Boston SL60 Components

[marcelo929]

Soo its christmas time and I have some extra cash on me and decided to maybe get some components for my A/C, already have some 6x9 Bostons in the back with a 4 channel amp and a small bazooka nothing out of this world like some other systems on here. My local shop wants to sell me some Sl60 components for about 250 brand new. Id like to spend around 300 tops. any suggestions as to what i should do

[rjdmmfl1]

Soo its christmas time and I have some extra cash on me and decided to maybe get some components for my A/C, already have some 6x9 Bostons in the back with a 4 channel amp and a small bazooka nothing out of this world like some other systems on here. My local shop wants to sell me some Sl60 components for about 250 brand new. Id like to spend around 300 tops. any suggestions as to what i should do

for that amount of money, you can get speakers that sound WAAYYY better than those..

I had the version of Bostons just above those, and they didn';t sound very good at all... midbass was extremely sub par...

now, I'm rocking the Diamon Audio Hex Series components!!!! these things sound amazing, and they only run about $219 shipped on ebay!

trust me dude, don't get the Bostons, these diamonds will blow those Bostons out of the water!

click HERE these are available with silk or aluminum tweeters the S600A or S600S

[Broadfield]

Man, if you were willing to spend $350 shipped, I could squeeze you into some Hybrid Audio Clarus C61-2's. I could also do some Boston Pro's for that price. Let me warn you though..... the Clarus will out perform even the Boston Z series.

This is a review of their cheapest set of components they carry.....a 5 1/4" at that. Keep in mind, the Clarus is their entry level speaker!

May 2008: Car Audio & Electronics Publishes a Glowing Review of the Clarus C51-2 Set; Evaluative Scoring Places Clarus™ Better than Sets Costing Five and Six Times as Much!In the July 2008 issue of Car Audio & Electronics Magazine, there is a review of the Clarus C51-2 set (5 1/4" component speaker set). The results of the evaluation were glowing.

The highest sound quality score ever achieved, using the new Car Audio & Electronics scoring criteria, went to the Clarus component system. For example, near perfect listening test scores were achieved (9.5 out of 10 on the song "Spanish Harlem" as performed by Rebecca Pidgeon). According to the reviewer, even despite being 5 ¼” midbass, they compared well to competitor’s 6 ½” and 7” component sets! Using a formularized Excel spreadsheet, which subjectively compared the old Car Audio & Electronics scoring criteria to the one adopted relatively recently, it was quickly determined by Hybrid Audio Technologies staff that this was one of the best component sets, if not THE BEST component set reviewed by the magazine in the past several years (as far back as we were able to take our research).Reader Note: Clarus C51-2 is a $469.99 set of 5 ¼” speakers which was compared to, and found to exceed the performance of 6 ½” and 7” component sets costing literally up to six times as much ($2,000+).

Notable quotes from the reviewer:

"What I found was one of, if not, the best owner's manuals I've ever encountered in my many years in this industry! It is a comprehensive description of the speaker system and a lengthy and very informative tutorial on sound quality system setup in general..."

"To adjust tweeter output, you select between different push terminals (a nice way to do this)...which eliminates the common selector switch that can degrade over time and affect the quality of the connection."

"It was a large sound...other components sets I've auditioned employ a 6.5-inch low frequency driver, so the fact that these diminutive speakers can hold their own against a larger driver is a feat in itself."

"When (Rebecca) Pidgeon's solo vocal starts it's as though she's in the room with me! The image is strong, at eye level, and perfectly centered with a life-like tone. I can even detect the size of the room and there's a feeling of air around the vocalist."

"There's a realistic, sweet sound to the strings...that I've rarely heard from even the most expensive component sets that I've auditioned."

"When (B.B.) King starts singing, his voice is stable and perfectly centered. It has all the rich, soulful character he's famous for and when Lucille (King's guitar) plays, she sounds totally life-like and robust."

