Hi guys,

I have a question. I know everyone keeps talking about auditioning speakers before they buy them (which I agree with). But when your looking at speakers in the higher end range, especially from more non-commercial brands, theres not really anywear you can go to audition them.

Even the places that stock the good brands dont usually have their top models unless you specially order them in. And you certainly wont find them in a demo car to test. This is of course unless your lucky enough to live in NSW near FHRX, or a place like that.

So it seems to me that the only way to audition high end speakers is if you know people who have them in their car or attend SQ comps and try and meet people who have them.

So I wanted to know people who have higher end stuff, did most of you buy them after hearing them in peoples cars or did you find places to audition?

I have been set on getting the Supremo set for a while because I have never heard anything bad said about them, mostly rave reviews. But I hear lots of good things about other brands too. So I want to audition some of them before making a decision but wouldnt know where to start, because as I said I cant really just walk into a shop and listen to them all.

Some of the speakers I would like to hear are:

Morel Supremo Set 6
Dynaudio System 240 Esotar (although Im not sure there are any Esotars left are there?)
Rainbow Profi Vanadium 'Kickbass'
Boston Z6
Hertz Mille
Eton Discovery
Phass Alnico
Seas Lotus Reference
Focal 165KP3
Polk Momo Signature Reference
Scanspeak Revelator
Hiquifon (Heard good things but dont know models or anything about them)

Very interested in hearing the Supremos, Esotar and Milles especially. Im not sure of the price of all these, but I think they're all around the same league.

So does anyone know how people go about auditioning these in Melbourne?

Thanks

Dave

P.S Sorry for the long post

cant really help with most of those.
eton discovery; there is a chap who competes in caasq-vic with them set-up in his car, Adhika is his name and his rego plates are ABANG, its a black honda accord. very nice speakers, as easy to listen to as any dyn set-up i have heard.

hiquphon only make tweeters, there are several types, though they are all based on the same product ( i know, i did ALOT of research on these, before circumstances wouldnt allow me to buy a set). OWI OWII and there is a 'Gold' model aswell. these can be auditioned at Speakerbits in Footscray. The Scanspeak Rev. could probably also be auditioned here. Tom runs the place, and is a very decent guy to deal with.

generally, most would come to meets and try to listen to other member's cars to get an idea of what different speakers sound like. i know i listened to Rob's (Budd Futter) car, and instantly decided i wanted the Oz Audio 'Matrix Elite' splits.

Phatt Audio Concepts have a good collection of exotic brands, with demo boards set-up (or last i heard, they were about to be installed)...perhaps PM/email Blanketman who works there.

You could also try emailing the usual list of suspects - Hektik, Stylyn, Freeway, GL Pro, Tower, Phatt, etc - to see if they have any of the products in shop, or in customers cars, that they may be able to organise a demo for u...

So far, I've heard the Hertz Mille, Morel Elate + Supremo, Dynaudio, Rainbow Profi, Rainbow Vanadium and Rainbow power.

If you are going with two ways, then the Rainbow Vanadium Phase Plug's may be a very good option for you. They have a slightly improved midbass over the kickbass variant (a common limitation of two way systems) and are close to the Kickbass models in the area of midbass.

If you are considering running active (assuming you are, as the Supremo's dont come with crossovers from memory) then I'd definately very strongly recommend having a listen to Rainbow Platinum's if you can. The tweeter is the nicest i've heard yet. My guess is that the 7" midbass should pound harder then even the normal kick-bass models, which themselves kick bloody hard. Based on what i've heard of Rainbow gear, I'd say the midrange quality should be as good as any other two way set out there, and I can confirm that build anf finish quality is flawless.

Dyns have also been a standout for me, and the Esoptar's should be on any audition list if budget permits. That said the tweeter is absolutely huge (about 5" in diameter from memory) and could cause installation difficulties.

The Elates were very nice, but I found they didn't sound quite as natural, laid back and efortless as the Dyn's(although the Supremo tweeter is impressive). Haven't heard the Supremo mids, so i'm not sure how they compare to the Elates.

