15 years ago I had a pair of Jordan JX53 in fiberglass pods in my car and I wonder what would be the modern equivalent?
1, low end is not critical. The way I used the JX53 was to cross at 600Hz up - not really full range but more like combined midrange/tweeter. Going lower would be nice to have but not the top priority. (You will say I crossed the JX53 way too high up, but I didn't have room for the proper enclosure size in a car.)
2, flat FR was not critical as I had to use a 30 band EQ to fight the listening environment anyway.
3, must be very shallow in mounting depth. (That's why the Eikona 2 was ruled out.)
Thanks in advance!
1, low end is not critical. The way I used the JX53 was to cross at 600Hz up - not really full range but more like combined midrange/tweeter. Going lower would be nice to have but not the top priority. (You will say I crossed the JX53 way too high up, but I didn't have room for the proper enclosure size in a car.)
2, flat FR was not critical as I had to use a 30 band EQ to fight the listening environment anyway.
3, must be very shallow in mounting depth. (That's why the Eikona 2 was ruled out.)
Thanks in advance!
These two people have tested a lot of small drivers, and published the results, see links.
Zaph|Audio
Timothy Feleppa's Pages
Zaph's tests are now 9(?) years old, but both of them rate the Fountek FR88EX 3" very highly, and Timothy prefers it to Fountek's newer driver. It has a shallower mount than the Eikona 2 and is about 5% of the Eikona price (!)
Another that may be suitable: Peerless NE65W-04. It is really tiny, and has good HF response relative to the bigger drivers. With the 600Hz highpass you mention, the tininess shouldn't really have any negatives.
Disclaimer a) I haven't heard either of these myself, but on paper they seem good, and their driver consistency seems to be high.
Disclaimer b) My level of HF hearing / my playback systems / my musical preferences mean that I'm not bothered by breakup and spiky response that's well over 10kHz.
Zaph|Audio
Timothy Feleppa's Pages
Zaph's tests are now 9(?) years old, but both of them rate the Fountek FR88EX 3" very highly, and Timothy prefers it to Fountek's newer driver. It has a shallower mount than the Eikona 2 and is about 5% of the Eikona price (!)
Another that may be suitable: Peerless NE65W-04. It is really tiny, and has good HF response relative to the bigger drivers. With the 600Hz highpass you mention, the tininess shouldn't really have any negatives.
Disclaimer a) I haven't heard either of these myself, but on paper they seem good, and their driver consistency seems to be high.
Disclaimer b) My level of HF hearing / my playback systems / my musical preferences mean that I'm not bothered by breakup and spiky response that's well over 10kHz.
I have gone thru quite a few FR88ex, they are good, but not near as elagant as the Alpair, and with the increase in price of the Fountek since i got them not all that more expensive.
I haven’t heard the Peerless but did have a pair thru here, very nice looking, but as i recall, not that shallow.
dave
I haven’t heard the Peerless but did have a pair thru here, very nice looking, but as i recall, not that shallow.
dave
Different strokes for different folks. I'm too lazy for blind and/or rigorous test setups, but have a lot of respect for people who do them. When a pair of clever chaps with well documented test rigs and pages of measurements (combined with subjective impressions) say something, I find that quite compelling.
Was it the NE65W-04? They are tiny - you could mount them in an espresso cup. The spec says 37.8mm deep.
I've seen some of the larger drivers in the NE series measured by 3rd parties, and they match the spec sheets pretty well, so I assume the crazy-good HF smoothness of the littlest one is a real thing. I'm tempted to get a pair, to see if I can actually hear the difference.
Was it the NE65W-04? They are tiny - you could mount them in an espresso cup. The spec says 37.8mm deep.
I've seen some of the larger drivers in the NE series measured by 3rd parties, and they match the spec sheets pretty well, so I assume the crazy-good HF smoothness of the littlest one is a real thing. I'm tempted to get a pair, to see if I can actually hear the difference.
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