premier ts-c720prs comp set..

[zfactor]

okay after having some time to really sit down and listen to these i can write what i think.

my backround: i play piano and guitar, my mother used to play piano in a full orchestra and i grew up around baby grands my mother owns still a bosendorfer baby grand. i own to many guitars to even list here. i do know what real instruments sound like. irregardless of what we think they sound like they really do have a specific sound to them. i have installed for 14 years, previous owner of 2 different shops and co-owner of one now. (always looking for the best for my own vehicle lol), we dont carry much high end due to the limited client type here. mostly ground pounders we get in.. okay enough on to the listening.

first off my setup for testing these consits of a denon champaign series dual mono block setup a denon receiver and denon cd transport. these were installed in a set of mission towers i had in the top half (sealed chamber) with the 6.75 and tweeter flush against the front of the enclosure the x-over was used and is inside the sealed enclosure. i let these play for the last 24 hours prior to listening. i also switched them out between the cdt es-07 set just fyi the premiers blow them away no questions asked
the music used:

many discs were used so ill list them all:

tori amos - music from the choirgirl album
rebecca pidgeon-spanish harlem track
mozart
great white-stage live
icp- best of
fiona apple
prince-new power soul
eagles - hotel cali (yes you knew it was coming)
tool-tool
b.b. king best of
and a few other misc tracks... i did switch between the es-07 set and these periodically just to listen to something different at times.


first off let me say these are the best damn 250$ (is you can find them for that) speakers you will ever get your hands on... period imo...and please keep in mind i am reviewing these as such a priced set... i think they are worth much more but is there better out yes. id say you would prob have to spend at least 3 times the 250 though to really get that much better.. at least from the sets ive heard.

everyone else's comments on the low end of this set is dead on.. these sound like mini subs.. i can still not believe what a performance they give in the bottom end.. i mean not to quote the review but these can be literally felt all through my living room. it really is that dramatic. i was shocked to say the least. i love the low 2k cut off i think it really opens up a set and lets the tweeter shine when a 2way has a lower cut off if its capable, and yes these are. i wouldnt doubt the tweet could play to 1.5k. i didnt notice to much of an issue with the x-over as coffee stated. the poly switch never once engaged cutting off the tweeter. i actually prefer a minimal approach to x-over design. i think the less components in them usually the less apparent they seem to be. im 150% sure these could sound fantastic active though.

instruments- piano's sound freaking awsome on this set. a few notes out of place at times but they make a piano sound well like a piano shown on multiple tracks.. tori, and great white and mozart... very impressive

guitar work was very impressive.. on the acoustic great white live the guitars had all the hollow tones i am used to, i could hear the pick and the finger slide.. these never screemed at me. very nautral and laid back (one point i didnt like is i prefer a bit more liveliness in my speakers) everything was nice and there was almost no fatigue at all... and i played them very loud at times. they just played along with no complaining. bass came through great. it never got drowned out as it does on so many lesser comp sets.

fiona's voice was haunting. sounding as raw as i love it to sounding like it was coming from a real set of human lips. all the small details were there some not as good as other sets i have heard but nothing was missing. now tori can get pretty hairy with her style of voice if you know her, her music at times get very jumbled and sound congested on cheap sets. these sounded great. i didnt notice any of this congestion on her choirgirl album..and as i said the piano sounds great. again a better performance then the es-07 set i dare say much better in fact. rebecca pidgeon was excellent as well..

again where coffee stated they had some issues with rap. i didnt notice it. the only "rap" i had on me at this time was icp, they can get pretty serious though and generally have a hugely exagerated low end to their music. these small things were actually shaking the walls of the living room. they had no problem at all.. granted if i cranked them to where i would prob never play that loud in the car i got a nasty crack and they did sound like they may give out so i turned em back down a bit. no funny smells though or other signs of damage. prince was the only thing i liked better on the es-07 set, most of these tracks were more electronic and the es-07 set i have has the aluminum drt26a tweeters and i feel metal usually does much better with this type of music. and i feel they did this time as well.. not that the prs set sounded bad it just didnt keep up with the snap and pace of the es-07 with this cd.

i think these could be faster though. i like a very alive fast set of speakers. the midbass was def there but i think it could have kept up a bit more. the low end just stomped the es set. midrange details were very sweet and all there but a bit subdued. i think they could be a bit louder but eq can fix that.
i also agree with marv i think the 2k point was the right point to pick for the x-over they could play lower but not sure how well they would handle it i think 1.5 would prob be about as low as they go. i normally would pull the poly switch out anyway since i hate them.. lol..

