# Melodic Acoustic Euphoria Trilogy: First Look



## WestCo (Aug 19, 2012)

I don't normally like to write about drivers before I listen to them. That being said I'll keep this relatively brief and discuss the Melodic Acoustic Euphoria Trilogy Series, which I received last week. When the weather becomes more favorable I will get these installed and add to this review.

In the mean time I'll comment on the build quality, suggested crossovers, and first impressions. I pre-ordered and received a matched set of drivers as promised. Strictly going off of aesthetics and looks, I am very pleased and have high hopes for these.











The euphoria 16.6:










Recommended crossovers from Mr. Brooks
LPF: 250hz @ 6db/oct
HPF: 60hz @ 24db/oct

I think what I liked the most about the midwoofer and the mid are the surrounds. Very light and flexible, moreso than the other drivers I have used in the past.

The euphoria 8.9:

















Recommended crossovers from Mr. Brooks
LPF: 8khz @ 6db/oct
HPF: 500hz @ 6db/oct
(Designed for use in an enclosure of .75 to 1 liter sealed)

I am usually more accustomed to a larger mid drive usually 4-4.5 inches. These are obviously geared toward the higher end of the spectrum. From what I have gathered from others, they resist beaming very well, I will just have to wait and see. 

The euphoria 2.0:


















Recommended crossovers from Mr. Brooks
HPF: 9khz @ 6db/oct

These guys are tiny! And I expect them to have some nice sparkle on the top end. 

It's refreshing to have components that were designed for use with an active system and even better to have direct contact with the gentleman who produces them who can give advice on crossovers and enclosure design.

I will be sure to report back when these are installed.


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## quality_sound (Dec 25, 2005)

A driver can't resist beaming. It's a function of cone size. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## WestCo (Aug 19, 2012)

Fair enough, their small size should afford for a very high beaming frequency. Correct?


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## TOOSTUBBORN2FAIL (Jan 31, 2011)

That size cone will start to beam well before the crossover point. It will begin beaming by or before 4500hz.


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## BigRed (Aug 12, 2007)

Nice looking drivers!!

Beaming and narrow dispersion is not always a bad thing in a car


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## WestCo (Aug 19, 2012)

BigRed said:


> Nice looking drivers!!
> 
> Beaming and narrow dispersion is not always a bad thing in a car


Thanks, I think so too.
My mids are on axis anyways.


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## HiloDB1 (Feb 25, 2011)

Mid range and tweeter look exactly like the set I have. My tweeter even has the same sticker on it with the same numbers.


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## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

Is the midbass the same as the AP drivers? Looks exactly like the one I received which is essentially an Arian without the phase plug.

I don't get the pricing discrepancies with Mark's products.

IIRC the Arian was like $450. NZ3A was in the same range.

They're MUCH less directly from AP though...


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## piyush7243 (Sep 9, 2009)

JVD240 said:


> Is the midbass the same as the AP drivers? Looks exactly like the one I received which is essentially an Arian without the phase plug.
> 
> I don't get the pricing discrepancies with Mark's products.
> 
> ...


The midbass is very different from Arian as I have tried both. Arian is miles ahead

Sent from my Find 5


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## rockytophigh (Apr 16, 2008)

piyush7243 said:


> The midbass is very different from Arian as I have tried both. Arian is miles ahead
> 
> Sent from my Find 5


Let me make sure I'm hearing you right. You've tried both the Euphoria and the Arian and you like the Arian by a long shot?


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## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

piyush7243 said:


> The midbass is very different from Arian as I have tried both. Arian is miles ahead
> 
> Sent from my Find 5


My understanding is that when the NZA Duo was offered the midbass was the Arian sans phase plug. All this did was provide more cone area and a slightly lower FS.


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## piyush7243 (Sep 9, 2009)

rockytophigh said:


> Let me make sure I'm hearing you right. You've tried both the Euphoria and the Arian and you like the Arian by a long shot?


Yep the Arian's are widebanders n can be crossed as high as 5k whereas these can only play till 2k or so. Even magnet wise n weight wise they are different

Sent from my Find 5


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

So in the pass band that this midbass plays, do you still say the Arians wide band is better? If so, that's huge or a huge negative.