Mille's I heard and seemed smooth, with plenty of midbass. However while they were nice sounding overall, they didn't really leave a lasting impression on me.

I'd be happy to offer an audition once my car is done, but unfortunately i'm in NSW so I get the feeling that wouldn't be particularly realistic. I too experienced the same difficulties when i tried to audition products and it is truly difficult sometimes to get a chance to hear what you want.

Esotars' in particular are very rare around Australia from what I can see, and seemed to be near impossible to get an audition of last time i tried

Ive spent quite a bit of time listening to the Dyn Esotar set, and despite the room they take up, they are my personal favourite 2-way set ever. The Esotar is probably the biggest tweeter is history I reckon, and requires a massive amount of skill to mount with proper staging, but once it is done......WOW. It is larger then the MW160, which in itself is a 6.5" woofer.

Dyn has a naturally warm and mellow signature, so smooth and refined, but with their MD100, it also loses a lot of detail. Not the Esotar. It carries that warmth magnificently, and has a massive amount of detail and clarity. It isnt as 'open' or spacious as the Supremo (which IMO is suited to acoustic and classical music), but carries emotion really well. Personally I would rate it as a Jazz and Blues tweeter, and really manages to capture the emotive passion from songs.

The Eton Discovery set is also very nice. Incredible midbass, not hard and sharp but mellow like the Dyn, and the tweeter is certainly top notch for such as small size. Can really fill the small enclosures of a car without making it seem small and cramped. I would associate it with vocals, with some other sets, as the definition and clarity are extraordinary. Ive also heard the Adventure set, which are almost as good. Both are top quality units.

ur welcome to listen to my car mate,

im running a semi rainbow setup, with morel woofers, its going in for warranty soon, but once its done, itll give you an idea of what rainbow sounds like,

rainbow is great, as long as you can live with sibilance,

have you noticed this too muzzy, or is iot just me that the power tweeters have a large degree of sibilince???

I've noticed this loss of detail going from Focal to Dynaudio tweets. Still much prefer the Dynaudios sound though. If the MD102 is a big improvement i'll be buying a set of these or even MD132 and leaving the MD100's as passive tweets.

Out of the splits your looking at have only heard the esotars and focal k3p set. I know of a couple of stores in qld they can be heard. The dyns would definitely be my pick. From what ive read on the others Morel would also be up there, never seen a set of these in a store let alone car though.

Have you considered DLS? These are probably easier to demo than a lot you've listed and are right up there for sound quality.

Thats the main reason I went with DLS rather then Dyn's simply because I wanted more top end detail, without being a fatigueing listening experience.

~Spyne~:

Thanks for that list of places to visit, I will try and visit them and see if they can audition some stuff for me. I was planning on going to hektik this week anyway because I heard they have Optima D34 Yellow Tops for $299.


muzzy66:

Thanks for the opinions. Yeah I will probably end up with 2 way (with ambients possibly), because it is simplier and people say it is very hard to get a 3 way right. I know the Esotar is huge, but I am planning on mounting the tweeter in the kicks anyway. Part of my cars kick panel conveniently angles towards the opposite person as well, which is very helpful. They must have had car audio in mind when they designed it

How much are the Rainbow Platniums? I tried to find prices on Rainbow stuff a while ago but couldnt find it. Ive always been interested in Rainbow stuff.


~thematt~:

Thanks for the description of the different sounds of the tweeters. So between the Esotar and the Supremo which do you think would be better for my sort of music (or if there is a better choice then feel free to name it). I listen to a very wide variety.
This includes:
Some classical and jazz
Piano/singers like Alicia Keys, Lucie Silvas, Elton John, etc.
Straight singers like Johnny Farnham, Whitney Housten, Michael Buble', etc.
Rock stuff like Metallica, Linkin Park, Evanescence (Rock sound with ethereal female voice, beautiful )
Rap and R&B like Usher, Lil John, Missy Elliott, Ludacris, etc.
Some dance stuff too.

I know that pretty much covers the spectrum, so maybe the question is which would be the best for all types of music?


-Charlie-:

Thanks for the offer, I might do that if I cant listen to the stuff I want in the stores.

Whats sibilance again? I remember reading what it was, but now Ive forgotten


pantsonfire:

Thanks for reminding me of DLS. I thought I had thought of everything when I made my list, but I missed these How much are the Iridiums?


Thanks

Dave

Heya mate, for prices check out this site
http://www.fastfoursforumscarclub.com/temp...os/products.asp

Your choice of music is interesting, but not unique.
I personally would choose the Esotar, and seeing as you have nice kicks, they should go brilliantly. However, dont cheapen the experience with crap gear everywhere else though. They need the best.
Vocals/Pianos/Jazz are really Esotar material, the Supremo is good but more open and spacious. It doesnt convey emotion as well as the Esotar IMO.
Usher is also very good on this. Ive actually run through his entire confessions album on a 240Esotar with custom passives. Very good indeed!

Be warned on Evanescence though. I love this band, and adore Amy-lee and her vocals (there is no one who can come close to her gut-renching solo's) but the quality of their recordings is average at best. Unfortunately, something like the Esotar will bring this out in your face, and tend to leave you quite dissapointed. Unfortunately, the Supremo will do the same thing.

DLS
Nobelium 6.2 $1799
8.2 $1999

Iridium 6.2 $1499
6.3 $1799
8.2 $1699
8.3 $1999

Ultimate Reference
UR6s $1199
UR36s $1499

Ultimate Pro
UP6 $799
UP36 $1199

There you go thats all the RRP of all the top end of the DLS range. Of course street price would be better.

Luke

~thematt~

Thanks for that website, but Ive had it bookmarked for ages It has a lot of prices, but doesnt have some stuff, like Rainbow.

Ive tried not to get crap gear elsewhere. So far all I have is an Alphine CDA 9853R, an Image Dynamics IDMAX 12" and a Phoneix Gold Xenon 1200.1. I have been looking for a Phoneix Gold Xenon 200.4 to power the fronts.

So the Esotar would be the better choice for a broad music type? I thought I read though that there arent any left in Australia?

Damn, I hope I dont find that to be the case with Evanescence. Ive been looking forward to hearing Lithium and Like You on my new system when I get it. Have you got The Open Door? When I first got it and put it in I remember thinking it sounded good, but that was with stock speakers though.


Luke352:

Thanks for those prices. Yeah I remember reading about the Nobeliums coming out not long ago. Would the 8.2's be lacking in the midrange?

Thanks

Dave

if you are in the south eastern or northern subs you can have a listen to my matrix elite setup

garunteed to impress

Remember though, that all Rainbow speaker lines do sound quite difference. Assuming they did have sibilance issues, it would likely not be the case with any others because I can tell you straight away that the Profi and Vanadium tweeters sound completely different to the Power tweeters, and likewise the Platinums sound different again.

I actually haven't yet noticed any sibilance issues in my power tweeters, however i've also not yet had them installed in my car yet (only heard them set up in my house).

Once they are installed and set up, then I will give a definate feedback on the presence (or lack of) sibilance, but i've not noticed any so far

Thanks Fudd, I mean Vanilla Ice

I live in the dirty south of Brighton, but I could come up to have a listen.

I don't think you'll find any midrange lacking issues with the Nobelium or the Iridiums, though if you were concerned you can run the Iridium midrange with the Nobelium set without any issues as they come with there own passive and this is a proven setup as it is actually the setup most of the DLS international competitors used. Another useful feature is the tweeters are able to play cleanly down to 1khz, there Fs is 900hz. I've hooked mine up high passed at 100hz and they sounded fantastic of course I wouldn't leave them like that as I don't think they would last to long though.

