For a person with experience in car audio, I'm asking their opinion in midrange component systems. Not that it matters, but I drive a 99' Passport that I NEED to upgrade for sound. I recently visited a local shop and they reccommended Focal. Obviously it was there higher priced line, but they compared the sound to a JL Audio component system and it was not a comparrison. However, I kind of look at car audio salesman the same way as I look at car salesman(sorry if I offended), but it's hard for me to trust what they say 100% of the time. Obviously Focal: http://www.focal-america.com/ makes high quality ****, but I'm wondering if it's worth the $$$ for me. I listen to mostly heavy music(Transplants/+44/Tool/Chevelle/10 Years etc...), but I do occasionally listen to some Wu/Roots/De La yadda yadda. I'm limited to 6 1/2" in the doors, and 4" in the rear. I am not against throwing an amp at these, but please let me know what you reccommend for amp wise also. I've been outta the sound game for so long that I feel like I don't know what to look for anymore, thankyou fellas/chics

What they were compairing:

 

Focal has a very good reputation. I have not however had the chance to listen to their components. You could always try some Boston Acoustics. I have heard some of their higher end lines, and they were nice. One of their mid grade lines may give you a higher end sound than JL's but with a lower price than the focals.

Your best bet would be to listen to many different sets at various shops, and preferably in cars similar to yours. Do this with music you are familiar with and buy the ones you like best, or consider the best trade off of price to performance.

I would look into( in no particular order ):
Boston
MB Quart
JL
Memphis
CDT
Hertz
Focal
Older Phoenix Gold( titanium elite ) maybe the RSD line if any stores have older stock.
Hell, there are a lot of good brands.

 

What you said is great advice, and I do appreciate it. It's just hard to really justify different audio when they have you in the small rooms and say "hey, listen to this!" I guess what I'm getting at is if the Focal's sound as good as they do in an actual vehicle, then I don't mind spending the chips for them. On the same token, I've heard a rumor(long standing), that the cheif designer of MB Quartz was fired and basically took over operation of JL Audio in their midrange speakers? If that were true, you would THINK the JL Audio line would be as clear as the MB Quartz right? The same recent salesman also told me that Infinity/PG and a few others have been surpassed and are really no longer in competition. I'm unsure on what to believe....

 

I don't know about who engineers where. I do know that MB Quart was bought out by Maxsonics a while back, and may have taken a turn down in quality( maxsonics owns Hifonics/Crunch/Autotek...all companies who built there reputation from Zed built amplifiers ). I am not sure though, I have heard the higher end models are still built in germany????

Just remember it is his job to sell you the most expensive items he can. It sounds like you like the Focals. Just don't let him pressure you into them and regret it later. Audition as many sets at his and other shops as you can. Then decide what you like best. It is your money, he isn't entitled to it. So make sure you are happy. If he can not help you without you feeling pushed someone else can.

Even if you end up with the same product from somewhere else. You need to feel comfortablke with the purchase and the people you buy from.
End of story.

Good luck, and hope you find a set that suits your needs.

Also install will have a great effect on your final sound...search some of FCM's post for tips on speaker instalation.

 

The Phoenix Gold RSD65CS is very nice for ~$100. Also add Rainbow SLC 265 and Pioneer Premier TS-C720PRS for something in the $200 range. Rainbow Germaniums for a little higher end. Make sure to properly deaden your door if needed. It can make a world of difference in the sound.

Pioneer Premier TS-C720PRS
http://www.diymobileaudio.com/...=7302




Modified by johnson816 at 8:36 AM 10/5/2007

 

personally i find focals to be a little too bright almost to the point of being harsh. At the other end of the spectrum you could look into dynaudio, excellent midbass performance and really smooth highs. I wouldn't bother with anythingin the rears.

 

I love my JL components to death ever since I got rid of the passive crossovers. I have an old Alpine that has a 2-way/3-way switch on the bottom. I set it to 2 way, deleted the rear speakers and ran the tweeters off the front speaker outputs, the mids off the rear speaker outputs, and then use the active crossover built into the deck. I tried several different tweeter mounting spots. Then I measured and set up the time alignment. Even if someone were to give me some free higher end stuff, I would not swap it out until it has degraded with age.

I've heard some high end stuff and they sound great on the showroom floor, but in the car with road and engine noise, I really can't tell the difference between a $500 component setup and a $1500 setup. It's not like any of the music that I listen to (pretty similar to what you have listed) is even recorded at a high enough quality to make a difference. In the magazine reviews, they reference the Lion King soundtrack etc LOL. I prefer to put together the cheapest setup that sounds good to me personally ignoring brand names and what is popular. I never try to impress anybody. Then I spend the money I save elsewhere. There are many many other things in the car worth spending money on.

Beware of show room floor displays. It's very easy to make one sound better than the other just by placement and airspace behind the speaker.

