# Manish 1st pre review of spx-pro 17,830986, sls 8"



## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

This is a pre-review of the alpine spx-pro tweeter, peerless 830986, and peerless SLS 8". I will add to this thread as more equipment comes into play. head unit is the 1st gen alpine flip out nav unit Alpine cva-1000. I'm also currently using a 5 band kicker parametric eq k-5. these both came with the car and neither of these will be used in the final install as I have 2 different head units to decide on. The K-5 will be replaced by some form of a graphic eq. 

1st I liked to thanks a few people for helping with my selection for drivers and equipment so far... Less, minivanman, mr marv, txbonds, soundq1, buchaja, DonovanM, bikinpunk, captainobvious, POLKAT,wildock, tyroneshoes (hope i got all you guys name right ) and last but not least here-i-come. seriously you guys in one form or another helped me to achieve my vision of the perfect diyma sql setup. Also most of you guys for me have set the bar on how to write a review so I hope my first attempt will measure up. Ok enough with the thanks on to the review...


If anyone here has noticed I have been bugging people here via pm's and posting in their reviews to get the info i needed to make my selections for each and every part. I can only imagine how hard the selection process must be for barack obama...lol. 

So far I have managed to gather the much coveted alpine spx17 pro tweets, the way over achieving peerless full range 830986, i then scored the monster peerless SLS 8". I also have recently gotten my hands on at least one of my required amps. I received one Kenwood kAC-x4r the other day (still looking for 2 KAC-x1r's and 1 more x4r) and I decided to hook it up to verify it works. So I placed the alpine tweets inside my trunk near the amp's temp install so i can adjust the x-over and other settings to get a feel for it (gains turned all the way down and the radio volume was on 1, I actual used a pair of 4" Sammi sounds first then i used the tweets to get my settings). Everything worked so i got a lil excited and decided to try the peerless (830986) with it just for ****s and giggles. i set the tweet on the high pass front 2 channels and the peerless on the low pass rear 2 channels. x-over points as listed:


Tweeters HPF ch A x-over @ 3.15k slope 24db 
Midrange LPF ch B x-over @ 3.15k slope 12db

Remember the driver were not installed just sitting in my trunk facing me as i made adjustments using a custom cd i have comprised to tune my car with. (i really need to get a copy of the test tone cd that was suppose to come with the x4r...anybody have a copy?)

1st initial impression was very promising but after getting the x-overs to the point where the peerless had all of the vocals and the alpine just took care of the top end...i was shocked! that combo is the sickest i have ever heard given they were not installed. I went as far as turning the drivers to angles they would have if they were installed in my car...and the mids just vanished! I was so excited that I got in the car and played with my old parametric eq on the mids just cut the bass response down on the lower octaves (everything below 250hz).

I can not believe those peerless, and I knew the alpines was good but when mated with a full range I was able raise the x-over point much higher. (I wish I had alpines actual x-over points from the passive x-over that comes in the set). So after an hour of just letting the speaker play I decided to actually hook up the monster peerless 8" at the low pass with the mid. I know that was a 2 ohm load but the amp is stable at 2 ohm and besides I was not going to crank it  After getting that hooked up in a corner of my trunk, I noticed it was beaming hard with vocals. I then remembered I had the eq set for no mid bass. After getting it back to flat, that's where the magic started.

I noticed the mid bass was strong which was a shock as it was just sitting in my trunk with no enclosure at all  . I then listened to the set up and it was smooth like i wanted but one problem...the 8" was still beaming. so I said to myself "lets see what happens when I take the tweeter out and put the peerless full range on the high pass and left the 8" on the low pass." (well I didn't say it out loud, more of a thought) I then set the amp hpf at 250hz @ 24 db slope and the low pass for the 8" was set at 250hz @ 12 db slope. I went back to the dash and I started to cut all high frequency to just below flat to control the peerless from beaming and to simulate a bandpass on the peerless 830986. What I heard was pure sex! Remember I have to take in consideration that there was no enclosure and all drivers was just sitting there free air! "Here-I-Come" you was so right about the 830986 that I can't believe how cheap I got this setup. 