Luke

Of the list that appears at the top of this thread, we have most of them here for audition. We are also currently in talks with DLS in order to become dealers. If that happens than we will have the Nobeliums here too soon.

Dude, you are only 15-20mins from fudd. I'd recommend a listen if you get a chance

yeah....

not to blow wind up fudds bum,

but his car is my inspiration...

simple cheap,

and effective,





oh, and also, the best car audio experience iv had...


you dont have to spend 6k on speakers for it to sound nice...

Luke352:

Thanks, yeah I dont think I probably would hear a lack of midrange. Its just when I posted the question about the 9" Supremo midbass, everyone said there would be a loss in the midrange. So I thought I would ask.

Fhrx:

I know you have a lot of them set up in demo cars, but unfortuneately your up in NSW. Have you considered branching out and opening a store in Melbourne?

Fury:

Yeah I probably will when I get a chance. Its a pity CAASQ has finished, then I could have heard a few in one go, back to back. How often do Vic people have meetings/bbqs etc?

-Charlie-

I know, but then am I really liking the speakers, or am I just really liking his install/tuning ability? Its hard to tell when auditioning how much of whats good and bad about what your hearing is because of the speakers, or a good/bad install and tune.


Thanks guys. Keep the opinions and descriptions coming, they're interesting

Dave

P.S Woo hoo, my Chesky Records: 10 Best just arrived. Now I can have a good before and after comparision

fudds eq WAS on flat when i heard it, most of it, as far as imaging and staging was concerned was due to install,

but, the tonality of the speakers, and the detail was the natural ability of the speakers...

the mids are good/great, the vifa xt25, is fantastic/almost perfect,

dont use more dollars than sence,

think about what you wnat,

if you want prestige, get a n all focal, all hertz all whatever tickles your penis setup,

but, if you want natural sound, the only way real sound should be,

get some competent drivers, ala vifa, scan, seas, a nnice two way setup,

get a nice two/four channel, depending on if your going active or, if your really serious, get a custom passive made, with zobel network etc...


trust me, not many people will say it, but there is wank factor prestige, then there is real accurate natural beautifull sound...\

your choice my friend...


p.s i just spent alot of money on wank factor, and now, ill be going back to basics for a cheaper simpler better sounding setup minus the prestige

Of course I want some wank factor, but the sound is really what Im after. So are you saying that that Focal, Hertz, etc arent as good as Vifa, Scanspeak and Seas and they're mostly wank factor?

I want what sounds best. Im not just after a particular brand.

Dave

how are hertz of focal wank factor, Hertz is a very under rated brand,
both have just won European design awards

its your money, its proven that people who spend there money wisely toward sound before looks and esteem have better sounding cars...

i fell into that trap, i wont do it again, just a word of warning, you can get excellent sound from not alot of money...




oh, and european design awards dont get won without marketing, some companies choose to spend the marketing money on r&r, thats y some give better sound at a lower cost

thats one thing i like about the OZ splits, there aint no wank factor. no pretty cosmetics just pure sound.
your not paying for there marketing department! your paying for R&D

and i'm sure Dynaudio, Boston, Focal, Quart, Rainbow, Morel and many others are exactly the same...it's not like any of the brands above are heavily marketed like say Sony is ...just because a brand is obscure,new or exclusive does not make it better in the real world outside o fthe internet or make other more mainstream products inferior...judge equipment on it's performance...if it sounds good to you who gives a f*** if it's well marketed or they spend 10% of their revenue on R&D

i Think if your claiming Hertz is wank factor you should seriously look again apart from hertz top of the line Mille series the rest of the gear is very basic looking

i have owned hertz dude, i know what they look like.
the OZ dont even have a sticker with there name on them, plain black baskets with plain black cones. nothing extra spent on them.

dyn come close, the rest all come with fancy grills and crap.

not saying there not good speakers, but i rather see the money im spending on speakers (that is something that produces sound) to sound better than they look.

how bout DLS, now those are some boring looking speakers especially the iridiums. but they sure sound nice

im glad you understand me fudd...

