Focal car audio any good??

Matt

I absolutely love my Focal 165VRs! I wish I could get just a hint more of mid-bass from them, but overall they sound absolutely fantastic.

For the money you're looking to spend, you can get the polyglass 3 ways or maybe even get a deal on the K2 (thought it was called polykevlar?) line components (think those may be closer to 1k). The Solid line of subs also fit into your budget, perhaps a solid 2 for the components and the solid 1 for the sub.

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"Any man who can drive a 370z while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the Z the attention it deserves." Albert Einstein....modified.

JB-370z

The Focals tweeters are harsh?? Thats not good...The Z is very small inside and the tweeters are kinda close to the ears, thats not a good combo if they hurt your ear. I love mid bass, the kind that does not sound like it is working to hard or bottoming out. I want some comps that have some good mid bass and can handle some lower bass as well or at least mix well with a sub. I dont like hard hitting bass that makes my head hurt "Advil". Just want it clean sounding, im done with all that loud ***, rattle my ear drums off stuff. One sub is all I need. And I can't stress enough how much I love low low hitting bass. I think some of this has to do with tuning it right???

Z1Performance

You have to keep something in mind

Your amp selection has as much to do with the overall sound as your speaker choice. Some amps are warmer sounding than others, for example. Same goes for headunits. Some are more musical than others, for a variety of reasons. The mounting of the speaker also has everything to do with the stage and overall imaging you get. Are their tweeters brigher than some? Sure...and less bright than others

My setup is very very simple - one amp (6 channel that I run bridged), Focal Utopia 6.5's (2 way), and a single 10 inch Seas Lotus sub in a very small box in the spare tire well (350Z). I've owned, built, and heard tons of systems ranging from low to ultra high end, and I am extremely pleased with mine

Listening to ANY of them on a soundboard is going to tell you zilch - you need to check out people's installs, and take notes on the full system details before reaching a conclusion

The Weapon

I think you really need to listen to them to find out if they are too harsh for you. I don't think so at all but everyone has a different opinion on sound quality. I like a crisp clear sounding tweeter and I thought the Hertz sounded a little too flat for my taste as well as many of the others i listened to. And as I mentioned before the instructions tell you if you have the tweeter on the dash or closer to you to set it to -3db or 0 depending on your taste. The manual says to set it to +3 if they are mounted at the kick panel or lower part of the door.

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JB-370z

Ok I just got back from car toys and I am in love with the focal. The mid bass is awsome and I mean that cause I have very picky ears. The only 6.5 comp that had a little better mid bass was the JL beilive it or not, but the highs on the JL's were kinda flat and not so detailed. the JL's highs did not even come close to the focals. The mid/highs ratio was rather perfectly balanced and not harsh as some described. The Focals sounded as if they were much larger speakers than they really are with a nice full range sound. In my book the only thing that had this much detail were the eclipse but even they did not really stand a chance to the Focal. The Alpines sounded good in every area with decent mid and ok highs but a overall nice sound. If I were going to by a lower end speaker it would be the alpine for sure. But it looks like it is going to be the Focal PK or polykavlar series, I guess the use of exotic materials pays off in the end because they were in a leauge of their own.

bigaudiofanat

Now you need to hear rainbow and image dynamics LOL Also keep in mind that speakers sound different in there environments, they can sound warmer in a mdf closed in box and sound different in a door. If you really want to get the best out of your new speakers look into fatmat or dynamat for trating the inside of your doors.

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JB-370z

another question for any of you audiophiles out there!!?!! What is a good sub that will give me low low hitting bass. NNot the hard hitting headache bass. Is JL good for this??? I heard some one say JL give a good low bass. I dont listen to rap much but when I do I like the low hitting bass. Does this make any sense to anyone???

Matt

About 10 years ago, I swore by JL when I was doing audio installs. The w6 line was fantastic, and not too expensive in my eyes.

As I've been looking for a good single 10 or 12 to put in the Z, it just seems that the JL subs are twice the cost of other great subs, like the Image Dynamics and RF subs, and arguable not even as good.

I've read good things about the IDQ line from Image Dynamics and the Power series from RF. There are honestly a dozen great choices out there for clean base. The headache you get from some base may be the amp and enclosure, more than the sub itself.

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bigaudiofanat

Finally someone else sees what I see!!!!! X2 for the ID Q

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Z1Performance

It's as much about box design and proper power as the sub itself. I'd figure out where you want the box, and how much cubic space you're working with, then from there select your amp and sub

We run Seas Lotus in our cars - they are beyond great when powered right and in the right enclosure (like most subs). ID, Adire, XXX are also top notch stuff, very highly regarded, and not the usual that you see in most systems

2fast4thelaw

JL Audio 12W6V2 would suit your likes. ID subs are too mid bassy for my tastes but the W6 hits low and they are very smooth sounding. It is definitly JL's best sounding subwoofer ever! The W3V3 also sounds very musical as well but it cant take big power for very long, I fried one on a 600watt Alpine V-12 amp within 6 months. I can't blame the sub completely as I discovered I had a leaky enclosure which most likely was the death of the W3.

Focals are AWESOME! if you really want killer, mind blowing volume and pounding mid bass then look at the 3-way sets by Focal. The polyglass 165V3 are incredible!! The Poly Kev 165V3 even better but they $$$$$.

Focal amps are very high quality amps and will definitly do the job.

I dont recommend Focal subs, they dont work well in sealed enclosures, they seriously lack if you seal them.

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bigaudiofanat

I am not a JL fan, my choices are polk SR and image dynamics Q for subs. Look at either a single 10 or 12.

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MoChu

Hey Bigaudiofanat, how is Boston speakers compare to focal and image danamics?

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Matt

I have some Boston 6x9's in my other car, and they are in the top few 6x9's I've ever heard. I don't have any experience with the components and subs though. Good thing about Boston, is that they have quite a few series of speakers to find exactly what you want, as opposed to someone like Focal who have a large gap between the affordability and performance series.

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bigaudiofanat

I installed Bostons all around in my sisters car a few years ago. After my sister had listened to them for about 2 days , she came to me asking where the bass was. After taking a re listen to them their really was none really there. Also the the tweeters just did not have the sound they were suppose to have. I know she did not blow them but just unsatisfied with them. I can probably say that their higher end speakers would sound good but as for my overall experience with them I am not that impressed. Ex. I know that the polk db or mm series speakers sound so much better than the bostons that are in her car. So you might be asking why I did not put them in her car. Well because I sort of use her car as a test car.


Oh almost forgot how do they compare to focal and ID. No comparison from what I have seen. Focal a bit harsh for my taste and ID very smooth tweeters and solid mid bass.

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