# Review, Alpine SPR-60C Passive Component Speakers



## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

Rather than color my review of the Alpine SPR 60C, 6-1/2" passive component speaker system with the emotions I am now experiencing, I will simply state the facts based on my experiences these past (2) months since my original install in my small performance SUV-

Original HU- Alpine CDA 117
Original front components- Alpine SPR-60C
Pioneer 4-channel amp. 
Alpine coaxials for rear fill.
Decent small enclosure sub.

The speakers sounded OK after much tuning of the amp, tweeter settings, etc. 
However there was absolutely no bass coming from the component woofers. All wiring was done correctly. In addition, there was an apparent midrange harshness, ringing, resonance that surfaced in lots of music. It was actually quite irritating to the point that I had wished I had just kept my factory install. I blamed the harshness on the Alpine tweeters and the lack of midbass on the fact that my doors were not yet sealed. One thing that was puzzling though- when the tweeter attenuation was used to try and reduce the tweeter harshness, the distortion became more apparent and grew worse with each attenuation setting, e.g. -2, -4 or -6db. In hindsight, this distortion is likely at the crossover point of the drivers and would likely not be affected by the attenuation. 
So I replaced the Alpine tweeter with an aluminum dome Vifa tweet. I also sealed the doors and added more dynamat. 
Still no midbass and the tweeter / midrange distortion was still there, if not even more obvious because of the aluminum dome tweeter that revealed the noise. 
Next step- I thought that the Alpine receiver was the cause of the distortion. This was my first Alpine receiver and I had always previously owned Pioneer. I swapped it out for a Pioneer HU. It was definitely an improvement. I prefer the warmer sound of the Pioneer. However, the midrange distortion and ringing was still present, just not as much. I also swapped the Alpine woofer out for a Silver Flute wool cone driver. This is a nice woofer! After break in of about (2) weeks, the driver revealed very nice midbass. 
I then replaced the aluminum dome Vifa with the ring radiator XT25 that many people love. At first, this seemed to help but upon further more extensive listening, the distortion and ringing became apparent yet I did like the SQ of the Vifa XT25. 
So now I am convince that the issue of the distortion and ringing lies within the poor execution and quality of the Alpine passive crossover that came with the set. So I price some DIY crossover components based on third order low pass and high pass slopes at the best possible frequencies for the silver flute and vifa XT25 which is right about 3200 Hz. or so. The parts for the set of crossovers totaled about $110.00. 
Enough already, I need a good well engineered set of passive components. My good friend loves JM Labs and is big into audiophile sound for the home. So he recommends Focal, which I had already thought about. 
Done deal- Focal 165 V30s. 

So the poor quality of the poor quality of the SPR 60C passive crossover ( I thought something must be up- the crossover enclosure is the size of 2 double A batteries, compared to the Focals crossover enclosure and most others which can approach the size of a small brick) cause me to-
1) Get rid of a perfectly nice Alpine CDA 117 receiver.
2) Replace the tweeter twice.
3) Lots of hours of labor and grief.

In addition, the woofer lacked bass- any bass- mid bass, low bass, high bass- ZERO. 

Bottom line- The Alpine SPR 60C component speaker set is EASILY THE WORST SET OF SPEAKERS I HAVE EVER OWNED SINCE HAVING A STEREO IN MY FIRST CAR IN THE EARLY 80'S !!!!


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## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

IMO, this review is somewhat misleading because it seems to me like you got a defective set of speakers. If you still can return them, try to get your money back or at least something else in return. Shouldn't there be at least a 1year manufacturer or vendor warranty? If you can't get back your money, at least get one boxed set in return and sell it. Of course, this will not fully make up for the time you have wasted.

Why do I think that your speakers are defective? I was thinking of buying these speakers for myself. I was looking for a place to hear them, but later, I ended up being swayed towards HAT Imagine speakers. However, every review of I have seen that was written by someone who has heard many other comparable speaker sets said that these SPR-60C speakers have very good bass impact. An Aline employee recommended these over SPX refs. Just 2c. Sorry to hear you have wasted so much time with your set.


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## Angrywhopper (Jan 20, 2010)

This review is shocking considering these have gotten really good reviews.


