Dynaudio Esotar 110/650...a little taste of heaven

[vfparts]

Hello everyone, I have been listening to the Dynaudio Esotar 110 tweeters along with the Dynaudio Esotar 650 midbass for a couple weeks now and all I can say is... "wow" as Im smileing from ear to ear. The 110 is probably the one that impressed me the most. I previously owned a pair of Morel Supremo Piccolo tweeters which sounded great as well but were a little too laid back for my taste and required it to be intestalled a little more on axis to get the best out of it however it is smaller than the Esotar 110. They Morel Piccolo tweeters were paired with the Morel Supremo 6 midbass. The Esotar 110 tweeter plays with tons of detail while not being harsh at all. The only thing I personally did not like about the Esotar 110 was the faceplate. Although it did have a small grill to protect it to some degree, it stood out anywhere I tried to place it. I went ahead and took care of that minor problem by taking the grill from the Hybrid audio L3 and trimming the faceplate with a grinder/cutting blade to make it fit. I think it came out pretty good and it makes it look a little more "stock" so it should blend in to the interior a little more.

The Esotar 650 sounds incredible even in the stock door location. I currently have them at a frequency range of 90hz-2.5khz. I know that these can go lower but Im being conservative since Im just trying to break them in right now. I can only imagine what they will sound like once they are broken in. If I were to compare the Morel Supremo 6 I previously had, I would say that I like the Esotar 650 just a hair more. Thats only because I feel that it produces a little tighter/quicker midbass and thats considering that it hasnt been broken in yet. Ive been told that it should take 200 + hours to really get the full potential of the drivers. Dont get me wrong, the Supremo 6 midbass are great speakers I just happen to like the tight kick that the Esotar 650 producess.

These speakers are currently in my work vehicle which I drive every day for approx 2-4 hours a day just depending on where I need to go. They are being powered by a Polk Audio PA D4000.4 which is rated at 125 watts rms at 4ohm. I know its a class D mini amplifier and its not the best for an SQ setup but its what I currently have in my work vehicle and it does have active crossovers so it will do for now. These drivers will ultimately be installed in a 2012/2013 Silverado crew cab which I hope to be getting in a couple of months and they will be powered by and ARC Audio SE 4200 and controlled by a Pioneer 99RS. I can only begin to image how much better they should sound with that combination and the fact that they will be broken in as well.

[m3gunner]

Nice review...

Do you have a shot of the grille you built?

[vfparts]

Those are the grills from a Hybrid audio L3 I just wrapped them in black speaker cloth then applied the Dynaudio logo from the original plate.

I liked how those looked however I was trying to get the tweeter OD as small as possible so I decided to go to a local cnc machine shop and get a set made out of aluminum. I gave them the specs for what I wanted done then in a couple days I picked them up and got to work again. I decided to paint the center portion of the plate satin black and polish the trim ring so it has a nice 2 tone look. Here are some pictures of what it came out like. The grills are off a set of Morel CDM-88 midrange speakers measuring in at 3.5" so the over OD of this speaker is now 3.7"

[vfparts]

Id like to take this time to thank Jerry "Niebur3" for helping me decide what speaker combination to get. He is very informative and genuinely wants to help. After going back and forth between different speaker configurations I placed and order with Jerry "Niebur3" for the Dynaudio 110/650 and now I just recently decided to add the Esotar 1200 to complete the system. Once I receive the 1200 ill be sure to test it and post my thoughts on how it performs.

Thanks Jerry for all your help.

[diatribe]

Thanks for the review. Those are all speakers that I am considering for my next install so it's nice to hear others opinions on them.

[nigeDLS]

Very nice! I'm contemplating reducing the face plate or making a new on for mine, they are just soooo big as stock!

[ousooner2]

nice fab work on that 110 faceplate!!

[vfparts]

thank you.

