Ground Zero GZCT 2200

WARNING: THIS PRODUCT CAN CAUSE HEARING DAMAGE! (See editor review)
If the GZCT 0500 are as used in smaller and medium PA rigs, the GZCT 2200 bullets are simply a professional item re-badged by Ground Zero for their maddest-as-mad-can-be high frequency show users. Right down to the impedance being a pro-audio industry standard eight Ohms per unit, these GZCT 2200s are wolves, not dogs. These are not domestic, nor domesticated.
The GZCT 2200 features a large cast Aluminium front horn with integral front plate that has a massive magnet assembly mounted to its rear on four chrome plated Allen headed bolts. The magnet is bigger and weightier than many I have seen on six inch drivers. It has the Ground Zero branding emblazoned around the front edge and has what looks like a silver egg in its middle. (A large egg) This is the solid Aluminium stubby phase plug. Much shorter and blunter than the pointy job in the 0500 compression driver horns, these parts are what gets them called Bullet tweeters in professional audio circles. The only driver madder than this is very similar in massive chassis but has a slot at the front and is called a slot radiator. This bullet though, has a wide diaphragm in its insides, that again, is pressurised to squirt out of the circular slot-aperture in its guts. This one is bigger than the 0500s’ though and although rated at the same nominal 25w RMS as the rest of the GZ Competition tweeter range, is a power handling behemoth. They put long horns on the fronts of big compression drivers that fire their output through a ‘throat’ at big gigs but close up and personal to the stacks at big rock concerts, the chances are, it’s bullet drivers like this that’ll be ripping your heart out. Everybody from Fane to JBL offers them to pro users. Almost no-one offers them for car use!
– Diameter: 102mm x 102mm front square housing plate with Ground Zero branding
– Magnet assembly 90mm diameter x 30mm deep
– Impedance: 8 Ohms
– Resonant Frequency: 2900Hz
– Frequency Response: 4kHz to 20kHz
– Power Handling: 25w RMS, 100w peak
– Efficiency: 107dB 1w/1m
– Mounting Depth: 65mm
– Simple lug type terminals
– Front horn piece is affixed to rear magnet assembly on four Allen headed chromed bolts
– Coated cast horn front piece with 45mm throat
– Aluminium-Magnesium tweeter diaphragm estimated @ 80mm including suspension
– Solid Aluminium phase plug shaped to pressurise the output
– Rear decal has protective film to be removed after installation.
Review by Adam Rayner
This is exactly the same beginning part of the review as is done for the GZCW 0500 but it matters so
If you use these injudiciously, in car, on axis to your ears and at high level, YOU WILL HURT YOURSELF. The slogan runs ‘practice safe sound’ but all I can say is if your ears ring, they have been beaten up. If you do it enough the ringing will never stop for the rest of your life and that can be fatal, since Tinnitus has been proven to cause suicide. I kid you not, like your main sex bits, you only get one set of Cochleae, Basilar membranes, Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup etc. and you must care for your Organs of Corti! These tweeters go mind bending, metal-meltingly loud and HF is what rips ears apart. Too much bass makes you go potty but too much tweet will make you go deaf.
This is really like playing with fire. The output of these devices doesn’t give a tuppeny hoot about the less efficient 8 Ohms rating of their voice coils. You put any watts into one of these and you can aim it at flies and kill them in flight! Seriously, the sound had a characteristic ‘pro’ snap and rip to it that can tire your ears really fast. If I had been outside at a show and had been copping an earful of some car on the other side of the field and they had these, I’d really know it despite this being a ‘short-throw’ design of professional loudspeaker. It does cut through the hubbub of other show cars and will make sure that even on folks’ videos, your detail and highs will be heard on their recording!
I can’t imagine anyone being able to mount these for front channel use, let alone have their eyes not watering enough to see while driving if running them but switch-controlled in the back (so you can disconnect then for driving) and used to play while parked up, ‘winders dahn’ at shows, they have a beautiful place in the hearts of the show-offy and desirous of potency of full range. They are not desperately musical but then a Lamborghini Countach had a shite coefficient of drag and still did 200mph. These are enormous in every adjectival manner you wish to pick.
The GZCT 2200 bullet tweeters score insanely well for their ridiculous efficiency (I’m not even sure of any other speaker product in any market except esoteric horn high end home hi fi with figures this high) and stupefying power handling as well as battleship pro-audio build quality. So yes, these too get a Talk Audio Recommended flag but again with a caveat. These are recommended only for the most extreme high frequency lovers but those with enough of a sensible edge to handle not just dangerous things like scissors but even scarier things.
Like guns.
Overall 9.0
Sound Quality 8
Build Quality 9
Power Handling 10
Efficiency 10
Value For Money 8