Now a new question... how do I get the peerless to run band pass from 3.15k 12db-250hz 24db slope using the kenwood-x4r amp. I am planning my install for 2 x4r's with the 2nd one being bridged to give my 8" midbass 300w each (unless i can find a cheap 2 channel amp to give the 8" more power). So what I need is... 
1: Help in figuring out how to cut the 250hz from the 3" peerless? 
2: Should I figure out the cap value that will give me a cutoff of 250hz with a 24db slope and just solder that to my speaker? 
3: Should I do the same with my 8", meaning I solder a cap to cut off the mids at 50hz?

Now for my initial impression of the Kenwood amp.

I really love this amp. I have listened to the alpine pdx 4.150 and thought that or the pioneer ice amps was very good, but i think what makes this my fav amp is that the power is slightly underrated and the built in dsp makes this a no brainer imho. I got this hooked up and first i must say i loved the power and speaker connections, but i felt the should be place on the opposite side of the amp. i also would have loved for a way to control the features up front, because when i get the drivers installed i will have to have the amp in my lap before the final installation just to set the time alignment and use the eq. Actual they should have made this amp controllable through their double din head unit...that would have been sweet. 

Sonically this amp is all I need. The power was clean. I hook up a pair of smallish book shelf speakers just to give it a lil work out. Man this thing has power. I did hear the fan on quiet passages of the my cd, but that was with the amp right next to the setup. And even then it was so quiet I know I wouldn't hear it in my car once installed.

So far I can recommend this amp over anything i have heard. Just for the record I used to run 1 ppi a600.2 on my front doors with was a pair of canton 3-ways with the 8" midbass, I also have ran pg ms2.125 back in the day and I have had the old school lanzar opti which was the 2250 model I believe. and I like this amp just as much as those amps i ran back in the day. 

But the true test will come when I have everything installed. After I get another x4r and 2 Kac-x1r, and some damplifer pro to do my doors I will begin my install. Yes I will be taking pics to do a complete install posting for that section of the site. 

So stay tuned to this thread as I might have one of the X1rs soon and will post a review on that in this thread with my cerwin vegas v-max 12.4 subs.
I also have 1 yellow coned pioneer premier ts-prs12 sub to test also...


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## caver50 (Sep 2, 2007)

Nice review. I look foward to your next review. This is simular to my next install. I have the TBI tweets and plan on getting the peerless SLS 830667, I think. Havn't decieded on the midrange yet.


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

caver50 said:


> Nice review. I look foward to your next review. This is simular to my next install. I have the TBI tweets and plan on getting the peerless SLS 830667, I think. Havn't decieded on the midrange yet.


I recomend the peerless 830986 or the dayton rs100. those mids perform well above their price point. enough so that people mention them when discussing the scan 12m or even the focal b3


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## caver50 (Sep 2, 2007)

Manish did you try to run those SLS a little higher, like 3 to 400hz ? So you don't think those midrange have any problem keeping up. Oh I forgot to mention, I'll be going subless.


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

well itried running them a lil higher, but the problem i ran into was vocals beaming from the sls 8". Now remember they werent installed but to me the 250hz was as high as i liked it. As far as the 830986's goes, they play down pass 250hz, but setting the x-over settings at 250hz allows me to crank it up louder with no strain on the 830986. At those settings i mention above i spared having to deal with any anomolies that others have noted. but again when i get them installed and have to deal with surface reflections (leather interior/windows) i might have to cut some of the higher freq. but as of right now...it's all good. i know for a fact you will be happy with them.


