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271 Posts
Well, I just got my 8454 in the mail today from newtitan and am finally able to try out the CA18's and 25nfa's that I have had installed for a week with no HU :evil: I have totally revamped my system besides for my amps, so this is my reveiw of my new and old setups...
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OLD SYSTEM
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P860MP- A good HU, controls were more convenient than the eclipse but I felt that the graphic EQ somehow had a negative effect on the sound if used for anything but light eq-ing. I have owned way too many of the pioneer flashy dolphin OEL's and this is kind of boring to me now. Overall a good looking and sounding deck, no major gripes. The right knob was a little too wiggly so it was hard to cope with somtimes on less than perfect roads. I do like the fact that it had satellite radio support but the compression artifacts on the XM really started to grate against my ears.
CDT TW25s- I only have one word for these tweeters: weenie. Sorry if I offended anybody with my bluntness, please do not take offense if you own them but I could not stand them. They seemed to not be voiced to anything... everything they played lacked crispness and detail, and fatigued my ears badly. If this is laid back then give me some red bull any day.
CDT EF6CF- I love the look of these mids, they are very well built, but the sound was less than satisfactory. They had major breakup past 2.5k(why cdt crosses them at 5k in their passives I will never figure out, thank goodness I run active), They had little or no midbass and major peaking from 800hz to about 1.7-8k. Getting these eq'ed to a listenable level was nearly impossible with the 13 band in the pioneer, especially since it seemed to have an unnatural effect on the sound when used heavily, but I am suspicious even a 30 band wouldn't have helped.
Overall- The CDT's were not awful for the price I paid but I can't understand what the deal is with the bandwagon. They just didn't impress me, and this wasn't the only CDT set I've owned either... I think that they were decent but you could do better for the price. I also got nothing back out of them as their resale value is near zero since a certain CDT pusher(some of you guys know who I'm talking about) has completely flooded all of the forums with them. It's almost like they have something set up where CDT says "This is a $399 set" to push their supposed value up and they seem to only sell online for like $200, and then people think they are getting a killer deal for $399 worth of speaker, but in actuality they are getting more like $100 worth of performance. IMO, of course.
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NEW SYSTEM
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Eclipse CD8454- I love the look of this deck compared to the pioneer, because it matches my truck much better. I fell in love with this design and want to go postal at fujitsu ten for them never offering one in this style with support for satellite radio. I can't beleive they add sirius support and then make their decks look like JVC's. Good move guys. The controls aren't exactly what I would call natural, but they are Ok once you get used to them. The display lags behind the buttons a little but I got used to it pretty fast. The knob remote the deck comes with is absolutely pathetic, thank goodness newtitan gave me the new style no knob remote with the deck. Many of the functions of this deck are similar, so I can't really say either has more features. Everybody complains about the 128k encoding limit for the memory stick, but truthfully the compression artifacts are less noticable than those on my XM, which could be almost unlistenable at times, especially if the EQ wasn't set just right. Either way I listen to mostly CD's so it isn't a super huge deal. The 10 band para is also much more natural sounding, and much more flexible than the pioneer 13 band graphic. It doesn't leave the sound "damgaged" sounding like the pioneer did.
LPG 25nfa- These are so much better than the CDT's in so many ways. They need nearly no EQ'ing, are crisp in the 6.5k and up range, and if the crossover slope is set correctly are smooth below that as well. Listening fatigue is almost non-existant for me. They also get louder with less power and sound better doing it.
Seas CA18RNX- These mids are just plain great sounding. There is none of that honky, annoying, ear fatigue causing midrange, and none of the even more awful breakup past 2.5k. They have a warm and full sounding midbass, not the over-snappy kind that is hard to mesh with a sub, and not the mud kind that makes you want to EQ all of the bass out. They are also very well built, I love the ventilated voice coil.
Overall- I prefer the second combination GREATLY. The overall sound of the system is a heck of a lot closer towards what I would call perfect, and for once I am content to leave my system the way it is for a little while. I am so happy that I decided to change all of that old gear out I just don't think words can describe it....
