very, very, very expensive speaker

Y’all heard about that $41 hamburger they’re selling in New York? Here’s something just as ridiculous: a $1000 coaxial. Boston just put out the Z5 and the Z6. Apparently they’re using the top of the line home speaker tweeter and mounting it on some kind of carbon woofer (felt like paper to me). I gottah tell you though, it sounds amazing. Forget Focal. Forget Dynaudio. Forget Infinity silk domes. Forget even the old a/d/s/ component set ups. I almost want to say that they’re worth the money. If you have the means, (or lack the frugality) you should definitely pick up a pair.

http://www.bostonacoustics.com/SeriesPage.asp?ID=54&SpecID=4

http://www.arizonarepublic.com/news/articles/0111hamburger11.html

ya i’ve heard about em and heard nothing but amazing reviews

i was planning on picking up a set of Eurosport CDT’s or the bostons, but I found a sweet deal on some polykevlar focal 3-ways and Dynaudio MW-170 8’s

so I got those instead

I still wanna hear these Bostons though, apparantly they have supposedly the nicest sounding tweeter in the world

that must be some good burger

btw, what was the setup you heard it in

I heard them on the display board at a local stereo shop but they’re supposed to sound even better in the car, (with the right dampening). The source unit was a Nakamichi 700 hooked up to some huge Zapco amplifier. They did a switch with the Boston pro 6.5s, (pretty decent speakers in their own right) and boy, what a difference. The Z6s don’t even sound like car speakers. I felt like I was listening to a pair of Totems or something.

To give you an idea of the target market for the Z6s, the guy at the shop told me that they were installing them in some customer’s Hummer. He has the same Nak head unit with a whole slew of Genesis amplifiers. –wouldn’t be surprised if the bugger’s got his own jet as well.

I thought my Adire Koda’s sounded better than my a/d/s/ 3 series components. So if these boston’s sound better than the a/d/s/ speakers, does that mean the Koda’s will sound similar to them? If so, the Koda’s go for $360.

Which a/d/s/ 3 series are you comparing them to? Most audiophile nuts say that the last good model was the 325is. After that, (when Orion bought them out) their quality, um…changed. The tweeters got brighter and the crossovers weren’t built as well.

Either way, it’s hard to say -personal preference and all. Plus, half the game is the head unit. If you’re not running a CD700, (or something close like an F1 a Z1 or a 9255) it’s probably not worth investing in something so extravagant. You’ve clearly got a life, and better places to spend your money. If, on the other hand, you’ve already spent a couple grand on your CD player, thousands of dollars on dual mono amplifiers, and hundreds of dollars on quintuple shielded RCA wires (or better yet, balanced inputs) then you’ll probably appreciate the difference.

This is kind of a “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” thing. Whenever you get into that upper stratosphere of car audio delirium, you’re going to run into the law of diminishing returns. How much better is a BMW 5 series than an Accord? Enough to justify the cost? Depends whom you ask.

Anyone who’s even considering dropping a grand on a car speaker clearly isn’t looking at the bottom line. You want a deal? Go with the Kodas, or an excellent pair of Infinity references, or a nice set of Polks, or any one of the many well-built, fine sounding separates out there. People who go after the Z6s aren’t looking for a good deal, they’re too busy polishing their BMWs.

Actually, they’re components that come with various tweeter mounts, including a bridge that makes them a coaxial.

I sell them and I think they are worth every penny, They definitely compete with Focal Utopia’s, MBQuart Q’s, Dynaudio and all the other ultra high end speakers.

The tweeter used in them is the Same tweeter used in their VRM90 home speakers ($2700). The funny looking bump on the front of the tweeter is called an AMD (amplitude modification device). It acoustically damps the unwanted resonant frequencies that make other tweeters sound harsh (witness: the Boston Pro’s).

anyway, they’re uber-sweet.

If you have the means, you should definitely pick up a pair.

Is that a Ferris Bueller reference?:cool:

Originally posted by gobows
Which a/d/s/ 3 series are you comparing them to? Most audiophile nuts say that the last good model was the 325is. After that, (when Orion bought them out) their quality, um…changed. The tweeters got brighter and the crossovers weren’t built as well.

And now for some history lessons. They were the a/d/s/ 336is.2 component set. They are exactly the same as the 336is components, which were built when a/d/s/ was only a/d/s/. Then a/d/s/ bought Orion and PPI (not the other way around) and had financial troubles. Then a company bought them, then DEI bought them and now owns all 3 companies. But the 336is components were the ones that went head to head against Focal, Dynaudio, and Infinity Beta (shows you the age) in a magazine and won. So I know the ones I have haven’t changed, and are definitely not inferior in quality. The crossover still has bi-wire and bi-amp capability and use only high end parts. The inductors are mounted at different angles so they don’t interfere with each other. In fact, they haven’t changed in quite a few years. What’s funny is that I feel that a real good change to those speakers would be to have a slightly brighter tweeter. They are very good sounding, but need a slight boost up very high.

