Mb Quarts Reference Series

Listen to them, if you like them and they are a good deal, then go for it. These speakers are still made in Germany and to my ears sound quite nice.

 

Personally I'm not a fan, at all. Quarts are notoriously harsh. I really would try to listen to some before buying. Some people love the sound.

 

And some people don't think to adjust the tweeters output level down when they find them harsh. We all hear different, thus we should all have the tweeters level control's set to how we like them. In my MR2 for example, when I have the t-roofs out and the windows down, a conventional tweeter has a hell of a time producing anything in the form of sound that is audable, where the pure titanium tweeter of the MB Quart at least still has some degree of usable output.

 

:stupid:

 

The newest tweeter from MB sounds waaaaay better than previous models. I put two sets in our Minivan and it's the first metal dome I cna tolerate. I usually only like textile domes.

 

I'm not really gonna say I dislike metal tweets period, seeingas 2 of my favorite speakers, the Boston Pro's and Focal K2's have metal tweets, but I've given Quarts alot of shots (I was offered an accommidations purchase on a set, so trust me it would've been worth it for me to like them) but even with the tweeters backed off as much as possible, and then even using signal processing, and I've just never found a decent balance. Turn down the highs toomuch ans you lose detail, but leave them up there and they can be downright painful. One thing very imortant to keep in mind is how you'll be mounting them. if you intend to put your tweets up high, I'd say forget the quarts. If they'll be kick or lower-door mounted, you might be alright. But then again, this is by MY personal ear. It's quite obvious that ppl's ears differ, so really do what you cna to try to atleast listen to something similar, I've slipped before and let a good deal get the better of me, it's never as good when you've got to re-do everything to get what you really wanted in the first place.

 

I agree 100%. I've head tons of metals including very expensive models for home audio and they just sound like poop to me. BUT the front MBs in our van are mounted at floor level in the stock location of the Nissan Quest. The tweets are mounted coax style so they install was stealth. So they are way off axis, which unto itself can tone down harshness. The other set is way in the back of the van for rear fill. BUT you must listen to speakers and decide for your self. People have their likes/dislikes and your music choice will impact preference as well. I'm a heavy metal fan and I like a warm Neutral to laid back set of components. The MBs were my wife's choice because it is her ride. I used to run morels (very nice) and I now run CDTs in my current install. Use your ears and buy what you like.

 

There's alot of things going on there. I highly doubt there'd be any form of freq cutoff in your car, but what model/year is it? If in doubt, you can always just run new wires all the way through. But to be painfully honest, I noticed a sony deck listed in your sig. People will bash sony allday, but this is the one true experience that I've had.

The last stereo I had stolen was a kenwoodmp3hu (the first MP3 compatible deck they made it wa expensive and slow)/eclipseamp/kenwood (pre-excelon) dualmag component setup. I also had a round solabaric running off of a pio amp. At anyrate, Deck, sub and subamp were jacked. (yay underseat eclipse) So I was broke, especially after having to pay to get my car out of impound and then the broken window. Fortunately a friend graciously loaned me a "nice" sony deck (it was an upper-mid-line model) I figured I'd be fine with no sub, just play my components fullrange and it'd be alright. WRONG. Nomatter what I did, the sony deck jsut plain sounded horrible. I honestly preferred to have no music in my car, it sounded THAT bad. I really have no idea HOW they could possibly have f'd things up thatbad because I'd kinda liked their home audio stuff, but DAMN... Finally got a new kenwood deck, and problem solved. INSTANTLY better.

Nowthen, I have no clue if allsony hu's are like this or not, but generally on the soundboards I'll get the same sort of impression, not quite sure what's wrong, but it's like someone turned on some "digital boost" effect that's all out of whack. And thus, from my experience, sony HU's are kindof a weakpoint. I'm not trying to knock what you've got, but it's a different variable that might be making things sound weird.

As for your speaker location... if you're just trying to get some sound in your car, rear-deck is fine, but you're on an enthusiasts forum, and I prefer not to talk down to people, so EEEK!!! please please just try a decently amped set of decent speakers upfront, and perhaps stock rears off of HU power if you want to try to wean yourself form "balanced" sound. Especially with deck-mounted speakers, the problem isthat they're in a much more efficient head-level place, reflecting right off of the window and into the back of your head. It legitimately takes about twice the output upfront to keepup with deck-mounted rears. Ideally, a good stereo should sound like you're at a show, where if you were to close your eyes you could "see" musicians on a stage on top of your dash.

What kind of setup is stock on your car? there's gotta be something you can drop-in and get some decent sound. Honestly, just leave the back speakers alone. don't amp them, don't change them, hell, don't hook 'em up. Which kind of brings us to another thing. Are you going to be amping these or just running them off of HU power?

