Y2KMaxGXE-R

iTrader: (4)

My concern is the powerhandling characteristics I know jack about.

My headunit's max output is 180watt (rating?). If I want to buy speakers (components) I want to make sure I can crank them all the way up without distortion. No outside amplifier will be used, but I'd like that new speakers to be able to withstand added power of one, if I ever decide to get it...

Threxx

If you're only using a headunit to power component speakers you don't need to be concerned with can they handle it. I've never heard of a headunit that puts off enough power to even come close to damaging even the cheapest component speakers.

What you need to be concerned with when you are losing that small of an amount of power is the sensetivity rating of the speakers (the higher the better... anything over 90db or so should be fine) and if it's listed, the "minimum" power rating of the speakers. This tells you what the minimum amount of power the speakers need to play full-range is. If you buy some component speakers that need a minimum of 35 watts RMS to play full range (most of them need at least this... some needs many many more), it won't sound all that great playing off of your headunit.

Dustyroads

Ok....while you max output is 180W. I doubt you will see 25W per channel so that's a total output power of 100W. Head units are notoriously over rated on power.

You mentioned that you want to crank up the stereo and not have the speakers distort. If you use just a plain old head unit you are gonna get distortion when you crank it up. The problem is that you are giving the speakers signals it just can't reproduce. A 6.5" speaker cannot play bass tones of 60Hz and down. It will try, but it simply cannot. That's when you get distortion. If you want to use just a headunit, might I suggest you get some bass blockers or some other kind of passive crossover. These will reduce the amount of bass that your speakers are trying to produce and therefore reduce distortion at higher volumes.

Good luck and I hope I could help!

Mikesburn

Even if your headunit is the latest Eclipse, Alpine or Nacamichi, you won't get 180 watts, you'll get 20-25 at most. Imagine how big is the transformator should be to generate that much power(180). It wouldn't fit into your headunit.

You def need to get an amplifier (Zapco, Arc Audio, PPI). As of speakers: Rainbows, Focals. You can also try MB Quarts. The are a little bit harsher. You need at least 50 watts per chanel. Your speakers need to breathe right.

Y2KMaxGXE-R

iTrader: (4)

exactly- they need to breathe right...if there was more info somewhere, list of modles of all speakers you guys are using..in case I across any on the internet...not only the brand name but also a model#.

max'n out

No head unit puts out what they say, most say 35 x4 45 x4, when really they do 8x4 or 12x4. nak is the only one Ive seen that is honest.

Mikesburn

GXE, I like the Rainbows Pro series.
Focal Utopia Lines
MB Quart Q, but it's expensive, so you can get DSD series for only 250 bucks, they sound close to Q's, but a lot cheaper.

Also ADS are good.

max'n out

NO they do not

Mikesburn

What d u mean, they do not???

Yes they do. Of course Rainbows are better, but ADS are also used in show and comp. applications. They have natural tweeter sound.
If you are in team Zapco, you've gotta know good things about speakers I've listed. (Not trying to be knowledgeble geek )

max'n out

You said the Dsd's are close to the Q's , thats just flat wrong.

Rainbows are nice, ads is nice. The utopias are nice but i'd never run them. But the quart q', and qsd's are loads over the dsd's.

Mikesburn

Well, you're right, Q are overall higher quality then DSD, but for those money we've run some, we didn't hear that of a great difference. Maybe Q are less harsh. Now if you take RSB, they sound a lot worse then DSD.

But I would stick with Rainbows Pro, no matter what (I'm not talking about Rainbow Reference = $ 6.500)

max'n out

When you did this little listen test, where they in a car? Or the board? I can't fathom how you could listen to the dsd's and the Q's back to back and not hear a difference. And there is no RSB.

Nobody has anything bad to say about the 7,000 doller rainbow, because nobody choose's to afford them. "Best ever" my ***. Need to come way down on the price.

Schmoo

Back to the original question of "How do you choose speakers?"

Simple answer is: Listen to them. Get the ones that sound best to you. Ideally, you can listen to peoples' setups in the same car as you have. Less ideal is from different cars, and less ideal is in an audio showroom.

Generally, never pay attention to other people's advice about what sounds good unless you have some reason to respect their opinion. What "sounds good" to different people varies a lot. That's why it's best to use your own ears.

I suppose there's no problem in using strangers' advice to help narrow down the field of choices, though, especially given that there are so many different brands to choose from.

Mikesburn

Yes, if I would listen on the board I would hear the diff. But I've installed one after another, I liked them both, Q's a little softer.
My personal opp.

Rainbows - they need to go down, that's truth. My friend has them. Got 5th place in the world. I helped set his Kickpanels. Difficult to install (6.5"), but they play the most natural way.

RSD model exists, I have 216 series...

max'n out

What is your friends name and what class is he in?

Mikesburn

Rick McAllum, he's in the Pro Class, I beleive, well the second after Expert.

He had the best car I've heard, but HE SOLD IT, damn.
Now working on the Matrix. Hope to help him on this one too.

BTW, he gets deals on speakers. He's a dealer for Rainbows and Arc audio.

max'n out

Red 96 tacoma. You should come with him to next years finals.

Of course he gets deals on speakers, he's Pro Street that means he works in the industry. Certainly woun't pay retail.

Mikesburn

Thanx, I will.
Where do you live?
How do you know Rick?

max'n out

I live in PA. I don't know Rick, but you said he was at finals so I looked it up on the finals photo disk, and remembered seeing it.

Mikesburn

Good.
Next time I'll be with him, so 'll get aquainted with you.

Listem, you know, last time it seems to me like all MB QUARTS sound not that nice, more like cold. Thay don't give me enjoyment, which for example Rainbows give! Is it just me? What do you think of them?

I used to have RSD, now I've got DSD, they sound clean, but musical.

max'n out

I think Quart makes one of the best overall systems in the Qsd's and Q's. They have alot of life when put in infinate baffle kick panels, when you seal them up they lose all that though. They really don't do well in a sealed enviroment. Same kind of thing with focal utipia's, great if you sit there and tune them, but out of the box, na. Overall the lower end quarts to me offer what pretty much anything else for that price does. you get into that high end stuff, it's one of those things, can you hear the diff, and do you care, and do you want to sit and tune and really thats what i comes down to. As for Rainbows, I havn't seen much of them, but everybody seems to have good things to say about them. When I look at a speaker I look for low end punch meaning midbass, and lower, and full of life. Meaning realistic.

Overall I think people reli to much on others opinions, if you like somthing for one reason or another great, f*** everybody else and their opinion, your the one who paind for it, right?