[kittigadu]

I am now in Hyderabad, we bought a new Celerio as a beater car. I chose the VXI as it could be delivered the same day. It comes with no ICE. My budget is 10K max for the HU and speakers. I don't need a fancy HU, so a simple USB Pioneer has been chosen. But for speakers, I am quiet particular about the sound. I am now left with 6k Rs to spend on the speakers.

I asked a few ICE installers in and around Minister road and as soon as they hear that its a Celerio, they all suggest a Sony Xplod co-axials. One even suggested that I should go with Soundbass or something. One guy showed off his Creta with a lot of speakers and boxes, the under seat kick was so hard that I felt that my bottom had come into my mouth. I choked for a second. It had earth shattering sound but nothing was clear and a constant bassy whine in the background. Maybe he likes it, but it was not for me.

The underlying thing is that I feel most of them to be "ding-chak" type music. I even heard a few cars they were working on, and in most cases they used Sonys. I was not impressed. I know my budget is cheap and my expectations are on the moon.

Back in Bangalore we had a BMW E90 320D. It has 6 speaker system. Many felt that it sounded boring with almost no bass. But, I felt otherwise. I loved the clarity of the sound. It was neither too harsh (constant backgound bass hum) nor too shrill (high treble piercing the ears). For me, it was soothing and rightly balanced. I hope I had explained it well.

Then, a friend suggested Focal speakers. We both spent considerable time travelling in the BMW in Bangalore. So, he knows the sound. He said that the Focals are close to my liking. The Focal Auditor+ RCX-165SI costs 2400 per pair. So, for 5K i might get close to what i wanted.

I have called up most of the guys mentioned in the Hyderbad directory about Focals and asked if I could hear a demo to experience the sound and no one was helpful. Then, I turned to youtube and in one of the videos i heard it. Yes, it was exactly the sound i wanted. Now, considering the quality of the recording equipment, youtube compression and quality of speakers/headphones at our end would have killed 80% of the quality, but never the less, This is the sound I wanted. They used components, I shall use all 4 coaxials and get 50% of what i heard.

Please use headphones only. The vocals and thump at 1:52

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C2t9uXXxCg

He says its just the HU and no amp.



Now, that i have decided to get them, I wanted to know if any one has installed the Focal coaxials and would appreciate if you share your views. Please warn me if you think this is a one side love affair only to be disappointed in the end.

Regards,
Krishna.

[Alfa_Romeo1]

kittigadu, I am having all round Focal speakers in my car. Sound quality is great. Focal auditor range of speakers is louder, I feel so. I have Focal access performance series components in front, Focal auditor Co-axials in rear. Sadly I don't remember model no though (Price was about 6k before two and half years).
I am running these four speakers with Pioneer four channel amp since last few days. Earlier they were running off stock HU. During my upgrade process, I was not having monoblock for sub, rear coaxials were running off aftermarket Pioneer HU that gives 50 watts rms per channel (as per specifications). And I will tell you, loudness is enough considering price point. You wont regret.

So here are my observations related to Focal auditor coaxials in my car:
When run off stock HU of Honda City : Sounds crap.
When run off aftermarket HU : Coaxials sound great as compared to above situation. And I will once again tell you, they have enough thump, vocals are clear too.
When run off from four channel amp : Heck, my coaxials are louder than my front components, I have to adjust Fader to front in order to get appropriate sound-stage or else mid range was coming from back.

These are my observations and I am not ICE expert, I will anyway suggest you to try hard and listen to speakers that you are trying to get, there is nothing like listening and then deciding.

One more suggestion please spare some vitamin M on damping sheets too, must in celerio.

