Jr'sMaxima

If so, do they sound good in the car? Did you have to make a spacer so they wouldnt hit the window? Did you make any mods to them to sound better or do they just sound good and is our doors sealed well enough?

If you have them too, what kind? Poly Glass, Kevlars, Utopia's? Im thinking about getting the Poly Kevlar 165K's, they look great, but havent heard them, and havent heard 1 review of them in a maxima. So, though to ask here! Thanks!

maxima42

iTrader: (3)

talk to maxgurl, i know shye has atleast one set, and is getting another

maxi98

iTrader: (1)

yeah, i have polykevlar 165k2 running w/ kenwood 4channel(30rms)(weak) amp.. soundwise, imo, it's pretty bright, (the tweeter is the same material as MB Quart, which is bright), i didn't seal the door, the speakers are direct replacement of existing speaker (assuming you have the non-bose stereo), however, if u have better amp to power these speakers, then it should sound fine~~~ i heard focal speakers needs good high power amp to push them.. as for sound quality, the sound is clear and crispy.. a little weak on mids... in my setup~~~

Jr'sMaxima

Well, power aint a problem, got MTX302 amp, rated on the sheet at 112x2 @4 ohms, 12.5 volts, so it will prolly hit around 125x2 at the real voltage teh car puts out. I will talk to her then. Brightness is fine for me, I can attenuate that I think with the crossover, and plus I like a little brighter tweater.

I have BOSE though, so would that still be a direct replacement?

chinaonnitrous1

iTrader: (12)

focals....to say the least..have been one of the cleanest sounding speakers for the past 3 years..yup 3..i heard them first in the philippines in 98'...and they sound ****in awesome. I've used all 3 of their lines....i've just finished installing a pair of 165k2 (yellow polykevelar)..and a 5 1/4" polykevelar setup in my Cousin's RSX. Each component set getting about 75 watts from a Rockford Fosgate amp and its awesome. In my old legend i ran a similar setup..except a custom 3 way setup....6 1/2 midbass 4" midrange and Tn41 tweeter. Yes high's are a bit on the bright side..but just attenuate it..and adjust your stereo. If you can afford them..and an amplifier you wont regret it. The only better sounding component setup i've heard is by Rainbow....except its about 7000 for 2 tweets..2 midbass and 2 crossovers....

Hmm..plans for my 2002 maxima....i've started out....with 3 pairs of the 7" Focal utopia's midbass...2 in each front door..and a pair on the back decklid....now ive gotta order 2 pairs of 4" midranges..and 3 pairs of tweeters....slowly but surely...watch out everyone..FOCAL's RULE

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

I have the last year's model of yours.. the 165KS component set. I've now got the 165k2 series mids and still running the older tweeters (which IMO sound better than the k2 set tweet).

I was running it on a bi-amped system, so the mid had a 200w/channel amp and the tweeter had a dedicated 50w/channel amp.

door clearance was a non-issue as I had them in custom fiberglass pods, BUT they're not extremely deep anyway. I used some other small pods that replaced my OEM 4x6 mounting plates, and I had no clearance issues with that.

Sound? awesome. They were good enough for a 10th place IASCA Finals finish in '99. the 2nd and 3rd place guys were all running the exact same speakers as I was. the 3rd place guy even ran the exact same amps and crossover settings as me. weird considering I'd never seen the guy until I competed against him, then found out he was running identical equipment as me.

97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

I have Focal 165K2 up front and about to have 165K installed on my rear deck this week. I'm using Rockford Punch 500.4 amp which has no problem pushing all 4. You will need a mounting plate (6x9 should do) to fit those 6.5" Focals in our rear deck (6.75" holes).

I had Alpine speakers all around before this new setup.. after a few weeks of driving around in them, I was pretty disappointed.

Two of my friends have these Focals and they blew my mind when I heard them in both cars. If and when you decide to commit on the Focals, just remember that the speakers sound only as good as the Amp you have backing them up with.

Very clean output. Good luck.

