Basically as the topic says, I have just bought a Focal 27V2 (from here) and am interested in peoples thought's on how these sound, and what they are like compared to my Alpine Type S? I have a Dali A-6CS front stage with custom pods, and am after something that will crossover nicely with them. They have good output down to 80Hz when the car is stationary but it isn't enough against all the road noise.

I will be driving it with a Performance Teknique ICBM-9550 which should be putting out 500WRMS at 4 ohms.

Listen to heaps of different music, TOP50, rock, dance, metal, Eminem stuff.... And I love listening to anything that is recorded well.

these are 2 quite different subs,

the Focal 27V2 is sound beautiful, very musical and tonally accurate, and very detailed and fast.
however, Don't expect it to be really loud, it will fill out those lower freq's but it won't blow you out of the car.

on the other hand,
the Type S is a quite high output sub, that will play pretty darn loud,
however it's not a tight, musically accurate subwoofer.. I will outperform the 27V2 in terms of output probably by 2, but the 27V2 will outperform the Type S in terms of accuracy and musicality by 3.

so it's really your choice.

personally I'd look at a 33V2 if you need to use only 1 sub and you can afford it.
that way you get both the output and the nice bass.

It can be quite difficult for many people to tell the difference between subwoofers,
most people will only be able to tell if the sub is louder or quieter, not if it's more detailed, or musical.
it's up to the individual as to if those differences, make a difference to them. it also really depends on your setup as to how much difference, those differences will be.

IE: if your amp is providing a floppy wobbly dirty signal, then both subs will sound the same,
in fact the Alpine may actually sound nicer in that situation.
if your amp is providing a tight, fast, clean quality signal, then the focal will sound much nicer.

regards
Juls

Cheer's for that Juls, I am not very impressed with the Type S - to the point where I would not buy another one. Mind you, it has served me well for around 4 years, so I can't ask for too much! I flirted with a couple of TS-W306C's when I bought the amp and they are all about output, and sound pretty crap. Fun but crap sound, tried numerous configurations but didn't get a decent sound out of them. So I have realised that I don't want output, just want a good sound to match up with the fronts. The Dali's are rolled off at 50Hz/12Db/oct and they are much faster than the Type S. At the end of the day, I rarely listen to music really loud anyway.

I have modelled the focal on WinISD and it has a shocking transfer magnitude in a 30L sealed enclosure, why is this? What size box do people recommend for this sub?

From my experience the Focal subs need a good custom enclosure in order to not sound like bum. They are a nice musical sub (as opposed to doof doof), however only when used in the right application.

Whats the difference with a custom enclosure, and the ones that I build? I reckon my enclosures are better than the pre manufactured enclosures you see in the shop, no skimping with the wood and sealant that I use...

Are you talking about the quality of the design or the build quality?

You will need a properly designed enclosure to get the best from a focal,
I know they don't work if you get it wrong.

especially the V2 series.

Juls

By custom enclosure I mean one built to the right specificaitons, with decent materials. Build the box for the sub rather than buying prefab. Get what I'm saying? If you're handy and comfortable with building a box then great, save some cash. Only do this however if you have the tools and can build to the dimensions focal lay out for you.

Ok now you guys are starting to worry me!

From what I have read about the 27V2-

15L Sealed Enclosure - Fast and Tight bass - F3=47.5Hz
20L Sealed Enclosure - Punchy and Dynamic Bass - F3=45.8Hz
30L Sealed Enclosure - Deep and Articulate Bass - F3=44Hz

Now given that my fronts reproduce the bottom end pretty well, I want this sub to 'fill out' the deepest notes in the music that I listen to. I already have a Sealed Enclosure of 32.9L and running some quick volume calcs, wokred out the displacement of that sub at 4.1L (its a little on the high side), so that would give me a Box volume of 28.8L. The box is constructed with 18mm MDF, dimensions 550 x 350 x 240. Fully glued and sealed.

So whats going to go wrong here?

My long term goal is to construct a fibreglass enclosure, moulded into the side of the boot. I didn't know that Focal's need specific dimensions to work?

You should find the focal to be alot more musical and detailed, they're from different price points so should not be directly compared, both work really well in their intended enviroment. As previous posts have stated building a box to suit the woofer is definetly a step in the right direction, if your not sure of what size to use consult the store you bought the woofer from. You said you were very dissappointed in your type S, was it in the right box....... Also note Performance Technique amplifiers aren't noted up there in the SQ Stakes in terms of high end amps. Remeber the woofer is only as good as the signal it is given.

Another thing you might note,
Focal reccomend not using fibreglass enclosures,
in fact in my K Series manuals they are VERY specific not to use fibreglass enclosures, and especially not to line the wooden enclosure with fibreglass.. don't ask me what there reasoning is though.

if you absoluently have to use fibreglass, make sure you use alot of deadner on it, and some thick acoustical foam followed by a open cell foam.

Juls

I think that this is pretty clear in stating that I can use any volume box between 15-30L. When people are saying "build a box that is designed for the woofer" are they saying to build it to the manufacturer's specified volume? Or to model it with an alternative program like WinISD and use the results from there?



I will be using wood for some of the baffle, base, front side and possibly the top, so as to minimise fibreglass as much as possible.

Fibreglass is not recommended as it has a higher resonance frequency than wood.

As to the size, consult the place where you purchased it, tell them your requirements, musical taste etc and go from there

I purchased it 2nd hand from this very forum!

So technically I am consulting the place that I purchased it from..

The Focal sub I heard was in a fibreglass enclosure moulded into a boot and it sounded craptacular. Go to Fairfield car radio in Sydney and ask to hear the manager/bosses car (it a vectra/astra), make your own judgements

I should change my details, I am no longer in NSW! I will take your word for it however. Is there any harm in giving it a go? I will be using every trick in the book to minimise reflections and all that jazz... Just want to have a go at a nice install with some decent components. Sub turns up on wednesday so I'll whack it in the enclosure that I currently have and see how it goes!