[IshaanIan]

I would suggest getting a decent 1 pair of these speakers that you like for the front and a basic amp to power both the front and the rear. It will do wonders. Go to Xenex and talk to a chap called Deep. He is the best installer IMO in Hyderabad

[arnabchak]

@Kittigadu


The Budget is low but don't lose heart.
There are quite a few options that you could explore.
I will share my set up and you can evaluate if it fits the bill:

1) HU - Pioneer FX 595
2) Powerbass Components: Very good comps and teh stage is high. The tweeters are not shrilly and the sound production is composed.
I checked out JBLs and Blaupunkts and found them too high on the treble. Mind you, these are all basic units and not the costly ones.
I got the comps @approx. 6 K.
3) Cadence active sub(under Seat). The Wagon R is a CNG and space is at extreme premium. I got it at approx. 9K.
4) JBL Co-axials in the rear. 6 in in Door set up. Decent.

Overall the sound clarity is good. I am one who does not like the heavy bass or boom sound and the set up I have is decent for my liking.

Overall cost :
Components- Powerbass: Rs. 6000/-
Co axials - JBL : Rs. 3500/-
Cadence Active Sub : Rs. 9000/-
HU(Pioneer) : Rs. 9000/-

[navin]

Originally Posted by kittigadu

I am now in Hyderabad, we bought a new Celerio as a beater car.

Back in Bangalore we had a BMW E90 320D. It had 6 speaker system. Many felt that it sounded boring with almost no bass. But, I felt otherwise.

Then, a friend suggested Focal speakers. The Focal Auditor+ RCX-165SI costs 2400 per pair. So, for 5K i might get close to what i wanted.

This is the sound i wanted. They used components, i shall use all 4 coaxials and get 50% of what i heard.

Now, that I have decided to get them, i wanted to know if any one has installed the Focal coaxials and would appreciate if you share your views.

Originally Posted by Alfa_Romeo1

kittigadu, I am having all round Focal speakers in my car. Sound quality is great.

So here are my observations related to Focal auditor coaxials in my car:
When run off stock HU of Honda City : Sounds crap.
When run off aftermarket HU : Coaxials sound great as compared to above situation. And I will once again tell you, they have enough thump, vocals are clear too.

Krishna, Thank you for your detailed post. Before I start, I request you to please check the spellings, grammar and punctuation of your future posts.

Now to the audio part: Focal is a good brand. I have used various Focal components in my home and car audio installs since the mid 80s. So I would not worry about the brand. For the past 30+ years they have maintained a rather consistent sound signature.

More importantly, remember that you are buying a sound system for yourself. Not for friends or to show off to the public or for any other reason. You have to live with the sound system and if you do not enjoy it, it is a waste of good money. So buy what you feel sounds best to you.

If you budget can stretch a bit you can install components in the front and co-axials in the rear. The front passengers get slightly better imaging with components.

Alfa Romeo, The reason the Focals did not sound good with the stock system is because the stock system is heavily equalized. OEM speakers have limited low frequency response and ragged upper frequency response and the OEM Head Units are equalized to compensate for these deficiencies.

If you are using an OEM HU with external amplifiers and speakers, you first have to "de-equalize" (that's not a real word but you get the drift) the OEM HU's output using a DSP (Audison, Alpine, etc. all make DSPs for this purpose) and then use the output from the DSP to drive the amplifiers and speakers.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by kittigadu

Many felt that it sounded boring with almost no bass. But, I felt otherwise. I loved the clarity of the sound. It was neither too harsh (constant backgound bass hum) nor too shrill (high treble piercing the ears). For me, it was soothing and rightly balanced. I hope I had explained it well.

I think I know what you're taking about. You should consider either Blaupunkt or Focal parts.

I kitted my car with a complete Focal set including 2 amps, a 10" SW, a set of components for the front and a pair of 6x9 for the rear deck. These were fitted now well over 5 years ago and I am as happy as I could be with the sound.

Depending on what you listen to here's another take. In my experience European speakers and amps produce smooth slightly soft sound which I find more agreeable to my ears and attuned to instrumental, vocals and jazz.
Jap and US speakers are lively more attuned to pop, electronic and rock.

