Okay, so I've got 2 sets of nice high end 5-1/4 componets now, Kicker SS56.2's and CDT HD5's. with satnet560crossovers and 25mmsilk tweetrs. I for one need to decide between the two, but mostly I was just bored and REALLY wanted to hear good speakers head to head in the board at work today. Unfortunately with this town being as ghetto as it is, the nicest other speakers we've got are MBquart refrence, and Infinity Kappas. Especialy seeing as I'm not really fond of either two, the kickers and CDT's were amazing. Such a breath of fresh air to hear something decent in the room I spend half my time at work in. Both of them sounded quite nice. And either of them I would be quite pleased with long-term.
Listening conditions: Eclipse 8454HU, Phoenix Gold TI500.4 amp, Speakers in polyfilled approx .5cuft sealed chambers mounted at a roughly 45deg angle on each side approx 6" below ear level. CDT crossover jumper set for 5" Kicker crossover tweeter switch set to 0db (they also allow for a +1.5 or +3 boost)
Test music: My sampledisc mix2; NIN, Damien Rice, Atmosphere, Gangstarr, Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Everlast, DMB, Jack Johnson, Dave Brubeck, Rage, Flaming Lips, Rachel Yamagata, Coldplay, Gorillaz, Moby, Tori Amos, cursive, etc.
CDT's;
-Very efficient
-Excellent for higher pitched Female vocals kindof outshined the kickers in this
-unlike most speakers I've heard in a strange kinda hard to pin down way.
-They seem to create a larger presence in the room. (This is about all I can say because the room was kinda poorly setup for any true imaigng cues)
-Kind of "boomy" and have a weird resonance to them that becomes painfully obvious in Male Vocals (everlast, DMB, etc) and some of the lower raspy twists of female voice (Rachel Yamagata, etc)
-perhaps too accurate? it seems almost as though the ultra lightweight cones of the mids move too easily at times.
Kicker;
-quite inefficient. perhaps they need some more breakin, but compared to the above average efficiency of the cdt's it's obvious. even though they claim to be a 3ohm speaker, it takes a considerable crank on the volume knob to equalise the two. Not really anything bad, I'll have plenty of power to give them, just interesting.
-VERY veryclean and accurate sounding. Just smooth, even, accurate responce.
-really I don't have much to say, they sound good, REAL damn good. No particular strengths or weakness' to speak of. Very well rounded in their capability. I threw a bunch of music at them and never found a hitch. Very smooth, yet coudl still keepup with fast cymbals, highs, etc.
-imaging-wise they were much less "open air" sounding than the cdt's. More precise. Agian, it's kinda a poor setup to really get a good grasp on imaging.
Prettymuch what I noticed in switching back and fourth between the two isthat the CDT's even when I immediately adjusted the volume level to match took a little bit for your ear to "warm up" to. they'd sound a bit harsh and just strange in a way at first, but once you settled in for a couple of seconds, they were quite nice. The kickers, on theotherhand, switching to them was kind of like a sigh of good music. never anything unexpected, just pure clean accurate sound. This was kind of my same thought when I'd listened to them before buying, previously up against Focal K2p's, JLxr's? and Boston Pro's. This is a case where nothing standout, and just even smooth clean music is all I could ever ask for.
As I've said before, I'd be entirely happy with the cdt's. Their one drawback was the afforementioned boomyness and just sort of scattered responce in the lower end of vocals. Perhaps this is a functionof the enclosed chamber. I do suspect that the "room filling" aspect of their sound might make for some easier staging setup in-car. and I actually also do have a pair of their "image tweters" that would make for some more setup fun I supppose. Allthat said, The kicker's are definately going in my car. They jsut seem much smoother and more refined. This is kind of a relief to me seeing as I'd prettymuch planned on them being theones, but when I'd started wrapping my ears around the cdt's a bit inmy car, I started to think twice.