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## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

ZAKOH said:


> IMO, this review is somewhat misleading because it seems to me like you got a defective set of speakers. If you still can return them, try to get your money back or at least something else in return. Shouldn't there be at least a 1year manufacturer or vendor warranty? If you can't get back your money, at least get one boxed set in return and sell it. Of course, this will not fully make up for the time you have wasted.
> 
> Why do I think that your speakers are defective? I was thinking of buying these speakers for myself. I was looking for a place to hear them, but later, I ended up being swayed towards HAT Imagine speakers. However, every review of I have seen that was written by someone who has heard many other comparable speaker sets said that these SPR-60C speakers have very good bass impact. An Aline employee recommended these over SPX refs. Just 2c. Sorry to hear you have wasted so much time with your set.


I did return them to the local dealer where I bought my Focal 165 V30 set- they are THE BEST local and online electronics and appliance store I have ever done business with- but their selection is mainstream high end at best (Abt electronics, Glenview Illinois). 

I bought the Alpines because of the good reviews! 

It's difficult to believe they were defective- minimal bass from both woofers and (2) bad crossovers? 
The silver flute woofers have 3X as much midbass, a direct plug and play comparison with no other adjustments. 

Part of the issue with the poor overall SQ is lack of midbass in the woofers combined with a dominating tweeter crossed over way too low (3100hz) and a tweeter attenuation control that adds distortion when you try to reduce their levels. It was no win. 

Granted the upper door location of the tweeter automatically makes them brighter vs. the woofer but not to the point of distorted harsh sound. 
They may have sounded better with surface mounting the tweeter near the woofer in the door and a slight upward angle axis but I believe I would have still been able to hear the shrill harshness in the mid ranges. 
Very puzzling indeed- I thought it was my car rebelling against me for abandoning the factory setup!


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## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

By the way, how do you know that tweeter crossover is 3.1KHz. Did you open the crossover box? I know that woofers crossover frequency is about 3KHz with a 6dB slope, based on the value of inductor on the back of the woofer. It seems like the tweeters need to have a crossover frequency something like one octave above to blend well.

Focal V30s are supposed to be a head and shoulders above most passive speakers. What kind of price are you paying for them?


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## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

avanti1960 said:


> It's difficult to believe they were defective- minimal bass from both woofers and (2) bad crossovers?


Why not? Bad batch of components from factory, etc. Totally conceivable. If tweeter crossover circuity is messed up, could it also mess up with the woofer sound? Did you try connecting the woofer to the amplifier directly? There is even a connector that allows to bypass the woofer's own low pass filter. That would isolate woofer completely from any crossover parts.


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## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

ZAKOH said:


> By the way, how do you know that tweeter crossover is 3.1KHz. Did you open the crossover box? I know that woofers crossover frequency is about 3KHz with a 6dB slope, based on the value of inductor on the back of the woofer. It seems like the tweeters need to have a crossover frequency something like one octave above to blend well.
> 
> Focal V30s are supposed to be a head and shoulders above most passive speakers. What kind of price are you paying for them?


I did not open the crossover box- I calculated the x-over frequency based on the coil value like you mentioned- and the assumption that the tweeter had the same value which is common design practice- they both take a "dip" at the crossover value but their common output around that point sums together to compensate for the dip. They also sounded like they crossed over low- the tweeter had too much presence. 

I paid 378 for the focal set. So far the midbass is stronger than the silver flute drivers they replaced as well as more accurate with better definition in the lower midrange. The blending to the tweeters is very good despite the tweeter being high on the doors. 
The tweeters are smooth and a little bright but not harsh or distorted- nothing objectionable. So far I am happy- the V30s sounded better to me than the 165 KRs or KR2s. I'll post a full review once they are broken in- in a few weeks or so.


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## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

ZAKOH said:


> Why not? Bad batch of components from factory, etc. Totally conceivable. If tweeter crossover circuity is messed up, could it also mess up with the woofer sound? Did you try connecting the woofer to the amplifier directly? There is even a connector that allows to bypass the woofer's own low pass filter. That would isolate woofer completely from any crossover parts.


The woofers do connect to the amp directly on the SPR-60Cs, the crossover is wired in series with the tweeter which is wired in parallel to the woofer. The coil is in series with the woofer but they are fine- I used them when I installed the silver flute woofers.


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Interesting....... I have used/heard/installed countless sets of these and everytime I experience them I am always extremely impressed! Especially for the price point.... Your description/experience is very odd and uncommon? Sorry to hear it.... I also doubt they were defective!