97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

Jr'sMaxima

Well, I would say clean power I have with a MTX302 amp and on the birthsheet putting out 112x2 @ 4ohms, and 200x2 at 2 ohms. So, power will be nice and easy to come by, plus Im going with the Alpine 7875 deck. Its got great controls at a great price. Thanks for the input, sounds like the focals are what I want, just gotta find them at a decent enough price. $ is not really an issue but I am in no rush for this either, so I will wait to get good prices on things.

NightRider

iTrader: (6)

I have the Focals that were recommended to me by Matt93SE. I had them in my 89' and grabbed them to use in my 96' when the 89' was wrecked. They sound great!! In my 89' I didn't have to worry about rattles, because I had those pods custom made by Matt. Now in the 96, if you run a lot of power, you'll experience rattles. It's just not built the same.

mingo

iTrader: (4)

i got the focal utopia 165w3 in the front and 165w in the rear.. i wish i could afford the audiom TLR tweets but they are way out of my price range. for the amp i have a 200x4 ppi pc4800 to push all four corners.. if i had a higher budget i would have got a mcintosh amp, but i dont' so i made a comrpomise. the speakers are real nice. i'm still playing around to find the best set up, i'm planning to open two large holes in my dash to mount the 4" vocals in there and have the tweets where the side rear view mirros go for optimal sound imaging.

jmax

Just what do you plan to do with three pairs of tweets? One pair should be enough for the whole system, or 3 total if you have a dedicated center channel.

ABS

I installed the 165 Kevlar series in a friend's Accord almost a year ago. I like the way the system sounds with the Focals, but it is very bright.

Most Kevlar mid-woofers have a rising midrange output with some spikes in the 3K range. In home HI-FI audio, these spikes are usually controlled with notch filters in the passive x-over. I was somewhat disappointed to learn that the Focal x-over did not have any of the typical corrective notch filtering. You won't hear the spikes specifically, but you will notice a VERY forward upper midrange sound from these drivers. I would not consider this sound to be "accurate" per se, the Kevlar drivers really color the sound by making it seem brighter and somewhat livelier than it probably was when originally recorded. This type of tonal sound quality is sometimes sought after. For a frame of reference, newer B&W home audio speakers using 7" Kevlar midranges have similar tonal qualities.

I found the tweeters to be adequately damped without much sign of harshness. The tweeters are also bright, but it is not excessive.

I was disappointed to note that the passive x-overs also did not provide impedance correction circuitry which is a must for any woofer, especially "free air" woofers. However, I was pleased that X-over offered a 12db/octave x-over even though this design introduces a phase shift because it provides better power handling and a cleaner overall sound.

If I remember correctly, the Focals are efficient drivers so not too much power should be needed to drive them pretty loud. If you are interested in very high volumes, very low distortion or preventing voice coil burnout then you would be wise to invest in a high quality amplifier. If you have a choice, try to get an amp with a "softer, tube-like" sound otherwise the Focal's might sound a little edgy.

I recommend the Focal setup as a terrific value for the money with overall sound quality that rivals or beat virtually every other mainstream two way setup on the market. Expect the Focals to outperform the Bose, Polk and MB Quart offerings. You might also consider offerings from Vifa, Scan-Speak and DynAudio. Good luck!

chinaonnitrous1

iTrader: (12)

three pairs of tweets..... one pair in each front corner...and a pair on the back decklid....bascially 6 speakers in each front corner... =)

jmax

Most tweets are 3-9 dB more efficient than mids. So the extra tweet will create more of an imaging problem than what it will help in the SPL area. Take it from someone with 5 speakers in each front corner, two 5 1/4's, two 6 1/2's, one silk tweet. If I need more treble I can still turn up the gain on the amp or use the EQ.

pjalst

Which focal speaker fits best in the 4th Gen front door, The 6 1/2" or the 7"

97MaxGurl

iTrader: (17)

6.5

7" means you have to cut the existing speaker openings(6.75") in our Maximas. Easiest thing to do is get speaker brackets to mount the rear speakers (if you get 6.5").

6.5" up front.

loudmaxima

back in the day i told you car audio was addicting ;X
good to know youre spendin yer $$$ wisely tho

~randy

chinaonnitrous1

iTrader: (12)

yea...we were discussing that in class a couple months ago..im still pretty undecided....but..i guess i'll just hafta see..i've got a long way untill im done..