At anyrate I spose that's my little mini-review. In all fairness, the kickers retail for about a grand, and the CDT's are NOT their highest model. The HD5's setupa s I have them I believe sell for approximately 600, perhaps the eurosports or even just a different one of their configuration options, not to mention being able to objectively test in-car would change things around.
onyl had my camera-phone, but here's a fuzzy pic.
Listening conditions: Eclipse 8454HU, Phoenix Gold TI500.4 amp, Speakers in polyfilled approx .5cuft sealed chambers mounted at a roughly 45deg angle on each side approx 6" below ear level. CDT crossover jumper set for 5" Kicker crossover tweeter switch set to 0db (they also allow for a +1.5 or +3 boost)
Test music: My sampledisc mix2; NIN, Damien Rice, Atmosphere, Gangstarr, Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Everlast, DMB, Jack Johnson, Dave Brubeck, Rage, Flaming Lips, Rachel Yamagata, Coldplay, Gorillaz, Moby, Tori Amos, cursive, etc.
CDT's;
-Very efficient
-Excellent for higher pitched Female vocals kindof outshined the kickers in this
-unlike most speakers I've heard in a strange kinda hard to pin down way.
-They seem to create a larger presence in the room. (This is about all I can say because the room was kinda poorly setup for any true imaigng cues)
-Kind of "boomy" and have a weird resonance to them that becomes painfully obvious in Male Vocals (everlast, DMB, etc) and some of the lower raspy twists of female voice (Rachel Yamagata, etc)
-perhaps too accurate? it seems almost as though the ultra lightweight cones of the mids move too easily at times.
Kicker;
-quite inefficient. perhaps they need some more breakin, but compared to the above average efficiency of the cdt's it's obvious. even though they claim to be a 3ohm speaker, it takes a considerable crank on the volume knob to equalise the two. Not really anything bad, I'll have plenty of power to give them, just interesting.
-VERY veryclean and accurate sounding. Just smooth, even, accurate responce.
-really I don't have much to say, they sound good, REAL damn good. No particular strengths or weakness' to speak of. Very well rounded in their capability. I threw a bunch of music at them and never found a hitch. Very smooth, yet coudl still keepup with fast cymbals, highs, etc.
-imaging-wise they were much less "open air" sounding than the cdt's. More precise. Agian, it's kinda a poor setup to really get a good grasp on imaging.
Prettymuch what I noticed in switching back and fourth between the two isthat the CDT's even when I immediately adjusted the volume level to match took a little bit for your ear to "warm up" to. they'd sound a bit harsh and just strange in a way at first, but once you settled in for a couple of seconds, they were quite nice. The kickers, on theotherhand, switching to them was kind of like a sigh of good music. never anything unexpected, just pure clean accurate sound. This was kind of my same thought when I'd listened to them before buying, previously up against Focal K2p's, JLxr's? and Boston Pro's. This is a case where nothing standout, and just even smooth clean music is all I could ever ask for.
As I've said before, I'd be entirely happy with the cdt's. Their one drawback was the afforementioned boomyness and just sort of scattered responce in the lower end of vocals. Perhaps this is a functionof the enclosed chamber. I do suspect that the "room filling" aspect of their sound might make for some easier staging setup in-car. and I actually also do have a pair of their "image tweters" that would make for some more setup fun I supppose. Allthat said, The kicker's are definately going in my car. They jsut seem much smoother and more refined. This is kind of a relief to me seeing as I'd prettymuch planned on them being theones, but when I'd started wrapping my ears around the cdt's a bit inmy car, I started to think twice.
At anyrate I spose that's my little mini-review. In all fairness, the kickers retail for about a grand, and the CDT's are NOT their highest model. The HD5's setupa s I have them I believe sell for approximately 600, perhaps the eurosports or even just a different one of their configuration options, not to mention being able to objectively test in-car would change things around.
onyl had my camera-phone, but here's a fuzzy pic.