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## caver50 (Sep 2, 2007)

manish said:


> well itried running them a lil higher, but the problem i ran into was vocals beaming from the sls 8". Now remember they werent installed but to me the 250hz was as high as i liked it. As far as the 830986's goes, they play down pass 250hz, but setting the x-over settings at 250hz allows me to crank it up louder with no strain on the 830986. At those settings i mention above i spared having to deal with any anomolies that others have noted. but again when i get them installed and have to deal with surface reflections (leather interior/windows) i might have to cut some of the higher freq. but as of right now...it's all good. i know for a fact you will be happy with them.


It is all good. When thier installed with a little breakin time thier gonna be double sweet.


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

yes, know i'm in the hunt for some sounddeadening. as soon as i get enough to do both doors, i will start the speaker install and the update my review. hopefully that will be in a week or so.


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## caver50 (Sep 2, 2007)

Quick question, What is the mounting depth on those 830986? Couldn't find it on Madisound. Oh, where do you plan on mounting yours?


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

caver50 said:


> Quick question, What is the mounting depth on those 830986? Couldn't find it on Madisound. Oh, where do you plan on mounting yours?


I have to check the depth of the 830986 tonight when i get home and i will pm the info to you. I plan to mount mine up in the top portion of my doors. I have factory door pods there. perfect for my mids and tweets. Now i'm looking at maybe trying the tweets up higher in the a pillar.


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## mitchyz250f (May 14, 2005)

What about an update and pics?


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

update will be posted in a day or so.


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

ok here is the update. I have recently come acroos a jbl 75.4II i picked it up cause i was seriously going to to run this series of amps if the kenwoods wasnt so cheap and sounded so good. I know have some free time as i find myself temp retired....lol I decided to pull my car into the garage, i pulled off the door panales and found what could only be called a hack job on the previous install. I pulled out the old kicker 8" drivers which was falling apart. i then purchased a spool of 12ga speaker wire and made 2 runs on each side. I decided i would use one of the exisiting runs for the tweets as 12ga would be a bit to much for tweets. after getting the runs done, I came up with a simple way of installing the tweets in the pvc couplers that was suggested awhile ago by other members. The idea was i would cut the couplers in half, drill a small hole on the side and use some old metal brackets bent in a L shape. I used a small machine screw on to connect the bracket to the coupler and then i screwd the bracket to the factory upper door pod. (the previous owner had broken the ballfe to the door pods so i came up with a quick fix until i think of a better way to install the drivers) I also mounted the peerless 3.5" (830986) to a make shift baffle. after doing that on both doors I tried to mount the perrless 8" to a 3/4" baffle i made and found the door panels wouldnt fit. so i used some various sized mdf sanwiched together with a small strip at the top to ensure my windows could close with our hitting the magnet. now i threw the panels back on and hooked up my x4r to the tweets and mid range using the same settings as mentioned above and then i used the jbl amp to run the sls. 

Well i didnt touch the eq on the amp at all as i wanted to see what i could get with just using the parametric eq i had up front. Now sitting in the front seat in my garage, I put in some jazz cds to see how everything sounded. I played some jean-luc-ponty Gift of time and after 10 secs i begin to smile. I had to smooth out the 8" around the 250 hz area, and as well as cutting the gain just a bit one the mid range every thing begin to fall in place. I was worried at first that i would have to mount the tweets on my a pillars, as the sound stage was a lil low but centered, i angled the tweets up just a bit (love that i could change the angle on the fly) and the sound stage was was rasied up enough to satisfy me (for now anyway). 

I then played this test cd i made. it comprises of the opening thx sound used on dr.dre chronic 2001. i also have 3 tracks from the instrumental version of that album. i also have on there Quincy jones Q's jook joint with queen latifah, a song by tamira which has some strong female vocals, and a few other jazz tracks from various artist. I got the the doctor dre tracks first which i loved cause he is not only a first rate producer he also is a hell of a album mixer. the sounds he use are so tight that i cant believe it. the kick drums were nice and powerful, so much so that i was like damn my subs, i want another pair of these for my rear side panels! god i love powerful midbass and i got that in spades! dre track after dre track nothing but tight fast midbass! enough said! 

