Pioneer TS-C720PRS, npdang's teaser review

[flakko 1]

the TS-C720PRS to be exact. hey mikey, he likes it! or the mid at least

I'm too tired to write a full review, but I thought I'd drop some quick comments. Once again, a big thank you to SJ for donating these for testing.

1. The set is rather inefficient, especially the tweeter. I have to turn it up quite a bit to get it to the same level as the Seas Lotus 27. The mid sits at around 85dbwm, but unlike most DIY drivers has good low end sensitivity. Unfortunately, you could put half the power to a set of Seas RNX drivers and still achieve the same output as these mids.

2. Very impressed with the sandwich cone. Thin, stiff, straight profile. I believe it's almost as good as the latest generation Focal Utopia cones, which in my experience is one of the best composite cones available. The old 6w2's you are used to don't count... think more like the Focal Audiom or 6w4311. What does this mean? Usually you have to choose between two extremes, a well damped low coloration soft cone that sacrifices clarity, or a stiff cone that rings like a bell but offers better resolution. Composite cones generally offer a varying compromise between damping and stiffness... with the best composite cones offering both top notch damping and stiffness.

3. Fuzzy microfiber surround. I'm abivalent about this one. A high loss surround provides superior damping and smoother frequency response, but also a loss of detail. Needless to say, the frequency response of this driver is ruler flat, with ~5-6db high q peak at 4.2khz. Off-axis, the peak may even completely disappear (will have to investigate further). If you examine the impedance curve as well, there's no ripple in the 800-2khz region (typical of soft cone drivers), and also no associated bump or dip in that region either. You also don't see multiple higher end breakup nodes either. Excellent.

4. Motor - top notch. I was pleasantly surprised, but this driver did very well on the Klippel. Is it underhung? I don't really know, but the BL curve is very reminiscent of one with a broad flat plateau. There's also a copper shorting ring, although it's effectiveness is not nearly as good as in the Scan or Peerless drivers.

Another thing to mention, peak to peak excursion is rather limited. You're probably looking at no more than 16mm p-p, a far cry from the 22mm of a driver such as the Seas RNX, or W18NX.

5. How does it sound? I think the tweeter is ok. A bit aggressive and sibilant in the top octaves, and low end sensitivity is rather poorish. Driving it a bit harder, it begins to spit. I believe the low efficiency maybe why it sounds "mellow" to some.

Midbass... I think these are keepers. They sound exceptionally clean, they're easy to work with, and they have good low end sensitivity. For all that, I can overlook the lowish efficiency and peak output. Compared side by side to the Peerless Exclusives, they sound more open and revealing. The Exclusives are a bit huskier, softer sounding.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10868

Specs:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/p...1263623,00.html

Prices (about same on online car stereo)

http://cgi.ebay.com/PIONEER-TS-C720PRS-PRE...1QQcmdZViewItem

anyone wanna split the cost of a set? i want the mids