I hear a lot of good things about Focal components on this forum, but I'm wondering which models you guys are referring to?

A local shop near me has a whole bunch of different Focal 6.5" components sets, but the Access ones are priced hundreds of dollars less than the Polyglass or K2 lineup.

Do the Access ones sound nice or are they just entry level stuff?

 

I'm not trying to be a smartass here, but... You should go to the store, and listen to the various models and then tell us what you think sounds nice. Speakers are like food, you know what I mean?

As you can see by price, there are different grades of Focals. You might like Polyglas more than Utopia Be. who knows.

I like the Access stuff myself.

 

I don't have any experience with the Access but I've heard the rest.

Polyglass are a nice mellow sounding speaker, but still quite detailed. While pretty much all Focals have a rather forward soundstage, the Polyglass is the most laid back of the group I've heard.

The Kevlar speakers are EXTREMELY detailed and very forward. They hit hard, fast and without the right setup (ask me how I know) can sound very bright. Tweeter placement is very important with these. I have Focal Kevlar in my home theater and in my C6... me likes.

Utopia are just... gorgeous. The incredible detail of the Kevlar, without some of the edgier characteristics, combined with the mellow sweetness of the PG's. I haven't been able to bring myself to spend the money on these in the car. They require way more attention to setup (not to mention ca$h) to get right than I'm generally willing to invest.

But I gotta agree with Kale, you HAVE to let your ears decide. As you can see from my descriptions, they each have their own character and you gotta decide what you like.

 

I found that there more entry level components weren't that great

 

I knew you guys were going to tell me to go listen to them.

My problem is that if I walk into any stereo shop I won't come out empty handed (no willpower!), but I'm not ready to buy just yet, I want to do more research first, plus I want to make some changes to my existing setup first to see if I'm happier with things (such as adding an amp to my current front speakers instead of running them off the deck power).

Besides, I've often found myself in a stereo shop and they don't have all of the available stuff on their wall, so I can't hear all of them anyhow. I was also curious as to which ones you experts preferred since you guys talk about Focals a lot.

Before I go into any stereo shop I'd like to get some upfront info ahead of time so I don't let myself get talked into something that might not be worth the extra money. For example, one Toronto area shop that has it's own website with prices, shows the Focal access 165 A1 speakers at $370 CDN, while the Polyglass 165 V1 is more than double that price! Although I've also seen another shop selling the 165 V1s for $299 at a door crasher special last April (darn I should've probably bought them then instead of the Infinity 6012i speakers I have now!)

This brings me to another point, and that is that I could probably save a TON of money if I bought speakers online from a US vendor, since our prices up here are crazy. But by doing so I also would not be able to hear these speakers. If I were to buy online, what site do you guys recommend?

 

Kevlar power series is 'the one to get'

 

Those are $850 up here!

 

http://woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuse...roduct_id=3411

http://woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuse...roduct_id=3400

 

I have the 165KFE 2-ways and paid $400/pair at Woofersetc vs $600/pair retail (US$). With that kind of difference, what motivation is there to buy retail???? You can by 3 pairs for the price of 2, so even if one fails and you don't have a warranty, you're still no worse than even money. No brainer in this case.