[BuickGN]

Nice review and nice speakers. I have/had the 650/430/102 combo and love it. I plan to eventually get the 110 once I get comfortable with cutting the dash. I heard the 110 in another car and fell in love with it. The 650's midbass seems bottomless. It sounds much larger than it is and the midrange detail is as good or better than most dedicated midranges. I just recently removed the 650s and installed the 182 10" midbass and it's so incredibly hard to force myself to sell the 650s. They did nothing wrong, in fact, they handle a 63hz highpass like no other 6.5 that I've run and the midrange never got muddy. I got a little worried about the amount of excursion they were experiencing so I decided to try out the 10" (more like a 9" in reality). If I weren't getting pressure to sell them from the "boss" I would pack them away for another install.

Jerry has been awesome, best vendor I've ever dealt with. When I was in a rush one day, I had a tracking number within 20 minutes of sending payment. That's service and the tech support behind the scenes has been great. He even helped me out while on a road trip.

[vfparts]

Originally Posted by BuickGN

Nice review and nice speakers. I have/had the 650/430/102 combo and love it. I plan to eventually get the 110 once I get comfortable with cutting the dash. I heard the 110 in another car and fell in love with it. The 650's midbass seems bottomless. It sounds much larger than it is and the midrange detail is as good or better than most dedicated midranges. I just recently removed the 650s and installed the 182 10" midbass and it's so incredibly hard to force myself to sell the 650s. They did nothing wrong, in fact, they handle a 63hz highpass like no other 6.5 that I've run and the midrange never got muddy. I got a little worried about the amount of excursion they were experiencing so I decided to try out the 10" (more like a 9" in reality). If I weren't getting pressure to sell them from the "boss" I would pack them away for another install.

Jerry has been awesome, best vendor I've ever dealt with. When I was in a rush one day, I had a tracking number within 20 minutes of sending payment. That's service and the tech support behind the scenes has been great. He even helped me out while on a road trip.

I was also thinking of going that route with the 182/430/110 but considering that this is going into a Silverado 2500 crew cab (Once I buy one ) and I'm trying to keep it somewhat stock looking I dont know if I want to cut up the door panel to fit a larger midbass, put the 430 in the kickpanel or pillars then add another amplifier to the mix. I really like the 650 and id hate to get rid of it. The 650 puts out a good amount of mid-bass especially considering its size and the mid-range is probably the part that most people don't think about when considering the 650. If properly installed, the 650/110 combination sounds amazing. Adding the 430 to the mix would only make it sound even better but of course it would come down to install/tuning.

If I do end up changing my mind and going with the 182/430/110 im sure Jerry will be the first to know about it

[Lunchbox12]

Reading this thread makes me feel pretty good as I had just purchased a Esotar2 650/430/102 from Jerry as well. Can't wait to get em into my car and hear these things sing!

[Niebur3]

JJ, you need to put those installers to work.....lol!

[nigeDLS]

Originally Posted by Lunchbox12

Reading this thread makes me feel pretty good as I had just purchased a Esotar2 650/430/102 from Jerry as well. Can't wait to get em into my car and hear these things sing!

Trust me, you won't be dissappointed! I recently installed 650, 430 and 110, and i am very impressed. TBH, the 430 is undoubtedly the star of the show, which is surprising as the 110 is more expensive, but as a set i haven't heard better.

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted by nigeDLS

Trust me, you won't be dissappointed! I recently installed 650, 430 and 110, and i am very impressed. TBH, the 430 is undoubtedly the star of the show, which is surprising as the 110 is more expensive, but as a set i haven't heard better.

Agreed about everything. All of those speakers are amazing and the 430 is the best of the group. I've had mine playing 200hz-8,000hz and they sound so natural. Currently at 320hz to 6khz and I've never had a better sounding system.

Originally Posted by Lunchbox12

Reading this thread makes me feel pretty good as I had just purchased a Esotar2 650/430/102 from Jerry as well. Can't wait to get em into my car and hear these things sing!

