Boston Acoustics RX97 6x9 Car Speaker

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Mobile Link Cellular

Year / Model Reviewed:
1993 Boston/RX97

Strengths:
Solid design with these speakers from the basket to the woofers, mids and tweeters. Mids are very audible and so smooth! the tweeters are not overpitched so they dont drown out my fronts. Price wise they are spendy but you get what you pay for!

Weaknesses:
Had a hard time mounting these in my car because the basket was slightly larger than the cutout. This car has a standard 6x9 cut-out.

Summary:
I have an all Boston System. The RX97 speakers are worth every dollar ive spent. Any audiophile person who loves music as at is intended to be heard should purchase these. They punch a hard hitting bass note, smooth mids, and crisp highs for all types of music. Im pushin them with a Boston GT-20 55W rms x4 amp. Could use more power so im going with a 75W rms x4 amp. I work at a stereo shop so ive heard all brands of speaker from Alpine, Orion, well ...all of them , and The Bostons are the BEST.

Similar Products Used:
Boston RC520 5 1/4 components w/ Neo 3R ambient tweeters in the dash, Boston Generator 12" subs, Boston GT40 900w amp, and GT40 220w 4ch amp.

Price Paid:  $150.00 from Custom Sounds

Year / Model Reviewed:
 RX97

Strengths:
Good musical reproduction. Sturdy build. Versatile.

Weaknesses:
Maybe price although I think it was worth every penny. Some people would just rather settle for something less expensive.

Summary:
I love my 6x9's. I had a set of Polk Ex series and thought they sounded exceptional, but now that I bought the Boston's I hqve a new love. The bass response is good and the highs are amazing. Love the versatility of the too. I have them running off my reciever and they rock but I've heard them with an amp 50x2 and they kick it hard.

Similar Products Used:
Polk ex series 6x9

Price Paid:  $200.00

Strengths:
The bass response is the best attribute of this speaker, provided you feed them well. And if you like the mid and high end sound sources coming from the rear of the car you should take a look this speaker. The speakers appear to produce a somewhat nuetral sound balance and if anything emphasis has been placed of mid and high reproduction accuracy.

Weaknesses:
For myself the strenghts of this speaker are it's weak points. I found the speaker to be brighter than most OEM front speakers and efficent with power which in turn make them dominant and distracting in my opinion. My personal prefernces are for omni directional low end response from the rear speakers and the directional mid & high end sources from the front pair of speakers. Kind of like idea behind 5.1 sound systems found in the home.

Summary:
The speaker represents a fair to good value when you take into account the average to good performance. The true bass response does not appear until driven above 35 Watts which is typically above the RMS range of most OEM & COTS car stereos, a 100 to 200 Watts per channel amp is recommended; the speakers appear to handle up to peaks of 200 Watts. Bass response is better than most 6.5 inch but falling short of a good 8 or 10 inch speaker in the same price range. Due to the loudness of the RX97 speaker compared to the car OEM front speaker, the majority of the sound in terms of loudness and bandwidth may come from the rear of the car which is the opposite of what I expect. As such if you are replacing your 6x9 with the Boston units you should consider replacing the front pairs with speakers equal to or better speakers, in terms of brightness and SPL dB. I only wish the RX97 came with an optional bypass plug to disable and or turn down the relative volume of the mid range and tweeter and or allow for bi-amp application. That way your car stereo could drive the mid and high end (if you wanted) and the external amp could drive the woofer low end. Otherwise you might end up chasing your tail trying to balance out the volume levels and tonal settings for the front vs the rear speakers.

Similar Products Used:
ADS, MD Quart

Price Paid:  $200.00

Strengths:
None

Weaknesses:
None

Summary:
I just have one problem with these speakers that I hooked up to my factory stereo. Now, I have to get the matching fronts because I have awesome sound in back and paper drivers up front. I was considering a new stereo and a sub, but these speakers realy dont need them. They live up to the boston name (not enough recognition) for excellent quality speakers in all their products.

Similar Products Used:
None

Strengths:
Excellent highs, beautiful mid-range sound. Deep emphatic bass for those who dont like to blow their ears out with sub's..

Weaknesses:
A little spendy, but worth it...

Summary:
I bought these speakers for about $190 after listening to a showroom demo. I placed them into my '94 Eagle Talon after about an hours worth of work. The head unit used is an Alpine CDA-7864 60Wx4 with no other amplification. I still have the stock front speakers, but the difference is amazing. I will be swapping the front soon now after hearing the incredible clarity of the Boston's. The overall sound if very crisp, and capable of some incredible highs. These speakers are a little expensive for some, but you get component sound at a much cheaper price.

Similar Products Used:
None