tinny..

they always left the impression that they are the kind of speakers that a sub was required for any low end, and to get any volume out of a 6.5", they need to be crossed over at least at 150-200 hz, otherwise they start to get flatulent, but the bass making them flatulent couldn't be heard anyways...

and when i can get flatulent speakers for $150 or $900, i might as well get the $150 speakers and save the money..

i ended up with the peerless mids based on a few reviews on diyma, and hey, they were about $100 for the pair, which was dirt cheap compared to what i had been looking to spend.

they are exactly what i would have spent $900 on. they are actually happiest without any crossover, though i ran them at 50hz just because the subs filled in the deep bass better(but they're kickers, so only so much lol), but i run my gear HARD (my system metered at 110 db full range last time i cared enough to measure it), and the tweeters always ran out of voice before they did(they picked up at 2.5khz, setting them up for 3-4khz would have fixed it), even though they were running nearly full range audio.. there have been times where i turn the subs way down for some reason, and simply forget that i turned them down really far until a rap/trance track comes on, and i start leaning on the bass knob for a little more visceral impact, and then realize i had them nearly completely turned down.



so because of that, i recommend putting together a cd or a flash drive of some of your favorite tracks, head to the local car audio shop, and demo the gear with songs you know.. but don't ever tell them your price range.. i got hosed on my first audio setup telling them my budget up front..

after that, start searching a site like diyma and finding all the comprehensive reviews. most typically, those reviews will typically include musical references about what the reviewer could hear differently in the music, and list the track info to make it easily repeatable..

DON'T EVER accept a review that simply states something along the lines of "these speakers rocked!! awesome!!!!! A++++++!!! would buy again!!!!"

[Zippy]

I completely agree with you that sound quality is personal preference. That's why this was in my prior post.

Originally Posted by Zippy

Both Hertz and JL make good components. Listen to them both and then go with what sounds best to you.

A lot of what someone like is based upon what type of music they listen to and what they have for home audio to listen on. I tend to listen to some pop, alternative, rock, jazz, and blues. At home, I'm used to listening to Magnepan 3.7s powered by a McIntosh amp. The Hertz Milles were the first car audio speakers I've heard that sound anywhere near as good as my Maggies.

I also did a lot of research on diyma before choosing the Mille. But, in the end it was actually hearing them. The local car audio shop has a Hertz display featuring 6.5" and tweet from each Hertz line running on the same head unit and amp. Each line sounded better than the prior by a major jump except for the XL and Mille. The XL actually produced midrange better in the two way configuration than the Mille did. The Mille did produce low and high frequencies better than the XLs though. You can tell listening that a midrange driver was needed for the Mille to truly shine. Hence my preference to the 3-way config of Mille over the two way.

By all means, please do listen to both the JL and Hertz before choosing. If there are other brands available listen to them as well. You never know what you will like best until you hear them. I would have loved to have had a Focal or Brax dealer near by. My choices were limited by the local shops.