I am about to invest in a 4-channel amp for my setup.

John

Give me a shout if you know of any good deals on such an amp.

 

I would have to agree that the front speakers are not the speakers to go cheap on. I'm not trying to say $200 is cheap but in terms of front speakers it would on the lower end of the quality spectrum. These are the heart and soul of your sound system (especially in this car). If you have to make sacrifices in your choices on a system due to budget or whatever there are better places to choose then this component. If your plans for the front stage include coaxial or full range styles then you could definitely pick up a decent pair of drivers but if your looking for component speakers I would say hold off on your purchase until you can lay down some big cheese on the better brands. I just picked up a set of Morel Dotech MkII's in the 6.5 size which cost $520 for the set and I considered these to be the cheapest I dared to go on this style of speaker. The amp that powers the front stage of your car should be the second to last place to look for cost savings when building a system as this piece of equipment is almost just as important as the speakers themselves.

Good Luck in your search!

 

Speakers are only as good as the signal running through them. I would argue that the HU / amp is the most crucial part. A good amp can make moderate speakers sing, and vice versa (good speakers show flaws in HU / amp signal). I would get a quality amp before speakers, because the speakers will just show the flaws in the signal. I good amp / HU will make moderate speakers sound pretty darn good, IMO.

John

 

HAHHAHAHAHA that is classic!!!


honestly, for my tastes, i think the pioneer REV series are the best for under $200, also CDT.

 

Focal 165A's can be found on the net for about 220, but you need a good amp powering them. At least 150 watts RMS per channel. Also good wire quality makes a big difference.

Or you can save up for the $3900 Focal components.

 

$220 is cheaper than dealer cost. i doubt they have them in stock, a few people i know from ORCA design have told me in the past, there are some fake Focals that exist on the net. which makes me wonder if these are the fake ones.

you could pay $3900, or... i can get them for you for cheaper. even then, i feel they dont sound like $4000 speakers. lets face it, Focal has the name to charge that much, sooo, the end result, youre paying for the name, i have heard speakers that sound better than those for the fraction of the price. of course, this is a subjective topic, so this is my opinion. the focal Be's are warm sounding, right off the bat, i did not enjoy them as much as i thought i would. within the same type of warm sound, i feel the Alpine F1(scanspeak revelators) sound great. the F1's are the only warn speakers i enjoy listening to. also, you can buy the genesis version or even make your own set for half the price going with indiviaual scanspeak revelator drivers.

 

Hmm looks like I need an amp.

 

how are you guys installing 6.5 speakers? I just got some JL VR650's and they won't fit in the opening at all. Even after I cut the basket. The metal frame for it is too big to slide into the door directly and also into the basket!

 

I have a set of barely used Focal Polyglass 165V2 components gathering dust in my closet if you are interested.

But I have to say I like my CDT CL-61 set better. They have a new convertible set which can be used either as a coax or components and has an introductory price of $149 on their website.

Having done components with the tweeters in the stock '02+ position, it's nice and stealth but has some issues sonically. There is a phase discrepancy created by the driver's side tweeter being so much closer than any other driver and extremely off-axis. Coaxials might not be all that bad.

Peter

 

The tweeters need to be remounted on the A pilars for the best sound.

For the 6.5"s to fit, you most likely need a custom mount made.