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Experimented some more with the tweeters. First tried them in the kick panels, but I felt that it messed up my soundstage a little too much (sounded like everything was coming from below me). Tried on the A-Pillar at different angles but again, a little too harsh for me. I tried equalization but I couldn't get it too sound right without heavy equalization and then it seemed to be more song specific; if I changed the song genre, it really didn't sound right anymore.

I guess I might not just be "feeling" these speakers, or perhaps I should say hearing. I had a set of Utopia's in my last vehicle but it was a convertible so perhaps that's why the tweeter wasn't as apparent as it is now. I heard the Morels and Rainbows might be more relaxed and the sound I am looking for--can anyone give me some more input in what they think? I would prefer to stick with a passive solution for now, so that eliminates building a custom component system. Since Rainbow might be a little hard to track down, I was thinking about going with Morel since I have a local dealer in my area--what do you guys think?

My first install they were in the kicks (after trying a few other locations), but I am in the process of relocating them to the a pillars.

CAL25 tweets ;) They are the cats ass.

Perhaps I will try repositioning them before buying a different set. It's a good thing I only took a dremel to my factory tweeter panels (which are relatively cheap). I know every car is different, but how did you end up mounting your tweeters Jeremy?

Yeah I have the 52s and they can be a little harsh, but with a little work they aren't to hard to tame.

I would start with your install location. Take some double sisded tape, and just start playing with them. Try firing them at diffrent angles, moving them to diffrent places (keep the EQing to a min) and just see what you figure out.

Once you think you have found the best spot, do a little EQing, and see were your at. If you don't like it, grab the tape and play with the location some more.

Once you get it set to your ears, then permanatly mount the tweets, and tweak the Eq again.

I will be honest I hated the way my tweets sounded the first time I heard them, but I knew they could sound better. So I started playing, and was really happy once I finally got them set.

Are they just harsh or too loud at certain frequencies?

If they are just too loud at some frequencies, I would invest in an EQ. The head unit's EQ never seems to really give you the adjustment you are looking for.

Installing the tweeters off axis some will lighten the load, too if you want to go that route.

Well, I finally installed the speakers in my vehicle. Instead of using the McIntosh MC4000M amplifier, I decided to go with the Zapco Reference 650.6 for now since that was all I needed at the moment. It's currently running in three channel mode (150watt x 2 for front stage, 350watt x 1 for a future subwoofer). It's being fed the from a Alpine CDA-9815 through a Zapco Symbilink SLB-U Balanced Signal converter. Installed in the door in factory locations was a set of Focal Utopia 165W (6.5", TN51 tweeter). The tweeter is mounted on the door panel (where the side view mirrors are), slightly angled towards my dash. I can provide pictures if needed--it's nothing fancy. All new speaker wiring was ran and installed. These were all installed in a Mercedes CLK (W208).

[b]What do I think of everything? [/b]
The TN51 tweeters are extremely harsh, especially at high volume levels with the crossover set at -4 db. I tried to balance it through equalizations through the HUs built in Parametric EQ but it still is a little bit too harsh for me. I heard that I might have better luck installing the tweeters in the kick panel but I don't know how much that would help.
[b]
Does anyone have any recommendations? [/b]
If I consider them harsh, should I consider upgrading to the TN52 tweeter or should I try installing the TN51 tweeter at a different location? Should I go with a different brand all together? Should I bring it to a professional shop to see if they can tune it any better then I have? Should I run the speakers using my amplifier's crossover and not use the focal one so I can independently adjust the gains? Should I bi-amp the speakers to do this?

There are so many things that I can do but I don't know exactly where to start. Any feedback, input, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for everyone's opinion--it definitely broadened my knowledge on a variety of different brands. I have a lot to think about but I'll post up the progress of my system as I install everything.

True, there are integrated coaxials, the Morel Integras are an example, SEAS makes one in their basic lineup too.

Dustcap that functions as a tweeter, and one voice coil in the driver (as opposed to "tweeter mounted in place of dustcap" and the drivers using separate motors) just sounds like a whizzer cone to me :p haha

[quote="Jonathan"]Dustcap that functions as a tweeter? Sounds just like a whizzer cone to me :p
haha j/k. Haven't seen or heard those yet.[/quote]
See: KEF Uni-Q technology.
tweeter mounted on the end of the center pole in the middle of the midrange cone for imaging purposes.