Focal 165as In Sealed Enclousure What Size?

Focal Questions & Answers

A customer with PS165FX speakers asked the purpose of the crossover switch marked High and Flat

That crossover switch controls midrange level: Set the midrange output to Loftier or Flat to lucifer their position in the automobile. When the mids are installed low in the door, some of the output is captivated past the upholstery and they do good from the High output setting.

I'thou nearly to purchase a 21 Hyundai i3O N hatch back.......

I'yard virtually to purchase a 21 Hyundai i3O Due north hatch back. I accept a budget of $ii,000 – $2,500 for Audio. Equally such, I wanted to get your recommendation on what I should get (ideally with a sub). I also heard that if the budget is tight, to leave the rear door speakers every bit mill, and go the installer to "re-melody" them. What do you guys think? And with the Sub, should I become i that is strapped into the boot or install it nether the rider front seat?

…..We don't have a vehicle-specific speaker kit for Hyundai'due south at the moment. We don't do installation piece of work here at the Australian warehouse and our French caput function don't run across any Hyundais (I accept never seen i in Europe!). Nosotros don't have first-paw feel of what fits your particular vehicle but if I can line you upwardly with an experienced dealer, they will be amend informed.

As for the subwoofer, two come to mind: PSB200 is a sub-in-a-box that is quite small and can exist asunder easily if you demand the boot space. Nosotros have a new model of subwoofer called ISUB TWIN which has just come out, and one small sub fits nether each seat.

These are very skilful and would be my preferred option for both sound quality and being out of sight. We sold the offset batch inside a calendar week or two and the next batch arrives in about a month. These are probably going to push your budget at $750 for the pair but they are a long-term purchase as they volition exist able to be moved from machine to motorcar in future. They only need a small amplifier to run them, nosotros recommend our concealable Impulse 4.320, one rear aqueduct to each sub and that leaves you ii channels to run your front speakers.

Two words of alert, ISUB TWIN are ii ohm each and then don't bridge those rear channels, also allow about ten hours of running before they audio at their all-time. Nigh good speakers have a run-in menses of between ten and fifty hours.

If y'all are on a budget, better to buy good front speakers (Flax if you can beget) and leave the back speakers disconnected until y'all can beget a matching pair of the same serial as in the front. We often find that the original rear speakers play out of stage with the new front end speakers at certain frequencies, then the system sounds ameliorate without them.

How to get the lid off your Focal ES100K crossover.......

It's simple when you know how: put one end of the crossover onto a table or demote, press on the indented tab at the other end of the clear lid, and voila!

Here is a photo that might help:

How many hours "Run in Time" before the speakers sound the all-time?.......

There is no crossover aligning on these entry-level speaker kits just yous might just accept to run the system in. The tweeter level decreases and the midbass increases during the first twenty hours of use and in fact right through to fifty hours of playing y'all will become further improvements. This is due to the intermission within each driver becoming more supple. Dwelling speakers are the aforementioned, if you society a skilful ready of home hifi speakers the dealer will unpack them a day or two prior to delivery and 'fire them in'. You won't get that sort of service with car audio speakers or lower cost home speakers simply considering of the lower margins and the time involved but the principle still applies.

If yous are withal getting too much treble after the run-in period you might have to solder a 4 Ohm resistor in line with one of the tweeter wires, encase it in oestrus compress for insulation. I have never encountered that yet, the tweeters usually quieten down, merely that is Programme B

I recently purchased a set of midbox for the three" and tweeter of 165KX3 kit, but the set seems to be two left-hand midboxes.......

Sometimes they came from the factory assembled like that. The solution is elementary:

unscrew the back and front plate of one midbox and contrary them.
Note that the top screws where the three″ speaker goes need to be most 3mm out from fully tight, then the grille tin clip onto them.

I have installed Focal - ES 165KX2 speakers......

We don't make ii channel amplifiers any more than and then you will need a 4-channel amplifier and use the other two channels on a pocket-sized subwoofer or the rear speakers.

All our speakers are very efficient so you don't need the more powerful amplifiers unless you play the music very loud or if you lot want to run a subwoofer on the rear channels. Impulse 4.320 at $419, FDS4.350 at $399, FPX4.400 at $749 or the Sound Quality amplifier FPX4.400SQ would all work. The SQ amp is about 50% larger in physical size than it'southward brother FPX4.800, information technology is using components that dissipate more than estrus therefore it needs a bigger chassis.

