DEI Audio HF 2365 3-Way Component Speaker Set
As reviewed by Howard Doctor for "Auto Sound & Security" Magazine
DEI Audio's 2365, 3-way speaker system
By Howard Doctor
A few months back, when Auto Sound & Security got a facelift, we
branched out from our long-established (sub) woofer-of-the-month
tests, and started testing some of the more interesting full-range
speaker systems. One of the reasons we made the changes in the
magazine was so we could investigate systems like Directed
Electronics' (DEI) 2365 3-way rig that looked like it would be fun
to run.
The 2365 is part of DEI's High Fidelity Studio series, and was
developed from their successful 2065 2-way system, which got rave
reviews when it hit the market. Three-way full-range systems (we
don't count the subwoofer) are still something of a novelty in car
audio, as the industry has embraced two-ways for many years - that
is, unless you include the "swap-meet special" 800-watt 5-way
six-by-nines which were a woofer and a gang of four nasty little
tweeters.
The DEI 2365 system is composed of a 165mm (6.5-inch) woofer, a
100mm (4-inch) midrange, and a 25mm (1-inch) dome tweeter, together
with a dedicated passive crossover unit and carries a street price
tag of a very reasonable $325.
Technical
The build quality of all the drivers is very good indeed. The woofer
is based on a tidy stamped steel chassis, carrying a 375 gram
(13-ounce) ceramic magnet and blackened, vented steel parts. A
gently-curved, carbon-loaded polypropylene cone, is carried on an
IIR (butyl) rubber edge and the spider is large and flat. Rounding
out the spec, the voice coil is 25mm (1-inch) in diameter and
appears to be copper wire-wound on an aluminum bobbin.
Looking for all the world like a miniature version of the woofer,
the midrange driver has the same style of cone and surround, except
this time, powered by a 220 gram (8-ounce) magnet and just like the
woofer, it has black, vented steel parts and a 25mm voice coil. Also
common to both sizes of drivers are the very basic terminal panels,
which are a bit delicate when attaching cables and maneuvering
drivers through mounting panels, but this is a minor point. A
full-size doped silk dome and suspension neodymium magnet,
Ferrofluid cooling and a clever flush mount housing that allows the
face to swivel about 25 degrees in any direction are the high points
of the DEI tweeter.
The crossover was housed in a small plastic enclosure that would be
easy to stash inside a door or behind a glove box. It comes with
nice gold screw terminals and all the components are glued down
tight. DEI uses ferrite cored inductors to keep the inevitable power
losses to a minimum, but this also sets a rigid maximum power
limitation for the system, at about 100 watts. A high-grade mylar
capacitor and two different protection devices, a bulb and a PTC,
grace the tweeter output.
The filter slopes of 12 dB, 6 dB and 12 dB are not as steep as we
would like to see, but in view of the system's price tag, we may
just be acting too picky. There was one troublesome detail, though:
the woofer, midrange and tweeter "minus" wires are all supposed to
connect onto a single screw terminal which proved to be beyond my
fat-fingered abilities and ultimately, it was easier to have the
woofer "minus" wire share input "minus" terminal.
Also included in the (environmentally dreadful) packaging, was a
delightfully complete kit of installation hardware, including trim
rings and metal grills for the drivers, a fist full of connecting
wires and a pair of fixed-angle surface mounting cups for the
tweeters.
Measurements
For our lab measurements, we ran the woofer in a sealed lab
enclosure of about 14 liters (0.5 cubic foot), with the midrange and
tweeter mounted on a flat MDF panel, 600 x 600mm (24 x 24 inches)
with a 10 liter enclosure on the back - this simulated a reasonably
repeatable car door load. We measured the frequency response on
axis, at 30 degrees off and at 60 degrees off, to gauge the driver's
dispersion patterns. Again, the idea being to simulate real-world
listening conditions, in a fair and repeatable manner.
Checking the low end first, we found the -3 dB point on the woofer
to be 70 Hz, somewhat higher than the 45 Hz that DEI specified, but
still well below the 90 or 100 Hz crossover frequency of a typical
subwoofer. So it may be irrelevant. The DEI woofer took quite a
beating, before it started to show signs of strain which came in the
form of rapidly increasing distortion, at about 70 watts of input.
With its trim ring in place, the woofer was 60mm (2.4-inches) deep,
so should fit easily into most current-generation doors, and the
metal grille served to protect and conceal the cone in a functional
and attractive manner.
The midrange was a little low in sensitivity, but was reasonably
smooth up to almost 4 kHz, above which it got a bit rough, but since
the DEI 2365 system's crossover points were around 400 Hz and 4.5
kHz, this was no problem. As might be expected, the silk dome
tweeter was very pleasant to listen to, showing an extended top-end
without the harshness that comes with metal domes. Some "spitting"
was evident during the very loudest of our tests, but it was not
considered serious and most users would never run them loud enough
to be aware of it.
Listening
We used the lab enclosures, minus the large baffle board in the car,
for our brief sojourn with the DEIs. Because the difference in
sensitivity between the midrange and the woofer, the system had a
subtle "loudness contour" that sounded warm, full and clear,
particularly at low and medium listening levels. In spite of its
slightly-reduced intensity, the improved detail and clarity that the
dedicated 100mm midrange gave to the system was a most beneficial
addition. Don't concern yourself with the frequency response
anomalies in our set-up, because the midrange unit may be mounted in
the dash, on the upper door or in some other spot that is closer to
the listener which would turn our frequency response results upside
down. Concentrate instead on the reduced distortion, the improved
transient response, output capability and power handling and on the
wide dispersion that comes with these three-way systems.
More Measurements
Overall, the 2365 system's output level was most satisfying and 113
dB peaks were noted during the in-vehicle tests, which is more than
enough volume for any rational person. Our Ariel SYSID system's
spectral contamination test of 10 simultaneous frequencies showed
just a trace of IM products, well below the level we regularly
anticipate with two-way systems.
While we draw the line on power handling when the distortion reaches
our arbitrary threshold of 6%, our power test routine does not test
the driver or system's long-term thermal abilities. So, while the
DEI 100-watt RMS power specification does not agree with our 70-watt
rating, it may still be perfectly valid. As might be expected, the
2365 system showed no surprises in the impedance sweeps, staying
above 4 ohms across the bulk of the frequency range, with negligible
reactance, making it a very easy load for an amp to drive.
Comment
Whether it is their alarms, power amps or speakers, the folks at DEI are absolute masters of packing the maximum features in for the
money. You could spend a lot more that the price of the DEI 2365
system on a pair of coaxials, and never know what you're missing.
Just five minutes with the DEIs makes it awfully hard to go back to two-ways.