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## lmelan (Jan 11, 2015)

New install. I am experiencing the same lack of bass. Simply no punch to them. When subs work, I can listen but it is mostly highs and sub. Why no punchy mids? 
My set up: 
Bt149. HU
Spr-60c in front
Spr 60 coax in back
Kenwood excelon x600f 
Alpine r10 woofer
Alpine mrp500


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## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

lmelan said:


> New install. I am experiencing the same lack of bass. Simply no punch to them. When subs work, I can listen but it is mostly highs and sub. Why no punchy mids?
> My set up:
> Bt149. HU
> Spr-60c in front
> ...


that's because they suck. the SP-S had more bass than the SPR for me (not good bass but at least something. 
many other much better options- Imagines, etc.


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## shanomak (May 23, 2015)

I have owned countless pairs of alpine speakers, from cheap coaxials to the expensive type x components. If you are having problems with your mid bass then it must be in your install. I work at a hi end car audio shop and personally have over 24 yrs experience in the shop. I have NEVER installed an Alpine speaker that did not have an amazing amount of mid bass. The tweeters can be a bit on the bright side but easily tunable within the crossover. They make them bright on purpose in order to deal with the automobile manufacturers lack of creativity with speaker locations. I am currently running 2 swr10's, 4 spr-60c components, 2 pdx 150.4 amps on mid"s and hi's, and an mrx-240 on sub's, a Kenwood kdc-x997(for the color change ability), 2 audio control 2xs crossovers in order to run the system actively. I can turn my subs off and still have a crazy amount of bass. Its not the active crossover because it was the same before I went active. Sounds to me like you had something out of phase. Or maybe you just suck and not the product. Judging from your 4 channel amp choice you are definitely in the suck category. Pioneer and sound quality should not be in the same sentence, let alone in the same system as quality components. How can you justify running a 375 dollar component system on a cheap ass Pioneer amplifier. This just goes to show you know not **** of what you speak of. Just calling it like I see it. You should be ashamed of yourself and Focal should come take their speakers back and donate them to goodwill. Next time before you start bashing on quality products make sure you own something of quality to compare it to, not the cheapest **** you can find and then throw in a piece of nice stuff and complain about it. And why didn't you list your sub brand and amp for it? Is it ****ty as well? Embarrassed to tell anyone? Friends don't let friends run cheap car audio.


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## What? (Jun 5, 2008)

shanomak said:


> I have owned countless pairs of alpine speakers, from cheap coaxials to the expensive type x components. If you are having problems with your mid bass then it must be in your install. I work at a hi end car audio shop and personally have over 24 yrs experience in the shop. I have NEVER installed an Alpine speaker that did not have an amazing amount of mid bass. The tweeters can be a bit on the bright side but easily tunable within the crossover. They make them bright on purpose in order to deal with the automobile manufacturers lack of creativity with speaker locations. I am currently running 2 swr10's, 4 spr-60c components, 2 pdx 150.4 amps on mid"s and hi's, and an mrx-240 on sub's, a Kenwood kdc-x997(for the color change ability), 2 audio control 2xs crossovers in order to run the system actively. I can turn my subs off and still have a crazy amount of bass. Its not the active crossover because it was the same before I went active. Sounds to me like you had something out of phase. Or maybe you just suck and not the product. Judging from your 4 channel amp choice you are definitely in the suck category. Pioneer and sound quality should not be in the same sentence, let alone in the same system as quality components. How can you justify running a 375 dollar component system on a cheap ass Pioneer amplifier. This just goes to show you know not **** of what you speak of. Just calling it like I see it. You should be ashamed of yourself and Focal should come take their speakers back and donate them to goodwill. Next time before you start bashing on quality products make sure you own something of quality to compare it to, not the cheapest **** you can find and then throw in a piece of nice stuff and complain about it. And why didn't you list your sub brand and amp for it? Is it ****ty as well? Embarrassed to tell anyone? Friends don't let friends run cheap car audio.


Lolz. Quite a stance to take on your first post.


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## 1996blackmax (Aug 29, 2007)

Sure is....


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## percy072 (Feb 13, 2014)

shanomak said:


> How can you justify running a 375 dollar component system on a cheap ass Pioneer amplifier.


$375.00... Huh?!?!