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## piyush7243 (Sep 9, 2009)

dgage said:


> So in the pass band that this midbass plays, do you still say the Arians wide band is better? If so, that's huge or a huge negative.


Yep Arian's are better but these can be crossed lower. For midbass these drivers are great as Q is .7 which is perfect for a door install n these rock. whereas Arian are made to do a lot more than these.

The huge difference is not present for mid bass part though but over all Arians are better by a huge margin

Sent from my Find 5


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

Ok to say the Arian is the better driver is mis leading. The Arian was designed with a different mind set and intended usage. The Arian was a wide-band. The Euphoria kills the Arian as a pure midbass. Plain and simple. Running in a two way the Arian is the better driver. The Euphoria was designed as a midbass.

I love the Arian and it will be back, but as a pure midbass the Arian was limited. In the midbass pass-band the Euphoria is the superior driver. Simply push down on the Arian and you can easily make it touch the back plate. Run them to low and to much power and she would bottom out. That wahy I never recommended running running the Arian low and if you did low power. The Arian had the jbl 2118h type design. High efficiency for a car audio designed driver and was great in 80hz up range 70hz was ok. Now use it as midrange playing from say 150hz up to 5khz and it was just amazing an just add a large midbass.

Now do the same to the Euphoria design it is much much harder to make it bottom out. that is simply what you need from a great mid-bass. So as you can see I do not and have not recommended the Euphoria 16.6 for 2 way use only midbass use.

Now if you have low fs tweeter that can play down to 2.5khz the Euphoria 16.6 sound very much like the Arian in that pass-band, same cone just no phase plug. And the poster above that said it looks like the Arian with no phase is correct. It should, same cone, but totally different motors. The Euphoria is hybrid motor - Neo/Ceramic the Arian is just a huge ceramic motor. And as we know the price of Neo has gone up drastically. So I needed a great Midbass that didn't have the issue I was having with my beloved Arian. As midrange/bass (70-80hz) she is great. Below that she has a hard time.

So please do not just make a bold statement like the Arian is the better driver. As a 6.5" midrange playing up to 5khz I have to agree but 50-500hz no way the Arian can compete. 

Also price difference is my price is shipped and I honestly have to pay important taxes, custom fees etc..... there is where the price difference comes in. Name one company that can compete with their builder/designer on pricing. And these drivers are now only available from me now.

Hope that answers the questions here, if there are anymore please feel free to call or text me directly at 404-683-8626.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

so what is the size of the midbass?


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

She's a 6.5". 

You have a beast already. One of the best in my opinion.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Melodic Acoustic said:


> She's a 6.5".
> 
> You have a beast already. One of the best in my opinion.


the intimid8rs? ive yet to set em up :/ i really want to compare then side by side to my anarchies. they also look identicle to some old usd audio subs i have (even came in the same box)


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## HiloDB1 (Feb 25, 2011)

Whats the top mount depth of the Euphoria? Can you PM me a price?


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## wdemetrius1 (Aug 16, 2007)

I'm looking forward to trying them out soon.


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## JVD240 (Sep 7, 2009)

Cool cool.

Thanks for clearing all that up, Mark!


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## rockytophigh (Apr 16, 2008)

Thank all of you guys. Mark that was exactly the information I needed. I've got a Lexus CT200 that I affectionately call the Cargina. I've gone from a GTO to 130hp hybrid. It has 6.5s in the doors, three 3.5s in the dash (center channel), and tweets in the A pillars. I've been eye humping these speakers after reading your fallout with DAT. I'll leave that be but let's just say, in my opinion, I want to spend money with you after reading it. You'll have to wait until my divorce is final....but once it is, I'm the boss of the checkbook again lol. 

I have some concerns about the three 3.5s sounding "odd" coming off the windshield, but this is probably not the place to ask. I'm in Georgia semi often as my office is in Atlanta. You anywhere close where I might take a listen, or buy you lunch?

OP....hurry up and get those beauties up and running. I want your impression!


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## Golden Ear (Oct 14, 2012)

rockytophigh said:


> OP....hurry up and get those beauties up and running. I want your impression!


Me too!


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## WestCo (Aug 19, 2012)

It's going to need to be in December. Thanksgiving is taking me home to Indiana.


