# Pioneer Z Series



## rton20s

Pioneer is releasing a new line of drivers called the Z series. Mostly a bunch of ad copy, and of course "Hi-Res Certified." The complete line is scheduled to be released by the end of the year. It will be interesting to see how they rate. They also have a new line of D series speakers as well. 

Z-Series | Pioneer Electronics USA

D-Series | Pioneer Electronics USA


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## DC/Hertz

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum...scussion/364337-pioneer-stepping-back-up.html


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## linedaze

I have been interested in those too


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## Arete

Frequency range all the way to 96khz. Even my dog can enjoy it.


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## Angrywhopper

Anyone get a chance to install/hear these yet?


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## tophatjimmy

I've installed a couple sets.

No critical listening time, but my initial impressions are that these are nothing overly special.

Cone material looks neat, basic x-over, stamped basket. Nothing stood out to me as innovative. 30hz to 96khz response? C'mon guys, really??

The last Pioneer speakers that even blipped my radar were the old PRS components with the microfiber surrounds. Those were nice.


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## rton20s

tophatjimmy said:


> I've installed a couple sets.
> 
> No critical listening time, but my initial impressions are that these are nothing overly special.
> 
> Cone material looks neat, basic x-over, stamped basket. Nothing stood out to me as innovative. 30hz to 96khz response? C'mon guys, really??
> 
> The last Pioneer speakers that even blipped my radar were the old PRS components with the microfiber surrounds. Those were nice.


So... "no critical listening," but you have determined that they are "nothing overly special." 

I prefer to judge a driver on how it performs in a given application than how it looks, or what is on the ad copy. The exaggerated frequency response claims are nothing new for Pioneer. I believe they use either the -10 or -20dB down point to determine their published frequency response. 

I'm still waiting for a legitimate review on these. The advantage that I have seen on these from the beginning is the low crossover point on the tweeters. This isn't all that common, even in car audio branded sets costing quite a bit more. Of course is these have high distortion of poor frequency response, the low crossover point doesn't really matter anyway.

I'm also curious to see what "street" pricing end up being once these have flooded the distribution chains and start showing up on the usual sites at a significantly reduced cost.


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## OneGun

I just installed a set of the TS-Z65CH components in my 2005 Silverado Crew cab. I never installed the included passive crossovers as during the install, I also installed a Dayton DSP-408. 

It's very difficult for me to comment at this time because this is also my first DSP and I'm struggling getting the tune. 

Hopefully in time, I'll have that worked out and will be able to provide some good feedback here.


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## DarmoZ

OneGun said:


> I just installed a set of the TS-Z65CH components in my 2005 Silverado Crew cab. I never installed the included passive crossovers as during the install, I also installed a Dayton DSP-408.
> 
> It's very difficult for me to comment at this time because this is also my first DSP and I'm struggling getting the tune.
> 
> Hopefully in time, I'll have that worked out and will be able to provide some good feedback here.


Hi are you still running the Z series, if so what are your impressions?

Iv'e seen that they have racked up more review on crutchfield now and they are all super positive, one guy replaces a $1500 focal set with these and preferred them.


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## SkizeR

DarmoZ said:


> Hi are you still running the Z series, if so what are your impressions?
> 
> Iv'e seen that they have racked up more review on crutchfield now and they are all super positive, one guy replaces a $1500 focal set with these and preferred them.


be weary of subjective reviews from random people on the internet as you never know the back story. Not saying they are better or worse, just saying you should be taking reviews from random people with a grain of salt or even ignoring them as i do. When i look at reviews for anything, i just look for repeated negative reviews at this point.


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## Patriot83

DarmoZ said:


> Hi are you still running the Z series, if so what are your impressions?
> 
> Iv'e seen that they have racked up more review on crutchfield now and they are all super positive, one guy replaces a $1500 focal set with these and preferred them.


Here's a professional review of the TS-Z65CH. Bear in mind most of his reviews are kind of generic and similar. He rarely says something is terrible/bad. I also doubt he would put down a pioneer product (advertising $$).

https://pasmag.com/technology/test-reports/pioneer-ts-z65ch-speaker-review


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## OneGun

Well I'm just a random dude on the internet, but I've had these in my truck for over a year now and I'll say that I continue to be impressed by these speakers. Would buy them again in a heartbeat. They perform great in every aspect including excellent clarity and depth, and excellent mid-bass. 

These are all out stellar and I highly recommend them. 

- Random Dude


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## jtrosky

I haven't tried the Z-series yet, but I do have the previous line of D-series (not the current line of D-series) - I have the TS-D6902R and the TS-D1702R in my 2012 Impala and love those speakers. The bass from them is REALLY good and the overall sound is great as well. Unfortunately, they are hard to find now and the current D-series don't seem to be nearly as good (from what I've read).

