Although these crossovers provide great features, their size is a bit on the large side. This may make mounting them behind the common door panel difficult. It is best to try to find a spot for these under the dash or behind a kick panel.
TestingWe mounted the SY65C1 on our test baffle board with the tweeter as close to the mid-woofer as possible. Testing for frequency response was first done on-axis. This would be similar to mounting the components in kick panels. The next response test was performed 30 degrees off-axis, as if they were mounted in the doors of the vehicle.
The first on-axis frequency response results told us immediately something was not quite right. Our response curve revealed a large dip located around 2-3 kHz, the transitional area of the mid-woofer and tweeter. Apparently, the tweeter was out of phase. The problem here is the 12 dB crossover used on the tweeter. A 12 dB crossover changes the phase 180 degrees. This is a simple fix and can be made by swapping the positive and negative wires on the tweeter output of the crossover.
Continuing on, with the positive and negative wires of the tweeter switched at the crossover, the test was conducted again. There was little surprise: the wire switch went a long way towards smoothing things out by greatly reducing the dip in the response. However, the response indicated that there was a lot of output around 10 kHz. Looking at the graph, you'll see quite a bit of sizzle as the frequency increases. Luckily, the five-position tweeter attenuation circuit (the manual makes no mention of this feature) on the crossover allowed us to calm things down a bit. At -6 dB, it appeared fairly reasonable.
Changing to 30 degrees off-axis we encountered dips in the frequency, once again in the 2-3 kHz range. The same response we had initially encountered showed up again. The good news is that you can use the angle mount insert for the tweeter to cure most of this null.
Things appear fairly smooth on the impedance graph. You can see the bump of the woofer down at 70 Hz, right at its resonance with a little wrinkle from the crossover circuit, and topping off with the resonance of the tweeter. Our results indicate that there's nothing here that's going to drive an amplifier crazy, but some tweaking to the crossover could improve the curve.
Judging from the Theile/Small parameters, the woofer will likely have a nice bass bump centered around its resonance of 70 hz. When it's put into a vehicle, it will probably go pretty low, too. If you're not adding a subwoofer immediately, that's good news.
All told the MA Audio SY65C1 is a competent speaker component set. There is some trouble in the crossover and the manual leaves a lot to be desired, but overall, the system looks impressive, and is made of quality materials. If purchasing a set has crossed your mind, remember to just make sure to wire the tweeters backwards and make use of the tweeter attenuation.