# Rainbow Platinum, Alpine F#1, Peerless Exclusive 830883 7"



## npdang (Jul 29, 2005)

A big thanks to Breezyjr who donated both the Alpine z18w and the Rainbow Platinum 7" mids! 

Please excuse the poor quality photos:


















Nearfield frequency response comparison:










Yellow - Rainbow platinum
Red - Alpine z18w
Teal - Peerless 830883

The Scan-Speak revelator based Alpines clearly have the best low end extension. A smooth 2nd order rolloff at 80hz should mate perfectly to a subwoofer. With cabin gain you could expect flat response down to 20hz. Very nice! Ignoring the artificats of nearfield measurement, on the top end we can see smooth extended response out to 8khz.

The Rainbow plat tends to be a bit droopy on the low end, and you can see it begins it's rolloff much earlier at about 200hz. We can also see 2 strong breakup nodes from the aluminum cone at 6khz and 9khz.

The Peerless is a bit droopy as well, although it's rollof doesn't start for another half octave below the Rainbow plats. There's also a bit of a peak at 3khz, and then a relatively smooth drop down.

Peerless 830833:

A well designed and executed driver, as evidenced by the Klippel tests. I especially like the open cast basket, dual copper shorting rings above and below the pole piece, solid metal phase plug, and the open flat spider. All the true markings of a modern, high end driver. And even better, it's so readily affordable. 

Looking at the Klippel analsysis, the bl curve is fairly good. Relatively flat plateau, with good centering but somewhat assymetrical. Cms curve has a noticeable forward offset. Le curve is quite good and distortion analysis shows it to be significantly low. Perhaps not the best example in the Exclusive lineup however, especially when compared to the 4" driver. Also the cone material is uninspiring, appearing to be an untreated paper/nomex blend with a poly dustcap. The peak on the top end lends an aggressive, raspy coloration to the sound if not filtered. Still, great midrange clarity just short of the best hard cone drivers and the best in this roundup with the Alpines right on it's heels.

xmag: ~6mm
xsus: ~7.5mm


























Rainbow Platinum:

A gorgeous looking driver with an aluminum cone and polished chrome phaseplug. The motor is especially appealing to look at, although it's a bit of a guess as to what's inside. The driver gives the appearance of a rear vent, however there is none. There are also some small holes under the spider for venting. Not as open as I'd like to see but understandable for a driver designed for use in a car. No shorting ring as evidenced by the Le curve below, and the use of a tall cupped spider is somewhat of a rarity these days and a small surprise in a driver this expensive.

Looking at the Klippel analysis, the BL curve is excellent and by far the best in this roundoup. Textbook parabola shape, perfect centering and symmetry. Cms curve looks to have excellent centering, but with very poor symmetry. Le curve is unremarkable.

One thing to note is the Rainbow plat had exceptionally low mechanical noise. Better than even than Peerless Exclusive which is quite good already. Lowest xmax of the group however (not taking into consideration coil offset), and poor low end anechoic sensitivity. When used in a car door I could see the bass being a bit lean, but perhaps cleaner due to the early rolloff and the fact that most doors tend to have significant resonance issues in the 200hz region. I found the midrange clarity to be similar to the Seas L18RNX/P, which is to say very good, and close in performance to the Scans.



























Xmag: ~5.5mm
Xsus: >10mm

Alpine z18w:

Based on the Scan-Speak revelator, albeit with a remarkable markup. The worst Klippel performance in this group, although excellent Le curve. Bl curve is your textbook parabola, although severely offset in the forward direction and slightly assymetrical. Same with the Cms curve. Could possibly just be a poor sample, or not. Basket does not use the same "grasshopper" style as the Revelator, and is far more obstructive. Again, understandable for a car driver. Nice terminals though, and the only driver to feature a pole vent. Another interesting thing is the driver is coated on both sides, unlike the oem unit which is either untreated or treated only on the top side. I can't hear any audible difference, but then again I didn't have both drivers side by side to compare. Still the most unique, and advanced cone material of the bunch.

T/S parameters are much better suited to use in a car door, at the expense of overall driver efficiency. Clearly, the easiest driver of the bunch to throw in a door and get good results out of the box. Highest mechanical noise of the group by a large margin. For the money, I find it hard to recommend over the oem unit.


























Xmag: ~5mm
Xsus: ~10mm


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## dual700 (Mar 6, 2005)

You're such a stud...I wish I sent my Lotus RW165/1 along...


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## breezyjr (Jan 14, 2007)

So, you'll have to excuse my newbieness.....
Was there a winner amoung the three driver's.

Thanks for testing them. I was interested to find out how good they are.

I can only hope my Rainbow reference will be perfect.

Npdang, when I get my references, did you want to do the same testing? If so, just let me know.... 

I haven't even ordered them yet, so it shouldn't be for a few weeks yet.

later,
breezyjr

Hope everyone enjoyed the test. I was certainly happy to provide them for testing... it was kinda fun... first time anything of mine has been through some serious testing....


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## DS-21 (Apr 16, 2005)

I find it amazing how much performance Peerless has managed to pack into their latest drivers for the prices they ask.

