88pro2

Got a chance to go listen to the Hertz stuff yesterday. 2 incar demos. 1st was 165xl,hl70,ht28 front stage with Hertz hdp5 powering them and was not bad but not exactly what I like. 2nd car was Mille ml1600,ml700,ml280 front stage with Audison Lrx power and I definitely liked that better. Didn't think the ml1600 had as much midbass as the xl did but thats my opinion. I also had him listen to my truck to see what he thought needed changing. Overall not bad (tweets alittle bright) but definitely needs more midbass in his opinion. I Only had a Memphis 5x7 filling in for the bad Focal K2p so that suffered slightly, but the other K2p was doing pretty good. It has plenty of sub, tweeter and most of the midrange is fine. He did not have the 8" SPL sv200L install done, so I couldn't listen to those but I looked them over and was pretty impressed with the driver. Based on what I heard I probably go with the Mille ML700 mid and ML280 tweeter and then double up the 165XL per door, although still contemplating the SPL SV200L instead of the XL's. Today i checked out the new Focal KRX2 set. If going 2 way, these are what I'll use since I definitely like these better. Nobody has the Focal 165KRX3 3 way set I can listen to around here, bummer. Only problem is I need more volume (using 372w per side now on the 2 ways) and just replacing my k2p set is not gonna do it. I either need to just double up the KRX2 woofers with 1 or 2 tweeters to get more volume. That would make my staging a little easier to do with only being 2 ways. I'm kind leaning toward the 3 way type setup though. If I go totally new it's either Hertz ML280, ML700, and ? midbass or Focal KRX3 set and double up the midbass drivers. Tweets and mids in the A-pillars or pods and the woofers in the doors. These options just add the expense of all new drivers I don't currently have. I can also go 3 way with the 130kp sets I already have. Just need to purchase the 4 midbass drivers. It's the cheaper way to go but the midrange speakers would be in the door just above the midbass drivers (about where the k2p are now), and the tweeter/s in the pillars by themselves. Not the greatest for staging but it doesn't sound to bad now. I will be getting an Audison bit 1 to play with the staging and alignment issues and so on. I'm gonna put at least 125+watts to mid/high and more to the midbass just to make sure I have enough reserve on hand. May swap or add amps once I get the drivers figured out.

If I can find a place near me to go listen I will check any and all options. I'm just not convinced about non-automotive speakers sounding good in a car environment. There are just not to many places left around here, but I can go from Chicago to Rockford to Madison to the Green Bay area if needed.

Been reading the forum a while now and finally decided to join. I am going to change my truck system shortly, since I damaged the midrange on my Focal 165k2p set in the doors (the glue came off the cone and the spider wire then broke). I have multiple items I can use and would aquire anything else to do the next install. I'll start with the speakers first. Focal told me to just upgrade the K2P woofer for the new KRX2 woofer and the rest of the components would stay the same. My only problem is I also want more volume too. Powering now with a Fosgate Power 650 bridged that is providing 372w per door. Maybe a little overkill but nice. I moved the tweeters to the dash to see if that helped bring the sound up higher and it did. I really don't see it getting louder with the current setup. I am seriously thinking about going 3 way now, and have several options to consider. I don't think a single 3 way setup will be much louder than a 2 way system so I may still need to double up. 1. I own 2 brand new sets of Focal 130kp 5.25 components and after preliminary testing they sound almost the same as the 165k2p but don't have quite the midbass. Therfore I may add dedicated midbass drivers for fill between the subs and these 5.25 components. Total speakers per door would be 2 6.5 or 8 midbass and 2 5.25 midrange drivers. Then the 2 tweeters would be up in the a-pillars. I am looking at going fully active to play with timing and so on. Only problem I see is the 5.25 are still in the doors. Realisically about 18-24" from the tweets. I also need to purchase the 6.5" or 8" midbass drivers yet. I am tossing around getting the 6.5" Focal KRX3 woofers($1200 for 4 locally) or the Hertz 165xl woofers ($600 for 4 locally) or possibly the Hertz Sv200L spl 8" woofers for a little more. I am going to the shop to listen to the Hertz this week and see how they sound. If I don't like them it will be all Focal then. Question, would the Hertz blend in ok with the Focal's as they would only be playing about 60hz to 350hz give or take a little. Also anyone have experience with the 8" Hertz spl line? Maybe I only need one 8" Hertz spl vs 2 6.5 drivers? The shop I'm going to is doing an 8" spl install now, but it won't be done for a while yet. 2. I could buy a dedicated 3 way set but that means almost $2000 for the Focals. Also thinking about still doubling the doors so that is $3-4k with 2 sets! Then I could do the two 6.5 midbass per door and have the two 3" midranges and the two tweeters in the a-pillars for excellent up high front staging. What kind of staging issue will doubling have and will an active Bit 1 or equivalent cure that? I will loose the rear fill and amp to make room for the extra new midbass amp and active x-over. I'm looking to have about 125 to 150 per midrange and thinking about 250-300 per midbass driver and up to 125 for the tweets if needed. My subs have 800 each. All gains can be independently adjusted. Do I need to run everything seperated to stage correctly or can I run the 5.25 set active in (but passive split to the tweets), and have the rest feeding from the active crossover? Just trying to run through my options here. I have also checked out other brands like JL, Memphis, ID, Rockford, and Kicker to name a few. I have not heard the DLS or DYNAudio stuff because no dealers are near me. Basically leaving me with Focal or Hertz. I hate to be long winded here, but I have way to much on my mind right now. Any help would be appreciated. If you know anyone in S.E. Wisconsin or N.E. Illinois I can make the trip to check them out.