"If you and/or your installer completely read the owner's manual that's downloadable for these components, and institute the damping and driver placement recommendations therein, you'll be able to realize the same excellent imaging and staging details these components are capable of producing."

"I wish more speaker manufacturers would take it upon themselves to educate their customers as to proper installation and placement of their products as Hybrid Audio has done."

"After listening to these speakers for literally hours on end, I didn't experience any appreciable listening fatigue."

"From the extremely complete user's manual to the construction and sound of these diminutive drivers, they're a class act by any standard, and they're probably one of the best bargains out there for a retail price of $469.99. It's obvious that the folks at Hybrid Audio did their homework and a lot of research, testing, and listening to perfect this product."

"If you're in the market for a component set for your car audio system, you'll be doing yourself a great disservice if you don't audition these speakers for your application."

We invite you to support our last remaining dedicated car audio publication in the USA, and further, invite you to check out the review of our Clarus C51-2 set!Blatant plug: After winning "State of the Art" from England's Talk Audio Magazine, to winning seventeen (17) national- and world-championships last year alone in organized competition, and now getting a review which says that this $469.99 component set is better than systems costing five and six times as much---if there was any remaining doubt---even those that relish in doubting---you have hereby been given notice: THERE IS NO DOUBTING ANYMORE.

[rjdmmfl1]

I found out the hard way thy some of these speaker companies, i.e. Boston Acoustics, don't hold a candle to a lot of less well known audio companies... Well less well known to the general public that is... Folks like Broadfield that are in the business know them all... A guy at my local audio store just had two custom made try technologies 8 channel amplifiers made for two of his vehicles .. 17 grand for two amps... He's running some dynaudio components with $1600.00 esostar 2 tweeters... And I thought to myself, there has to be great quality component setups for less money..

Regarding these clarus components reviewed above, I'd like to know what amplifier they used to drive them when testing .... The quality of an amplifier can make a world of difference when listening to components.... That said, I should have listened to broadfiwld months ago and went with the hybrid audio components.... I had the Boston acoustic pro 60's and they don't sound that great.... So to the OP, I would follow broadfield's advice if you can spare the extra dough... If you can't , I personally feel you will love the diamond audio hex series components

[marcelo929]

wow these are great answers guys. I'll be getting better speakers for way better prices. Now I have an average 4 channel amp http://www.dbdrive.net/platinumamps_pt450A.htm that i got locally so even if i got the hybrid components would it be a big difference between the hybrids and dynaudio?

Second question: What would be a good amp to power two 8 inch bazookas for about another 350? Now that im getting the components i need a mono for my subs.. Or would it be cheaper and recommendable to buy new subs also?

[marcelo929]

last question.. whats the difference if i get silk tweeters or aluminum tweeters? I listen to mostly alot of house and i guess what you call "techno" and (dont laugh) reggaeton lol what material would best suit that type of music? silk or aluminum?

[AppleBonker]

last question.. whats the difference if i get silk tweeters or aluminum tweeters? I listen to mostly alot of house and i guess what you call "techno" and (dont laugh) reggaeton lol what material would best suit that type of music? silk or aluminum?

I would recommend trying to listen to a few different sets of speakers, as this is completely a matter of personal preference. Metallic dome tweeters can generally hit higher frequencies better. Poorly designed or cheap metallic domes can begin to sound harsh (bright - meaning they almost overemphasize higher frequencies). Silk generally has a much more natural sound, so it really depends on what YOU like. In your price range, I would recommend silk. In my experience I've found that silk domes are much more forgiving. I've heard great sounding metallic domes, but the cost that goes into design is extensive. IMO, a top of the line metallic dome smokes a silk dome. But, in a more reasonable price range, the silk will own metallic. Just my two cents.

