Heco Or Canton

Specs from manufacturers are mostliy not reliable because the don't add the ±3db Point concerning the frequency. It is better to search the net for frequency curves of the favorite speakers. There aktually you can see, how deep they come. The ±3db Point of the Heco XT 301 is about at 45Hz.

I usually build subwoofer enclosures for car audio, however, now I have no workshop to build my own speakers. I'm used to buying my own speaker components and designing them using T/S parameters.

I know 'Specs' can be misleading, so I'm looking for real world experience.

Both Heco and Canton are unknown in the the UK market. But are they good brands for sound quality?

http://surfandsound.wordpress.com/

They are serious companies with comparable sound quality to other international brands. The problem is that in this price and size region you won't really find speakers with really loud and deep bass, but rather more at active studio monitors.

mattski73 (Beitrag #3) schrieb:

Both Heco and Canton are unknown in the the UK market. But are they good brands for sound quality?

Principally not better or worse than the brands you guys have on the island. Sound of course varies from brand to brand, it's a matter of taste. So basically it does not really matter if KEF, Wharfedale etc or Heco, Canton.... the quality is objectivly seen similar concerning the price region that you are aiming at.

Cause most manufacturers design in the home countries and build in China. Speakers "made in Germany" are way more expensive (see ELAC for instance). Same with B&W in UK I guess.

I think for now, I'm going to go back to building my own. I received a pair of Mission MX-1 speakers today, which cost around the same as my Morel Tempo 6 coaxials that i'm currently using in an open baffle design. The difference was shocking. The 'Off The Shelf' speakers (Mission's) are dull, lifeless, and the the bass is thick and slow. Sure, the bass digs deeper, but there's no real definition to it. And the Mission's are supposed to be multi award winning speakers. They're a joke!!

I knew there would be a difference between buying and designing my own, but not the kind of difference I've experienced today. In reality, the likes of the Canton GLE 403, 420's are in and around the same price bracket as the Mission MX1 - MX-2, but given the far superior performance from the Morel's I can't really see myself settling for the compromised performance of 'Off The Shelf' speakers.

For now, I would like to thank you for your help and advice, but now I can only see buying such speakers as a very expensive down step.

I could be wrong, maybe there are some very special speakers out there, but in this very simple comparison Morel car speakers vs. award winning speakers from Mission, the Mission's are a bad choice.

Thanks again

Well Car-Hifi and Home-Hifi are totally different things.

If you search for deep bass anyway, I would sincerely not recommend a Canton. Better the Heco, or, like the buddy above mentioned.... active Speakers.



Gererally DIY is a good way to get good sound for lower costs.

PS: Maybe try a Klipsch RB 81..... although you need to be kind of blind for those things.

Eminenz (Beitrag #7) schrieb:

Well Car-Hifi and Home-Hifi are totally different things.

Personally i feel this is a common point of view, although i feel its somewhat of a misguided point of view. The only difference with car audio and home audio apart from various manufacturers, is the environment the speakers and subs are in. As for T/S parameters, there is little to no difference. Generally there's more of a difference between PA equipment than there is between home and car audio T/S parameters.

However the fundamentals of acoustics exist in both car and home audio. Diffraction, standing waves, crossover and enclosures, these considerations exists in all acoustic fields.

Also more and more car audio enthusiasts are turning to home audio components over established car audio products, for better and cheaper results.

Eminenz (Beitrag #7) schrieb:

If you search for deep bass anyway, I would sincerely not recommend a Canton. Better the Heco, or, like the buddy above mentioned.... active Speakers.

Are Canton that bad, or are they just overpriced?

I've owned Dynaudio Active speakers before (before the radiator on my car broke and I had to fix it, so i sold the Dyn's), but failed to hear a noticeable difference in frequency response. However, after watching this (YouTube clip) and reading the frequency responses for each speaker, it would seem as though the passive Behringer B2031P would appear to have better bass response. This is why I ask for real life experience rather than trusting specs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycNMbItZDXU

Cantons are no bad speakers but usually on purpose rolled off quite early in the bass, guess to avoid problems with youngsters overloading and damaging them, the B2031 will give you deeper bass. Small passive speakers as said are limited in the bass response as they don't have the from TSP and enclosure volume needed bass boost/equalizing, that's why I recommended you active speakers in the first place.