# Exodus Anarchy, H-Audio PP6.5



## mSaLL150 (Aug 14, 2008)

I got the chance to use these speakers in my vehicle over the past month. I originally was going to use the Exodus mids but I couldn't properly fit them into my install so I opted for the H-audio Polys instead. Just thought I would post some thoughts on each one.

This is a subjective review, my opinion. I listened to both sets installed off-axis in my doors for the majority of the time (doors are heavily deadened and sealed up well), but also had each toweled/taped in the kick panel for on-axis listening for a short time. I set time alignment and level matched the gains by ear. Power was provided by a bridged USA 4080, and they were setup in a 3-way system in my F150 that also included Scanspeak d3004 tweeters on the dash/pillar and Stereo Integrity BM subwoofers.

I listen to all kinds of music, and for the subjective test I tried to pick a good variety. I used the following albums: Disturbed - Asylum (drums/guitars, fast pace), Miranda Lambert - Revolution (female vocals), Trace Adkins - Dangerous Man (male vocals), Eagles - Hell Freezes Over (pure awesomeness), and some reference stuff i have on random CDs. 

H-Audio left, Exodus right:





















Exodus Anarchy

This woofer is a monster, simply put. Taking it out of the box, it looked like a subwoofer. It felt like one too, almost 8 pounds each! They measure out to about 3.7" deep with a super wide motor and a wide mounting diameter as well (a true 7" woofer, although advertised as a 6.5). These physical size parameters would eventually become a problem for me when it came time to install them. They feature a gapped XBL motor, shorting sleeves, an aluminum alloy cone, large basket, huge rubber surround, and excellent build quality. They required a heavy amount of modification to my door card and over 1" of baffles to get them to fit in. Even with them finally in, the window still slightly rubbed the speaker which brought me to my final decision to not use them permanently.

These speakers do sound great. Midbass output is huge, and they can play LOW. High passed at 2k, they had no trouble playing down to 50Hz and below at reference levels. They simply do not run out of excursion, and they are squeaky clean in this passband. I could play the system at insane volume levels with no breakup which was kind of fun. This may largely be due to the XBL motor and other features that help keep the distortion low. On axis they sounded fine up to around 3k and I wouldn't hesitate to use them this high. However, off-axis in the doors I found that they really struggled above 2k. Luckily my Scanspeak tweeters have no problem playing lower, but if you have a tweeter that doesn't cooperated below 3k I wouldn't recommend the anarchy. But for a 3-way front stage, I don't think you could find a better midbass than this in the 7" size at a similar price.

One other thing about the anarchy, aside from its large size, is its power handling. You can throw a ton of power at these things. They are 8 ohm impedance, and quite inefficient. I had them strapped to a bridged USA 4080 (170x2 @ 8ohm) and had the gains pretty opened up. The Anarchys just simply ate it up.

To sum things up for the Anarchy...

Pros:
-Ridiculous output
-low distortion
-excellent low frequency extension
-very high build quality

Cons:
-Poor off-axis response in upper midrange
-huge, heavy, hard to work with
-soak up power



H-Audio PP6.5

These things look and feel tiny compared to the Anarchy. While the Anarchy is oversized, the PP6.5 is a true 6.5" speaker. It has excellent build quality, and a slim 2.8" mounting depth which made installation far easier. This would make it easy to aim in a kick panel install, which I plan to do in the future. It features slim depth, a shorting sleeve, a sturdy basket, phase plug, and a Polypropylene cone. As far as I know (and Mark can correct me) these share the same design and build as the flagship XR6.5 with the only difference being the cone material (Poly as opposed to Beryllium). They also came with some awesome grilles and grille mounting hardware that are a perfect fit, far better than any I've ever experienced.

