Hard hitting bass with clear vocals, can this be JVC Mobile Company of America?  JVC, the maker of sophisticated mobile, audio and video products has stepped their game in the speaker world in a big way. With their Arsenal series, they have put together a nice package at a price that seems almost too good to be true. These speaker’s sound great, the tweeter sound amazing, fit’s almost any ride being a slim basket, and the tweeter adjustments mean that they'll make consistent imaging a breeze.
As is my custom, I'm going to report my experiences, good, bad or whatever. What is most important with this, or any, set of speaker is how easythey are to install, will they last, and how they sound.  

Hard hitting bass with clear vocals, can this be JVC Mobile Company of America?  JVC, the maker of sophisticated mobile, audio and video products has stepped their game in the speaker world in a big way. With their Arsenal series, they have put together a nice package at a price that seems almost too good to be true. These speaker’s sound great, the tweeter sound amazing, fit’s almost any ride being a slim basket, and the tweeter adjustments mean that they'll make consistent imaging a breeze.
As is my custom, I'm going to report my experiences, good, bad or whatever. What is most important with this, or any, set of speaker is how easy they are to install, will they last, and how they sound.

The Good

Woofer

The woofers on the CS-680 are made of a 15% Hemp fiber that is strong and light to help for more power capability, but will not do ANYTHING for you if you smoke them. Rule of thumb, don’t be dumb.  The rear of the CS-680 and all the Arsenal Series have dual gold plated binding post, very nice touch here JVC.

Tweeter

The tweeter has a neodymium magnet which is essential for such small motor structures for realizing uncompromised performance at high power levels.  I am a fan of the Titanium Hard Dome + Silk Edge Tweeter.   I love the harder edge the music takes on thanks to Titanium, the Silk Edge make the musicality of the tweeter much smoother.

 
Crossover

The crossover had a few really nice touches, and a few not so nice issues.  First let’s look at the nice.  The crossover housing has a great layout.  Input wires at one end, output at the other.  The speaker protection circuit was nice; the crossover components were basic, nice but not audiophile quality.  The LED illumination was cool, but more on that in a second.  
You have three positions for tweeter adjustment (0, -3dB, -6dB). While I've come across many a piece of mobile electronics equipment with buttons, switches, and menu items that seems to be more decorative than functional, it was easy to hear a difference between all the settings without any test equipment.


Installation

A slim design allows for installation in wider range of cars. This is enabled by application of neodymium magnets and aluminum frames. JVC has done and exceptional job on the cast aluminum frames, they are very smooth and the finish is very nice.  From an aesthetic standpoint, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference but functionally, it does. The aluminum frame adds stability and rigidity to the basket…read here, more bass potential. The CS-ARS680 I tested included adapters to expand the range of cars where they may be installed. The angle adjustable tweeter expands installation possibilities and makes the final imaging adjustments much easier.   

Manuals/Web Support

CS-ARS680 came with an installation manual. The manual was well…written; you got to love Chinese to English translations, only a few misspellings.  The manuals give you enough information to properly install the unit, but not much in the way for adjusting the levels in the crossover.  No real web support for these guys, too bad.

The Bad

Aesthetically, the JVC speakers are just "OK" in my book. I can't get excited by the center plug no matter how functional it is. Personally, I'm all about the performance so I'm not as concerned about looks, and the installation was inside the OEM covers, so not much of a problem really for me.  If looks is one of the (if not the) most important thing things for you then as you might want to look for something else.  As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
The manuals do not give you enough information for adjusting the levels in the crossover.  
The crossover LED’s only require a small amount of power and wire, but the layout of the crossover does not accommodate this well.  A notch in the plastic would have been nice.  Also the LED’s need to be powered on a switched circuit, not on a constant as the instructions seemed to call for so they are not visible at night or when your not in the vehicle.  
The crossover binding posts were small, tight, and couldn't really accept anything larger then 16-18 gauge wire terminals. It might be possible to get 14 gauge wires in them; 16-18 gauge is probably the best size wire these binding posts can accommodate.

Summary

These speakers have all of the hallmarks of a pretty well executed design at a good price point. They sounded good utilizing a wide variety of test tracks, tending to sound better on Rock and Metal, good on Rap and just ok on Vocals. Don’t be afraid to feed these babies power as they won’t bottom out thanks to the excellent driver’s crossover implementation, they can take the juice.

Strengths

•    Clarity of sound
•    Tremendous performance
•    Price vs. Quality
•    Cool illumination LED’s in Crossover for that ‘Must Have Look’
•    Slim Design

Weakness

•    Lackluster appearance
•    LED’s in Crossover on all the time.

Best Use: Perfect for front imaging with a great price vs. performance.  
Sound Quality:      3 Stars out of 5: * * *
Installation Ease:    4 Stars out of 5: * * * *
All Around Value:      4 Stars out of 5:  * * * *

JVC Arsenal CS-ARS680-6” x 8”/ 5” x 7” 2-Way Component Speakers
•    240W Max./80W RMS
•    Frequency Response: 35 Hz -30,000Hz
•    6x8”/5x7” Universal Installation Capability
•    Separate Crossover Network
•    Glass Fiber + Paper + Hemp Cone Woofer
•    Titanium Hard Dome + Silk Edge Tweeter
•    Neodymium Magnet (Tweeter)
•    High Efficiency T3 Air Vent Cooling System

Price & Contact:

$319.95 (MSRP)
www.mobile.jvc.com