[Broadfield]

Typically, silk dome will have the most natural sound and therefore considered to be the better choice. However, I have heard plenty of great sounding hard dome tweeters. But I have also heard a lot of bad ones. Hard dome tweeters are almost always overly bright. One big advantage to hard dome is their power handling capabilities. However, there are plenty of high-end silk dome tweeters out their that will handle a ton of power. Hybrid Audio's Legatia L1 Pro tweeters will handle plenty of power. We usually run 150 watts per tweeter in our installs using the L1 Pro's. I am getting ready to do a 3 way setup in a Z06. I will be using their L1 Pro's, L3's and L8's all in the doors. No sub woofers..... not needed. I will be running 150 watts to each tweeter, 150 watts to each 3" and 300 watts to each 8" mid bass driver. I will be using JL's new HD amplifiers which are sonically better than the Slash series. It will sound like nothing you have heard before.

http://www.hybrid-audio.com/Legatia%20L1%20Pro.pdf

[AppleBonker]

Hard dome tweeters are almost always overly bright. One big advantage to hard dome is their power handling capabilities.

I don't necessarily think that is an advantage. I'm pretty sure the higher end hard dome tweets handle more power because they NEED more power. To avoid being overly bright, I believe they need to have a wonderful motor design and a surround with super damping ability (which is always at the cost of efficiency). Therefore, without the power you wont get the performance. I could be completely wrong on this, but I thought this was the counter to resonance of the dome.

Sorry to completely sidetrack here...

[rjdmmfl1]

No sub woofers..... not needed.

... i have never heard an 8' woofer that can substitute for a true subwoofer... maybe in certain types of music, but not for rap and hip hop with deep bass notes....

[Broadfield]

... i have never heard an 8' woofer that can substitute for a true subwoofer... maybe in certain types of music, but not for rap and hip hop with deep bass notes....

Maybe you just haven't heard some in a proper setup. These will not be 8" subs, but rather 8" mid-bass drivers. So these would definitely not satisfy you in your need for sub bass. They will shake your kidneys though, just not really low. In this particular install, it will be more than enough for my customer.... and the fact that everything will fit in the door without cluttering up the back with sub woofer(s). Now back to the 8" "sub woofer", the ones I used in my "Fiberglass How To" were unbelievable! Played any and all rap without any problem. I even ran some bass CD's through it without issues. I compared them to the output of 2 average 12" subs on the same amount of power..... 500 watts. I will tell you that I was very surprised. I had never pushed the capability of a 8" sub until this install. Like you, I never really liked their output. So I just never sold any. But my customer with the RX8 insisted on them. I'm glad she talked me into using them. However, I have done other multi-8" installs since, and didn't like the output quite as much. Some vehicles just respond better sonically than others.

[rjdmmfl1]

Maybe you just haven't heard some in a proper setup. These will not be 8" subs, but rather 8" mid-bass drivers. So these would definitely not satisfy you in your need for sub bass. They will shake your kidneys though, just not really low. In this particular install, it will be more than enough for my customer.... and the fact that everything will fit in the door without cluttering up the back with sub woofer(s). Now back to the 8" "sub woofer", the ones I used in my "Fiberglass How To" were unbelievable! Played any and all rap without any problem. I even ran some bass CD's through it without issues. I compared them to the output of 2 average 12" subs on the same amount of power..... 500 watts. I will tell you that I was very surprised. I had never pushed the capability of a 8" sub until this install. Like you, I never really liked their output. So I just never sold any. But my customer with the RX8 insisted on them. I'm glad she talked me into using them. However, I have done other multi-8" installs since, and didn't like the output quite as much. Some vehicles just respond better sonically than others.

i assumed they were mid bass woofers, hence me referring to them as woofers and not subwoofers.... I was merely replying to your statemnt that subwoofers were not needed, and was merely pointing out that they must not be needed for this particular car's install

I wasn't stating that 8" subwoofers can't deliver good bass... I've heard a 8" W7 in a sealed box that sounded better than a lot of 12" woofers.... but no 8: midbass woofer can reproduce sub-bass correctly... that was my point