The Polys were simple to install in the doors. The gains on the amp were dialed way back from where they were with the Exodus to level match with my tweeters, and right away I really liked what I was hearing. The Polys were exactly as Mark had described: warm, detailed sound. They are just incredibly natural. Midbass is solid and quick. Not the best low frequency extension, but this wasn't a problem for me because the BM subwoofers have no problem blending in crossed high at 100Hz. I played around with different crossovers, and the Polys have excellent off-axis response up to around 4k or so. I settled at 2.5k to match the Scans, and and I can confidently say this is the best sounding setup I've had in the truck so far. Imaging is far better, and the Scan/Poly combo is really soothing to my ears. They remind me of the Seas Nextels I had before, but with better extension up high and even slightly more natural sound. With the little time I spent listening on-axis, the image was perfect and centered. Response into the upper midrange was incredible, female vocals sounded fantastic. I eventually would like to build kick panels to house these speakers on-axis.

While these speakers are pricey, I do feel that with a proper install and decent tune they will compete with the top of the line competitors.

The only other small gripe I had with these was the terminals. They are at a weird angle that would make the speaker difficult to mount to a 1/2"-3/4" baffle without modifying the terminals. Nothing a quick crimp-bend couldn't fix though.

To sum it up for the Polys...

Pros:
-capable of super wide passband, 5k+ on axis
-very detailed, smooth sound
-solid power handling
-shallow, lightweight, very easy to work with
-very high build quality
-backed with awesome customer service

Cons
-subpar response below 80Hz
-terminals (only if mounting to a thick baffle)
-price


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## IBcivic (Jan 6, 2009)

very nice review,man...thanx for taking the time to review these 2 drivers


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## finebar4 (Aug 26, 2005)

Great review!!!! I had originally wanted the Anarchy's myself, but the depth you speak of killed the deal for me as well. I have H-Audio PP mids running in the doors and have shared very similar results. Mine have no issues getting down to the 60's but I leave them crossed at 70 and let the sub pick up the heavy work. I also would like to see better terminals in the future (had the same issue with the 3.5's not wanting to fit thru the baffle), but overall, the quality of sound these replicate is second to none. Glad I am not the only one hearing this now


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## 6262ms3 (Feb 27, 2008)

Nice review! The PP looks very much like my "old" Ebony's, does anyone know if there were any changes to that driver or was it simply re-named to fit the new product lineup? I'm just curious, I still love mine to death and it's good to know what the replacement is if anything ever happens to them. I found 70hz to be the sweet-spot as well. Now, if I could only find a way to unobtrusively stealth-mount H-Audio's new wide-banders...dear god, the stereo curse never goes away! I'm happy with my system, I'm happy with my system, I'm happy...


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Nice review, thanks.


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

First thanks for the honest review. And yes it share the same motor and basket with the XR6.5M. As Finebar4 state Replica.

I'm also suprise you have problems below 80hz never had this. Contact me and maybe I can help, but compare that monster in the picture it just may be a little weak as most would.




6262ms3 said:


> Nice review! The PP looks very much like my "old" Ebony's, does anyone know if there were any changes to that driver or was it simply re-named to fit the new product lineup? I'm just curious, I still love mine to death and it's good to know what the replacement is if anything ever happens to them. I found 70hz to be the sweet-spot as well. Now, if I could only find a way to unobtrusively stealth-mount H-Audio's new wide-banders...dear god, the stereo curse never goes away! I'm happy with my system, I'm happy with my system, I'm happy...



The Ebony and the PP6.5 share nothing, even the cone is a little different. New Motor, new basket totally different drivers.


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## jimmy2345 (Jul 12, 2010)

mSaLL150 said:


> I originally was going to use the Exodus mids but I couldn't properly fit them into my install so I opted for the H-audio Polys instead.


You couldn't fit them in your install, but could fit them for adequate testing? Doesn't make sense to me.


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

jimmy2345 said:


> You couldn't fit them in your install, but could fit them for adequate testing? Doesn't make sense to me.


As stated, the window rubbed the back off the driver after install, thus good for testing bad for using.