Yeah, in my case age also had something to do with it though I continue to listen to a variety of genres ranging from hard rock, jazz, electronic, pop and instrumental primarily western. And then there's old Hindi music which has limited dynamic range and doesn't demand much from the components

[kittigadu]

Thanks for the suggestions guys

If you budget can stretch a bit you can install components in the front and co-axials in the rear. The front passengers get slightly better imaging with components.

I got the necessary parts now. Since I am out of town, I shall get this installed and post my feedback on Tuesday/Wednesday. BTW, I got the components for the front and opted for a JVC as it has got more controls (BT, 13 band EQ, HPF/LPF and other such). Initially planned budget of 10k has now become 12.5K rupees. I hope it stays so.



Regards,
Krishna.

[lapis_lazuli]

Sorry, but is there really an Auditor+ series? I was reading up some article which hinted that this plus series may not be authentic. Is it a listed part on the Focal website? For sure, the auditor is listed, but I could not locate the "plus".

[kittigadu]

Thanks for heads up. I shall get to the bottom of this. Will be very disappointed if these are fake. Someone is going to get spanked.

BTW, I saw a similar comment on focal website as well. I have done a fake check and found them to be built to a standard. Followed the "how to spot fake focal speakers" guide and found them pass the test. Also, these are imported by Sahil intl, the only dealer in India. Any ways, I sent an email to the folks at focal. I shall report back for common good.

Regards,
Krishna.

[Abhi_abarth]

Originally Posted by navin

If you are using an OEM HU with external amplifiers and speakers, you first have to "de-equalize" (that's not a real word but you get the drift) the OEM HU's output using a DSP (Audison, Alpine, etc. all make DSPs for this purpose) and then use the output from the DSP to drive the amplifiers and speakers.

Thank you for the information Navin Sir. This post has put me in a dilemma as I intend to upgrade the speakers and install a 4 channel amplifier on my 2017 Baleno. Does, this mean I will still not be able to get the full functionality of these upgrades as long as the OEM HU isn't take care as per the above steps ?

[navin]

Originally Posted by Abhi_abarth

Does, this mean I will still not be able to get the full functionality of these upgrades as long as the OEM HU isn't take care as per the above steps ?

It will work but it wont sound good as the heavy equalization of the OEM HU will be reproduced by the Amplifier and speakers. You might be able to reduce the effect of this by experimenting with the bass and treble controls of the OEM HU.

Some HUs use heavier equalization than others. When my wife got her 2009 Honda City the OEM HU sounded pretty poor when used with an amplifier and speakers so we had to add an Audison Bit 1 to DSP the equalization.

[kittigadu]

Originally Posted by lapis_lazuli

Sorry, but is there really an Auditor+ series? I was reading up some article which hinted that this plus series may not be authentic. Is it a listed part on the Focal website? For sure, the auditor is listed, but I could not locate the "plus".

I sent an email on their contact us page of their website and got a reply from focal and here is the screenshot.



So, for anyone looking for focal car audio, yes Auditor+ is genuine though not mentioned in their international website.

Regards,
Krishna.

[lapis_lazuli]

Rebranded perhaps ?? For a desi sound signature? Where from, then, can we get the Auditor only, series???

[kittigadu]

Well, I got the Focals fixed in my Celerio. Thanks to everyone who suggested them. They sound incredible. Not as mellow as in the BMW, but these have a different signature which i have fallen for. Yes, they sound sweet. Neither too boomy with the bass nor too harsh on the treble. JVC HU is an underdog i must say. It has incredible amount of tuning opportunities which i haven't explored yet.

Not exaggerating, but listening to "For the first time" on a drizzly evening feels like Rod Stewart is singing in the car with me. Very relaxing.

I am super happy and would suggest focals to anyone who is looking for great sound yet confused with choices.

Regards,
Krishna.

[determinism]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

I would suggest getting a decent 1 pair of these speakers that you like for the front and a basic amp to power both the front and the rear. It will do wonders. Go to Xenex and talk to a chap called Deep. He is the best installer IMO in Hyderabad

Which branch is this?