H-Audio Enigma Tweeter

[Megalomaniac]

Okay I got the go ahead to reveal what Tweeter X was/is It was a prototype at the time of testing, now in production(but wont be available until a few more months), model from H-Audio called the "Enigma".

Build Quality

- When I first received these from my H-Audio Dealer to test out, Stereo Clarity I was real impressed with the material used for the flange. It wasnt plastic, it was a cast metal type of flange. Extremely sturdy and durable. The tweeter has a small amount of texture to it too, so it doesn't look too boring. The tweeter does weigh a bit heavy for the size, but that actually made me smile when holding it, you wouldn't expect that kind of weight from just looking at it.

Installation

- The tweeter is pretty shallow, it does not have a large chamber, which lead me to believe these wont be able to play low. You can mount these almost anywhere. These are top mount tweeters that need to be "pressure" fitted, so cutout is very important when installing them. I chose to mount them in the corners of my dash(00' accord sdn) on-axis sitting on some acoustic foam. I didn't actually mount them solid to a surface because my tweeters right now are way larger than these and the mounting hole would not fit for them.

Equipment List

Source: Eclipse CD7000

DSP: Eclipse CD7000

Mids: Hertz HV165 (50hz-2.5khz, but not more than 4khz) 12db slopes

Tweeters: H-Audio Enigma (2.5khz+; thats the lowest I went, i played with other xovers points too)

Sub: Stereo Integrity Mag v3 (40hz and down) 12db slopes

Amp: NINe.5

Tonality

- First CD I listed to was a mix CD we made at the DFW tweeter showdown day. It had a bunch of music from the Focal discs. Lots of classical and jazz string playing on this CD, I don't the names of the songs but I do remember one of them was "Mumbai Theme". The triangle in that song is well defined, like razor sharp defined. You need no level eqing to align it. The trade off to this well defined stage is the sound does sound rather thin and not full enough, at least for my tastes.

- Tool - "Stinkfist", "Aenma", "Lateralus", "46&2" why? because I really wanted to jam out at the time, I wanted to see if it could handle the crunch of the guitar all over the place. and boy it does it well! It was like I had just listened Tool Cd for the first time ever. You could really hear the high hats and ride with no bleed at all! The toms and kick drum sounded snappier than ever. I thought my windshield was going to break it sounded like a hammer hitting the windshield(obviously exaggerating a bit, but it really does sound better and snappier than I have heard before). I didn't sense any ear fatigue after listening for an hour so.

Side Thoughts

- These can be played down to 2.5khz, but I do not recommend that you do! Try to keep these at least at 4khz on upwards. These should be used in a 4-way setup(3way front stage) if all possible. If you want to use these in 2ways like I have, make sure your mids can play pretty high to bring in the fullness.

- For fun I tested them in the house, they performed pretty weak in the house. I noticed the same thing when testing Hybrid Audio's L1v2. But the moment you listen to them in the mobile environment it sounds completely different(for the better)! In the house they sounded dull and lack of top end. If I have to guess the tweeters are relying on the odd curves a shapes of the car to act as a waveguide and react with that to bring back that sparkle. In the end it worked well in my opinion.

- I do not know of any pricing on them at the moment, since these were the final prototypes that I had gotten to test for free. Please do not ask me for any prices on them. email/call your H-Audio Dealer for more information on that.

Conclusion

Pros:

- A great little 1" tweeter for running in a 3-way application, and 2-way (under close supervision)

- Gets loud enough, clear, tonality is well neutral for my standards, solid materials the tweeters are made out of, and shallow depth.

- No Bling! (one of the reasons I didnt like HAT was the fact it had too much chrome/shiny alloy to them)

Cons:

- Doesnt disperse wide as I would like them too, but this could be install related

- Sounds thin when running on a lower X-over point, not H-Audio's fault since they don't recommend running them lower than 5khz, it was not designed for that at all.

- Sensitivity could be better

* These are just my opinions of the product, do not complain if my testing was flawed, because every testing will have flaws, I just tested real world. No anechoic chambers or Klippel testing from me

[AI James]

what kinda MSRP and what have you experiences that you would compare them too?

[Megalomaniac]

what kinda MSRP

You didnt read the review completely.

and what have you experiences that you would compare them too?

Hybrid Audio L1v2 & TBI HDSS

[AI James]

i wasnt looking for a price on them i asked what MSRP was. either way whatever, cool on performance but review does me no real use without knowing what the manufacture thinks they are worth.

im a big advocate of price to performance ratio

[Megalomaniac]

i wasnt looking for a price on them i asked what MSRP was. either way whatever, cool on performance but review does me no real use without knowing what the manufacture thinks they are worth.

im a big advocate of price to performance ratio

I still cannot answer that, because I do not know. I tested these when they were in the proto phase. They wont be released until a few months, that is when MSRP will announced, unfortunately. I wish I could answer it but I can't pull numbers from my rear

edit: just got the word from Mark(one of the owner's of H-Audio), they will be available mid next week! You'll get a price point by then!

Edited September 9, 2009 by Megalomaniac

[imfrom210texas]

edit: just got the word from Mark(one of the owner's of H-Audio), they will be available mid next week! You'll get a price point by then!

Price?

[Forevrbumpn]

took me forever to find it, not even on the webpage you posted