Originally posted by gobows

Anyone who’s even considering dropping a grand on a car speaker clearly isn’t looking at the bottom line. You want a deal? Go with the Kodas, or an excellent pair of Infinity references, or a nice set of Polks, or any one of the many well-built, fine sounding separates out there. People who go after the Z6s aren’t looking for a good deal, they’re too busy polishing their BMWs.

I don’t mean it as the Koda’s are a good value driver. I mean they can probably stand up to speakers in the 1k+ range with no problems. You really have to hear them to understand. They just sound that good. Comparing them to the Infinity reference or Polks isn’t fair to those companies. They just murder them in SQ differences. I have heard the MB Quart $1k component set and was very disappointed. They were way to bright. I feel the Koda’s sound better. I would love to hear the Bostons to compare. My guess is that they won’t be much of a difference in sound.

Diamond Audio

I have a set of the 6 1/2 in components. got 'em for 200 on ebay. save your 800 bucks and go with something like this

There are a lot of people who’ve never liked a/d/s/. That’s not a bad thing, that’s not a good thing. That’s a personal preference thing. Most found their $600 price tag unreasonable. The ones who paid the money (lonely guys without girlfriends) did so because they were looking for a smooth sound. They could get “bright” elsewhere, but nobody did smooth quite like a/d/s/. These are the customers who haven’t liked anything a/d/s/ has put out since the 325is. The 335/6is was released after the 325is and that’s when the drop in sound quality, in the opinion of these audiophile freaks, happened. With the 336is model, a/d/s/ made their speakers easier to install by shrinking the tweeter. They also changed the mid-bass to that stifflite II (blue) material. The tweeters got brighter, (which appealed to a wider market) and the grills were changed for better off axis response, but that doesn’t mean they were better speakers overall. These changes resulted in a loss of smoothness between the drivers. In other words, I agree with you; a/d/s/ 3 series haven’t changed much since the 336is. They’ve all been brighter, but they haven’t sounded as good. As far as a magazine putting the 336is ahead of Focal and a handful of other expensive-as-hell speakers, I don’t know. I’ve always been suspicious of publications that rank items on one page, and then run ads for those same products on another. Magazines awarding points based on their own arbitrary criteria can hardly be called car audio gospel. Sounds more like politics than quality picks.

“I would love to hear the Bostons to compare. My guess is that (there) won’t be much of a difference in sound.”
-Steven Kephart

Again, I agree with you. If the Kodas sound as good as you say they do, (and I’m sure they do) there won’t be much of a difference in sound, (hence my law of diminishing returns remark). Years ago, the Boston Rallys sounded 9/10s as good as the 325is. But to get that extra 1/10 you had to spend an extra $300. That’s time and a half what the Rallys were going for.

“What’s funny is that I feel that a real good change to those speakers would be to have a slightly brighter tweeter. They are very good sounding, but need a slight boost up very high.”
-Steven Kephart

That says it all. Your personal taste is different from that of these audiophile geeks. Again, that’s not a bad thing, that ‘s not a good thing. That’s a we-need-to-get-a-life-and-stop-discussing-this thing.

Oh, and as far as all the buy-out confusion, an a/d/s/ dealer who’s been in business since the early '80s says Orion bought out a/d/s/. A guy from DEI says that a/d/s bought out Orion. I’m guessing that the DEI guy and Steven Kephart are correct.

“Diamond Audio. I have a set of the 6 1/2 in components. got 'em for 200 on ebay. save your 800 bucks and go with something like this”

                                                 -laxman5399

I’m guessing you’re talking about the M661. I’ve heard them and they’re great. Pretty smooth and very detailed. I don’t think they sound as good as the Z6s though. Even at a low volume the Bostons are screaming detail.

Still, I’ll have to win the lottery, (you know that tax on folks who are bad at math) before I even consider buying the Z6s. I don’t actually own nor do I planning on buying, any of the products being discussed on this message thread. I’ll probably never be in the market for such extravagance. The people who are in the market for such extravagance aren’t looking for deals. If you’re quoting prices that means you’re grounded, you’re reasonable, and that you have a life and a sense of perspective on what things should cost, but it also means that you’ve missed the point of the Z6s. Look at the price on the Boston Acoustic site. It reads, $1000.00 for either the Z5 or the Z6. They could’ve put $999.95. But they figured, “what the heck. If you’re going to be swayed by price points, you’re not going to drop a grand on a coaxial. We want the crazies who are only interested in the product, not the deal.”

Interesting information Gobows. I have been following a/d/s/ for a while, and have never heard those opinions. I usually hear that they either liked the set, thought they weren’t bright enough, or lacked in midbass. But it’s always nice to hear others opinions.

I believe true SQ is objective. The goal is for the flattest frequency response with the least amount of distortion. But sometimes a boosting of frequencies, or added distortion can sound good to some people, and that’s where speaker selection does become subjective. And since in car audio no setup is 100% perfect, those differences between speakers in those positions can determine which the user prefers.

An example is gun shots in movies. Guns sound more like a pop and crack sound in real life. But if you add a little bass to the shot for the movies, then the intensity level is that much more.

So I guess if we know that our entertainment isn’t going to be real, then we prefer it to almost be surreal.

Also, would you mind listing what you have in your vehicle? I’m curious to see what your tastes are.