# Average Joe Review: Hertz ML 1600



## LaserSVT (Feb 1, 2009)

Remember folks, this is one guys opinion on a set of drivers, its not gospel. I will not be displaying graphs and talking about one way Xmax. I will give you an honest review of how I think these particular drivers perform.

I want to help the people that may not be familiar with all the technical aspects of a speaker or what each specification is talking about. After all, its just numbers. 


Speakers will be driven off a JL Audio 450/4 V1 using only the 150 watt channels. Source unit is a Pioneer 80PRS and testing is done using WAV formatted music or original CD. I only use test tones to help find optimum crossover settings. It is what works for me.

Let the fun begin! Todays subject is the Hertz ML 1600 current generation. I will try this driver with several styles and brands of tweeter to see what works (sounds) best.

The Hertz ML1600 has a MSRP of $600 which seems a bit hefty. Not overly expensive but at that price it should be one heck of a speaker. It has a power rating of 125 rms and 250 peak so the JL should be just right for them.

I am always excited to play with new speakers and after reading all the reviews I was quite excited to get my fat fingers on these things. My first thought upon opening these was "What a cheap box." You laugh but we all think it when looking at a cheap box that a relatively expensive component came in.





Is this important? Not really. They were secure in that box and well packed. The egg crate did its job. I prefer the manufacturer spend the money on the driver and not the box anyway. I once bought a set of Audiobahn speakers that came in a nice wooden hinged box with a clasp. I think they spent all the money on the box and had a buck fifty left for the actual speaker.

Looking at the actual speaker I found them to be quite impressive. Excellent construction on the basket and great detail in the gluing of the spider and cone, someone likes their job. Very heavy speaker with a nice Neo motor on the back. They are a bit deep at nearly 3" so make sure you have the room. In my application it required some MDF spacers and a bit of door card trimming.
They have a pretty face too. Very untraditional without a dust cap but also very sleek. Its a shame they will be hidden.




So I installed the speakers in my trusty steed (96 Silverado) and went to the tedious task of tuning. Surprisingly they needed little work to get dialed in, now that's a plus. 
The first round of testing was using the Illusion Crossover and the Illusion Audio Beryllium Copper tweeters. It took some doing to get them to blend together as the Hertz is much more efficient but when I found that sweet spot they sounded, well, sweet. Very nice sounding combo at medium and lower volumes. The crossover point seemed near perfect and the Hertz have little issue playing to 2000hz crossover point.
The highpass was set at 63hz with a 24db slope.
Using artists from many eras and styles I was really able to see what these are made of. Turns out they are made of paper.... really strong paper.
With Fleetwood Macs "Family Man" the drums sound simply fantastic. Each drum smack is clearly defined and has a definitive impact. When Lindsey Buckingham hits the guitar solo you feel as if he were sitting on your lap. The breathy backup singing of Christine McVie is well reproduced and accurate but a tad strained.
Switching to Lady Gaga "Do What You Want" it opens up with a digital drum and synthesizer that is not only well herd but well felt even with the subwoofers turned off. 
Playing Haims "Forever" was very pleasing. I heard a little background guitar I never noticed before. The song has a plain bass guitar strum that I have noticed sounds muddy on most stereos but the Hertz made that single note quite pleasant.... and showed it was more than a single note.
Using Pink Floyds "Time" on the other hand sounded very strained in the beginning with all the clock noises but when the drums came in it was quite impressive. 
Trying to really power them up they only laughed at me as if to say "Bro! Is that all you got? Do you even sound?" but the Illusion tweeters were just not wanting any part of it.

At this point I pulled the Illusion and slapped in ol trusty, the TBI HDSS tweeters. While nowhere near as detailed as the Illusions they are more efficient and are happier about playing loud.
Now I was really able to put some wattage to the Hertz and see what they are TRULEY made of. Granit with titanium woven in it seems. Replaying all the previous tracks at a much higher output proved to be an experience. The Hertz took everything I could throw at them and then some. Never once breaking up or distorting and allowing me to turn the Pioneer to levels I never had been able to previously.
In a word, impressive.

I wanted to see what they could do with a quality tweeter. Time to try the Focal TN-K tweeters I have. Thanks again Coppertone! A true gentlemen and scholar. These required a rewire of the amp to run active as the Focal is not happy playing below 3.15Khz. This time I chose a high pass of 3.4k @ 12db and a low pass of 2.2~khz at 12db.

Once again playing all previous tracks I was yet again blown away. Now we are talking! Loud, crisp, clean and clear with just a bit of wanting around the 1-3k area. A tad hollow if you will. It seems the Hertz ML1600 does not really care for higher frequencies. I went through a dozen more crossover changes but the combo previously stated seemed to work best.


While this review is not completely over I do have a good feel for these speakers after a solid 30 hours of use. I will be testing them with the PHD AF1.C this week. That tweeter is similar enough to the ML280 that I believe it will blend perfectly with the Hertz.


So my thoughts on these speakers are they are truly wonderful. They will be a permanent part of the system. The midbass is amongst the best I have ever heard. While I have never heard the Dynaudio Esotars and am about to test the Utopias I really feel these are up there with the best of the best. Drums are tight, fast and accurate. Vocals come across clear and detailed and I have yet to find a musical instrument they do not sound natural reproducing. They can take power, just about every watt I could throw at them anyway. You want loud? These are freakin loud.
That being said they do have some weaknesses which could just be my application. After 1000hz they seem to fall off a bit. They are best suited in a 3-way setup (plus sub stage) or paired with a tweeter that can play down to 2k to really get the most out of them.
As for the price, while they are worth their retail price we are in luck as they have been out for a while and are relatively ignored so that has allowed us poor folk to afford them. You should be able to score them from an authorized dealer for $500 or less.


