Closeout Deals

Helix builds their Esprit subwoofers to fit in places that normal subs won't. Coming in at just 3-1/2" deep, the Esprit E12W 12" shallow-mount sub lets you get creative with placement while giving you impressive bass. German engineering shines through on this sub, as Helix uses technology from their high-end Precision Series to create a super-slim driver that delivers superior performance and handles plenty of power. You'll enjoy highly accurate bass reproduction in applications where space is an issue.

• 12" shallow-mount subwoofer with dual 2-ohm voice coils
• fiberglass coated honeycomb membrane woofer with rubber surround
• die-cast aluminum frame
• power range: 100-400 watts RMS (600 watts peak power)
• frequency response: not available
• sensitivity: 88 dB
• top-mount depth: 3-1/2"
• sealed box volume: 0.90 cubic feet
• ported box volume: 1.75 cubic feet

The Hybrid Audio Clarus C51-2v2 is part of Hybrid Audio Technology’s “Stage IV” offering, an option that has received the praises of the mass media and users worldwide. All design cues for the Clarus series were taken from the Stage V Legatia series. Hybrid Audio Clarus C51-2v2 kit was reviewed by Car Audio & Electronics Magazine as one of the finest component sets ever tested, at any cost, in the past twenty years of the magazine’s review of car audio products. 

Each Hybrid Audio Clarus C51-2v2 kit contains a pair of 5 1/4" midbass drivers, a pair of Clarus C1 20mm soft-dome tweeters, Clarus competition-grade crossovers with nickel-plated spring- loaded terminals (suitable for display), tweeter hardware with several tweeter mounting options, connection wire, grilles, and gift box. The Hybrid Audio Clarus C51-2v2 systems are a good “step up” in performance from the Unity series, boasting higher grade materials, increased midbass authority, higher power handling, and elevated tonal and spectral balance performance.

Hybrid Audio Clarus C51-2v2 Attributes:

Hybrid Audio Clarus C51-2v2 frame is Cast aluminum with black powder-texture surface coating. The basket is a high-quality cast aluminum design, which plays a critical role in aligning the voice coil in the magnetic circuit. Additionally, the cast aluminum frame allows for better clamping strength verses typical stamped steel frames, and ensures that the voice coil remains centered in the former. The black coating on the frame protects it from abrasion and oxidation. The frames are similar in size and format to the Mirus, Imagine, and Clarus-series drivers, allowing for upgrade potential from these product lines to the Clarus series.

Hybrid Audio Clarus C51-2v2 Cone and Dust Cap: Pressed paper, untreated on the front side and treated on the rearward side. It is widely acknowledged that pressed paper cones are the best marriage of lightness, stiffness, and ability of the cone to damp unwanted cone and edge modes and resonances (read: distortion). The damping afforded by the paper cone ensures the midbass speakers can play lower treble frequencies effortlessly, without significant cone “breakup.” Our approach to “point-source imaging” is to rely on the midbass driver to effectively reproduce the lower treble frequencies, where the human vocal range extends, as well as other imaging-critical musical instruments, ensuring phase-coherent imaging and stable, lifelike staging character. The paper cone, known for its excellent sonic attributes, is water resistant, thanks to a polymer developed exclusive and proprietary by Hybrid Audio Technologies. The treatment does not change the look and parameters of the driver like old-fashioned “glossy” polymers which added an appreciable amount of moving mass and significantly colored the sound. No, the Clarus cones look like any “normal” paper cone. The treatment protects the cone from periodic drips (such as inside a door panel), as well as accidental splashes to the front of the cone. The dust-cap covers the voice coil to keep dirt and debris from fouling the voice coil gap. Since high frequency information emanates from the center of the cone, a paper dust-cap was utilized in concert with the pressed paper cone diaphragm to ensure that the speaker’s response remained linear into the lower- to mid-treble frequencies. Surround Inverted high-loss rubber surround. The inverted high-loss rubber surround (in concert with the spider, detailed below), helps to provide the compliance and “restorative force” needed for the Clarus drivers to play effectively into the lower midbass, and even upper sub-bass frequencies (depending on in-car cabin gain and other factors). You’ll also know a Hybrid Audio midrange and midbass design by its inverted surround; this design feature allows for the use of a smaller height grille, better clearance with OEM panels, and more flexibility in mounting options. The surround is a shared technology with the Imagine series coaxial and convertible component sets.

