Has anybody heard these in a car? I was in a stereo shop the other day and these things blew away every coaxial AND component in the store - anything 6.5 and below. There wasn't any comparison - at least to my ears. I compared them to Infinity, Polk, JL - you name it.


They are hideously expensive but something like this (they also make them in 6.5s) could really simplify door installations.

http://www.amazon.com/Focal-Power-5-...pd_sim_sbs_e_5

 

In car speakers you really do get what you pay for, but there seems to be a few distinct "levels" of gear....

< $50 = crap
$100-150 = entry level "quality" aftermarket (but still much better than stock)
$200-300 = pretty darn good
> $400 = FANTASTIC, but my ears can't seem to tell the difference between brands (upper end speakers ALL sound good to me) unless the tweets are too harsh

 

IMO – you need to consider what other equipment you plan to run and what format of music you plan on listening to in “your” vehicle.

If you plan on running high-end amplifiers and high-end signal processors while listening to high quality CD recordings …then yes … they are worth the extra money.

If you plan on running decent amplifiers with a generic head-unit and you listen to mainly mp3s (like I do in my own car).. then maybe not.

just something to think about

 

Yeah, you're probably right. Most of my stuff are those damned compressed iPod song/files. I noticed that when they demo something in a shop, it's always a store-bought CD.

I also noticed a huge difference when I compared an iPod version of one song to the same song on a store-bought CD that I managed to dig up. No comparison.

Can you burn iTunes onto a CD and then import it into your iPod at a less-compressed level?

 

The 130 KRC are nice
we sell alot of Focal
I have them for less than Amazon at 489.99 as well
http://shop.doubledmods.com/130-KRC-...?categoryId=-1

 

Going from compressed to less-compressed isn't possible (less compression is possible, but regaining the original quality isn't).

If you have the original CD's you can re-burn them to MP3 at a higher bit rate

 

The quality would be amazing, but you have to consider what you would gain over the less expensive competitors.

Although, I'm sure that they would be totally worth the cost once installed.

 

iTunes has "Lossless" data compression, which technically compresses the file for EXACT reproduction, but YOU NEED TO SELECT IT. iTunes defaults to "lossy" compression, which technically deletes data it considers unnecessary, the high-highs and low-lows that honestly most systems can't reproduce anyways. Back in the day of crappy ear buds and low capacity storage this made sense, but now the practice is pretty much obsolete.

Thats why most people hate mp3's, but honestly, like most things in life, garbage in=garbage out. The key is to just set up the import options before pressing go.

When you rip a CD, like markcz says, the key is to use the highest bit rate available (320kbps is max for mp3, lossy encoding... looking at 800-1000ish for lossless). In iTunes, before you press "import cd" make sure you press "import settings." They are literally right next to each other. In that tab, select the first drop-down and select "Apple Lossless Encoder." (this is the best one available, don't screw around with any other options) After that, you're set to start the import. It will take longer and the files will be larger (up to 10 times bigger than 128kbps) but the results will be MUCH better. Still not studio quality, but nearly if not equal to production CD's.

 

I have the Focal 165KR components in my doors and 'A' pillars and love the clarity they give.

Got them from Dennis.

 

Have them, but in Escalade EXT. In both vetts I have Dynaudio.

 

Re MP3 bitrates, most people can't really tell the difference between 320k and lossless, but you'll be filling up your ipod way faster with the lossless. Most of my songs are at 128k, and I've been seriously considering reburning all the ones I have on CD at 320k

They do sound great. Even more so now that they're wired properly

 

You got that right.


Mark helped me sort out my system. It was a mess. MUCH better now.

 

Yup, been there, done that. Ripped about 20% of my music collection at 128, and then compared a few discs to the originals. Definitely could hear the difference on my main system, and seemed like there was a difference using my earbuds (Shure e4c's). Went back and reripped everything at 320. Good enough for portable and mobile use.

Now I'm tempted to go back and rip everything again in lossless for home listening, and then I can store all of my CDs. But right now at 320k, it's about 250gb of storage. I believe it will be about 400gb in Apple Lossless. Since everything is backed up on multiple drives, that would be 2 TB of data! Ugh! Not to mention the 2 months of time to rip everything.

I'm trying to convince myself I can't really hear the difference...

 

The thing that continues to amaze me is that even as the digital technology improves, music still sounds "nicer" when you play it through old school tube amplifiers and pre-amps.

It's not the best if you are trying to scrutinize the material for imperfections, but it is definitely more pleasant/enjoyable.

And I'm talking about actual music, not the new stuff that's just repititious rhythmic pounding/sonic mud, that has very little musicality to it.

I'm old, obviously, but I can still hear the difference. These days it's almost a curse.

 

I know. Some people swear by vinyl and turnables. I think they have a point. On the amp issues, weren't a lot of those old amps known as "Class A" amps, which gave you great power and reproduction but weren't very efficient and tended to run hot?

Now I believe we are all the way down to Class D amps.

 

Dennis hooked me up with the following: Pioneer 4300 DVD HU, JL stealthbox sub, Focal 165KR fronts, Focal 130KRC rears, Kenwood XR5S amp.

People are blown away by the sound in my car. My Vette is my daily driver and my commute is 45 mins each way so a great sound system is really important.

 

Get with it old man, tubes are dead!

I'm on the other side of the fence on this one. A properly mastered digital recording can sound as good through solid state... When connected through the right speakers. Unfortunately in the quest for accuracy, so many speaker companies sacrifice musicality. Combine that with solid state, and it's a recipe for bad reproduction.

I know a lot of people love the warmth of tubes, but I'd rather have accuracy in the source material, all the way up to the speakers. Then tailoring the speakers to the listeners taste.

That's the worst part about that hobby though... There's so many options, and so many ways changes in one piece can impact everything else, there's always ways to spend more money!

 

I've heard good and bad in regards to Focals. I think al lot of people like them because they are expensive and they just have to be better.

I've been in stores that Infinity was the best sounding speakers they had and in some stores infinity sounded terrible. same with a lot of other speakers as well. I never pass up the opportunity to listen to stereo's and setups if I have the chance.

But you also have to remember this, systems are set up in shops that highlight certain systems and it's not always the speaker that makes them sound the way they do.

The only way to compare speakers is to listen to them all on a system unamped and then amped. Then the quality speakers stand out. But it's only what you like, not necessarily the best overall, and it depends on what type of music you listen to and how it's recorded.

The number rule in stereo's is more expensive is not always better and they aren't always the best.

I was really tempted to buy some focals last year butafter reading hundreds of reviews I decided against them. Not because of the speaker themselves, but I could get a system/speakers that were more than adequate for 30% of the cost. Triple the price better give me triple the quality or I will pass.

But I'm glad you found some speakers you like, and if so, I wish you good luck if you purcahse them.

 

You know, you are right about the shops. I was at one shop and the guy was toggling through the various speaker set-ups and what I didn't realize was that he had a sub going the whole time. It was tuned really, really low - but it was just enough to where it would give the speaker some bottom but you couldn't discern there was a sub behind that wall.

 

I got these from Dennis as well and love them.

BTW, I also re-ripped all of my CDs to the highest bitrate possible. I did it while sitting at my desk over two days. Not too bad, and now it sounds much better than 128.