If yous have a meaty car and don't have much room for an amplifier, the Impulse iv.320 will be quite acceptable and it'due south so minor that it tin exist tucked away within the dash or under the console. Being a digital amplifier it runs cool so doesn't need the ventilation that larger amplifiers require. If your machine has ISO plugs in the radio wiring, there is a quick-fit wiring harness that speeds up installation and avoids running wires from the battery etc. I will attach some info on that. The harness is $65.

Building a car stereo using focal components......

I'k in the process of building a auto stereo using focal components.

My front phase will be a set PS 165 V1'southward and my amplifier is an FXP 5.1200, I do not programme to run rear speakers at the moment. I am likewise undecided on a sub woofer set up yet. My main question is, the PS 165 V1's permit for bi-amping which is what I intended to do. Will no-amping requite me the all-time from these speakers? Or would I benefit more from running them purely passive on one channel each and using the other 2 channels for rear speakers?"

No, the PS165V1 don't have the pick to bi-amp. You can practise so if you are using a audio processor (budget $1000 to $2000 for a good one, plus professional aid to set it upward properly). When you employ a audio processor you can control the frequencies assigned to each individual speaker, along with time delay and amplifier gain specific to each particular speaker.

Those PS165V1 sound really good using the mill-designed crossovers, there is little to be gained in bi-amping unless you lot use a processor.

Bi-amping is a flake of an urban myth. Information technology might be relevant in high-end home speakers which are many tens of thousands of dollars, when used with specific speaker cable that sometimes costs a thousand dollars per metre and amplifiers that likewise cost tens of thousands of dollars. The story has been passed down from home audio to car audio by keen amateurs and has get a flake of an urban myth on the machine sound blogs that it will make your $500 car speakers sound like $g speakers. In reality, information technology'due south a wank. You won't hear any improvement without a processor,. You might think you lot practice if you spend a lot of money and time bi-amping.

If you desire to brand a major upgrade for minimal outlay, you lot will go much improve results from lining the doors with audio-arresting textile like Focal BAM. Don't use the commonly-used stuff with aluminium surface, fifty-fifty if a dealer recommends information technology. You lot need to use something with a soft rubber surface which will absorb sound. Line the outside of the doors, especially straight behind the speakers. If you tin can afford it, line the inner door skins too, that will comprehend many holes in the door and make it into a sealed enclosure that absorbs the audio from the back of the speakers

In short, find better things to exercise than bi-amping. Line the doors with sound-arresting Focal BAM or like. Use matching speakers in the rear doors, probably PC165. Cull a skillful sub, Flax P25FSE or P25FE might exist a squeamish option. Wire it all up, give it virtually ten or twenty hours of running-in, and yous will have a very sweet system

I am purchasing an ES165KX3 and EC165K

I am purchasing an ES165KX3 and EC165K and already have a peer I sting sub. I don't want to run multiple amps. Does focal have whatever 1 amp solutions that can handle the power requirements of the speakers, in detail the ES165KX3?

The ES165KX3 don't need massive power, like about of our speakers they are very efficient.
I don't know what a peer 1 sting subwoofer is, I can't find it on Google. Without understanding the specs of the sub, it's hard to advise you.

We have a possible candidate, the FPX5.1200

If this is a massive subwoofer, I would like to advise keeping it on its' ain amplifier. Subwoofers are 'current-hungry', particularly big ones. If the music includes a lot of bass they tend to suck all the bachelor power from the amplifier and the remaining 4 channels will be struggling to provide clean sound.

If yous want really hifi performance y'all might consider a special audio-quality amplifier similar FPX4.400SQ and a subwoofer amplifier FPX1.1000. The SQ amp volition have acceptable ability for the front end 3-ways and the rear co-axials and you have the subwoofer isolated on its' own amplifier. Merely a thought . . .

Power 2 E30KX 12 inch subwoofers

I desire to power two E30KX 12 inch subwoofers, should I apply a single amp that is rated at 2400 watts into ane ohm or two Focal FPX1.1000 amps rated at 700W RMS into two ohms? The cost of one single amp and two Focal amps is similar, around $1400.