I moved to the jook joint track to check out the horns and how my midrange and tweets sound with some real dynamic music. The horns were a lil harsh at first and i needed to tune the eq just a bit to smooth them out but once i did damn! they vanished and all i had left was me and the horns. again i smiled. the tweets were set just the point of adding a sense of air to the sound. at this point i got goose bumps cause i was starting to think maybe i should just get the PRS set and run active and call it a day. but i'm glad i went this route cause i know with the final install and some tuning this would kill the PRS set. Next track...tamira....lets just say me and her are now closer than we have every been before! i felt i got her phone number nd we have a dinner date next friday, lol really she sounded so intimate in the opening part of the song thats how i felt. And then when the song get the chorus line wow! this woman has chops. she was buttery smooth on the setup and the drums sounded real deep and tight. I can't wait until they break in! 

For ****s and giggles i threw in another well mixed cd by dr,dre, the dog pound first cd. although the tracks were produced by kurupt, the mix and final production is all dre. With that said this cd has some tight tight midbass! i was able to play track after track and as i went further into the cd i kept turning up the midbass and smiled more and more. 

So to end this part of the review, i have to say i'm more than pleased with my system so far, i have a long way to go before i can say i'm done, i need a new head unit, sound deadner and other small items. And there still is the matter of permantly mounting those tweets and mids. but from where I'm at right now...damn! and to think i have yet to use any of the dsp features on the amps! I also now am on the hunt for a good deal on a second X4r to bridge and power the sls speakers. Then I have to still see how well my subs blend and perform with this setup. I will be posting more of the review real soon, and then I will start a build log in that section to detail the install a bit more. Kinda leary at the idea though cause i'm no installer and there is some outstanding work being showcased over there.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Hey man, I'm glad your enjoying the system so far. Thanks for the kind words.

Have you gotten those SLS' installed yet ? Didnt I tell you about those things


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

Hey captain, yes you were right! God these are some awesome drivers. Man I'm a peerless fan. Well I'm still laid off, so my install has come to a halt. I still need sound dampner, a head unit, and 1 kac-x4r. I have 2 kac-x1r. I hooked one up to my pair of cervin vegas 12.4 v-max and those subs are so smooth yet they hit hard when pushed. I have yet to hook up my prs sub. I'm thinking of selling one of the x1r amps and picking up another x4r. I'm also thinking of fiberglassing my doors to better fit the sls's maybe giving the sls a sealed inclosure. Not really sure.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

manish said:


> Hey captain, yes you were right! God these are some awesome drivers. Man I'm a peerless fan. Well I'm still laid off, so my install has come to a halt. I still need sound dampner, a head unit, and 1 kac-x4r. I have 2 kac-x1r. I hooked one up to my pair of cervin vegas 12.4 v-max and those subs are so smooth yet they hit hard when pushed. I have yet to hook up my prs sub. I'm thinking of selling one of the x1r amps and picking up another x4r. I'm also thinking of fiberglassing my doors to better fit the sls's maybe giving the sls a sealed inclosure. Not really sure.


I just doubled up on the baffles and used silicone sealant and screws to crank them to the doors. I used my sound deadening to try and get the best seal of al the pockets in the door that I could. Those SLS' really sing man.


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## blamus (Mar 9, 2009)

What do you think if you take out the tweeters? I'm think about running the 3" peerless from 250 up, use it like a full range, and then with SLS6 or something. DO you think they can handle it without real tweeters?


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## Melodic Acoustic (Oct 10, 2005)

The Fountek FR88EX might be a better option for fullrange use.


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## blamus (Mar 9, 2009)

hmm. i get u, but i fear that the fountek's magnet is a bit big for where I want to mount it - on the top of the dash. I'll have to look into their measurements though, and also the peerless are half the price!


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

captain that's exactly what i did. i made a custom baffle of various thickness to get a good mounting depth so my windows wouldn't hit the mag of the sls's. but i still have the issue of the door panel hitting the surround of the speakers when i'm really pushing them. take a look at the pics with a trim ring next to the area. i really gotta try and find someone who can fiberglass those for me. and then i would top it off by making a custom grill for them. i should try to do it myself. esp since i think all i would need is to make a template of the shape i want and some trim rings....hmmm


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

manish said:


> captain that's exactly what i did. i made a custom baffle of various thickness to get a good mounting depth so my windows wouldn't hit the mag of the sls's. but i still have the issue of the door panel hitting the surround of the speakers when i'm really pushing them. take a look at the pics with a trim ring next to the area. i really gotta try and find someone who can fiberglass those for me. and then i would top it off by making a custom grill for them. i should try to do it myself. esp since i think all i would need is to make a template of the shape i want and some trim rings....hmmm


Yeah, I still havent finished the cosmetic work on my doors yet. :blush:
I had the same problem. The magnet and basket assembly just make too large a depth requirement in the doors and even with baffles to allow window clearance, you still end up with the cone/surround not clearing the door panel.
I think I may try to do that after I get the rest of my gear here.


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

Hey how does that hat combo sound when mated with the sls?


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

One word: Amazing.

Of course you also have to consider that they were also combined with Arc/PPI amps and a Clarion DRZ-9255...


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## DS-21 (Apr 16, 2005)

Especially for people used to the dross sold as "high end" in the car-fi world (HAT, Image Dynamics, etc.) hearing actual well-engineered drivers is quite the revelation, isn't it?


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

What's funny is not only are these peerless driver well engineered. They for the most part look very unassuming. Atleast to me. What's esp nice is that for my ears I always loved the canton pullman 3-ways ran on my ppi a600. That was golden to me. But that set me back a lot of money. And to think now I have a 3way set which cost a third of what I paid for the cantons alone! I swear I love those peerless drivers. I just realized I never even considered a peerless tweeter. Maybe because if it wasn't for those alpine spx tweets I would have went with ribbons. The only way I woud get rid of the tweets and fullrange is if I got some mobile electro stats! And I have to say this again and again...I love the kenwood kac-x4r. That amp still amazes me with the effortless power it puts out. The dsp makes this the best sq budget amp ever. Atleast to me. If I get a new job soon, I will be picking up 3 more kac-x4r's.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

DS-21 said:


> Especially for people used to the dross sold as "high end" in the car-fi world (HAT, Image Dynamics, etc.) hearing actual well-engineered drivers is quite the revelation, isn't it?


These SLS' are indeed well engineered. As are the HAT L4's imo. They are fabulous drivers, albeit a bit expensive.
I went with the SLS over the HAT L8 becaue I felt that I would get as good or better performance in the range I would be using them at (50-250hz), and for substantially less money.


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## RowJoe (Nov 14, 2008)

Just ordered a pair of the 830986 and some Vifa tweets on eBay: Vifa D25AG77-06 Tweeter Speakers (1 Pair) FREE SHIPPING - eBay (item 160333928087 end time Jun-07-09 13:21:04 PDT)

Just gotta wait for some more money and I'll order the 8" SLS. So excited! 3-way active front stage, here I come.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

RowJoe said:


> Just ordered a pair of the 830986 and some Vifa tweets on eBay: Vifa D25AG77-06 Tweeter Speakers (1 Pair) FREE SHIPPING - eBay (item 160333928087 end time Jun-07-09 13:21:04 PDT)
> 
> Just gotta wait for some more money and I'll order the 8" SLS. So excited! 3-way active front stage, here I come.



Good stuff man. You're going to dig the SLS'. Just a terrific midbass driver. And you really can't beat the price.


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

Why am I seriously thinking of adding a second pair of sls drivers?


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## Pseudonym (Apr 17, 2006)

dammit, every post i see of yours makes me miss my mark. the way youve got your tweet and mid setup is how i had my old dynaudio 3" and tweet mounted.


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