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## mSaLL150 (Aug 14, 2008)

t3sn4f2 said:


> As stated, the window rubbed the back off the driver after install, thus good for testing bad for using.


Exactly. 

And yes I assume the difference in midbass output below 80Hz going straight from the Anarchy to the Poly is what made me feel they were lacking but thinking back and comparing to the Seas Nextels and ID OEM I've used in the past, the Poly's midbass output is definitely adequate. I guess I should say they do play fine below 80Hz, just not with the authority or extension that the Exodus does.


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## aeon (Oct 11, 2007)

Nice review! Hope to hear more reviews on the H-audio speakers. Thanks!


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## 6262ms3 (Feb 27, 2008)

H-Audio Inc. said:


> The Ebony and the PP6.5 share nothing, even the cone is a little different. New Motor, new basket totally different drivers.


Ok, cool. Thanks for the clarification!


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## WLDock (Sep 27, 2005)

Nice review! Thanks for taking the time.....The H-Audio sounds like nice all around driver that many would like. The Anarchy OTOH is really a BEAST! Oh what a monster it is in the side by side picture. It's a for sure specialty driver....for the brave souls with power and space to put them in the kicks or for a three-way front... And to think....I was considering putting a set in the kicks. Will see what happens in the Spring. So many cool drivers to choose from....thanks to the small guys like DIYCable and H-Audio...you guys ROCK!


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## finebar4 (Aug 26, 2005)

WLDock said:


> Nice review! Thanks for taking the time.....The H-Audio sounds like nice all around driver that many would like. The Anarchy OTOH is really a BEAST! Oh what a monster it is in the side by side picture. It's a for sure specialty driver....for the brave souls with power and space to put them in the kicks or for a three-way front... And to think....I was considering putting a set in the kicks. Will see what happens in the Spring. So many cool drivers to choose from....thanks to the small guys like DIY Cable and H-Audio...you guys ROCK!


The Anarchy mated with a set of the full-rangers might not fit in the truck.....but is exactly what is going into my basement....or perhaps my garage....or perhaps both  as this winter's project


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## havinnoj (Sep 9, 2009)

Do the Anarchy's sound better in a 2-way or 3-way setup? I'm contemplating a 2-way with Vifa XT25's or D3004's or a 3-way.


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

Nice review Marc. I want to hear your truck!! I haven't heard it since you were running the ID OEM's!


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## bikerider (Dec 28, 2008)

Marc, do you remember how big the ID of the baffle had to be for the PP6.5's? Wondering if I can re-use my existing baffle if I get a set of these. Thanks.


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## mSaLL150 (Aug 14, 2008)

bikerider said:


> Marc, do you remember how big the ID of the baffle had to be for the PP6.5's? Wondering if I can re-use my existing baffle if I get a set of these. Thanks.


Are you asking about the diameter of the mounting hole? I do not recall exactly, I'm sure Mark @ H-Audio can let you in on that specification. If you are asking about the thickness it easily fit into my F150 with just 1/2" thick baffles. They are super shallow!


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## bikerider (Dec 28, 2008)

mSaLL150 said:


> *Are you asking about the diameter of the mounting hole?* I do not recall exactly, I'm sure Mark @ H-Audio can let you in on that specification. If you are asking about the thickness it easily fit into my F150 with just 1/2" thick baffles. They are super shallow!


Yes. I will shoot Mark a PM. Thanks.


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## truckerfte (Jul 30, 2010)

does anyone know off-hand how much power can be thrown at the anarchys? i have heard they need 150 ish, but i have not seen what they can handle max in the doors....


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## Inferno333 (Mar 29, 2006)

truckerfte said:


> does anyone know off-hand how much power can be thrown at the anarchys? i have heard they need 150 ish, but i have not seen what they can handle max in the doors....



I was told by Kevin that they won't need 150 in a door. 100 should be plenty.


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## edouble101 (Dec 9, 2010)

I didn't know that the Exodus EX are 8ohms until I read this thread. No I need to reconfigure some things.


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