I would prefer to see two separate amplifiers since you are running two heavy duty subwoofers. The weakest part of an amplifier is usually the ability supply which is a collection of oscillator, transformer and capacitors which collectively enhance the voltage from 14 volts to around 70 or 80 volts on the high voltage rail. I think ii separate ability supplies are preferable, 2 amplifiers, 1 dedicated to each subwoofer.

Many amplifiers can put out their rated output for a short outburst and therefore can claim massive power output. However when presented with sustained load and asked to produce that output for x, twenty or thirty seconds, it'due south another story. If the voltage on the loftier voltage rails sags considering the ability supply can't keep up, the bass loses some of it's impact. Two amplifiers would be my choice, rather than ane big amplifier working hard.

I have ii E30KX subwoofers I am almost to instal. What amplifier should I employ?

To get those subwoofers to kick hard they should accept 1 amplifier each. Subwoofers are 'electric current-hungry', more than any other speaker they require big surges of power. Sharing i amplifier betwixt ii big subwoofers in this category, no matter how large the amplifier, is not going to exist equally good as having one amp dedicated to each subwoofer.

I would recommend FPX1.1000's.

The power cabling needs to exist heavy duty, not just the positive cable through to the amps but the world render. The weak spot is the engine-to-chassis world which regrettably fifty-fifty a lot of professional installers don't understand. Y'all need a heavy world cable joining the car chassis to the battery negative terminal. From the factory all cars accept a heavy cablevision to the engine block to acquit the current for the starter motor, and a small earth wire from the engine cake to the chassis to carry the world electric current for the lights, wipers etc. That minor cablevision is non acceptable for the electric current surges demanded by large amplifiers yous are adding, which can exist higher up 100 amps.

That's a side-issue from your original question equally to which amps to use, but if y'all don't get the cabling right you are restraining the new amplifiers output.

2013 Ford Focus with the factory Ford/Sony head unit of measurement

I have a 2013 Ford Focus with the factory Ford/Sony head unit. I currently take a fix of old aftermarket speakers playing in front but they are failing. They are rated at seventy watts, what do you think I should replace them with?

Don't worry about matching the power ratings, Focal speakers are very efficient so don't demand a lot of power to work. But if you want to boost the power with a modest amplifier we make a tiny amp that will hibernate behind the dash chosen Impulse ($359 retail), plus an ISO cable kit that lets it plug into the car wiring harness without cutting any wires IY Impulse at $55. This will give any speakers you cull more than mass, tighter bass and clearer vocals etc.

Speakers, half-dozen.five″ is the format so you accept a vast range to cull from. I would strongly recommend using the same series of speakers forepart and rear, information technology makes a lot of divergence. Using the factory speakers in rear doors is a no-no. Even if no-one sits in the back ever, it however matters. They will invariably be out of stage with the front speakers at diverse frequencies. If you can't afford to buy matching front and rear speakers, best to disconnect the manufacturing plant rears, they are interfering with the new front speakers.

Let's look at the ranges: Auditor is the entry level, Access is two up, Flax is next, then Elite K2.

Matching front end component speakers and rear co-axial in each range:
Accountant RSE-165Auditor RCX-165
Access 165ASAdmission 165AC
Flax PS165FXFlax PC165F
Aristocracy ES165KX2 Elite EC165K

Add the amp and its cablevision kit $414 and y'all have a pretty good system. Obviously the higher up the speaker ranges you go, the ameliorate volition be the results, merely even a basic Accountant kit front and rear, without the amp, volition be an improvement on your old speakers.

If you lot tin can afford, lining the doors with a sound-absorbing fabric like Focal BAM will significantly improve sound quality of whatsoever of these speaker ranges. BAM works by absorbing the back-wave from the rear of the speakers which interferes with the audio from the front of the speakers. Don't misfile it with sound-deadener which has the principal purpose to stop door panel vibrations. BAM does that also, but it has a soft surface that absorbs sound waves.

I hope this helps.

Can you requite me whatsoever clues on where to install my speakers for best sound quality?

Try to mountain your midrange speakers on a wooden console if possible, or at to the lowest degree on a solid surface. A lot of skillful installers cut out MDF panels for every speaker. This ensures a few things: a good air seal for the speaker, it avoids buckled frames, and it addresses the issue of spill. Don't enhance the speaker above the surrounding panel with those little speaker spacer rings if yous have the option to brand a small MDF mounting console. This need only be a couple of inches bigger than the speaker.