 

I know the reference series from experience. I have the reference series RCE 113 in the back of my tahoe, and i also have a set of the premium series of the PSD 216's and a set of the PCE 216's. You really need to go premium. the new PCE's (updated version of the PSD's) 216 series or 213 component series (the 5 and 1/4 " equivalent to the RKC 213's) really beat the shit out of the reference series. The premium series are SHARP as fuck, and they sound incredible. They sure sound a hell of a lot better than ANYTHING i've ever heard, including polk momo's, the boston acoustic z6 series, and any JL components. You must go up to a shop and check out the premium series for yourself, they are fuckin nuts....

I guarantee you can get them for less than $280 bucks.. you gotta check out the Premium series for yourself...

 

I was pretty trashed when i wrote that. I lied about the polk momo's.. i heard a really nice setup last night, and they sounded great. mb quart, IMHO, makes great sounding speakers..

you guys outta hear the newer Q series or premium series tweeters- they don't sound near as harsh as they used to.

 

when it comes down to it, anything high end by good manufacturers- JL, Adire, Boston Acoustics, Polk, MB Quart etc.. will be satisfying in the end..

 

I'm with Sandt38, (not often in disagreement with the guy either)
Metal tweeters can often be WAY too harsh for me. But i've heard a few lately that surprised me, and now i'm finding that "crispness" can be more pleasing than soft dome tweets. It really depends, and on alot of factors. But anyways...

For one, i say, either keep your car.... or keep your gear aside.
I'm in a similar position as you. Got a shit car and awaiting spring to buy anew.
For the last... months... i've been planning my install.

As it stands i've got components and a pair of amps from Cadence. At the same time i bought their home theater speakers, which i love. Now i'm trying to find a good deal for the head unit.

I don't believe you can do better than Alpine for a HU. I'm also considering a particular Clarion because it's $150+ less, but regardless, Alpine has alot going for it.

This stuff is going to sit in it's boxes until i get the new car.
Theres just no sense in spending the money on liquid/spray/mat to deaden this car, spending the time on installing and fabrication... when it's all just a waste. I can wait!

If you don't plan to keep your ride, buy "ok" speakers to get you by... if you must.
Spend your money on better things, like a 6.5" component set, or even a 3-way set, and do a nice custom install on the new vehicle.

It's really well worth doing it right, instead of all the compromises you'll make with "factory" locations, trying to make it good.

And i don't suggest ever using factory wiring. It's sub-par and so easily redone that theres no sense in compromising your system with what many times amounts to be junk.

Finally, let me add that... it's true... with a really nice set of components, PROPERLY installed up front, with a good clean amplifier powering them... you won't even want any rear speakers. at all. You just don't need them!

A good HU, One amp on components, and one amp on a subwoofer,
and you are good2go!

 

Q-Logic panels suck.

You can get custom glassed kicks for the same price, or LESS, than the cost of those lousy Q-logic things. Pre-fab stuff never matches the drivers, and that guarantees a lousy install. You can't "aim" Q-logics either, they go where they go and that's where they stay. They are flimsy, and therefore screw the pooch for midbass.

I mean, as lousy as factory locations sometimes can be... it would be better than using Q-logic. If they were $40... then i could see "working" with them, to improve ridgidity and whatever modifying in order to aim better...

but the friggin' things are like $150 !!! Thats my biggest problem with em.


you can use 5.25" in stock locations, and 6.5" in the rear...
without the ability to aim them, you're better off going with coaxials

Given properly deadened and sealed doors, along with 75-100 watts per channel, coaxials will be good... they'll certainly be easy to install. CDT makes some and thezeb.com was selling em for $50/pair.

 

yeah... two more items to note -

1. a lousy install will make the worlds best speakers sound like SHIT
a great install can make the shittiest speakers sound much better, even good


2. a stock headunit guarantees you your sound will not be "great"
it offers No time alignment. time alignment is more than necessary if you can't aim the drivers right.

it offers no EQ, Crossovers, or pre-outs. While the EQ and x-over issues can be handled outboard... the pre-out is a big issue. Line converters or high-level inputs suck as a rule and generally create noise.

Stock units are made to be "sufficient" and not to excel. at anything.
If you think theres no difference in sound quality, get a good Alpine, and do an A-B test.

 

i can't edit :blowup:

time alignment isn't necessary, if you dont care about staging.
if you want "concert hall" experience in your car, then T/A is likely needed, stock locations are a definite gamble, and rear speakers are bad.

if you just want it loud without distortion and good tonality, without caring about being able to pinpoint the vocals directly center, in front of you, at ear level...

then it's a much easier task to accomplish, using stock locations, good coaxials, and stock headunit... along with high-quality line converters and good amps for the speakers. Front and rear speakers are desired in this instance.

If you don't want to cut into a-pillars, don't want to bother with custom kick panels, and a high-end headunit... then i don't think i'd bother with component speakers... it could do more to expose flaws in the system, than help anything.

badly aimed tweets are just not forgiving.