bottom line is,

if a 2 speakers cost 1000 dollars each, and one company spends 100% of its resource and revenue on R and D,

the other company spends it on wanky baskets, wanky new cone material, ala the type x sub,

i will bet my bottom dollar that the first speaker will sound better...


feel me??

i dont think there that boring, but then again i dont think they sound that nice either. not my cup of tea

i have the rainbow profi vanadium mids. after listening to a number of cars i can still say that they r the best sounding mids i have ever heard in a car.

to me, they make the music come alive. i've auditioned many a different setup and they simply cant be beaten.

but then, i own a wank system full of tru tech gear and rainbow gear so it must sound like crap.

i know what ur sayin charlie, but ur setup to be honest was only half finished. it had the makings of becoming a pretty dam good sounding car. it really wouldnt be fair to start comparing ur install against robs, given the amount of time he has spent tuning and the amount of experience he has installing speakers.

if i gave my system to rob, i bet he could make it sound really really nice. BUT it may or may not sound really really nice to me.

guess wat im saying is, dont judge a book by its cover. sure it may look bland, or it may look wanky. doesnt have an impact on to how i percieve it sounds. i would buy the cheapest, craptest looking speaker around, if i believed it sounded the best.

I dunno about that, if you think about it logically spending $5 at the factory to place a sticker and wanky basket on a product results in moving 10,000 more units per annum than one without, may allow that manufacturer a greater R&D budget without increasing the cost price, simply because it shifts more units at the same price.

Think gross profit rather than net profit.

Besides, everyone on here loves to have something that no one else has. Reminds me of certain IASCA World Champs who claim their speakers were "Brand X Prototypes" when they were infact made by Brand Y...problem was they were sponsored by Brand X whose speakers sounded like crap

fair point ultim8dtm,


i wasnt comparing mine to robs steve,

my car has alot of work to be done, and im still waiting on the store for my warranty, i was saying exactly that, just cos something is shiny, doesnt mean itll sound good,

and that even the blandest looking speakers can sound sh!t hot...

I know what your saying Charlie. I agree that you shouldnt buy stuff just because it looks awesome, you have to listen to them. But I never said I was going to buy something that just looked good. My question was where could I listen to those speakers I listed, so that I could hear them for myself and decided what I like. Thats why Im not really sure how all this started.

Thanks for the input though everyone

Dave

I think if you have a 'fully sick showcar' then looks become important, but I think even relatively plain/dull looking speakers/subs (such as DD's for example) can look amazing if installed creatively

lol, i wonder where my IDMax fits into the scheme of things. Its got chrome, speckled paint basket, huge triple stacked magnet, and cool looking sticker on the cone.

Oh and the esotars has the mellow song as matt explained but there is a lot of detail with it too. I know it may sound impossible, but they are a leap in front of the normal 2 way dyn set.

Iridum's certainly are a very nie sounding speaker and they definately have an understated look about them.

Certainly no bling there, but definately worth auditioning.

There are two varients of the Platinum line - active (without crossovers) and passice (with crossovers). Give a call to any of the authorised Rainbow dealers, and they should be happy to tell you the RRP of both sets.

I'd prefer not to quote prices, as I haven't seen a set-in-stone price in several months, and they may easilly have changed since then.



I've actually heard a couple of Hertz sets, namely the Mille's and HSK165's.

The HSK's are quite good for the money, and imo one of the better sets at that price point.

The Milles are nice, but didn't blow me away the way $2,000 worth of speakers should. In fact, Dynaudio and Rainbow both have left a much stronger impression on me, and both did it for half the price.

I wouldn't say that hertz have no wank factor. Their Mille line are probably one of the most styled sets of high end speakers / subs i've ever seen. Cone shaped cones, chrome lined Ribbon mids, chrome covered tweeter grills, shiny magnets - hardly 'typical' in appearance. That's not to say they don't perform though.



