3 replies to this topic

[ktime70]

Well i figured i've been listening to my 165A's for a couple of years, i might as well review them for MEA. Now i'm not a golden ear by any means, and have not experienced $13,000 speakers.

But i do enjoy music, so lets get to it.

I have had these speakers in 4 different cars, so have a fair idea of how they sound VS how the "car" sounds. they have been mounted in door pods (both plastic pre made ones, and custom fibreglass), firing straight out of the door, and angled at the driver, as well as in "footwell" boxes.

The retail on these is $300, but they are the entry level split to the focal range. Some barganing can get them cheaper, mine worked out at $200, but i did buy a sub, box, and amp at the same time.

For your money you get Focal's entry model Tweeter, passive crossovers, with Tweeter attenuation (i hope that's the right word) built in. you can select to reduce output to the tweets a couple of DB via a switch on the crossover, and the 6.5 inch Woofer. The woofer is fairly economical looking, with a woven fibre cone, a silver "phase plug" and a mounting ring drilled out to fit most standard bolt patterns. the basket and motor isn't anywhere near as "plain" looking. in my opinion they look extremely sexual, and the motor boasts some features usually reserved for higher lines (the focal blurb will no doubt tell you all about it).

This sort of money puts them in competition with some of the "regular" car audio upper lines.

Focal Advertises these as perfect entry level speakers, as they have a "high sensitivity", so can get loud off of the internal amp in most head units. While this claim is technically correct, they do sound somewhat decent off of a head unit, comparable with externally amplified "upper-midrange" splits from the likes of pioneer, kenwood etc.

but to really make the most of these speakers, you need to amp them. They are rated at 60 watts RMS. they are 4 ohm speakers.

on 60 watts RMS (handy that the first of my two frontstage amps provides just this figure) they are definately louder and more definitive. The midbass is noticable, giving a nice kick to the legs (in door mounted pods), and moving enough air to get the mirrors to shake. running the 60 watt rms amplifier on the 165A1's, i noticed no distortion in the woofers until the amp started to clip.

while the midbass was decent, playing audibly down to 80hz (well the filter on the eclipse head unit was set at 80hz, 12db slope). dropping the filter to 63hz produced no audible difference in any tracks, the midrange, at 60watts leaves a little to be desired. while midrange was pretty strong if you manage to mount them on axis, off axis (much more likely with a 6.5 inch driver) the midrange loses out slightly to the midbass without using the EQ.

Much has been written about Focal tweeters being described as "bright" by fans, or "harsh" by detractors. The base model tweeter in this component set definately lives up to Focal's reputation of being very BRIGHT. on axis, the tweeter switch on the crossover needs to be put on it's lowest (highest amount of reduction) setting to be bearable. some EQ'ing of the upper frequencies also reigns the tweet into line. i found that off axis, taking care to minimise reflections from the glasswork of the car helped immensly in making them sound good. the brightness is always there, but when under control, actually sounds good, adding a nice lightness and crispness to the sound. Female vocals in particular (once the off axis lack of midrange is taken care of) sound particularly strong.

However, the tweets do not fare as well as the woofers to higher power inputs. right near the limits of the 60 watt amp, the tweets start to sound like they are distorting.

Throwing a clean 125 watts RMS a side into the speakers produced no problems with the woofers, although care had to be taken to ensure the tweets didn't distort. the midbass was equally as impressive, with various car bits rattling before the speaker distorted. closer inspection of the door pods (designed to house a 4 inch as well) revealed that the pressure generated by the 6.5 inch woofer blew the cone out of the 4 inch drivers used to seal the pods

The previously lacking midrange gained authority and clarity, easily blending beautifully in with the midbass on tap. putting double the rated power into the speakers moved them from decent budget speaker, to decent. the extra oomph in the midrange really made listening a pleasure, instead of sounding like the drums were trying to play over the top of everyone else, there was distinctive separation between voice, guitar, and drums, giving me my first glimpse at the true meaning of the term "soundstage".

I won't waffle on too much more. These speakers do what is promised on the box. give the listener an introduction into quality loudspeakers, that can be played using a head decks internal amp. I won't lie, and say they are the best speaker out there, but with enough amplification they do sound great. in my experience, one really needs to step up to the next level (focal Polyglass/k2p etc) to find better.

I will update this when i test them active, running the tweets off the 60 watt amp. and if (when) i get speakers i am happier with, i may also test them to see how much power they can take,

[HMAS Mercules]

Thanks for your very complete review! Nice to hear from someone who has listened to them long-term and tried various different installations. I'm sure there's a lot of people who are new to car audio that would appreciate your opinions on these entry level splits.

[Damo95]

For the entry level Focal splits, the 165A1's do a mighty fine job..

I have installed them in a mates VU ute (off the front channels of an RF P400-4) in the stock locations throughout.. And they kick really really nicely.. i was impressed... and the doors arent deadened yet... he listens to rock and heavy metal, and they keep up without breaking a sweat..

I also have them in the rear of my senator... for now..

I have recommended these to many people who want a good set of splits while retaining a budget..

[waseem]

very good write-up, your experience can be seen in your writing lol

im thinking of getting the polyglass 165vb, and so this was interesting

cheers