Also, just a small note: the HDS8 has radial vents at the base of the cone in lieu of a pole vent, a la the XLS series, SLS series, and previous HDS series. Right?


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## npdang (Jul 29, 2005)

@ds-21 I believe so. Usually any driver without a phaseplug has the vents in the cone to relieve compression under the dustcap.

@breezyjr I would absolutely love to! Been curious about those drivers for a very long time. 

Was there a clear winner? Perhaps not. They all had their strengths and weaknesses and none of them really stood out from the group. Had the Rainbows used a shorting ring and a flat spider, or the Peerless been as well executed as the 4" version, or the Alpine's had better coil/suspension centering it would have been best.


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## khail19 (Oct 27, 2006)

npdang said:


> @ds-21 I believe so. Usually any driver without a phaseplug has the vents in the cone to relieve compression under the dustcap.


The Peerless looks like it has a phase plug?


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## zfactor (Oct 19, 2005)

i should have some more of the prs sets coming soon (hopefully after hearing them in my car and the wife's EVERYONE wants them at the prices they are i already have 5 sets paid for lol) if i can spare a set and you'd be up for it... lmk.. just depends how fast i sell out again. last time less than a week i went through almost 20 sets.. my distributor is awaiting more now then ill get them (unless some one else sends them first)


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## npdang (Jul 29, 2005)

Zfactor, I've been waiting for someone to offer me a set. If you have one available, I can turn it around for you in 1 day and should still be "like new".


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## zfactor (Oct 19, 2005)

i am supposed to get more early next week. i have 20 more on order if i get more in than the 5 sold ill send you a set. ill def let you know id love to see results i am still amazed at their low end in the door for the overall depth and xmax.. ill call my rep on mon and see if they would be willing to drop ship a set to you and then you get them instead of me having to ship after getting them from them..might be easier if there is low stock on them


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## bdubs767 (Apr 4, 2006)

great review...


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## WLDock (Sep 27, 2005)

Very nice review! Good to see the Peerless holding its own against some very costly drivers.

That would be great if you do a review of the PRS set...With all the talk about the low end performance, I would like to see the graphs. There are not many drivers under a 2.75" mounting depth that do good low end.

I think I have my drivers picked out none the less...

4" Peerless Exclusive mid(Sure would be nice if Pioneer brings that 4" PRS over), 6.5" PRS woofer , PRS tweets or Max Fi tweet

Very curious about the soft dome PRS tweet compared to the silk Max Fi...I love the Max Fi!


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## cvjoint (Mar 10, 2006)

"I found the midrange clarity to be similar to the Seas L18RNX/P"

I always thought the Rainbow Platinum is based on the L18, the reference seems to be based on the Excel mag cone. Does it appear to be the same driver to you?


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## npdang (Jul 29, 2005)

There's nothing similar to Seas build wise... I'd like to clarify my statement and say that the Rainbow plats sound a little better in the midrange than the Seas L18's... but noticeably less clean in the lower midrange/bass.


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## paean (Feb 15, 2007)

All we need now is a graph that compares the aural gratification npdang receives per dollar spent.


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## hc_TK (Jan 18, 2006)

ive got the alpine f1 spx-z18t(the 18w midbasses), but didnt quite understand if youd like them or not. would it be better to change the midbasses into something else?


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## Rbsarve (Aug 26, 2005)

The Alpines are the best of these units if you want the lowest possible bass from our doors. 

The Rainbows are good choise for those building a two way set and mainly wants a clean lower midrange.

And the Peerless is a great buy giving close to the others performance at a lower price.


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## hc_TK (Jan 18, 2006)

Rbsarve said:


> The Alpines are the best of these units if you want the lowest possible bass from our doors.
> 
> The Rainbows are good choise for those building a two way set and mainly wants a clean lower midrange.
> 
> And the Peerless is a great buy giving close to the others performance at a lower price.


ok. thanks. that clears thing up.. i didnt realy got a positiv impression after reading the review.. they will be used in a 3way set, so ill guess they will be crossed at about 200hz


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

Old thread, but I'm bumping it.

I recently got the z18w alpine speakers in and using them as a dedicated midbass driver. I liked the specs compared to the OEM Scan driver; higher qts with same Fs. Told me I could run them IB and cross pretty low. You can see them in my build thread here:
http://diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21873&highlight=2006+civic&page=53

Previously I was running a Dyn mw162 and had it crossed at 60hz for most music. I could go to 56hz for more lighthearted, 'sq' music, but that was about it. They did fair, but just weren't enough for me in the way of midbass. I dropped the alpine's in last night and didn't move the gains. They did well, but barely moved. So, this morning I upped the gain to give them approximately 170w/driver. HOLY CRAP! I have the x-over set to 40hz with a 24db slope and they pound. I cut my sub off and could hardly notice. I have just found the answer I've been seeking for the past year. I can't stress how impressed I am with this driver. I am now in love.


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## hc_TK (Jan 18, 2006)

thats good to hear! Im looking forward to getting mine well fastened in my doors!


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