focal speakers??

dangerousmouse

dangerousmouse

dangerousmouse

Associate
Joined
25 Jul 2005
Posts
892
just been out today to a couple of car audio shops to get examples of what i should fit into my car.

so the car is '54' plate 3dr focus. as standard it has 5x7's mounted in the doors, and rear panels. not too much of a problem, i can buy an adapter to allow fitment of 13cm rounds.

one of the guys recommended focal speakers, 13cm polyglass components in the front (to be powered off of an amp) and focal polyglass 5x7 in the rear (powered off of the headunit).

i have been told that the oval speakers dont produce such a good sound as a conventional round speaker (but as they are only going in the back im not too fussy, front is where its at! ;)).

personally i have never heard of these, but i was told that focal are a french brand that have been about a few years, not too long though, and produce a very high quality speaker. just wondering if anybody has any first hand experience with them, and would you recommend them?

thanks.
 
I don't have first hand experience with Focal but I have heard of them before and would definitely recommend them.

One of the better brands... in fact, they do some tweeters which are something like £1500 for the pair.

How much were you quoted for the 13cm speakers?
 
There very good speakers imo, but they have begun to rely upon there name alone to shift there cheaper speakers in the range, so they are slowly sliding downwards on that scale of the market, however there mid and high range speakers are superb, even there cheaper ones are still good value, they just used to blow away the competition imo.
 
I'm not familiar with their car speaker range, but have heard some of their home stereo speakers, and they're excellent.
 
I've sampled some focal components ( not sure which model ) in a car setup before and they were awesome, really crisp and didn't distort no matter how much stick they were given. Probably some of the best speakers i've ever heard :)
 
agw_01 said:
I don't have first hand experience with Focal but I have heard of them before and would definitely recommend them.

One of the better brands... in fact, they do some tweeters which are something like £1500 for the pair.

How much were you quoted for the 13cm speakers?
Click to expand...

£115 for a pair of the polyglass 5x7's
£220 for a pair of polyglass 13cm components (with crosover and tweeter)
£270 for a genesis stereo 60 amp (rated at 2x30W, apparently genesis make some of the best amps available, and you can pretty much double, if not treble the power rating)

having looked on the net since, these appear to be better, if not very similar to internet prices, so once postage has been added and the one-two day waiting......might aswell just go and collect them from the shop myself! :D

dont think i will be able to stretch to the whole lot, plus dynamat, mounting adapters and wiring all in one effort though :( so, i suppose i have to decide if i want to upgrade the speakers, then add the amp in a couple of weeks. OR install the amp, but dont use it, then in a couple of weeks i get the speakers and have the whole lot operational at the same time?!?! what to do, what to do??? lol.
 
I had a set of Focal 13cm's a little while back. Very good power handling, but my only criticism was that they very much favoured high range and the mid range was a little lacking. Combined with a decent sub though, the results were excellent.
 
Focal car audio is generally really good. Their bottom end stuff is a little bit bright for my tastes but mid to high range is very pleasing.

Don't bother spending loads on the rear speakers, especially as you will be amping the front ones. Unless you plan on sitting in the back a lot, cheaper ones should be OK, just fade the HU to the front when no one is in the back.
 
i was thinking that i may leave the rear speakers for a while anyway, just see how i get on with the amp and front components.

but, something like a pair of alpine type s/r in the back? or even lower spec than them?
 
focal speakers are excellent very good quality sound and the genesis amp is very good to I have a stereo 60 and it is a lot more powerful then 2x30w thats for sure :)
 
ok, as i cannot afford to buy everything in one go, i will be doing this in stages.

initially i was going to get the front components, then the amp, then the rears. on the drive to the shop i had a change of mind.

buy and install amp (but dont use it).
buy and install rear speakers (focal polyglass 5x7) and run from headunit (as planned)
buy and fit dynamat (ready for when i get the front components)
found some 13cm kenwood coax speakers, so these will go into the doors initially, then be replaced with the focals in a couple of weeks.

after all this, i am led to believe that i should only run the stereo volume on medium volume (at most) for a couple of weeks to 'run in' the speakers. by this theory, it will be another month before i have the systems running to its full potential. :( but worth the wait i reckon!! ;)

this way, when i do get the front speakers, all i will need to do is fit them, rather than spending half a day installing amp and dynamat.

oh, also now getting 6.5" front components, with custom mdf mountings.
 
dangerousmouse said:
ok, as i cannot afford to buy everything in one go, i will be doing this in stages.

initially i was going to get the front components, then the amp, then the rears. on the drive to the shop i had a change of mind.

buy and install amp (but dont use it).
buy and install rear speakers (focal polyglass 5x7) and run from headunit (as planned)
buy and fit dynamat (ready for when i get the front components)
found some 13cm kenwood coax speakers, so these will go into the doors initially, then be replaced with the focals in a couple of weeks.

after all this, i am led to believe that i should only run the stereo volume on medium volume (at most) for a couple of weeks to 'run in' the speakers. by this theory, it will be another month before i have the systems running to its full potential. :( but worth the wait i reckon!! ;)

this way, when i do get the front speakers, all i will need to do is fit them, rather than spending half a day installing amp and dynamat.

oh, also now getting 6.5" front components, with custom mdf mountings.
Click to expand...

sound good to me but I personaly would leave the rear speakers out :)
 
already in ;)

just got to decide where to cut this factory fitted ford speaker connector off, and which cable is +ve and -ve.

anybody know any ways to check which is which, or just connect and see?

oh, and where am i supposed to fit the dynamat? on the panel that the speaker mounts onto, of the panel behind it?
 
one roll (4sq ft)

got this on the assumption it would be enough to do the rear panels today. then depending on how much (if any) is left over i would get the front doors done.

EDIT: I will just go and snap a quick pic...

here you go, this is the rear panel i am wanting to dynamat
 
Last edited:
needmorespeed said:
put dynamat on both panels especially around the speaker mounting points will help to reduce flex in the panel :)
Click to expand...

would single thickness be okay around speaker mountings?
had a quick blast on ms paint showing where i think the dynamat should be going. there are a couple of random holes in the panel which dont correspond to any panel fixation points (marked with ? on the pic) should i just place dynamat over these, or cut out for them?

fear my paint skills lol...


finally, took the front passenger door card off, appears to be some sort of 3D moulded firm polystyrene already fitted. should i just leave this in place, or remove it and put dynamat on the front doors?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom