"If you don't like Focal (wonderfully accurate tweeters, particularly the TN52's such as the old Utopia and newer K2Power sets have), and you don't like JL (the ZR's upscale my old favorite accuracy-bang-for-the-buck XR damped aluminum domes - great detail), sounds like you are simply not a "hard dome" kind of guy.
Check out DLS, that would be my suggestion."
Wasn't the tweeters that bothered me, more the midbass drivers. Keep in mind I did like the Z6s, which are also a hard dome, and that Polk SRs are off the list (Vifa XT compact ring radiator, may as well consider it a softie). I respect both, I don't discriminate
. I prefer metals for well recorded material, though with more mainstream crappy recordings soft domes tend to be more forgiving. I love the JL XRs as a budget set, IMO nothing touches them for the money spent. I feel it's a situation where JL outdid themselves so much with the XRs that the ZRs aren't as much an improvement as would be expected for the price tag. Main place I preferred the Z6 and Lotus Reference sets over the ZRs and Focals is in midrange. Main thing I don't like about the Polykevlars is that the warmth is a little too much IMO, I also like midbass to be on the dry side (just preference coming into play). I liked the ZRs a little better than the Focals in that regard, they do have a bit drier midrange and midbass reproduction than the XRs, but they're still a tad on the warm, dark side. Tweets are lovely, though. Focal tweets have excellent detail, but they're a pain to work with and I have limited install options. I like the Lotus Reference tweets better than both, though, I'd have to spend more time with the Boston Zs to decide whether that one is better, worse, or whatever.
DLS are nice, I've already got the Dynaudio System 360, though. Fairly similar, though the DLS is a little more lively. DLS I wouldn't run without going active, though, a bit too quirky. I'm limited in space to a point that I'm forced to use passives on this one. I like the Iridiums and especially their relative ease of install compared to the Dyns due to the midrange, but I'm looking for something a little less dark. Especially saying the Dyns may migrate to a new F-150 in the near future, I can have the best of both worlds,
If I do the Lotus route, I'll probably do the metal tweet and I do have some XRs here that I could use the tweet in pillars or the dash as ambient tweeters, as well as aiding in the top octave (where the Lotus tweets tend to lack a little bit, esp. off axis).
