How to audition speakers
Thread Starter
0 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15
I am considering DLS, Image Dynamics, Rainbow, Marcom, Focal, Alpine Type X etc speakers.
Conventional wisdom says let your ears decide. This is easier for home audio as it is fairly easy to duplicate the listening characteristics of your room in an audio store.
With car audio this is very difficult. Listening to speakers in a listening board comes no where close to the audio characteristics of my Pathfinder. Tweeters which seem to be overly bright may be great off axis in a door.
Short of installing all of the speakers under consideration in my Pathfinder, how can I realistically pick the best speaker for my listening situation?
Conventional wisdom says let your ears decide. This is easier for home audio as it is fairly easy to duplicate the listening characteristics of your room in an audio store.
With car audio this is very difficult. Listening to speakers in a listening board comes no where close to the audio characteristics of my Pathfinder. Tweeters which seem to be overly bright may be great off axis in a door.
Short of installing all of the speakers under consideration in my Pathfinder, how can I realistically pick the best speaker for my listening situation?
You are right. It is very difficult and quite often the sound changes once you get them into the car. That's why I don't take too much stock into auditioning speakers before I buy them. I buy based on brand reputation and budget. Sounds silly I know, but really, what good is it to find something that sounds great in a board only to have it sound like poo in the car? Sorry, I don't have an answer for you 
Perhaps if a shop is very accomodating and are looking to sell you a very expensive set of speakers, they can let you put their demo set into your car for a listen?
Perhaps if a shop is very accomodating and are looking to sell you a very expensive set of speakers, they can let you put their demo set into your car for a listen?
500 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 870
I'd have to say: let your installer decide how to spend your cash....if you want to invest a bit in R & D then good on ya, but let an "expert" spend your cash, or you'll waste it!!!
If you spend the $$$ to install a "reference" speaker, then you will know what you need to do....."the long way, IS the short way!"
Fiud a good expert in your region, and give 'er.
[ April 06, 2005, 06:51 PM: Message edited by: Car Trek ]
If you spend the $$$ to install a "reference" speaker, then you will know what you need to do....."the long way, IS the short way!"
Fiud a good expert in your region, and give 'er.
[ April 06, 2005, 06:51 PM: Message edited by: Car Trek ]
Guest
Posts: n/a
Given the complexity and inability to do a fair A/B/C comparison of speakers, and as much as it hurts me to say, I have to agree that taking the word of an unbiased professional is the way to go.
Reputation is also good, but you need to be carefull who you ask - goes back to the unbiased thing. Too many people THINK they are experts.
Reputation is also good, but you need to be carefull who you ask - goes back to the unbiased thing. Too many people THINK they are experts.
Yankee
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,599
I think the question while shopping in a store is does this driver give an adequate amount of musical information for its price point. If your buying it it had better push your happy button. Does it sound good IN THE STORE, if it doesnt sound good in the listener friendly board it will surely soundeth like doodoo in your car. The HF responce will be simular and maybe a little brighter, the midbass will probably be a little fuller, the low bass a little thinner in a car.
I have found the JL comps sound better in the car (a little less forward) the MBQuarts, Morel, and Dynaudio sound about the same. No hard and fast rules here. If you like the sound there you should like the sound here too.
EDIT: I tend to listen to installers on this one BTW, they have the product knowledge. Or I listen to other peoples cars!
[ April 06, 2005, 08:57 PM: Message edited by: JohnVroom ]
I have found the JL comps sound better in the car (a little less forward) the MBQuarts, Morel, and Dynaudio sound about the same. No hard and fast rules here. If you like the sound there you should like the sound here too.
EDIT: I tend to listen to installers on this one BTW, they have the product knowledge. Or I listen to other peoples cars!
[ April 06, 2005, 08:57 PM: Message edited by: JohnVroom ]
Thread Starter
0 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 15
That's what I figured it would come down to.
Since audio "experts" are about as hard to find in Ottawa as honest politicians, please rank the following speakers in terms of SQ for quality jazz and blues recordings at moderate listening levels:
2 pairs of:
DLS Coax classic 426
ID CTX6
Macrom m2c.60
Rainbow SL165
Rainbow KX 165
Focal 165
The other option is one component set:
ID CXS62
Macrom M1S.60
Rainbow CS 275.28
DLS R5A or PS6
Any others which might be better then the above.
The question is how important are speakers in the rear doors. If I had to spend the money on better front speakers or lesser speakers in all 4 doors, which will provide better SQ?
I.E. with a 9833 and a 4 channel amp, which of the following would be better.
