Hey guys, I’ve been seeing discussion on component sets, or speaker options in general, and thought I’d share my own experiences… or one route you could take

I set out to rip out the stock speakers in my girlfriends car, and replace them with a 2-way component set, while keeping costs down to a minimum.. No Focal, DLS, Macrom, or any other high end speakers here, just a solen / Madisound catalog, and 300 bucks.

I started out with fully deadened doors and a 9855 for processing duties. The Seas P18RNX is a fantastic driver for the cost @ $70.00 each, they are a great value. I also had great results with the LPG 25FA, but wanted to try the newer 26na, @ 35.49 each. you can’t go wrong for that price.






I had decided to sacrifice the rear Ch.s to run this 2-way system active off the deck (9855), so that passive crossovers wouldn’t be needed, as well as saving that expense of building XO’s… they will be ran with a small 75w x 4 amp.

I have the P18’s mounted in stock door locations, and the tweeters mounted in the pillars, no modification needed, aside from cutting a hole in the A-pillars, and flushing in the tweeters. On a side note, like most the pillars were angled so the tweeter couldn’t sit flat, and fiber glassing over the pillars for such a small purpose seemed like a hassle, So I ended up taking a large socket a little smaller than the cup for the tweeter, and wit a heat gun started to heat up the backside of the pillar garnish. With the heat gun on the backside, I was putting pressure on it with the socket until it pushed out the face of the pillar garnish enough so that I had a round flat spot on the plastic, then I drilled a hole with a hole saw for the tweeter cup, and popped them in.

Now onto the set-up. I have the P18’s high passed at 65hz 18db slope, and they play all the way to 3.5k. I have the tweeters, crossed at 3k 18db slope. I was a bit weary about using a metal dome in the gf’s car, as I wasn’t sure how that would go over, and sure enough they were too harsh for her, she wanted a more mellow sound, so out came the 26’s, and in went the good old LPG 25fna. A great textile tweeter, and the same price as the 26’s.

I have come to really like the P18’s for the midrange / bass duties, they are snappy, and smooth, and can go quite low considering. I had to really push them to get them to distort, and the midrange is quite neutral as well, very nice all around driver. They perform quite well off axix, as there aren’t any kick panel installations in the car. The LPG was incredibly open and airy in the top end female vocals especially were very well defined, a very detailed tweeter in the upper end. It however doesn’t play as low as I might have liked, but for the price, it’s something I’m more than willing to put up with… I have them crossed at 3k, and I wouldn’t take them any lower, as there was breakup, and distortion during testing at lower points.

In the end, I wanted to show that you can make up a practical, excellent sounding component set without breaking the bank. It seems the idea is to spend as much as you can, without knowing what you are really buying. The P18RNX, And 25fna aren’t the be all and end all of driver choices, but for the price, you can’t go wrong. Like I said earlier, the tweeters didn’t work out, but Solen was great and took them back without any questions, and shipped out a pair of the 25nfa’s. That however is just one of those things where personal preference comes into play, I personally liked the sound of the 26’s but who knows for how long, I have heard the LPG 25nfa’s time and time again, and they still sound fantastic, where the 26’s may have started to fatigue my ears after a number of days.

Regards, Mark

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I love reading this stuff, seems I am always too unwilling to experiment.

that's what's nice about setups like this, you're not experimenting with a 600 dollar set of speakers, granted you're shelling out a couple hundred bucks, but Solen's return policy is very good, and as long as the speakers don't have any visible signs of wear, like scratches or anything like that, they will take them back..

regards, Mark

__________________
For Sale : Viper 160xv R/S - make me an offer!
..............Apple I-Sight - make me an offer!
msn: relecom@telusplanet.net

Good to know about Solen, I have used many parts from them in the past for building crossovers, but I never took the leap with drivers. Although, years ago, there was a certain vifa/morel setup that had the guys talking, and I almost bit!

I'm running a similar setup, but I only have CA18, which I got for 100/pair, can't complain .

I also like the LPG silk tweeter, but my only complain is that it doesn't sound good when pushed hard and I cross it at 5k only. I'm looking at various tweets to replace it, but I don't think there's anything worth the replacement, unless I go big $ on the tweeter .

But hey, nice to see someone else running a diy setup.

I'ved used the C18RNX, haven't tried the RLY though, they were nice, but the bass output of the P18 is a lot better and the midrage is nicer as well.

Mark

__________________
For Sale : Viper 160xv R/S - make me an offer!
..............Apple I-Sight - make me an offer!
msn: relecom@telusplanet.net

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