Hybrid Audio Clarus C51-2v2 Spider: Phenolic fabric and tinned tinsel leads. The spider is the brownish/yellow corrugated (rippled) fabric that attaches the cone and voice coil. The spider for the Clarus designs was the subject of a considerable amount of our research and development. The spider is a phenolic symmetrically-rolled fabric which provides excellent restorative force during excursion, and the woven tinsel leads, often not found in speakers in this price range, are an asset to the Clarus line because the leads are protected from physical damage and accidental short circuit. The tinsel leads are connected to real epoxy PCB, not flimsy cardboard.

Hybrid Audio Clarus C51-2v2 Voice Coil and Motor System: 1” (25mm) (C5) and 1.4” (35mm) (C6): complimentary design. The voice coil used in the Clarus midbass is a 2-layer aluminized copper wire coils on a round former. An “overhung” voice coil was selected to improve sensitivity while still keeping distortion to a minimum. The motor system utilizes a ferrite magnet with rubber protective boot (which can be removed to improve mounting depth), complimented by design with a back plate and rear venting chamber to improve the speaker’s thermal power handling and improved ability of the midbass to play at high amplitudes.

The Hybrid Audio Legatia L8v2 is the ideal multi-purpose super high-end speaker driver. Mechanical and electrical parameters are amenable to a variety of different installations and speaker locations. This driver is intended to be used in an infinite baffle configuration; a simple, solid baffle, solidly attached to the car’s chassis with available airspace at the rear of the baffle is all that is required for optimum operation. The size of the L8V2 allows it to be mounted in typical “8-inch” midbass locations within a vehicle, or in custom locations at the discretion of the end-user, as long as there is adequate airspace behind the driver to allow it to maintain proper damping and acoustic suspension. At home in virtually any arrangement, the L8V2 is Hybrid Audio Technologies Legatia high-end largeformat midrange/midbass offering, boasting exceptional performance and a design philosophy that goes hand in hand with true high-fidelity playback.

 The basket of the L8V2 is a shared design with the Legatia L8SE for easy upgrade potential; the L8V2 and L8SE are interchangeable in mounting topology. The L8V2 differs from the first-version L8 in that the basket geometry has been enhanced in the V2 model to a slightly larger outside diameter for greater clamping surface area (from 8.5-inch on the L8 to 8.85-inch on the L8V2); the mounting holes for each driver remain nearly identical however, with a difference of only 2mm (188mm verses 186mm). Provided enough outside mounting diameter difference can be obtained, the L8V2 will often fit into the first-generation L8’s mounting hole. The basket is a high-quality cast aluminum design, and contains a 225mm flange providing for the mounting of the driver via four screw holes (the use of 5mm cap head screws is ideal). The overall dimensions of the driver are very amenable for use in the car audio environment, and in locations Legatia User’s Manual ©Hybrid Audio Technologies Page 34 of 65 typical of the standard “8-inch” driver, or in custom locations at the discretion of the end-user, boasting a depth of 94mm (3.7-inch). The basket features large openings behind the cone to eliminate chuffing and other aerodynamic-based noises, as well as provides adequate communication to the back of the cone for acoustic suspension and proper operation. Motor The motor of the L8V2 is paramount to the performance of the driver, providing for a flat and wide BL curve (as a learning note, BL is the equivalent of torque in a car; a car with a flat and constant torque curve provides much better acceleration and performance than a car with a peaky, non-constant torque curve). The BL curve is flat and extended, yielding 18mm of two-way linear excursion, resulting in the L8V2 being able to accurately track the input signal. Reduced distortion and greater dynamics are the immediate sonic benefits. The motor of the L8V2 includes a high-energy strontium magnet with an opposing high-grade NdFeB magnet at the top of the magnetic gap to improve restorative force, compliance, motor strength, displacement, and power handling. The magnet assemblies fully surround the voice coil.

Voice Coil - The voice coil diameter of the Hybrid Audio Legatia L8v2 is a large 35.55mm (1.4-inch), which is the proper balance between size and moving mass in super high-end mobile audio midranges/midbass. The voice coil diameter serves several key functions: elevated power handling, dissipation of heat (thereby lowering power compression), and maximizing the size of the magnet assembly for enhanced motor compliance. The voice coil is high-purity aluminum, which is superior to copper for heat dissipation, as well as significantly reduced moving mass. The result is an extremely light weight winding with good power handling and low inductance. Suspension The inverted surround is butyl rubber which is highly consistent, and does not suffer the variance of natural rubbers. This rubber surround terminates mechanical vibrations well, having a low stiffness for positive damping of resonances well above the usable range of the L8V2. The spider material was chosen for optimal performance; the spider is a 90/10 cotton/Nomex blend with single-dip low viscosity phenolic. This material provides the stiffness desired without being overly brittle or stiff, where vibrations in the spider are well damped and do not translate into the former or the cone.

