O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

Interesting stuff. I'm doubting my Mc at the moment because I'm not punching out enough power to stay accurate so instead of doing the mc446, I'm thinking of doing a complete swap to Butler. I was going to try a TD475 for the mids and see how it worked out.

Percy

Butlers are good for that warmish sound. Since the tubes are preamp only, the bass won't get "soggy" like many tube amps do.

Over in Japan, they probably have like 3 different manufacturers of tube amps for the car. They're pretty hard core over there when it comes to audio.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

This last setup was great in my first is300, but now that I am hearing it for the second time I think I want more power and just a different sound overall. I believe I'll keep the focal mids, replace the mbq tens with a focal 12, and add a set of usd waveguides. From there swap over from mc's to a set of tubedrivers.

I'm thinking that setup off my eclipse avn head and eqx may give me the "punch" I am missing from the relatively tame sound I am getting right now.

Percy

What's missing? Fullness of midrange? Midbass? Definitely not the high end - the titanium tweeters are bright. Even when padded down -6.

SSmith

iTrader: (7)

As an ex Focal Utopia owner and fan and being in the industry for a long time I can honestly say I believe the Morel drivers are the best I have ever heard. We got the Piccolo tweeters playing last night in my pillars and I already have the Morel elate 6's in the door. Running everything active off of a 701 and .........wow. I've had to many systems to count and this is by far the best I've ever owned. I'm hearing things in recording that I have never heard with these tweeters. I think I listened to the whole Eagles live in Australia DVD in my car last night at some pretty tremendous volumes. Got out of the car and no listening fatigue at all. I'm very happy. Now to finish the glass work.

Shane

Percy

Shane,

I'm not surprised at all. Morel uses licensed technology from Dynaudio. 3 inch voice coils, cone component materials, etc. If you drop in some Dyns, there will be even more that you would hear from the recording, especially from their ESOTAR 2 series! But they aren't cheap! 1500 per tweeter PAIR. 1000 per midwoofer PAIR and around 1500 for their 12 inch sub.

Unlike some other hyped up brands (rainbow ref anybody?), these are well worth the money if you're after that last bit of audio detail.

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

Not cheap at all, but cheap compared to these https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...-speakers.html

Percy

Yeah...but they still don't have any real specs or datasheets. More of a hype factor.

Treated paper cone materials are an insult when placed in a harsh environment. Yep - automotive environment is definitely harsh. Paper breaks down after a while, even if it's treated. Only takes a few years. Plus the amount of flexing that occurs at the stress areas (by the voice coil former) is nothing to sneeze at. Quite a bit of distortion introduced - for that "warmish" sound.

It's been many many years since I've written the GS Audio Primer for car audio. So, a nearly 10 year challenge has been out there for ONE person to produce any datasheets, or a head to head. My guess is that they won't do it because they know they'll lose. Especially if I take them to the lab with all the MLSSA plots, etc.

But, I'll give the Rainbow Ref one thing - they are THE most expensive set of speakers out there. But the price is being paid for HYPE. And testimonials from people that don't have the data to back them up, ala test bench numbers. And real world comparisons.

If the crossover is anything like the Rainbow "platinum" series, it's nothing but PATCHWORK. And ultra low cost, low quality components. But, they are in a nice casing to make them LOOK pretty.

I would still love to see a REAL head to head against the Rainbow Ref vs the Dynaudio. If it's price no object, make it the new ESOTAR 2 series vs Rainbow Ref. Dyn doesn't hide anything when it comes to real measurements. Rainbow Ref...different story.