staging as best it could be in the living room... for the most part was really very good. these were very open and had a very wide stage def sounding larger than they were. the tweeter i feel would be better on axis than off but from moving around they do a good job off axis as well.. now keep in mind in a car this can all very well change. but they did a great job of really filling the listening area one thing my missions lack. i could ramble on for a while but a stellar performance at 250$.. worth the 550 .... yes... prob more. i have heard a few morel sets and these are similar in the type of sound, but they are a bit more alive than the dyn sets ive heard. once i get my buds polks here in a couple of days ill post a reply between the 2 sets... is there better out yes.. but def at a much higher price than the 250 these can be found for...now id love to play with the new lotus line.... hmmmmmmmmm

[zfactor]

here is a cutaway of the tweet and mid fyi:

[The Blue Blur]

what dynaudio set have you listened to and how did it compare in your opinion?
The reason I ask is I have an old 240gt set I got used that I've been waiting to install and the rave reviews on the prs's are making me waffle. I was either going this route or going to attempt active with the scan auto tweets (2904/6000) and my existing midbasses. Sort of a tough judgement call being a noob with no processing.

There's a nice bed of knowlege from you and coffee about this set. Thank you for your input and observatoions. I take it your fears of their performance in rock music didn't see light?

[mk1982]

thanks for the review. love to hear your opinion on the polks too

[ATB]

You mention that once you hit the $750 range, there are other options that start to better the permiers. Which ones are those?

I am trying to choose a 6.5 comp set (packaged or DIY) for a subaru Legacy wagon I just picked up. I am willing to spend Lotus money, but not if I dont have to.

Two of the major deciding factors for me will be sound in the factory locations and the tweeter. I tend to like a more 'in your face' tweeter, so the premiers may be too mellow for me. Possibly worth trying for only $250 though

[zfactor]

i had the mkII series of dyn's previously last time i used dyn so i was comparing these to that set, no man these do very well with rock.. a bit more laid back than id like but overall very real and more nautral sounding than i would have ever guessed.. metal was a bit worse but then almost any set will have some issues with some of the really hard and heavy types of metal...
i like these tweets better than the scan 6000's i auditioned. i didnt like the roll off up top these dont do that nearly as much. the top end of the 6000's to me was very dull and lifeless. dont get me wrong a fantastic sounding tweeter and one many would love but i like my top end just not a harsh one.

these sounded fantastic on the great white live and eagles cd's depends on what you like, tool was not as good but still a very good performance.

id think at 750 and up... the lotus ref, top tier rainbow, alpine f#1/scan etc would be a bit better... worth the huge difference in price... that would be your call.. imo in my car im going to still try the new lotus ref set out. these will be staying in the wifes car (which i drive often to be honest). there is a point where thing get better but not by a lot. again what my whole point was with this set is at the prices on ebat they can be snagged for this is a fantastic set. my tweeter choice would be a bit more in your face than these, but they also did very well on axis where her factory locations are so a lot depends on your setup also..

[zfactor]

been listening for a few days and i can say these still get better with some more playing time on them.. they continue believe it or not to have even more low end dare i say.. the tweet sounds a bit more live after a while of playing though still a bit more laid back then i like. was listening to arron neville today on the way home along with valerie joyce and sarah mclaughlins mirror ball live album.. and i can say the for sure are staying in the wife's car for some time. and i dont usually leave things alone lol.. the more i listen the more i hear like the brushes on the drums standing out etc.. i am still shocked they were able to make these at the price point they did. not sure if they will find themselves landing in my own car or not yet.. i am going to be auditioning the lotus ref set, the hertz mille set, polk's sr6500, among others. and i am also back looking into diy sets as well now.. but in closure of this review these are simply fantastic for 250 for a pre packed comp set. if you can get a set for that price.

[npdang]

Is it me, or do I see a copper shorting ring and an underhung motor in that cutaway!

[300Z]

Originally Posted by npdang

Is it me, or do I see a copper shorting ring and an underhung motor in that cutaway!

Good eye... didn't noticed that when I first saw the pics... The tweeter also seems to be underhung...

[evan]

Originally Posted by npdang

Is it me, or do I see a copper shorting ring and an underhung motor in that cutaway!

Originally Posted by 300Z

Good eye... didn't noticed that when I first saw the pics... The tweeter also seems to be underhung...

Is that good or bad?

[zfactor]

very good ^^

[mk1982]

zfactor + others,

ive heard the polks, how do these compare ?