My old Rainbow Profi's were much the same in that respect. Black basket, black cone. The only thing that stood out was the aluminium Phase Plug (which is optional anyway).

The Vanadium / Power / Platinum ranges look a little more shiny, but that's because they have metal cones, and metal tends to be shiny.

The Reference line is imo the sexiest speaker set on the market period, however given how much they cost I'm sure flashing them up a little didn't take too big a bite out of their R&D budget



An IDMAX is defiantely not what I'd consider a wanky sub.

In fact, thats what I loved so much about mine. Mounted cone out, it has to be one of the most conservative looking subs around. No fat-ass surround (they use surround-height instead of thickness to maximise cone area), no pretty colours (Grey black dust cap on grey cone), and only a very, very basic company logo in the middle. From the back, the basket looks strong thick. Magnet is sexy because of it's triple-stacked thickness. Most of the visual aspects of the IDMAX are a result of functionality much like DD, Oz Audio, Treo, Crosfire, JL Audio (most models) etc.

Some other high subs such as Alpine Type X, Diamond TDX, Hertz Mille, Vibe Space etc do seem to put a little more thought into prettying them up a little, but this doesn't necesarilly mean they sound bad. These subs all have a very good reputation.

I wouldn't consider DLS boring looking either, with the glossed paper / yellow / silver and black cones, chrome magnets, gold terminals and screws, colorful crossovers PCB's and basketball-style grills. Clearly designed for function over form, but to me they dont have quite the visual simplicity of say Oz, Dyn or Morel.

Focal are a little bling heavy, however they also have a great reputation for sound so not sure if the whole looks vs performance thing is all that much to go by?

Opinions, there all out there thats for sure..

which ones are more valid?

Ive had many sets of speakers (Focal utopia, Morel supremos, DLS iridiums, Dynaudio, and currently Hertz Mille) and run all in the same car, same amp, same deck (lancer, Zapco 750.2, Alpine 9831 at the time)

Also heard Rainbows, not sure which ones, he said they were around $900 from the distributor himself in his own car..dont want to hurt anyones feelings, these too had there great and bad points, as do all speakers.

so comparing speakers is only fair if you have heard them back to back, same amp same car same deck same install location.. anyone can PM me if they want.. too many sales rep type opinions on these forums

Can you comment on the Hertz's strengths and weaknesses?
And have you heard the 3-way (obviously out fo car?....mmm ribbon midrange?)...

I havnt heard the ribbon midrange yet, love to soon though,
Im very impressed with the Mille 2 way's overall dynamic sound right through, staging is the best ive ever had in this car. 10-15 hrs first break in, but after over 100 hours they started to really shine. In my opinion these tweeters are even clearer and more defined then my supremos, which were excellent tweeters. Midrange is also excellent for a 2 way setup, a little bit of EQing here. To find a weak point, if you are after the loudest midbass, the old utopias were louder flat, but no chance of being close to the SQ of the Mille, especially for bass guitar

hey Paul. if ur talking about George and his civic, then im pretty sure they are: 'Rainbow Profi Vanadiums'



- mad89

Yeah Rick thats what they were, his car was an older Accord though, hehe

By all means, all speakers have their ups and down, and theres no question that it also comes down to personal taste.

As said, the Mille set definately are good speakers, I just found them more on par with sets i've heard around the $800 - $1,000 price point. At their current price point, then are essentially in direct competition with the likes of Rainbow Platinums, Focal Utopia Be, Dynaudio Esotar, Phass Al-nico, and the like. Haven't heard most of these, but I have heard the Platinum mids, but the tweeters are the best i've heard, with the supremo's coming in second.

To be honest, I was expecting a lot from the setup, and while it definately sounded quite good, it just didn't jump out and 'wow' me the way I felt it probably should have.

