I'm not so sure I'd say they're the same. Though, I acknowledge the price differential is pretty daunting and I'd like to see that price justified.
I have no issue at all with a mfg paying another company to design their product. As long as they don't try to pass it off as something it's not. So far, I've not seen Arc pretend these aren't designed by SB. Their press release referenced "Scan Speak Revelator Engineers"; if you are aware of the situation involving SB then you know SB was founded by former SS employees. Alpine contracted SS for the F1 drivers as well as Vifa. MANY of your favorite 'car audio' speakers use the same chinese build house. They call them up, tell them what they want, and boom... new forum boner. It happens more than you're aware, even though people like to pretend they already know it all. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif
And, honestly, I don't mind... as long as the product is good and does what I need it to.
Anyway, the specs still do look very similar. I'm hoping to get one of the Black 6.0's to test so we can lay some of this to rest. I don't really give a **** how a speaker tests. I don't have any agenda and to be real, fudging klippel data is pretty hard and would not go unnoticed. I just want to help people understand what they're hearing so they can make more informed purchases (notice I didn't say "smarter" purchase). I realize sound quality is subjective. Unfortunately, people use that as a crutch to dismiss data. If they'd take the time to study some data they may realize there's a common thread to what they like and don't like. Hell, T/S and impedance alone can tell you a lot about a driver if you choose to look past Fs and Qts.
- Erin