(P.S. thanks for moving this to review npdang)
---------------
OLD SYSTEM
---------------
P860MP- A good HU, controls were more convenient than the eclipse but I felt that the graphic EQ somehow had a negative effect on the sound if used for anything but light eq-ing. I have owned way too many of the pioneer flashy dolphin OEL's and this is kind of boring to me now. Overall a good looking and sounding deck, no major gripes. The right knob was a little too wiggly so it was hard to cope with somtimes on less than perfect roads. I do like the fact that it had satellite radio support but the compression artifacts on the XM really started to grate against my ears.
CDT TW25s- I only have one word for these tweeters: weenie. Sorry if I offended anybody with my bluntness, please do not take offense if you own them but I could not stand them. They seemed to not be voiced to anything... everything they played lacked crispness and detail, and fatigued my ears badly. If this is laid back then give me some red bull any day.
CDT EF6CF- I love the look of these mids, they are very well built, but the sound was less than satisfactory. They had major breakup past 2.5k(why cdt crosses them at 5k in their passives I will never figure out, thank goodness I run active), They had little or no midbass and major peaking from 800hz to about 1.7-8k. Getting these eq'ed to a listenable level was nearly impossible with the 13 band in the pioneer, especially since it seemed to have an unnatural effect on the sound when used heavily, but I am suspicious even a 30 band wouldn't have helped.
Overall- The CDT's were not awful for the price I paid but I can't understand what the deal is with the bandwagon. They just didn't impress me, and this wasn't the only CDT set I've owned either... I think that they were decent but you could do better for the price. I also got nothing back out of them as their resale value is near zero since a certain CDT pusher(some of you guys know who I'm talking about) has completely flooded all of the forums with them. It's almost like they have something set up where CDT says "This is a $399 set" to push their supposed value up and they seem to only sell online for like $200, and then people think they are getting a killer deal for $399 worth of speaker, but in actuality they are getting more like $100 worth of performance. IMO, of course.
---------------
NEW SYSTEM
---------------
Eclipse CD8454- I love the look of this deck compared to the pioneer, because it matches my truck much better. I fell in love with this design and want to go postal at fujitsu ten for them never offering one in this style with support for satellite radio. I can't beleive they add sirius support and then make their decks look like JVC's. Good move guys. The controls aren't exactly what I would call natural, but they are Ok once you get used to them. The display lags behind the buttons a little but I got used to it pretty fast. The knob remote the deck comes with is absolutely pathetic, thank goodness newtitan gave me the new style no knob remote with the deck. Many of the functions of this deck are similar, so I can't really say either has more features. Everybody complains about the 128k encoding limit for the memory stick, but truthfully the compression artifacts are less noticable than those on my XM, which could be almost unlistenable at times, especially if the EQ wasn't set just right. Either way I listen to mostly CD's so it isn't a super huge deal. The 10 band para is also much more natural sounding, and much more flexible than the pioneer 13 band graphic. It doesn't leave the sound "damgaged" sounding like the pioneer did.
LPG 25nfa- These are so much better than the CDT's in so many ways. They need nearly no EQ'ing, are crisp in the 6.5k and up range, and if the crossover slope is set correctly are smooth below that as well. Listening fatigue is almost non-existant for me. They also get louder with less power and sound better doing it.
Seas CA18RNX- These mids are just plain great sounding. There is none of that honky, annoying, ear fatigue causing midrange, and none of the even more awful breakup past 2.5k. They have a warm and full sounding midbass, not the over-snappy kind that is hard to mesh with a sub, and not the mud kind that makes you want to EQ all of the bass out. They are also very well built, I love the ventilated voice coil.
Overall- I prefer the second combination GREATLY. The overall sound of the system is a heck of a lot closer towards what I would call perfect, and for once I am content to leave my system the way it is for a little while. I am so happy that I decided to change all of that old gear out I just don't think words can describe it....
(P.S. thanks for moving this to review npdang)