Cone - Like other Legatia midrange designs, you will find no composite or metal cone materials used on the L8V2, as our approach to point-sourcing is to allow the Legatia midbass/midrange driver to effectively play into upper midrange and lower treble frequencies. The Legatia L8V2 is a cone-type driver consisting of a proprietary hybrid paper diaphragm with extremely low moving mass. Paper is widely acknowledged as the best-damping material, as it provides the near optimum balance of strength and weight. The cone has been treated with a water resistant element at the rear to accommodate door mounting, or other areas prone to occasional contact with liquid. The cone design offers a wide dispersion pattern to make for flexible installation and speaker location. The Legatia L8V2 has an outstanding extended frequency response; the usable frequency range of this driver exceeds six complete octaves of usable bandwidth on-axis (40 Hz – 3,800 Hz). Even off-axis, the L8V2 faithfully recreates more than five full octaves of information, for the ultimate “large-format” midrange/midbass.

Phase Plug and Shorting Rings -  The L8V2 comes equipped with a phase plug pole piece extension at the center of the cone, which is one of the more notable enhancements of the L8V2 over its earlier sibling the L8. The phase plug is aluminum and, by design, ensures enhancement of the total inductance profile, providing much of the inductance reduction benefits noted between the L8V2 and the first-generation L8. The phase plug is anodized black, which by design does not negatively reduce eddy current, and adds thermal dissipation potential, not to mention sleek, under-stated cosmetics. The phase plug extends well down inside the pole vent, and acts as a very large and efficient heatsink for any heat that radiates into the pole. The highest frequencies of audio emanate from the area around the center of the cone and the lower frequencies are produced by the area of the cone that is farther from the center. The phase plug pole piece extension improves the L8V2’s performance and clarity by deflecting delicate midrange and treble tones forward of the driver, while minimizing distortion and improving bandwidth. The L8V2 uses copper shorting rings. The shorting rings consist of optimally sized and placed rings of copper (Cu) to create a total inductance profile that is not just low, but flat over stroke, frequency, and power. Inductance is the number one limiter of high frequency extension and modulation of inductance with stroke, frequency and power, and is the primary source of intermodulation distortion (IMD).

Looking for grilles? Check here!

The Stage 1 Mirus line-up is comprised of dedicated coaxial kits for the cost-effective, OEM replacement market.

"We managed to get Hybrid Audio-level performance at this price point; the Mirus name is Latin for 'astonishing'; Hybrid Audio is sure that you will be astonished at how good an entry-level coaxial can truly sound (and look)."

Kits include a pair of coated steel frame two-way coaxials with water-proof paper cones proprietary to Hybrid Audio Technologies, high-energy ferrite magnets, 20mm soft-dome tweeters that swivel, integrated high-quality Mylar tweeter crossover capacitors, encased in a full-color gift box. Grilles are not available for this specific product.

The Stage 1 Mirus line-up is comprised of dedicated coaxial kits for the cost-effective, OEM replacement market.

"We managed to get Hybrid Audio-level performance at this price point; the Mirus name is Latin for 'astonishing'; Hybrid Audio is sure that you will be astonished at how good an entry-level coaxial can truly sound (and look)."

Kits include a pair of coated steel frame two-way coaxials with water-proof paper cones proprietary to Hybrid Audio Technologies, high-energy ferrite magnets, 20mm soft-dome tweeters that swivel, integrated high-quality Mylar tweeter crossover capacitors, encased in a full-color gift box. Grilles are not available for this specific product.

The Stage 1 Mirus line-up is comprised of dedicated coaxial kits for the cost-effective, OEM replacement market.

"We managed to get Hybrid Audio-level performance at this price point; the Mirus name is Latin for 'astonishing'; Hybrid Audio is sure that you will be astonished at how good an entry-level coaxial can truly sound (and look)."

Kits include a pair of coated steel frame two-way coaxials with water-proof paper cones proprietary to Hybrid Audio Technologies, high-energy ferrite magnets, 20mm soft-dome tweeters that swivel, integrated high-quality Mylar tweeter crossover capacitors, encased in a full-color gift box. Grilles are optional, sold separately, and have used in universal applications through Stage IV Clarus series.