You will not be disappointed. I had that exact combo for a while and loved every second of it. The 430 is nothing short of amazing, vocals will be incredibly realistic, the 102 has that perfect blend of detail and realism with no harshness, and the 650 doesn't realize it's just a 6.5". It digs down low with ease and never muddies up or loses it's composure at any volume level. I ended up going with MW182, Dyn's 10" midbass only because I had the door panel off one day while playing music loudly and the amount of excursion from the 650s was scary. So I decided to lighten the load on them and go with a larger midbass. The MW172 was out of the question because with the excursion capabilities of the 650, it had about the same displacement as Dyn's 8".

[nigeDLS]

Originally Posted by BuickGN

Agreed about everything. All of those speakers are amazing and the 430 is the best of the group. I've had mine playing 200hz-8,000hz and they sound so natural. Currently at 320hz to 6khz and I've never had a better sounding system.

I'm currently at 315 to 6.3k, so very similar. I was playing them lower, but the 650 plays that part of the spectrum with more realism than the 430 does.

Are yours playing open or sealed enclosure, and if so, what volume?

[BuickGN]

Originally Posted by nigeDLS

I'm currently at 315 to 6.3k, so very similar. I was playing them lower, but the 650 plays that part of the spectrum with more realism than the 430 does.

Are yours playing open or sealed enclosure, and if so, what volume?

I had them enclosed for a long time but recently went back to "IB" and I think I like it better that way. I couldn't tell much of a difference with an enclosure or not when I used to highpass them high, anywhere from 600hz to 1,600hz when I had the 650s but with them playing a little lower now I think the realism is better without the enclosure. That was the nice thing about the 650, it played midrange so well that you had a ton of options in crossover points.

[DAT]

Originally Posted by vfparts

Id like to take this time to thank Jerry "Niebur3" for helping me decide what speaker combination to get. He is very informative and genuinely wants to help. After going back and forth between different speaker configurations I placed and order with Jerry "Niebur3" for the Dynaudio 110/650 and now I just recently decided to add the Esotar 1200 to complete the system. Once I receive the 1200 ill be sure to test it and post my thoughts on how it performs.

Thanks Jerry for all your help.

Nice! Love the new grill. At least you bought from Jerry .

[Lunchbox12]

Originally Posted by Niebur3

JJ, you need to put those installers to work.....lol!

You're right Jerry! It's my fault though. We are doing the Ridgeline first because I didn't want to give up the GTR over these summer months. The car's just too new and too much fun to keep in an install bay for now.

[Lunchbox12]

Originally Posted by vfparts

Id like to take this time to thank Jerry "Niebur3" for helping me decide what speaker combination to get. He is very informative and genuinely wants to help. After going back and forth between different speaker configurations I placed and order with Jerry "Niebur3" for the Dynaudio 110/650 and now I just recently decided to add the Esotar 1200 to complete the system. Once I receive the 1200 ill be sure to test it and post my thoughts on how it performs.

Thanks Jerry for all your help.

That's going to be such an awesome combo! I'm sure it will be phenomenal. Are u planning on running the 1200 IB?

[vfparts]

I'm not sure how I'm going to be running the 1200 just yet. So far I have just been gathering the pieces to the puzzle for a car/truck the I will be purchasing sometime end of this year I hope

I'm stuck between a crew cab Silverado, Sierra, Ram or Tundra as my truck options so with any one of these Id be going sealed for the 1200. If I end up going with my other option Challenger SRT 8 I can either go sealed or IB.

[vfparts]

Here is an update on the Esotar tweeters. I really liked how the 110 faceplate came out once I painted the center black then polished the trim ring however I wanted it to match the color scheme of the 650 and 1200. I found some flat aluminum paint and gave it a shot. I already know what everyone is going to say...they look just like the piccolos but I can assure you they are not. The color matches the original paint very closely and unless you have the 110 and the 650 or 1200 side to side you can barely tell that the original shade of grey is a little darker.

[chaser9478]

I recently purchased a set of E650s, needless to say after this review I cannot wait to have them installed.

For the time being I am pairing them with a rainbow cal26 titan tweet.