Boston Acoustics' Solution For Ford Truck Noise Pollution
Written: Jun 07 '00 (Updated Jun 12 '00)
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Pros: takes a lot of punishment, very good response for the money
Cons: passive crossover is sensitive to 2 ohm loads, a little expensive
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| clburdette's Full Review: Boston Acoustics RX 87 Car Speaker |
Unfortunately, Ford has a nasty habit of putting 5"x7" speakers in their trucks. 5"x7" being a slightly odd size, it can be difficult to find a quality aftermarket speaker to adequately fill this void without modification. One of your best bets for a solution is to fill them with Boston rx87 5"x7" speakers.
Boston rx87's are 2-way coaxial speakers with a 5"x7" bass cone and a 3/4" tweeter. Box specs say power handling is 40 watts RMS, 160 watts max, and frequency response extends down to 50hz. The speaker itself has a steel basket, copolymer bass cone and butyl surround.
So how do they perform?
First off, these speakers handle the lower end of their response curve really well. You're not going to bump at 50hz with these speakers alone, but they handle a lot of punishment around 100hz. One pair of these speakers keeps up with my in-cab 10" subwoofer pretty well. Response is great between 250 and 500hz, producing that gritty distortion guitar fuzz that is so often lacking in rock music on other speakers. These are great speakers for anything with lots of guitar. Also horns are outstanding on these speakers.
The high end is a bit of a different story. Like a lot of tweeters, the ones on the rx87 have a tendency to be a little strong. In one instance, on the lower end of the tweeter's spectrum, this is good because it emphasizes pick noise, guitar twang, and cymbal crashes. On the other hand, as you creep up to the middle of the speaker's range, around 10khz, they can be very strong, which can make vocals a little hard to take. Response on the very upper end of the tweeter is noticeable, but not outstanding. cymbals don't really shimmer like they should.
The rest of the response curve is smooth and commendable. Overall, response is great for the price.
I currently power these speakers with 50 watts at 4 ohms. I have run them at 2 ohms with 100 watts. Although the rx87's definitely benefit from a boost in power(bottom end tightens up even more), running at 2 ohms tends to send the passive crossover out of wack, and vocals can be extremely hard to take. Response gets a little tinny, and the upper end of the woofer gets strong, which the woofer doesn't handle so well, producing some annoying mid-range screechy-type distortion.
As far as volume goes, these speakers should hit a noise level that could be expected from their price tag before reaching distortion. This is not an inordinately loud speaker, nor would I expect it to be for $150 a pair.
There aren't a lot of 5"x7" applications out there. As I mentioned, Ford trucks tend to use these size speakers, and if someone with a Ford truck we're planning on using an external amplifier, I would definitely recommend coupling it with these speakers. They make a great replacement for those wimpy factory 5"x7"'s
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100
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Epinions.com ID:
clburdette
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Member: Curtis Burdette
Location: california
Reviews written: 46
Trusted by: 19 members
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