If you want killer sound quality, spend the money on your home theater setup.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by suspendedHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I've heard some high end stuff and they sound great on the showroom floor, but in the car with road and engine noise, I really can't tell the difference between a $500 component setup and a $1500 setup. It's not like any of the music that I listen to (pretty similar to what you have listed) is even recorded at a high enough quality to make a difference. In the magazine reviews, they reference the Lion King soundtrack etc LOL. I prefer to put together the cheapest setup that sounds good to me personally ignoring brand names and what is popular. I never try to impress anybody. Then I spend the money I save elsewhere. There are many many other things in the car worth spending money on.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thankyou so so much for this.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EBP_SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">personally i find focals to be a little too bright almost to the point of being harsh. At the other end of the spectrum you could look into dynaudio, excellent midbass performance and really smooth highs. </TD></TR></TABLE>

ditto....I bought a pair of utopias couple years back and was not happy w/ the sound. Switched to a Dyn 340 component set and there is a WORLD of difference. I couldn't be happier at the moment although one thing is a bit annoying......the tweets can't take a lot of power. I've heard the tweets in their new series of components will take more power. EQ was the only way to make the Focals listenable but the Dyn's, at least for my ear, don't require any EQ and I promptly pulled out my 1/3 octave EQ....I'm not a fan of EQ

The one speaker I'm really interested to hear is Scan-Speak Revelators....I believe Scan is the sister company of Dynaudio and these supposedly out-do the Dyn's....or at least this is what a few on the Elite board have said. You can pick them up at Madisound.....

 

Do you guys know for sure if I can get 6 1/2" in the doors?

 

I agree with most of what has been said, also have to agree with EBP_SI
, [Jeezz, again , it's becoming a bloody habit] the Focals are a pretty good speaker, but I find them too "bright", [not a big fan of hard dome tweeters, although I do make an exception with the Eclipse SP 6500].

But as mentioned, it's what sounds good to you, not what sounds good to us, or the salesman, [BTW, his job is not to sell you the most expensive speakers, he wants to sell what has the most GP, his job is to SWAN or TDB, (sell what's available now, the dusty box), I know only a few car audio salesmen/woman who sell you what you want and need.

Yes it does matter, according to my fit guide 96-99 Honda Passport uses 4" in the front and 5-1/4" in the rear, not that bigger speakers can't be installed, something I would definitely do if they are in fact only 4" in the front.

Yes you should be running an amp for at least the front speakers, concentrate on the front speakers, you don't really need rear speakers, if anything, just a set of mids/mid-bass drivers in the rear, in fact use the stock speakers in the rear off HU power and a 2ch amp for front speakers, or if using a 4ch amp, bridge the two rear channels of the amp into mono, wire the read speakers in series and connect them to the amp.

Amp RMS wattage will depend on the speakers you get, [speakers continuous power handling], if you get the Focals, [assuming they are Access 165 A1s] you need a 2x60W RMS into 4 ohms amp, a 2x75W RMS would be even better. 94

 

mine...

 

look into Hertz, nice for the $

http://www.hertzaudiovideo.com/default_en.htm

and US AMPS at http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com

 

^^agreed, good stuff..

I run ascendant audio poly mids and Image Dyamics CD-2 Mini Horns

 

God I've never even heard of 90% of the company's that are suggested in here

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by clean rice &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">On the same token, I've heard a rumor(long standing), that the cheif designer of MB Quartz was fired and basically took over operation of JL Audio in their midrange speakers? If that were true, you would THINK the JL Audio line would be as clear as the MB Quartz right? </TD></TR></TABLE>

how long ago? 10 years? before the rockford and maxxsonics buyout?

andy oxenhorn was the president of mbqusa back in the early 90s. he left a long time ago to work for jl audio. leif blackmon was at mbqusa doing some engineering and conceived the Q series. before or shortly after it's release back in 1998, he went to work for boston acoutics. mbquart and jl audio both use kurt mueller curvilinear cones. jl audio back in the late 80s, early 90s before they became an international company used to be an inhouse brand of subwoofers for a short called speakerwarehouse down in florida. they did really well in iasca and won a whole bunch of championships. all of their systems used jl audio subs, mbquart mid and highs and ppi amps. after ppi went downhill, jl audio hired some of their engineers (campbell and macmillan) to design the jl amps.

if you don't want a subwoofer, look for a good 6.5" component system where the woofer has a lot of midbass. i'd look at the mbquart reference series (i'm not upto date with the model numbers anymore, but think they are the same from years ago) or the jl audio xr series. they are good sounding speakers with plenty of low end extension. make sure you add lot dynamat in the doors and you'd swear there's a small sub in there.

 

AA and ID... nice stuff

 

i gonna hook you up...

look for my 2 posts here, tons of info.. http://www.caraudio.com/forum/...38243

couple more top brands..

http://www.ficaraudio.com (former RE top engineer, iirc)
http://www.soundsplinter.com

winisd guide http://www.the12volt.com/insta...~PN~1

 

Thanks man!!!!! ^^^

 

I have a set of Focal Utopia 165W's. I paid almost $1200 for them brand new when I worked in the Car Audio field. BEST speakers I have ever had, period. If you have a chance to get them, I highly recommend it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nauc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">look into Hertz, nice for the $

http://www.hertzaudiovideo.com/default_en.htm

and US AMPS at http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com</TD></TR></TABLE>

Hertz is ******* great bang for the $$... but where the hell do you get them in the US??

 

my local shop http://www.aifresno.com

save that, cause you gotta see their install pics when they get their site updated, ***** yummy

 

Can I order through you?

 

focal access

 

mtx t8.6 Nice setup if your into building a baffle ring for them and sounddeading the door and amping them correctly. There last years models and can be found cheap for like 200 for a set. I am about to put them to the side and run the mtx txc 6.1. There the newer version and there should perform even better. Jl, mb quart, pioneer, kicker, alpine and ma audio still make some nice sets that can found at nice prices right now because the next models are about to be released.