Don't utilize tweeter 'surface mount pods' if you tin devise a way to recess mountain the tweeters into the doors or into a fibreglass or body putty custom mount. I have heard some good results from mounting tweeters at the base of the A pillars. This will involve making up a fibreglass or torso-putty moulding on the A pillar. The mirror pods are probably 2nd-best position. The mirror pod is the easier position to mount tweeters on, the A pillar gives ameliorate sound quality but will toll more labour.

If you lot are shaping upward a tweeter mountain using fibreglass or bog, attempt to create a flat expanse extending a centimetre or two around the tweeter. This reflects the 'spill' from the tweeter out toward the listener.

The aiming of the tweeters is likewise of import. They should aim across the motorcar at the contrary forepart seat headrest. In other words the passengers side tweeter should be aimed at the drivers head and vice versa. If you pay attention to these details y'all will get 100% better sound quality.

When people complain that their tweeters sound bright and intrusive, you can bet they accept broken i or all of these installation rules.

Arrange the crossovers at installation, and so again two months afterwards. If you accept installed tweeters at or higher up dash level, turn the level down a little with the adjustment switch within the crossover. The KP and K2P range accept eight tweeter level settings inside their crossovers, the other Focal ranges have three, so yous should exist able to find a setting that suits you.

There is a principle that tweeters and mids should be in the kick panels to get them equidistant from the listener. It sounds great in principle, I can never deny the theory is absolutely right. The trouble in exercise is that your legs obstruct the sound. Kick panel mounts sound all-time if you sit with your anxiety tucked nether you. Another important principle is that woofer and tweeter should be inside fifteen inches of each other. Technically right again, merely it's non always possible without rebuilding the whole door panel, an expensive performance.

Don't await to get a carefully planned tweeter and speaker installation for $100, it will accept someone one-half a solar day to build-out A-pillars or mirror mounts, fit the tweeters and then re-skin the panels in new vinyl. Unless you are a whiz at motor trimming, exist prepared to pay for an expert to do this.

Virtually car radio shops won't volunteer to do A-colonnade installation of tweeters when they sell you lot the speaker kit because the price would scare almost customers away. If you lot're later hi-fi sound, you'll accept to ask for specialist installation, be prepared to pay the money.

Factory tweeter mounting position in many new cars direct the tweeter against the windscreen glass. It'south an absolute no-no in home howdy-fi to point your tweeters anywhere most drinking glass and the same applies in your car. Reflected sound off a windscreen is not going to exist good.

Focal put a lot of research into designing tweeters with a linear sound output. If y'all install them right, you'll reap the benefits.

Communication on setting up Focal Kit seven

I'd like some advice on setting upward Focal Kit 7 Agile iii-way speakers using my old six-channel amplifier in place of the UNIQ crossovers. I'm doing the installation at home to save coin, also at that place isn't a Focal dealer nearby. Alternatively, I could use the UNIQ crossovers, bridge 4 of channels on my six aqueduct amp to achieve more power, and accept two channels remaining for the rear speakers."

Yes it is possible to use your old amp in a fully-active configuration, however I urge extreme caution. I'd suggest y'all leave the installation and tuning to an expert installer, even if it ways a long drive . There are many subtle design features built into Focal UNIQ crossovers which yous will be bypassing if you lot utilise active distension. The failure rate of speakers is much higher when using them without the mill crossover.

I'd draw a parallel to installing an after-market engine-control module into a new car. The automobile may perform a little bit ameliorate in directly-ahead acceleration merely many other functions don't work as well equally the they commonly would, for example gear changes will be rougher, the idle will exist rougher and the car will chew through fuel and exhaust filters.

The genuine Focal crossovers were carefully designed to restrict the individual speakers to certain frequency bands, compensate for phase shift at the crossover frequencies and balance the outputs of each speaker appropriate to an overall sound. Engineers with years of academy education accept spent a lot of fourth dimension designing these things, and so to double-approximate their design would be a example of hit-and-miss. Bear in listen that should yous burn out any of those vi″ Utopia speakers it will cost you lot $415. There is no warranty on speakers with burnt voice-coils.

