Got the amp in tonight. Its sweet, tiny from what I am used to.

Hey PHil, inside it has a little card stating the rated output is 125 watts at 4 ohms, and the actual power is 174 watts at 4 ohms, how accurate is this? I dont want to fry my brand new CDT Eurosports I got tonight as well.

Man the CDT's are nice, not as big and chunky of a magnet as the Utopias, but the cone looks likes it made of kevlar material, super nice, I will snap some pics this weekend.

I ordered Aluminum tweeters and they sent me silks, damm it.

Anyone know how to differentiate between a silk dome tweeter and an aluminum tweeter. I asked my salesman to get me the aluminum and he said he switched them out, but the box says silk dome. YOu can see the tweeter is a silver color,leading me to believe they are actually the aluminums, but i want to make sure. Will the silk tweeters be a silver color, or will they be white or black? Let me know guys before I call CDT, asking them.

 

The main difference between aluminum and silk tweeters is that some people feel that metal tweeters are too crisp and too harsh. If you like your highs super crisp and accurate, you will like metal tweeters (Aluminum or Titanium). Silk tweeters are a little more forgiving and more mellow sounding. They blend better (IMO), but you dont get the accuracy (or the harshness) of the metal ones. Just personal preference.

Where did you get the amp from? That amp should be CEA-2006 compliant, so there should be just 1 output rating. I would call Alpine to sort this out. It also may be 125WRMS at 12V input and 174WRMS at 14.4V input. Not sure. Alpine has great customer support, so just call them and they should be able to sort it out.

John

ps- What are the dimensions on that one?

 

I know the difference between silk and aluminum, i was just wondering if you could tell which one is which by just looking at them.

I got the amp from a friend. I will let you know about the dimensions later when i get home.

IN the meantime, anyone know if you can tell by just looking at the tweeters whether they are silk or aluminum.

 

i'd say very accurate.... do they list a 'rated at xx.xx voltage'? what does the sheet actually say?
still, that piece of paper is would most likely the 'birth sheet' for the amp, which is the actual 'measured at the bench' power versus the 'theoretical rated power'. that's not a bad underrating there... to Alpine... 140% of rated output.

a while ago when i looked at the the CEA-2006 compliance documents (which i skimmed), as i recall, to be compliant, the manufacturer has to AT A MINIMUM make the rated (claimed) power. they are allowed to make more or equal, but not less. they wanted to guarantee the customer that they will at least be getting what they paid for if not more. so, chances are, your amp is actually making that power.

now, regarding your CDT speakers? what are they rated at?


and the tweeter can be any color they decide to make it. i've seen aluminum tweeters that are black and silk tweeters that are silver.
one way to (typically) check is that a silk tweeter will usually have a woven cloth appearance when viewed closely w/ strong light. (ie, it will look like finely woven silk. ) aluminum will be completely smooth or at least not 'woven' looking (it might have some texture depending on the design and manufacture).
so, the best thing to do is get a strong flashlight, and possibly a magnifying glass, and take a close look at the appearance of the tweeter's material.


i used to have a strong preference for silk dome tweeters, but as i've gotten older, i looked around one day and realized that almost all of my serious gear has metallic tweeters in one form or another... *shrug* i'm not sure if it's my ears that have changed, or if the technology of metallic tweeters have been able to remove some of that screeching metallic sound that used to drive me nuts.

 

What i have done in the past to check if its silk of aluminum (dont know if its recommended, though ) is to get a mechanical pencil and pump the lead out a ways. Then have it touch the dome on the tweeter. If it ripples, its silk. If its firm, its metal.

I dont know the ramifications of this. I would think that as long as you dont puncture the dome you should be fine.

I would wait for confirmation on whether this can hurt the tweeter before trying.

John

 

Phil-

My speakers are rated at 80WRMS and 240W Peak. Can they take 115WRMS? if so, I might just convert the Infinity amp to the driver's amp, and get a 400WRMS 4-ohm stable amp in a week or so.

I have heard of people overpowering speakers by as much as 50%, so I dont know if this is feasible or not. I will probably never use all 115WRMS, as volume level 25 on the stock HU gets a little high for me.

John

 

Phil the speakers are rated for 180 watts per the website, but when I called CDT they recommended anything from 50 watts to 130 watts. Like you said I will never drive them at full blast anyways (well not at least for long periods of time).

I actually called CDT and they verified their silks are black, and the aluminum's are silver, so I did indeed get the right set.

So now its time to start the install, well actually still waiting for the sub, and without the sub I cant make my box.

 

RE: silk/metallic tweeter testing. i've usually found close examination will reveal it. when that doesn't work, touching it will reveal, but i'm always hesitant for that...

RE: power/speakers/ratings

it's hard for me to sit back and just say "ok" or "not ok". i don't know the gear all that well, and i can't see their construction, etc. not to mention -- it isn't mine, so if it breaks on my call, i feel like crap because i'm responsible.

at the end of the day, the obvious fact is you guys have to choose. i usually suggest a 125% rule of thumb... simultaneously? i'm sending close to 180% to my current Focals.

in both your cases? i wouldn't be overly concerned with some caution and keeping an ear out for distortion...