[Socket]

I've been running these speakers for about 12 months now and thought I'd leave a review, as there seems to stuff all written about this brand

First of all let me say I am not a car audio expert or anything like that, nor can I comment on their other products such as amps and sub woofers

My experience is limited to the Critical Mass CM454a front mids and tweeters.

These are made in the USA, not sure how well know the brand is known there but they are very rare here in Aussie

The web site is massive dodge and the catalogue and quoted price list is even more dodge. http://icondealerservice.com/critical-mass-c57.html
Anyone paying retail for these is just insane..... instead they come up for sale on ebay for a fraction of the price....

All that said, it was really hard to find a genuine review of someone who had installed and run these speakers, but I came across a discounted set and took the plunge...

In short the quality of these two ways are outstanding, crystal clear and bright and according to audio techs who have worked on the car, on par or better then top end speakers like the focal utopia be....

If like me you were looking for a review on this brand, the CM454a are not worth the retail asking price but they are worth paying up to $2K if you can get your hands on a set... for what seems like a shady brand, these speakers actually live up to the hype

Hope this helps someone out

Specs and pics below

Max Power Handling : 400 W/ CHANNEL
RMS Power Handling : 400 W/ CHANNEL
X-Over Type : 24 db/oct
Speaker Size : 4.5"
Voice Coil : 1.65"
Fs : 44 Hz
db@1W/1M : 92.5 db
Motor : NEO-Hibrid
Cone: Carbon Fiber Blend

[bluewater328]

But you're trying the real-deal Be's now, right? Assume its a 165W or a No.7 active? I would love to hear the comparison because I'm going to have a hard time believing the above statement about being on par with Utopia Be's. Utopias are overpriced but anything that shows up with that frequency on ebay without being in other major outlets...I dunno....

I've seen the claims and the debates but I have yet to find a reputable dealer that has a set. That means supply chain too, but Best Buy found a way to bring in Oppo Bluray players (RIP) alongside their $2500 Marantz SACD players when the customers kept asking for it.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by bluewater328

But you're trying the real-deal Be's now, right? Assume its a 165W or a No.7 active? I would love to hear the comparison because I'm going to have a hard time believing the above statement about being on par with Utopia Be's. Utopias are overpriced but anything that shows up with that frequency on ebay without being in other major outlets...I dunno....

I've seen the claims and the debates but I have yet to find a reputable dealer that has a set. That means supply chain too, but Best Buy found a way to bring in Oppo Bluray players (RIP) alongside their $2500 Marantz SACD players when the customers kept asking for it.

You know your audio Blue

No 7s plus a 33KX13

Will do a full review of these when installed (in a few weeks)

[bluewater328]

This better not have been the set I was watching that went on sale for $2k on eBay

My hesitation came from the underseat for the 6.5". Are you going to try and retrofit the oem housing or are you building something custom into the door panel? Also that Be tweeter has a silky sound but might take some extra work in the sails.

I'm going to be blunt here, but I hate what the installers did to your 4" (no offense).

I have the 100KRS system in mine and was pleasantly surprised by the IFBMW-subV2 as it preforms fairly well. If you could keep separate underseats along with the whole No7 in the doors/sails I think the soundstage would be exceptional and envelop you like a loudspeaker. You might not even want a traditional mono sub in the rear with that setup.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by bluewater328

This better not have been the set I was watching that went on sale for $2k on eBay

My hesitation came from the underseat for the 6.5". Are you going to try and retrofit the oem housing or are you building something custom into the door panel? Also that Be tweeter has a silky sound but might take some extra work in the sails.

I'm going to be blunt here, but I hate what the installers did to your 4" (no offense).

I have the 100KRS system in mine and was pleasantly surprised by the IFBMW-subV2 as it preforms fairly well. If you could keep separate underseats along with the whole No7 in the doors/sails I think the soundstage would be exceptional and envelop you like a loudspeaker. You might not even want a traditional mono sub in the rear with that setup.

Cheers Blue
Running IFBMW 8" under seats for the mid bass atm
Going to remove them and run the 6 1/2 inch in a custom door pod or maybe where the 4" is in the door card now. Unfortunately that is where the stock speaker was and OEM door cards all have a hole in that location, so rather have a speaker then then a hole or fake grille Def installing the No 7in the doors n sails and moving the critical mass two ways into the rear to replace the IFBMW two ways there atm
Will be a few more weeks until I collect the extra bits like amps and stuff, but looking forward to some awesome tunes soon
Will be updating my build thread as the project progresses

PS nah I didn’t nab these from ebay must have been someone else lol

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1080234

[Socket]

Massive old thread that I had completely forgotten about
Six years on and I have gained so much more experience with car audio since I posted this

I can positively say that the critical mass speakers are indeed not worth the asking price. While good speakers I long since removed them from my car, and am still running the focal utopia old No 7 kit. Including the Be tweeters.......

[E92x7z]

can you give me a 3d file of the castings for the tall ones ?

[Socket]

Originally Posted by E92x7z

can you give me a 3d file of the castings for the tall ones ?

??