AlpineÂ® SPR 60C 6 5â€� Car Audio Type R 2 Way Component Speakers 220W SPR60C New 793276011039 | eBay

I used to have the SPR 6x8's coax's couple years back...actually thought they did a good job. I still (for some reason) wouldn't mind trying a set of those mids...

edit: unless he ment $375.00 total for both components and rear coaxials


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## avanti1960 (Sep 24, 2011)

shanomak said:


> I have owned countless pairs of alpine speakers, from cheap coaxials to the expensive type x components. If you are having problems with your mid bass then it must be in your install. I work at a hi end car audio shop and personally have over 24 yrs experience in the shop. I have NEVER installed an Alpine speaker that did not have an amazing amount of mid bass. The tweeters can be a bit on the bright side but easily tunable within the crossover. They make them bright on purpose in order to deal with the automobile manufacturers lack of creativity with speaker locations. I am currently running 2 swr10's, 4 spr-60c components, 2 pdx 150.4 amps on mid"s and hi's, and an mrx-240 on sub's, a Kenwood kdc-x997(for the color change ability), 2 audio control 2xs crossovers in order to run the system actively. I can turn my subs off and still have a crazy amount of bass. Its not the active crossover because it was the same before I went active. Sounds to me like you had something out of phase. Or maybe you just suck and not the product. Judging from your 4 channel amp choice you are definitely in the suck category. Pioneer and sound quality should not be in the same sentence, let alone in the same system as quality components. How can you justify running a 375 dollar component system on a cheap ass Pioneer amplifier. This just goes to show you know not **** of what you speak of. Just calling it like I see it. You should be ashamed of yourself and Focal should come take their speakers back and donate them to goodwill. Next time before you start bashing on quality products make sure you own something of quality to compare it to, not the cheapest **** you can find and then throw in a piece of nice stuff and complain about it. And why didn't you list your sub brand and amp for it? Is it ****ty as well? Embarrassed to tell anyone? Friends don't let friends run cheap car audio.


wow. thanks for the encouraging words. 
the alpines still suck. 
i tried everything to get them to sound good- including extensive door sealing and deadening, a new amp (JL Audio 900HD) and more robust baffles. it was puzzling to me why a reputable brand of speaker would sound so awful- that's why i kept throwing time, effort and money at them but had to give up at some point. 
i believe i know that inverting the polarity of one speaker can cancel the bass of the other, but thanks for the obvious tip anyway. 
they were the worst sounding speakers I have ever heard. the crossover was the cheapest POS in the world and had a horribly low crossover point for the tweeters. each driver was riddled with breakup node distortion. 
eventually i put the HAT Imagines in the doors and they sounded awesome from day one. 
BTW (this means by the way, by the way) others have mentioned numerous times (many times) that they have had simiar experiences with the SPR 60's. 
Funny thing- the SPS coaxials I put in the rear doors sounded great! Tons of bass! 
Go figure!


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## autokraftgt (Aug 28, 2012)

shanomak said:


> I have owned countless pairs of alpine speakers, from cheap coaxials to the expensive type x components. If you are having problems with your mid bass then it must be in your install. I work at a hi end car audio shop and personally have over 24 yrs experience in the shop. I have NEVER installed an Alpine speaker that did not have an amazing amount of mid bass. The tweeters can be a bit on the bright side but easily tunable within the crossover. They make them bright on purpose in order to deal with the automobile manufacturers lack of creativity with speaker locations. I am currently running 2 swr10's, 4 spr-60c components, 2 pdx 150.4 amps on mid"s and hi's, and an mrx-240 on sub's, a Kenwood kdc-x997(for the color change ability), 2 audio control 2xs crossovers in order to run the system actively. I can turn my subs off and still have a crazy amount of bass. Its not the active crossover because it was the same before I went active. Sounds to me like you had something out of phase. Or maybe you just suck and not the product. Judging from your 4 channel amp choice you are definitely in the suck category. Pioneer and sound quality should not be in the same sentence, let alone in the same system as quality components. How can you justify running a 375 dollar component system on a cheap ass Pioneer amplifier. This just goes to show you know not **** of what you speak of. Just calling it like I see it. You should be ashamed of yourself and Focal should come take their speakers back and donate them to goodwill. Next time before you start bashing on quality products make sure you own something of quality to compare it to, not the cheapest **** you can find and then throw in a piece of nice stuff and complain about it. And why didn't you list your sub brand and amp for it? Is it ****ty as well? Embarrassed to tell anyone? Friends don't let friends run cheap car audio.


