I'm working with a set of Q-forms with 5.25" and 2.5" openings. I'm considering either a JBL 504GTI component without a separate tweeter, or a MB Quart 215.61Q component set. I'm not sure what to go with. I currently have an a/d/s/ tweet pair on the dash for imaging. What is best do you guys think to fill out the soundstage. ?

Any other recommendations?

Calvin

From what I've read since starting my research 6 months ago, MB Quart's would be the way to go for SQ. A seperate tweeter is always the best - so they say, and it makes sense. Are those a/d/s's on the dash good for imaging? I've been advised to keep the tweeters as near as possible to the mids to level out the path length between left and right. You can raise the soundstage without literally putting the speakers higher up. Apparently! : p

MB Quart's would be the way to go for SQ.

I must agree with Sally about the merits of MB-Quart speakers. I haven't had any first-hand experience with JBL speakers, so I can't in good faith say that MB-Quarts are better... but I can tell you that MB Quart is very good indeed.

A separate tweeter is always the best

I have had very good results with a set of 4" MB-Quart co-axials (4"/1") mounted in the top of the dash right at the windshield corner posts. I have had even better results with a 4"/1" separate set mounted in the same place, with the tweeters tilted forward and out, the 4" firing straight up into the rake of the windshield. The apparent stage height is actually above eye level -- more than halfway up the windshield!

I've been advised to keep the tweeters as near as possible to the mids to level out the path length between left and right.

Those 4"/1" MB Quarts are so strong that they easily carry the 6.5" speakers in the doors (also MB Quart), which instead of lowering the sound stage serve to widen it to an apparent width outside the passenger compartment.

Of the 12 speakers in the car, 10 of them are MB Quart. In case anybody cares... 2@ 4" at the windshield corners. 2@ 1" at the windshield corners. 1@ 5.25" in the center of the dash (firing straight back). 1@ 5/8" tweeter in the center of the dash (firing straight up). 2@ 6.5" in the front doors. 2@ 6.5" way back in the roof by the tailgate (it's a station wagon).

The remaining two speakers are my pair of 10" subwoofers, sharing a common enclosure in the extreme right-rear of the car between the wheel well arch and the tailgate. I did not go with MB Quart for the subs, as they are too "dark" sounding for my taste -- a bit on the boomy side. Instead I went with XTant paper-cone subs, which (to my ear, anyway) have a warm, velvety quality at the expense of punchiness. I'm not saying that one is better than the other, it's just my preference.

I guess the purpose of this meandering post is to say that you won't regret buying MB Quart speakers. I think (I may be remembering this incorrectly) that Paul Grzelak (pgrzelak) will support my opinion...

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"