Components (i.e. ID CXS62) in the front door and a sub powered by the 4 channel amp.
Coax's in the front and rear door (or mid bass in the rear door) and a sub. Amp powering front and sub and HU powering rear door speakers.
Thanks,
Since audio "experts" are about as hard to find in Ottawa as honest politicians, please rank the following speakers in terms of SQ for quality jazz and blues recordings at moderate listening levels:
2 pairs of:
DLS Coax classic 426
ID CTX6
Macrom m2c.60
Rainbow SL165
Rainbow KX 165
Focal 165
The other option is one component set:
ID CXS62
Macrom M1S.60
Rainbow CS 275.28
DLS R5A or PS6
Any others which might be better then the above.
The question is how important are speakers in the rear doors. If I had to spend the money on better front speakers or lesser speakers in all 4 doors, which will provide better SQ?
I.E. with a 9833 and a 4 channel amp, which of the following would be better.
Components (i.e. ID CXS62) in the front door and a sub powered by the 4 channel amp.
Coax's in the front and rear door (or mid bass in the rear door) and a sub. Amp powering front and sub and HU powering rear door speakers.
Thanks,
Guest
Posts: n/a
with the cda9833 and a 4 channel amp you may want to look at buying some raw drivers from a company like solen and use your 4 channel amp to power the front speakers only, and use the electronic rossover in the deck you have instead of using the passive crossover that come with component speakers
take a look at the morel mdt30 tweeter, imo the best tweter on the planet for the money, they are 83$ each and pair them up with a pair of scanspeak 15m4531k00 midranges at 212$ each and for 600$ you can have and amazing set of components that i would put up against alot of speakers twice as much, i have used both of those speakers and believe that if installed correctly, you will be very satisfied, dont pay for passive crossovers that you dont have to use because the one built into your cd player is better, if you want to have a look at the speakers go to www.solen.ca. the mid i recommended is the speaker that the alpine F#1 6" midranges is based off of, not identical, but built off the same platform
[ April 07, 2005, 08:23 AM: Message edited by: defro13 ]
take a look at the morel mdt30 tweeter, imo the best tweter on the planet for the money, they are 83$ each and pair them up with a pair of scanspeak 15m4531k00 midranges at 212$ each and for 600$ you can have and amazing set of components that i would put up against alot of speakers twice as much, i have used both of those speakers and believe that if installed correctly, you will be very satisfied, dont pay for passive crossovers that you dont have to use because the one built into your cd player is better, if you want to have a look at the speakers go to www.solen.ca. the mid i recommended is the speaker that the alpine F#1 6" midranges is based off of, not identical, but built off the same platform
[ April 07, 2005, 08:23 AM: Message edited by: defro13 ]
I think finding an expert is probably harder than finding a set of speakers, at least one that has the same taste in music, likes the sound the same way you do and is willing to stay within your budget. Notice the "you" in my response, I think when everything is left up to someone else, that which makes it unique and yours is lost. Certainly, a valued expert's advice is most appreciated in that it allows you to hear many things that you were unaware of, however, your ears and mind will make the ultimate decision as to what sounds good to you.
Cheddar
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 558
defro, have you heard any other Morel tweeters? I've heard good things about their Supremo tweeters. Very pricey from the sounds of it.
BTW, I'm taking the plunge and going all Morel drivers in the ol' Civic. Morel Elate three ways up front. 6-1/2 in the doors, the dome mids somewhere, and tweets in the corners - base of A-pillars. A pair of Integra coax for rear fill and a single Elate 10 for sub. I'm hoping to find a single dome mid from a broken set to use for centre channel.
You don't see too many people with Morels installed in their cars. The mounting depth of their drivers make it a good choice for me and I am very, very happy with the Dotech 5's I've had in my kick panels for the last six months. The dome tweeters that are included in that set are beautiful sounding.
Do I sound like a walking Morel ad or what? I'm gonna have to change my name to "Morel Guy" LOL.
BTW, I'm taking the plunge and going all Morel drivers in the ol' Civic. Morel Elate three ways up front. 6-1/2 in the doors, the dome mids somewhere, and tweets in the corners - base of A-pillars. A pair of Integra coax for rear fill and a single Elate 10 for sub. I'm hoping to find a single dome mid from a broken set to use for centre channel.
You don't see too many people with Morels installed in their cars. The mounting depth of their drivers make it a good choice for me and I am very, very happy with the Dotech 5's I've had in my kick panels for the last six months. The dome tweeters that are included in that set are beautiful sounding.
Do I sound like a walking Morel ad or what? I'm gonna have to change my name to "Morel Guy" LOL.
