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yup, I have the same problem with mine. But then again, it is the price you have to pay sometimes for good sound.

Jonathan wrote:I saw one Audiobahn demo vehicle that had the midranges in the door inverted to show off the chrome basket

Yeah, the one i saw was a WRX. Customized the amps to increase output, 1800 dt's i think (I actually like that series, minus the chrome ) . That was sweet, but the inverted midranges seemed a bit silly.

geolemon wrote:Convincing him to have confidence in Focal and Audison is actually what took effort, since he wasn't familiar with it.

You'd have to work to convince me to run Focal, too

I've grown to love them.

I like sets like DLS Iridiums too, but their soft-domes are the exception in my book... I absolutely crave the almost infinite depth of detail, which can be dulled a bit by most soft domes - and even the top-notch DLS domes, when compared to, say, a K2Power or Utopia Be (but of course ).

My all-time compromise tweeter favorite of all time, that I don't think should count as either a 'hard dome' or 'soft dome' (although technically it is metal) are JL's great XR set - I've had them for years.
And, the best vehicle I've ever heard in my life, I had the honor of getting a 20 minute long demo from Manville Smith at CES two years ago, the JL Mini, with the 5.1 setup, and their ZR components, a year before they were released. Amazing.

And none of them, IMO, suffering from the usual criticisms of hard-dome stereotype.

Yeah, the Lotus metal domes aren't really harsh either. Quarts aren't bad if they're tuned correctly. I had Utopias for a while, they're one of the most detailed tweeters out there, but it's like having more drawbacks than ribbons with fewer of the benefits IMO. Combines poor powerhandling with a rather aggressive low end and top end dispersion sucks. They do pretty good for a-pillar installs, though, and can sound pretty natural after tuning. The Be was better, not quite my cup of tea though.

I'm really starting to like rigid cone drivers now that motor designs are getting good enough to utilize them. I'm sure being one that has gone to CES numerous times you've heard SEAS Excels implemented 50 bajillion different ways. Perfect for a detail buff, moreso than Focal's mids

Well, the Beryllium cone TAD drivers were tremendously impressive (coincident source drivers), as were the less expensive, but close-cousin Aluminum cone (with Beryllium tweeters still) Pioneer setup.
Those sort of "rigid cone" drivers?

They were tremendously impressive in their own right - but after hearing the Bolzano Villetri earlier on, all I could do was pick and pick at the spatial flaws that are simply inherent in EVERYTHING, after hearing them. IN particular, I thought the soundstage simply died right at the speaker cabinets - width wasn't there... but that may be a function of the small room, not sure. They sounded significantly better standing up and as far back away from them as I could get (the TAD set).

SEAS never has complete units on display at CES - their booth always consists of a couple tables holding raw drivers for inspection.

On a positive note however, two years ago Dr. Wolfgang Klippel was demonstrating his complete suite of measurement tools, at the SEAS booth - and I had the pleasure of getting the entire enthusiastic presentation...
...and possibly the most flattering thing of all, was when HE tapped me on the shoulder in the car audio section, back at the main CES Las Vegas Convention Center south hall, recognizing me from the previous day - just to say hello. What a great guy!

If that's the sort of detail that you are looking for - the sort of thing you might associate with a "rigid cone" driver - you are probably simply a good 3-way candidate.
I've been converted, after hearing some DLS sets - but I still truthfully prefer the detail of a good TN52... or even a JL XR tweet.

For good Focal mids though - you have to hear the K2Power. I truly love it - but mostly in smaller form, I'll admit.

A local Ontario competitor won IASCA finals, rookie division, Jeep Grand Cherokee, factory locations - speaker adapters for a 5.25" set in the doors.
I heard it once, and he gave me a real impressive demo... or I should say, it was just impressive.
The 7-series BMW I did, (and then transplanted to his new 7-series) used two sets of 4" K2P's, the rears with the tweeters robbed (oh, whatever AM I going to find a use for these tweeters for... ), and it sounded stellar with the Logic7 factory midbass speakers backing things up.

Small cone = rigid cone IMO, but without the potential drawbacks of weirdo tinny resonances...

I am partial to the K3P set...myself. :)

back to the big sub thing...has anyone heard anything on the RE XMX...18 or 24 inch subs that has almots 9" of peak to peak excursion???

Only that it costs 10k. http://webdirectory.caraudiomag.com/web ... turer=3667
Another milestone developed for use as a symbol, I believe. That is, merely a demonstratoin of RE's technology exemplifying their potentail. Not unlike RF's 15K amp.

Can we say that it's worth less then sorta like the jackhammer? Or can the XMX really be used for a DD application?