Hey Chase, Phil here from Kicker
Sorry for the late response!
First off, undestand that the Kicker KM6500.2 tower speakers are different on several levels.
The design approach from the beginning was to mount the horn and midrange separately. There were several mechanical goals that drove this decision:
* We wanted to to provide a product that did not overly stress the mounting flange on a typical aftermarket empty can. This meant we needed a light product in terms of weight, and we felt a coaxial design was too heavy for many cans that consumers already owned.
* We wanted to use a more musically accurate horn geometry. This geometry cannnnot be achieved in a coaxial compression driven system.
* We wanted a sealed midrange cone. Pulling the horn to its own can allowed for a sealed midrange cone, for greater effective piston area and more efficiency as a result from the given cone diameter.
Performance wise:
* We wanted to work hard to provide a speaker that was musical ad easy to listen to at low volumes, and cranked up.
* We wanted a speaker that sounded good up close, and would still project at 80 feet, (and more).
* We wanted to provide that transparent open "air" that is typically identified with vey high-end esoteric home audio systems, with lots of transient response, and very little coloration, (distortion).
* We wanted a rock-concert-ready speaker system in terms of power handling, with super high efficiency.
With these goals we developed the KM6500.2 and the partner KM6500 midranges, for use when you want the "6-pack system" on your boat.
Quickly, performance-wise, the KM6500.2 component set has the following performance specs:
200 W RMS power handling
94.5 dB - 1W / 1m sensitivity
50 - 22KHz frequency response
When you add the KM6500 mids for the 6-pack you end up with :
400 W RMS power handling
99.5 dB - 1W / 1m sensitivity
Some will tell you specs are meaningless, and I wil admit to posting one quickly, as the frequency response has no window of flatness. I am quoting from our website, so there is no argument about facts. I have sent a note to the acoustic engineer I worked with on these to get the response window, and will publish that to this group and to our corporate website. Having seen the response curves though, I can tell you the response curve is very much accurate and flat with no huge peaks or dips in loudness.
The horn used in the KM6500.2 is different from what the other guys are using. The horn geometry specifically is a TRACTRIX horn geometry. The horn, from a technical standpoint is mathematically fully defined, from the entrance at the compression driver all the way out to the air terminus, (the big round end). At every point along the horn's length, the area is changing, with no tubular sections of constant area. At every point the horn's inner surfaces are curving. This geometry prevents standing waves, and resonant peaks associated with the typical "horn sound" and has a wave-front that is as close as possible to a radiating sphere, mimicing the wave propagation that orccurs naturally from ambient sounds.
The midrange driver, with its sealed cone also features a rare-earth neodymium motor structure. The neodymium motor delivers the power handling and performance of a traditional heavy ceramic-magnet motor structure at a fraction of the weight. The neodymium motor design is inherently shielded; specifically more of the magnetic energy is focused in the voice coil gap than is found in traditional front-plate / ceramic magnet / backplate and pole piece motors.
The KM6500.2 crossover is semi-symmetrical and provides both high pass and low-pass crossover sections for steady even impedance curves without impedance dips. The mid's 12 db/octave crossover is mounted on the back of the mid, and the horn's 18 dB/octave crossover is mounted on the back of the horn's driver. Wiring is super easy, (just wire the horn and the mid in parallel for a flat 4-ohm load) and there is no mess of trying to figure out how to mount the crossovers in the cans; they are already mounted.
Additionally, there is a jumper on the horn's crossover that allows you to change the horns resposne. With the jumper at 0 dB the frequency resposne is flat. But when you move the jumper to +6 dB you get a lift in the high frequency, for a brighter sound that many prefer. When you buy the extra KM6500 mids, you FOR SURE want the jumper on the horn crossover to be set at +6 dB
From a listening perspective, many people will have opinions, and opinions are VERY subjective. I can tell you I think we achieved our design goal. I have been considering using these for my home theater and studio, and am closer to finalizing designs to go ahead and buld them. Yes, I think they sound
that good. And yes, that is a subjective comment!
I am also running a set on my boat, and have been playing around with the new KICKER IX digital full range amplifiers. I am running 250 watts a side to the ones I have on my boat, and I have had no problems. I can hear them way out, even as I stand on the shore and have my wife pull away with the thru-hull exhaust turned on, ( I have a stern drive).
The performance can be tailored though as I shared above. If you like a brighter sound with more output from the horn, just move the jumper. The KM6500.2 components are shipped with a jumper on the back of the horn set to 0 dB.
As a side note, check out the motorcycle in the following link:
http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/Di...vehicles/63137
The KM6500.s is a super speaker for a variety of applications.
If you like it loud, want it to handle a lot of power, and want to hear it way far away, and then not fatigue your ears up close, like while surfing, I thnk you owe it to yourself to give the KM6500.2 components a listen.
Hopefully I have given you facts that help guide you in your decision, without swaying you with a bunch of subjective comments that cannot be verified. I'll get back with ya on the sensitivity window!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask here, or simply PM!
Have a great day
Phil
Kicker
Linear Mode