whoa pal....take a few deep breaths


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## etroze (Dec 24, 2013)

shanomak said:


> I have owned countless pairs of alpine speakers, from cheap coaxials to the expensive type x components. If you are having problems with your mid bass then it must be in your install. I work at a hi end car audio shop and personally have over 24 yrs experience in the shop. I have NEVER installed an Alpine speaker that did not have an amazing amount of mid bass. The tweeters can be a bit on the bright side but easily tunable within the crossover. They make them bright on purpose in order to deal with the automobile manufacturers lack of creativity with speaker locations. I am currently running 2 swr10's, 4 spr-60c components, 2 pdx 150.4 amps on mid"s and hi's, and an mrx-240 on sub's, a Kenwood kdc-x997(for the color change ability), 2 audio control 2xs crossovers in order to run the system actively. I can turn my subs off and still have a crazy amount of bass. Its not the active crossover because it was the same before I went active. Sounds to me like you had something out of phase. Or maybe you just suck and not the product. Judging from your 4 channel amp choice you are definitely in the suck category. Pioneer and sound quality should not be in the same sentence, let alone in the same system as quality components. How can you justify running a 375 dollar component system on a cheap ass Pioneer amplifier. This just goes to show you know not **** of what you speak of. Just calling it like I see it. You should be ashamed of yourself and Focal should come take their speakers back and donate them to goodwill. Next time before you start bashing on quality products make sure you own something of quality to compare it to, not the cheapest **** you can find and then throw in a piece of nice stuff and complain about it. And why didn't you list your sub brand and amp for it? Is it ****ty as well? Embarrassed to tell anyone? Friends don't let friends run cheap car audio.


Not sure where you get your info from but Pioneer isn't cheap crap yes they have walmart brand amps but damn man you missing out if you haven't ever heard the stage 4 equipment or the 80prs. I would throw the Alpines right on the same level as Pioneers mid to low speaker line as well. Oh and for being in the business for 24 years you don't have much business sense as most reputable shops don't sell by bashing other competitors products.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

shanomak said:


> I have owned countless pairs of alpine speakers, from cheap coaxials to the expensive type x components. If you are having problems with your mid bass then it must be in your install. I work at a hi end car audio shop and personally have over 24 yrs experience in the shop. I have NEVER installed an Alpine speaker that did not have an amazing amount of mid bass. The tweeters can be a bit on the bright side but easily tunable within the crossover. They make them bright on purpose in order to deal with the automobile manufacturers lack of creativity with speaker locations. I am currently running 2 swr10's, 4 spr-60c components, 2 pdx 150.4 amps on mid"s and hi's, and an mrx-240 on sub's, a Kenwood kdc-x997(for the color change ability), 2 audio control 2xs crossovers in order to run the system actively. I can turn my subs off and still have a crazy amount of bass. Its not the active crossover because it was the same before I went active. Sounds to me like you had something out of phase. Or maybe you just suck and not the product. Judging from your 4 channel amp choice you are definitely in the suck category. Pioneer and sound quality should not be in the same sentence, let alone in the same system as quality components. How can you justify running a 375 dollar component system on a cheap ass Pioneer amplifier. This just goes to show you know not **** of what you speak of. Just calling it like I see it. You should be ashamed of yourself and Focal should come take their speakers back and donate them to goodwill. Next time before you start bashing on quality products make sure you own something of quality to compare it to, not the cheapest **** you can find and then throw in a piece of nice stuff and complain about it. And why didn't you list your sub brand and amp for it? Is it ****ty as well? Embarrassed to tell anyone? Friends don't let friends run cheap car audio.


pioneer cheap and crappy and shouldnt be in the same sentence as sound quality? hmm lets see.. older gen odr system (P9 combo), Current ODR system (probably the best head unit/processor to grace the earth), P99RS (best head unit currently available in the US, and the only one thats 4 way active capable), deh-80prs (best budget head unit on the market. 3 way active, time alignment, left and right 13 band eq), the rest of the stage 4 line (great subs). 

"friends dont let friends run cheap car audio"... very hipocritical since your the very antithesis of not running cheap car audio. your running the typical best buy special that you can get for $150/pair. and since when does "i have X amount of years i know what im doing" actually mean anything? clearly, once again, this has proven to be a useless statement to try to give themselves some sort or validity because they have no other way to do so.


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