Focal car audio any good??

Z1Performance

foculs prefer to be actively x'd over...makes a world of difference (I own a set of Utopia's in one of our Z's)

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

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???

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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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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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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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

bigaudiofanat

JB, yes Z1 is correct box design has a lot to do with how a sub sounds. But on the other hand there are different sub types. I would recommend for what you are looking for is a polk mm or a ID Q. Yes I do recommend a lot of the same things to a lot of different people but from what I have seen and hear ID is a great name and great sound.

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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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alexanderb

Have you heard of Morel? IMO they make great sounding speakers. Their tweeters are not harsh at all...

2fast4thelaw

They are really good but the highs are a little too laid back for my tastes. Morel speakers are not efficient and require a lot of power.

I would compare Focal to like Dynaudio, Rainbow, Seas, Morel. Focal is pretty much a top dog speaker manufacturer, just look at thier home audio lines! Some of thier speakers cost upwards of over 100 Grand. You are not going to find anything out there that is going to best them by much if any at all. They are hand made and thier approach to materials is "Cost-IS-No-Object". They are the Ferrari of the audio world.

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bigaudiofanat

I think what we can gather from this thread is that you the buyer need to hear them before you buy them.

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