No advertising here - I can guarantee that I dont praise Rainbow just because I use them, because this isn't the way I approach audio. Many who know me will know i'm extremely picky with my sound, and I'm never happy until something sounds exactly how I want it to. I didn't love the sound of my Rainbows to death, then I'd have sold them all long ago, and replaced them with another brand of speaker. I've loved every set of Rainbows I have heard to date - so much so that I even considered buying my old profi's back of the guy I sold them to. In my car they sounded a little average but this was due to my installation which at the time, was rough at best. I'm very aware of how good they could have sounded

A lack of bias should be clear in how frequently I praise other products, particularly Image Dynamics and Dynaudio.

I've heard that same car with the Vanadium's, and I can truthfully confirm it to be the best sounding in-car setup i've yet heard. To be fair, this is due to the installation and setup just as much as it is to the components in it, but if you hear that car again in it's current state of tune it's easilly the closest i've ever heard to pinpoint accurate imaging, and perfect staging. It also has a pretty much perfectly linear frequency response, and has the strongest midbass impact i've heard in a car (until my powers go in, maybe). If you listen to car in it's current state, you may be impressed.

This is purely my personal opinion though, and we will all have different ones - it's what makes us human.

Oh, HypE_STi:
I'll be happy to give you an audition of my car once the install is completed. I'd genuinely value your honest impression of it, and would like to hear your critical opinion.

haha... yeh i wasnt sure... civic sedan... accord... close enuf!

awesome speakers tho!

- mad89

so whats the conclusion?

The conclusion is that...
Every morning is the dawn of a new error.


LOL seriously, there is no conclusion! It is all a personal preference =)

Hi guys,

Well yesterday I went for a drive to listen to some speakers. First I went to Phatt Audio Concepts. I met Brett there and he told me how they are currently moving to their new premises and are building their showroom, etc so they didnt have any speakers to listen to. We had a chat for a while anyway, and he offered to get a customer to come in on the weekend to give me a listen to the OZ Matrix Elites. I asked if it was Fudd and it was Both him and another guy raved about his car. So I told him I would come back in a few weeks when they had everything up and running and listen to some speakers then. He took my number and said he would give me a call when everything was ready.

Then I decided to go to Hektik Car Audio. Took ages to get there, including a 20 min walk from where I parked because I thought the safeway carpark close to it I got there and the only thing they had in the bracket I was looking at was some Dynaudio 3 ways. It didnt even say which ones, just Dynaudio 3 ways. I asked which ones they were and the guy didnt know, he had to go ask someone. They turned out to be the System 260's. He told me that he used to have top of the range focals in his car, but after he heard the dyn they blew the focals out of the water. Out of curiousity I asked which focals he had, he wasnt sure, he was like 'ummm not the polyglass, the ones above'. I was thinking this guy doesnt seem to know anything, he doesnt know what the top of the line focals are, he doesnt know what products he's selling and he doesnt even know what speakers he brought for his own car Maybe it was just a bad day for him.
Anyway I listened to the 3 way dyn's on the demo board and it must be true about demoboards not being very good, because they sounded just average. This is the first time Ive heard higher end speakers and to me they didnt sound much different from any other speaker Ive heard. In fact my stock speaker in my car probably sounded better. I listened to it without the sub on, I dont know if that made a difference. I dont know what I expected really, but I guess I thought hearing a higher end speaker for the first time they would leave some sort of impression on me. Im certainly not going to rule out the dyn's just because of that listen on a demo board though.

Then I headed back to my car to find for some reason someone had been kind enough to leave an Australian Swingers magazine on my windsheild

Anyway, hopefully next week I can get to some more places.

Thanks

Dave

Go to AB moorabbin, they have a set of Polk Mono reference on the demo board. I was quite impress when i heard these and i don't get impressed much

I cant talk for the new dyns, but the older dyns running off the standard crossover don't sound that crash hot on a demo board. They were overly warm and couldnt fill the room (mind you the room was rather large)

However, in a car, running a modified crossover, I found the dyns to be a great speaker, warm and slightly laid back, of course, depending on your tastes, you may hate this.

But yes, 95% of the time, car speakers sound better, in a car.