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

Come on Joe, I thought you were dedicated. The speakers are in a little box that will fit in the trunk, right next to that McIntosh or Zed or Arc SE since I can't keep up with you. You will eat way too much turkey and can work on installing the speakers to work some of the food off. Then you'll be able to listen to said speakers all the way back from Indiana and can then give us your opinion...before December. Any other plan is an excuse and an affront to being a dedicated car audio enthusiast. Now, please don't ask me about my Illusions install because this is about you...not me.


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## strakele (Mar 2, 2009)

I use the midrange and tweeter from this set and am quite happy with them. The 8.9 is a great dedicated midrange to use between 250-5000Hz or so and the tweeter is very nice and smooth, yet still highly detailed. 

Compared to Mark's previous offerings, the Euphoria 8.9 is the most efficient by a fairly good margin and will play the lowest, but it is not a fullrange driver - you will need a tweeter up top. I'm not going to list of bunch of fru-fru SQ adjectives, but basically it is a highly capable midrange, especially for its size. 

The tweeter is small enough to fit most anywhere and you'd never complain about harshness. It won't play as low as 1" tweeters, but it covers the top end very nicely. I have the mids crossed between 250 and 3500 and the tweeters from 4500 and up (acoustic crossover points).


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## WestCo (Aug 19, 2012)

dgage said:


> Come on Joe, I thought you were dedicated. The speakers are in a little box that will fit in the trunk, right next to that McIntosh or Zed or Arc SE since I can't keep up with you. You will eat way too much turkey and can work on installing the speakers to work some of the food off. Then you'll be able to listen to said speakers all the way back from Indiana and can then give us your opinion...before December. Any other plan is an excuse and an affront to being a dedicated car audio enthusiast. Now, please don't ask me about my Illusions install because this is about you...not me.


Ha, ha...

Well my flight leaves tomorrow at 6:00 so everyone is going to need to be patient, myself included. 

My system plans are to sell the mcc406m and the levi v3. Going to run the comp modded 4200se and the stock 2300se for the front stage.

HU is a modified eclipse 8443; done by matt r and the ps8 for processing. I found a used Arc DXE analog processor that I may poke around with in time.

If these are REALLY good, I will sell my set of illusion c4's. But time will tell.


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## WestCo (Aug 19, 2012)

The a6000gti I will install for the subs (custom reconed IDmax 12's). Just for fun.


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

WestCo said:


> If these are REALLY good, I will sell my set of illusion c4's. But time will tell.


Hold up...my plan was to sell MY set of Illusion C4s if YOUR Euphoria set is that nice. I'm used to you buying and selling equipment so I thought that was how we were going to do it...your Euphoria set was going to become my Euphoria set.


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## gsxrtin (Nov 28, 2007)

Any updates on this install?


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## lust4sound (Apr 9, 2008)

rockytophigh said:


> Thank all of you guys. Mark that was exactly the information I needed. I've got a Lexus CT200 that I affectionately call the Cargina. I've gone from a GTO to 130hp hybrid. It has 6.5s in the doors, three 3.5s in the dash (center channel), and tweets in the A pillars. I've been eye humping these speakers after reading your fallout with DAT. I'll leave that be but let's just say, in my opinion, I want to spend money with you after reading it. You'll have to wait until my divorce is final....but once it is, I'm the boss of the checkbook again lol.
> 
> I have some concerns about the three 3.5s sounding "odd" coming off the windshield, but this is probably not the place to ask. I'm in Georgia semi often as my office is in Atlanta. You anywhere close where I might take a listen, or buy you lunch?
> 
> OP....hurry up and get those beauties up and running. I want your impression!


"Cargina" LMAO!! How about "Twatbrid" there's also "C*ntbrid" but that's only acceptable if you're in the UK..


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## lust4sound (Apr 9, 2008)

And thanks for sharing all the useful info on this thread.. I too just got offered a deal on a trade for these.. I am all for a stout midbass driver that will thump in the OEM door location.. So it's my understanding that these are pure midbass drivers, from 60 to 500Hz? 
That blows my option of using the Pioneer DEH-80PRS with an additional 2 way active xo between mid and tweet, but there are other options.. Great read, thanks again!


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## lust4sound (Apr 9, 2008)

Question, what is a good price on a preowned set of these, presumably in good condition?


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## lust4sound (Apr 9, 2008)

anyone? a good price preowned?


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