I would like to try the Z-series eventually. Like mentioned elsewhere, it's unfortunate that they don't offer a 6"x9" speaker in the Z-series. While I understand that true "audiophiles" don't like speakers that aren't round, I've found that 6"x9" speakers usually produce very good bass that you just dont' get with most 6.5" speakers. For the "average Joe", a 6x9 speaker is a great option.


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## rton20s

Patriot83 said:


> Here's a professional review of the TS-Z65CH. Bear in mind most of his reviews are kind of generic and similar. He rarely says something is terrible/bad. I also doubt he would put down a pioneer product (advertising $$).
> 
> https://pasmag.com/technology/test-reports/pioneer-ts-z65ch-speaker-review


I trust Gary Springgay's reviews for PASMAG about as much as I trust anonymous random reviews on sites like Crutchfield. I challenge you to find a single negative review that Gary has ever done for that magazine. The only thing worthwhile that he does are objective measurements. That wasn't done in this case.


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## Patriot83

rton20s said:


> I trust Gary Springgay's reviews for PASMAG about as much as I trust anonymous random reviews on sites like Crutchfield. I challenge you to find a single negative review that Gary has ever done for that magazine. The only thing worthwhile that he does are objective measurements. That wasn't done in this case.


That was pretty much my point. So if we're not to trust a "professional" reviewer or a random user...it's just a crapshoot other than the measurements? 

I would expect the pioneer's to sound decent for a $300 big brand speaker.


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## rton20s

Patriot83 said:


> That was pretty much my point. So if we're not to trust a "professional" reviewer or a random user...it's just a crapshoot other than the measurements?
> 
> I would expect the pioneer's to sound decent for a $300 big brand speaker.


Pretty much. Unless there is someone you know and trust who has a reasonable amount of experience and can advise you on performance, you're likely out of luck. If I don't have personal experience with a product, 9 times out of 10 I'll take objective measurements over anything else. That 1 time out of 10, I'll take objective measurements along with subjective reviews from a source I trust. 

The only other thing I have heard about the Z series was that the tweeter can be a bright. That was from Dean at 5 Star in some of their videos. Again, subjective and I have no idea what Dean actually likes other than he generally prefers the sound of Morel over Focal. So... who knows?


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## Patriot83

yeah I don't know man. I would tend to believe most of what someone says that installs systems for a living that's not trying to sell me something. I'd believe some people on here. I'm also a realist but I mostly believe the 5 star guys and some of the professional reviewers to a point. As for Springgay, his reviews just aren't detailed or critical enough. Only 3 of his reviews have stood out to me as being particularly good. Still haven't seen him say anything bad about anything. I look mostly for his lab measurements. He did say they sound good and was putting them in his truck. He doesn't put most of the equipment in his truck so that is something that can be said about the Z speakers he reviewed. He must have liked them.


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## audiocholic

the very oddest thing about these speakers are the specs,


1) Pioneer manual states 2000hz as crossover point

2) Gary on Pasmag also supports this stating 2000hz 12db

3) here is Gary's own tweeter response graph 

https://www.pasmag.com/images/146_D...S-Z65CH_Frequency_Response_Tweeter-Levels.jpg


surely looks like 3k+ hz to me


4) German hifitest magazine (one I would trust most out of any as they dont just read off specs and actually measure and test)

suggests the crossover point as 3500hz confirming Gary's test 

https://www.hifitest.de/test/car-hifi-lautsprecher_16cm/pioneer-ts-z65ch_16522-seite2


5) now another very reliable source the russian autohifi magazine finding also states 2khz crossover point which super odd

Компонентная акустика Pioneer TS-Z65CH | журнал АвтоЗвук


6) go on some asian sites and there specs state 2500hz crossover point directly on Pioneer sites



this probably the first time I have seen such off and questionable specs, though I must say I have used various high end brands with big names and in the same car,same dsp,amp,tuning capabilities and knowledge got much better performance from reasonable high end Pioneers that cost 1/3rd the price



Please also note the germans found this very Z65CH to be one of the high scorers in there bestenliste 2016 right up there with Audison Thesis and rainbows etc and you can be sure these guys arent your average Joe nor comment positively all the time like Pasmag these guys are what a real end user should take as reference if you ask me
as they are usually very detailed ,honest and unforgiving.


https://www.hifitest.de/bestenliste/car-hifi-lautsprecher_16cm_30


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## audiocholic

please note you can simply google translate all these foreign sites and its pretty straight forward to understand


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