Hey guys,

Having a hard time picking my new set of front speakers for my TL. I'm currently running a set of Focal 165A1's but want to swap them out for something new (I think one of my tweeters is failing too). I'm running them in stock locations and the tweeters are firing up into the windshield which I dont think is ideal.

Budget is around $300-$400 and I'm located in Canada. Keep in mind I can buy from Sonic Electronix since they include duties at checkout but pretty much anything I buy will be slightly more expensive up here than it would be in the US. Also, I dont have a lot of options for auditioning the speakers listed below

The speakers I have it narrowed down to are:

ID XS-65
Focal 165V30 (can get them for about $350 locally)
DLS UP6i (or Gothia 6.2s if I get a good deal)

I mainly listen to acoustic music but once in a while break out the punk/rock stuff too.

Any advice guys? Also, should I look at throwing the next set of tweets in the pillars on axis? Or will this depend on the components I pick in the end.

Thanks a lot.

 

Oh, also I'm currently running 100W RMS per channel on the fronts if that helps with the decision. Not really looking at adding an amp to the build at this stage due to $$$ restrictions.

 

You can't go wrong with those IDs. All of those are solid choices but I would go with the Gothias personally based on nothing but positive reviews. I was very close to getting a set until I raised the budget a little and went with the Dynaudios.

I think reducing the tweeter reflections off of the windshield is always good. Since I can't do that without making the car look non stock, and since I have a 3-way, I was able to cross my tweeters over high at 8khz and up, reducing the amount of material bouncing off of the windshield and it really helped.

On axis will always give you a flatter frequency response with less rolloff on the top end but some tweeters do better than others off axis.

 

xs65s

 

I'm not sure if the ID XS is a lot nicer than the ID cxs, but I've heard that the CXS is geared more towards midbass and the XS is more towards the midrange. XS has a later natural roll-off, etc. With that being said, I love my cxs set. I'm running them active and have the mid/tweet x-over at 3kHz (12db on mids and 24db on tweets).

I've also heard nothing but good things on those DLS sets. Since you're buying blind, it's kinda hard but it'd be easier if you said what things you DONT like about the Focals...so you don't make the same mistake again.

 

That's part of the reason I suggested the Gothias. I can only assume he didn't like the brightness of the Focals, that's what most people complain about and the DLS speakers are known to be a little on the warm side. I guess more info is needed.

On a different note, now that you bring up one of those ID sets are made for midrange and the other for midbass, I wonder why they never made a 3-way set.

 

Hey guys, thanks for all of the input.

I thought the Focal 165A's were ok and never really had the harshness some people describe, but I know I can do better and have heard great things about the ID's and DLS speakers. Its a little tough not being able to audition the speakers before purchase but I know any of these choices will be great.

Waiting until both speakers are back in stock at SonicE but can't wait to pull the trigger.

Thanks again.

 

I thought I'd mention these for your decision. For another $100, you could get the upgraded tweeter in the Unity line. I've thorughly enjoyed my Imagines (after the break-in period).

http://store.12velectronics.com/imag...l-speaker-set/