I will update after I have had some time to listen to them with the PHD AF1.C tweeters.


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## mrpeabody (May 26, 2010)

You think that box is bad, I remember the first time playing with some Thesis, and they had the same crappy packaging. I couldn't believe it, especially with the old MLK's getting nice cases.


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## [email protected] (Nov 7, 2010)

One of my favorite midbass drivers!!!

I have to wonder what is up with your illusion tweeters. I ran mine with 200w per tweeter and they would handle the power well and play clean at high volumes. I am guessing just not enough power.

Why aren't you running active? You have the 450/4 and a 80PRS?


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## LaserSVT (Feb 1, 2009)

As the review pointed out I did switch to active at the end in order to use the Focal tweeters. Unfortunately I am not taking full advantage of my PRS because I like the ESP-2 and I cant use it if it is before the crossovers.
I am using the JLs internal setup.

As for the Illusions, man I just don't know. The tweeters sound great when working but I was never able to get them very loud. The TBI, Infinity, Focal, Boston, Dynaudio and other Focal are just significantly louder.


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## wwhan (Jun 20, 2014)

So they come pairs? $500 for two midbass woofers? Might be nice for replacement Audi B&O door speakers.


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## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

LaserSVT said:


> The tweeters sound great when working but I was never able to get them very loud. The TBI, Infinity, Focal, Boston, Dynaudio and other Focal are just significantly louder.


Sounds to me like you just like bright tweeters.


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## LaserSVT (Feb 1, 2009)

wwhan said:


> So they come pairs? $500 for two midbass woofers? Might be nice for replacement Audi B&O door speakers.


Yes, that is for a pair.


mires said:


> Sounds to me like you just like bright tweeters.


I do. I also like solid low bass and balanced yet detailed midrange. I do not like harsh highs though. The Illusions have a unique combination of sparkle and smoothness unlike any tweeter I have heard previously. That does not mean they are capable of high outputs. 
Alas this thread is about the Hertz ML1600.


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## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

LaserSVT said:


> Alas this thread is about the Hertz ML1600.


Sorry, I wasn't trying to take away from this thread's purpose. I'm glad you like the Hertz and things are starting to work out for you. They would probably be at the top of my list if looking for new mids.


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

so, the tweeters...


j/k.


nice review, a speaker too far out of my comfort zone price-wise, but always intrigued at what Hertz has done in the upscale market.

and those TBI HDSS tweeters are still the mystery to me, people got them for free and then the mass review didn't happen.

so I guess they are able to play lower more comfortably, than most tweeters?


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## LaserSVT (Feb 1, 2009)

Yeah the TBI seems to do pretty well with a 2k crossover point. They are not very detailed or crisp though. They are great for free but are $50 tweeters at best. 

And Mires, no worries. I just did not want this review to focus on the Illusions or get sidetracked why I don't like them. I always work things out and they were just a small bump in the road..... a several hundred dollar bump but still just a bump. 

On that note I am still trying to get the last part of the review done. The PHD tweeters are proving a tad hard to tune. Very detailed though. Just playing "Time" from Pink Floyd I had almost forgotten that you can hear the mechanism on the last clock move as it chimes.


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## voodoosoul (Feb 7, 2010)

Nice review and if you think the ML1600 sounds good just wait til you hear the ML1800 7'' midbass and ML2000 8'' sub.


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## LaserSVT (Feb 1, 2009)

I feel bad for leaving this out but I wanted to thank bigd_sounds (Donnie) for the excellent hookup on the speakers. Great service, cool guy and the prices are the best I have ever seen for Hertz stuff. Just look up bigd_sounds on ebay and you can see his listings. They are Italian market versions but he takes care of warranty issues so no worries.
I will be buying from him again.


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## jasonjordan584 (Apr 27, 2009)

I have to say these speakers are freaking amazing! The midbass is unreal and blend with my sub a gti 12 very well. I came from phass driver. The midbass is night and day difference! You can feel it at your chest. The midrange is also very nice. I like these better now than my phass drivers. I think if you like midbass you will love these speakers. Phass speakers are more detail so I guess it all depends on what you want in your sound. Impact and midbass I guess I like more than hearing every detail.


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## LaserSVT (Feb 1, 2009)

So just updating this review now that the drivers have a few months on them.

They continue to impress. Now that the PHDs are blended in just right and now that I have no fear of throwing power at them I can really enjoy them.

Drums continue to be very very impressive. The level of bass these can reproduce is quite nice. On some songs it is so strong in the 80-100 HZ range I am having issues with keeping the sliders for the door locks from vibrating. Also found they vibrate the outer door handles too. LOL The doors are layerd in and out as well as the door cards so that tells you just how much "impact" these little drivers can have. 
I spent 10+ hours last week driving and was throwing most of my JL 450/4s power at them the entire time and they never gave up. Dubstep, Hip Hop, R&B, Classic Rock, current rock, alternative etc etc and they just responded wonderfully. 
I continue to keep them at 63hz high pass with a 36db slope and find they like that the best in my application. For some music I dont even need the subwoofers. LOL

They may soon be replaced depending on how the new drivers sound but for now I use these as my 6.5" "Go-to" speaker.


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