[zfactor]

i personally didnt care to much for the polks.. they to me were very "dry" sounding, the polk's had good depth and stage but they were not at all exciting to listen to. flat and dull in a way.. and i dont mean freq wise just very lifeless i guess. they were very accurate and had decent low end to them in this app i heard them in. the tweeters were on axis and he had full tuning done via a 701. we tried them active as well and it did help them but not as much as i would have liked to see,

the prs set has more life and shine in a way. still very laid back but a more in your face type sound lol... hard to really describe. the tweeters are robust and have good shimmer and sparkle which i thought was lacking in the polk. id say the polk may be a touch more accurate but these imo are far nicer to listen to.. the mids blow the polks away imo more low end and def more output. they def didnt seem to need the power the polks did to really sound as nice.. the only spot i find lacking to the prs set is the passive units. the polk's are far superior to the prs ones. imo the prs set sounds better active but def far from bad with the passives

[Ron G.]

Originally Posted by zfactor

i personally didnt care to much for the polks.. they to me were very "dry" sounding, the polk's had good depth and stage but they were not at all exciting to listen to. flat and dull in a way.. and i dont mean freq wise just very lifeless i guess. they were very accurate and had decent low end to them in this app i heard them in. the tweeters were on axis and he had full tuning done via a 701. we tried them active as well and it did help them but not as much as i would have liked to see,

the prs set has more life and shine in a way. still very laid back but a more in your face type sound lol... hard to really describe. the tweeters are robust and have good shimmer and sparkle which i thought was lacking in the polk. id say the polk may be a touch more accurate but these imo are far nicer to listen to.. the mids blow the polks away imo more low end and def more output. they def didnt seem to need the power the polks did to really sound as nice.. the only spot i find lacking to the prs set is the passive units. the polk's are far superior to the prs ones. imo the prs set sounds better active but def far from bad with the passives

Does the Premier PRS use an 8 ohm tweeter ? The cap is rated at 6.8uF and pioneer claims a xover point at around 2000 Hz. This would suggest an 8 ohm tweeter, at least if using a conventional Butterworth filter.

[zfactor]

i dont believe so.. i actually never put a meter on it. ill check here in a bit for you. i am almost positive it said 4ohm on the back of the housing.. but yes they claim a 2k cutoff..

[WLDock]

The manual shows a Revc of 5 Ohms for the tweeter. It might not be a 4 Ohm?

[mk1982]

thanks for the review guys.

can anyone else compare these to the dyn set (mw160 + md100)

[thapranksta]

*Please don't hit me with a brick for mentioning jl speakers.* Has anyone compared the tweets on this set to the tweets in the JL XR set? The reason I ask is because I found the JL aluminum tweets very strong and pretty clear. Though I don't have many tweeters under my belt, the aluminum material seems like a good compromise between a laid back tweeter and a sharp tweeter. I wonder if the JL tweets can be paired with the Pioneer mids using either the Pioneer crossover or JL crossover. No, I'm not a DIYer. I'm still going the passive route cause active scares me.

[dbTroy]

zfactor- were you running these components active or with the passive crossovers? I am strongly considering these for my front stage but I just want to run them off the passive crossovers. Does this set still sound great running off their passive crossovers? Any thoughts?

[Oliver]

edit;
these were installed in a set of mission towers i had in the top half (sealed chamber) with the 6.75 and tweeter flush against the front of the enclosure the x-over was used and is inside the sealed enclosure.

Troy, he used the passives.

I picked up a set of TS-C520PRS, 5 1/4 inch for $209.00 on e-bay

[AzGrower]

I just place and order for the these on www.onlinecarstereo.com for $259 shipped with 1 year warranty.
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=17068

[chefhow]

I have been using these in my Magnum for about 5 months and absolutely love them!! They are GREAT for rock and metal and get VERY deep but do tend to get a bit loose with heavy rap. The longer that I have owned them the better they have sounded. Very good tweeter, which I was afraid it was going to be a bit bright, but they have just the right amount of highend to be detailed but not very bright. The midrange on them is detailed and alive and ofcourse the bottom end is unreal. They are more than worth the money, and in this world it really isn't that much for what you get.

[dbTroy]

How do the tweeters mount?

I don't see an option for a flush swivel mount. I'd really like mount these in kickpanels but I hate angle mounts that stick out. I'd much rather have them flush swivel mounted. Any options?

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by dbTroy

How do the tweeters mount?

I don't see an option for a flush swivel mount. I'd really like mount these in kickpanels but I hate angle mounts that stick out. I'd much rather have them flush swivel mounted. Any options?

You could probably pick up some ideas in the install section !