But that's only part of the Piccolo story. The driver's casing is virtually all cast metal, including the cup that makes up the rear acoustic chamber. At the entrance of the acoustic chamber and beneath the 28mm dome is a C.A.R. (Controlled Acoustic Resistance) Filter. The combination of the rear chamber and the C.A.R. Filter all but eliminates unwanted back waves while improving the acoustical loading of the driver. This improves the speaker's dynamic range and transient response while allowing the Piccolo to be crossed over as low as 800Hz.
The last item of note is the input connections. Morel equipped the Piccolo with 12" of Van Den Hul silver-plated linear crystal cables. While it might seem like overkill, it shows a level of dedication that is certainly a byproduct of their hi-end home audio products.
For the low-frequency stuff, a pair of 165mm (6.5") Supremo SW6 woofers is provided. The driver's silver basket is cast aluminum and is said to be aerodynamically designed to minimize sound reflection. Like several other Morel woofers, this driver uses the company's Hybrid linear motor design, which combines both a neodymium and ferrite magnet centered within the voice coil. This allows for a large, 3" diameter under-hung voice coil using the Hexatech design submersed in a tall magnetic field.
Out front, the driver uses a speckled gray, one-piece Acuflex Duralay-coated paper cone. By using a single piece (cone and dust cap are one), weight is kept to a minimum and the coating helps eliminate cone breakup and distortion. Centered in the rear of the motor behind the cone is a C.A.R. Filter, much like the one in the Piccolo tweeter. This is told to allow the woofer better control in infinite baffle configurations by improving the acoustical loading.
All together, the Supremo 6 appears to have all the right stuff to put it in a league of its own.
Setup
Supplying the amplified signal to this component system, I wired up an Alpine CDA-9857 head unit directly to a TRU Technology C-7 amplifier (conservatively rated at 125 watts x 4). The driving channels were level-matched within 0.05 volts of each other. At no time was any processing used during the listening test.
Alterations had to be made to my baffles to fit both the slightly oversized woofers and tweeters of the Supremo 6. This tells me they will most likely need custom mounts in a car. But, hey, if you can afford the price of admission, you can probably afford to have a custom installation done.
After retrofitting my baffles, I bolted them to my well-damped 2.25ft3 test enclosures and finalized my setup with some brief listening. I left the tweeter levels on the crossovers at the factory setting of 0dB for the best blend between the mids and tweets. I determined the best position for the speaker cabinets to be just slightly turned in from on-axis, although the Morels had such great off-axis response, it didn't really matter - a great benefit when installing them into a car.
Listening Soul/Blues
Toni Braxton "Shadowless"
Off of Toni Braxton's Libra album, "Shadowless" is a simple, serenade-style song that shows a lot of emotion without becoming a huge composition. It's very intimate as Braxton commands the center of the soundstage, placing her mere feet in front of my listening position. Instrumentation consists only of acoustic guitars; a single guitarist accompanies her vocals closely while additional guitarists fill the more dynamic sections with resonating strings that encompass more of the soundstage.