ESB Audio 5.6K2 — 5000 Series 2-Way Speaker System (5.165 + 5.028)

ESB Audio 5.6K2 — 5000 Series 2-Way Speaker System (5.165 + 5.028)

The 5.6K2 is the ESB 5000 Series two-way driver set: a pair of 5.165 6.5-inch mid-woofers and a pair of 5.028 28 mm soft dome tweeters.

The passive crossover is not included. This set is intended to be run actively, with a DSP handling the division between woofer and tweeter. If the system will use a passive network, the 5.6K2X is the same drivers with the 5.6K2 CX in the box, or the crossover can be bought separately.

What Running Active Requires

Two amplifier channels per side — four in total for the pair — plus a processor with at least four output channels ahead of them.

Each driver gets its own channel and its own filter. Nothing sits between the amplifier and the speaker, so there is no passive network to introduce insertion loss or to fix the crossover point at one frequency and slope.

Mind the impedances when specifying the amplifier. The 5.165 is a 3-ohm driver; the 5.028 is 4 ohms. A 3-ohm load draws more current than the 4-ohm figure on an amplifier's specification sheet accounts for, so confirm the amplifier is genuinely comfortable there.

What Active Control Gives You Here

Three things a passive network cannot do:

Crossover point and slope become variables. ESB rates the 5.028 down to 1.2 kHz behind a 48 dB/oct filter, against 2 kHz behind the 12 dB/oct passive network. A steep active filter opens up nearly an octave of tweeter range that the passive design cannot safely use — which takes load off the woofer in a band where a door-mounted 6.5-inch driver is starting to struggle.

Level is set per driver, continuously, rather than at the two positions a passive network's switch offers.

Delay is available between woofer and tweeter. In a two-way that is worth less than it is in a three-way — the two drivers are often close together — but where the tweeter is in a pillar and the woofer is low in a door, the path difference is real and correctable.

The Drivers

5.165 mid-woofer: 3Ω, 160 W continuous / 320 W peak, carbon fibre reinforced composite exponential cone, Y35 ferrite motor with a pure copper ring, TSW rubber surround, 25 mm CCAW voice coil. Rated 50 Hz–4 kHz with 48 dB/oct filters.

5.028 tweeter: 4Ω, 110 W continuous / 220 W peak, carbon fibre reinforced composite dome, oversized neodymium motor, CNC 7000 aluminium and brass body, 28 mm voice coil on an aluminium former. Rated 1.2–25 kHz with 48 dB/oct filters.

System Application

A front stage for a build that already has, or is planning, a DSP amplifier — a Zapco four-channel DSP unit covers the two-way front stage exactly, with a separate amplifier for the subwoofer.

Both drivers want a subwoofer beneath them. With 4.5 mm of linear excursion and a 9.47-litre Vas, the 5.165 is a midbass driver.

The set can be extended to a three-way later by adding the 5.050 midrange or by moving to the 5.UMA — the woofer and tweeter carry forward.

Installation Considerations

Check door depth against the 5.165's 68–76 mm before cutting anything.

Treat the doors. A 6.5-inch driver in an untreated door is working into a leaky, resonant cavity, and deadening the outer skin plus sealing around the driver returns more midbass than any amount of additional amplifier power will.

Set filters to ESB's published slope table rather than to habit, and set them before playing anything loud. Four separate channels means four chances to send a driver something it is not rated for.

Specifications

• Configuration: 2-way component system, sold as a pair
• Mid-woofer: 5.165 · 6.5"/165 mm · 3Ω · 160W continuous / 320W peak
• Tweeter: 5.028 · 1.1"/28 mm soft dome · 4Ω · 110W continuous / 220W peak
• Crossover: not included — 5.6K2 CX sold separately
• Amplifier channels required: 2 per side (4 total)
• Sensitivity: 92 dB (woofer) · 91 dB (tweeter) @ 1W/1m

HF Audio Perspective

Whether this or the 5.6K2X is the right purchase comes down to one question, and it is not about performance.

It is about how many amplifier channels the build has. Active needs four for the front stage; passive needs two. If the amplifier is already there, this set is the one to buy and the DSP does the rest. If it is not, the channels cost more than the crossover does, and the 5.6K2X is the more sensible route to the same drivers.

What active genuinely buys in a two-way is the freedom to cross lower with a steep filter. Nearly an octave of additional tweeter range, taken off a woofer working in a door, is a real improvement and it is not available any other way. That is the argument for this set — not the general idea that active is better, but that one specific gain.

Either way, the doors need treating and the system needs a subwoofer. Those two things will shape the result more than the crossover decision does.