Your entire Focal Kit 7 could run quite happily on a good amplifier of lx watts RMS per channel. Amplifiers with higher power ratings are likewise okay, a bigger amplifier is probably a wise investment as that amp will be idling, not stressing out. Speakers don't burn out by themselves, overworked amplifiers tend to pass the stress along to the speakers in the form of clipped signal and it'southward clipping which releases the smoke from the speakers. An amplifier with plenty of headroom is ever safer than an amplifier too small for the chore, and you'll get better audio quality as a bonus.

Whatever you lot practise, don't bridge an amplifier onto any speakers other than a subwoofer. The audio quality deteriorates noticeably whenever you bridge an amplifier. Because the speakers you are using, which are very revealing of any weakness in the system, bridging an amplifier to get more than power is a definite no-no.

So when it comes to recycling your erstwhile six-channel amplifier in this new car, I'd suggest you get-go once more and buy the right amplifier for the job, an FPS4160 four-aqueduct amplifier. Utilise two channels to run the Utopias through the UNIQ crossovers, the remaining ii to power the rear speakers. Deplorable, no matter how loftier a quality your old amplifier may be, if y'all have to bridge it to brand apply of it, you lot are defeating the purpose of buying excellent speakers.

I have some great sounding (brand Ten) speakers

I take some great sounding (brand X) speakers from my last machine. Would these be okay to employ in the rear of my new car with my new Focal 165W-XP in the front?

No, you should never mix upwards speaker brands and series within the one car. Ever employ the aforementioned serial speakers front and rear. If you use Focal K2 Power in front, you should employ Focal K2 Power in rear.

It's to do with cone mass and magnet material etc. If the speakers forepart and rear have like characteristics, they will movement in time with each other at all frequencies. If y'all use speakers of a dissimilar serial, even if from the same manufacturer, they will be 'out of phase' with each other at certain frequencies causing some blurring of the music.

How practice I arrange my Focal iBUS20 for the best audio?

We would suggest as a starting point:

Subsonic at 35 Hz,
Bass Boost at vi
Low laissez passer at 80 Hz

What is agile configuration?

Active configuration is when each individual speaker, each tweeter, each midbass driver, is powered through a separate amplifier channel.

Why do people consider information technology is superior?

Bi-Amping is a fleck of a myth promulgated by online chat and blogs, which are unremarkably run past weekend experts. In the easily of a very well educated installer, with a lot of high-end test equipment on manus and the skills to use that gear, you can get sound quality improvements. The level of improvement doable relates back to how inexpensive and nasty the manufacturing plant crossovers were.

With most European speaker brands a lot of blueprint piece of work went into the crossovers and so you won't go a large improvement by 2d-guessing the manufacturer, trying to exercise an agile system with just an amplifier and the inbuilt crossovers.

In as few words as possible, use the crossovers that came with the speakers. Do not bridge amplifiers onto any speakers other than a subwoofer. These are the two commandments of car audio. Defy them at your own risk.

To do active configuration properly:

You need to sell the customer a sound processor
You need to know the design frequency range of each individual speaker
You need a machine called a Real Time Analyser (RTA) to analyse the output sound
You need an oscilloscope to check for clipping of both input and output signal
You need preparation in which crossover slopes to use in which situations

Customers will come in and attempt to barefaced you into taking their task on, as an active installation. The risk of dissentious i or multiple speakers are peachy. Best to avoid the job if you don't have the equipment and preparation.

A signal processor and an active configuration in a auto stereo system can give significant sound improvement because the installer can brand compensations for frequency response dips caused by the vehicle interior or various components in the sound system. However selling a processor is fraught with dangers unless you have the above equipment and know what you lot are doing.

If you really desire a noticeable improvement with minimum fuss, sell the client on audio-absorbing sheets (Focal BAM etc). Don't confuse sound-arresting with sound irksome textile. Sound absorbing cloth has a soft rubber surface to absorb sound waves. Audio deadener has a shiny surface and is a reflector for sound waves, so it causes more trouble acoustically than it fixes. Lining the doors with audio-absorbing material volition give bigger bang for the buck than wiring speakers active configuration.

Keep it elementary. Don't go talked into agile wiring setups. Amend to let them go elsewhere if they insist, it's only going to end in tears.