mobile-mouse

Are the Focal Utopia range that much better in the car environment.

The Tweeter in the utopia's are 2 inches in diameter they are not very discrete.

some of the reviews i've found quote the Polykev 165K as the best buy. I am confused the choice so far is:

Access 165 A
Polyglass 165 V2
Polykev 165 K
K2 Power 165 KP
Utopia 165 W

They go up in price as you read the list but is the car an environment were the KP's or for that matter the Utopia's perform better with all the tyre/wind noise etc going on in the car.

BTW found a site which sells the Focals for less than the rest.

It's called car-hifi.co.uk or car-stereo.co.uk

They also sell the Infinity range but don't know if it's any less here.

I'm looking for some feedback regarding the different Focals that i've listed above. If money was not an issue then i would buy the Utopia but i want to be practical and get the best for my money.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

goonasuk

I think Utopia at £569.99 are far too expensive, and tbh the std person would prob not be able to tell the difference from the PK to the UT

chiark

For the money I think you could do better...

Have a look on www.talkaudio.co.uk/vbb - there's quite a few people using high end speakers on there.

mobile-mouse

Does anyone know where you can buy DLS speakers on the web.

i would like someone who has purchased from them so at least they are a reputable establishment.

cheers.

chiark

Mate, if you're thinking of shelling out this kind of money, you *really* need to audition them. At this level, you can get surprising variance in sound... All will sound great, but brightness and neutrality vary considerably.

If you're thinking of spending 300,400,500 quid plus on a pair of speakers, you need to hear them, and preferably in a car.

Your speakers will make the most difference to how the system sounds. If you're spending the cash, take the time to audition before splashing out.

Cheers,
Nick.
PS - I can offer audition of the CDTechology (aka CDTAudio, aka Clif Designs from old...) HD62DTs

mobile-mouse

Thanks Chiark,

I think i'm getting carried away i do want good sound but your right i do need to audition some kit. The alternative is to set a ceiling of about 250 pounds and decide.

I found that caraudiodirect.co.uk sell DLS and Crystal speakers so got that sorted and they sell both in 6.5" and have a couple to choose from so from the 3 manufacturers i have a decision to make.

cheers.

mobile-mouse

BTW i'm getting the car fully soundproofed using the kit from NoiseKiller Acoustics. I know it is a pre-requisite for good SQ.

chiark

What's your music taste, and how do you like your music? Do you like it played at you with some "gusto", or prefer laid back?

DLS is, in general, very neutral and laid back, and I'd love a set but can't justify the outlay. I've only heard a few crystal setups and for the money they're great...

If you want something lively, DLS is not the right choice. Crystal isn't "inyerface" but is a tad brigher.

Do ask on Talkaudio.co.uk, as there's people who do a lot of auditioning and seriously know their stuff on there. I just dabble.

Cheers,
Nick.

Luke

I use DLS pro series. Got the first series...they went a bit bad a few years after. Mine came from the "Sound Gallery". These run from a "Soundstream amp " using the DLS crossovers.

I realy realy like them. They dont burn my ears with harsh treble!!

Hang out at some good dealers on a Saturday morning and talk to some of the customers cars...

NO STOCK SPEAKER CABLES PLEASE!!! and dont forget to stick some stuff inside the doors....

Genesis people imported DLS when they first came to England.... But I believe they had to much problems with some of the later stuff.

I have heard the "Crystal" speakers..... Very nice.

Si.t

i think you can get a bit carried away with speakers for car audio; unless you intend to entre your car in sq competitions, then you'll probably do most of your listening on the move with road noise - which then completely destroys the point of spending a lot of money on top end kit. I'm happy with my polyglass (although i wish i had gone for the polykevlar, but unless i saw the utopias cheap somewhere, i wouldn't spend 500 on them. (incidentally, these are used in B&Ws' top end speaker - the one that costs £10,000 or something stupid - so you can guarantee they are superb. But you can also ask why b&w sell their speakers for this much money if the cones cost 500 odd - because they spend more developing the absolute optimum enclosure for them, so unless you intend to deaden the doors and the rest of the car and build a very solid speaker enclosure, i don't think its worth the money.

still very very good speakers, though!!!

i've heard boston and dynaudio, and i have to say i like mine the best, but this is all to do with mounting, installationa dn personal choice.

cheers

gWRXm

at the max power focal stand they only had the k2 power range and they sounded brilliant, in my opinion the best on show, i have a pair of rockford 5 1/4inch componants, and i am going to change to the focal k2 power range

mobile-mouse

Well after looking on the CAD & Talkaudio.co.uk websites i've found that some people rate the Rainbow range of speakers, If I'm capping my spends to £200 then there are a set from Focal, Crystal, DLS and Rainbow.

People seem to rate the Rainbow speakers but the models people are talking about are the pros and the vanadiums £300+ (see Talkaudio.co.uk topic called Rainbows?). One person has said

"if you think of the rainbows as a more livlier dynaudio you get the idea. There an inbetween focal/dynaudio sound but with the detail of both sets. I went from a set of focal Utopia 165W3 to a set of Pro 3ways kickbass and did not regret it, they had all the detail of the focals but a smoother less fatigue sound."

and

"The Pros have the smoothness and bass exension of dynaudio, however retains the detail in the detail and sharpness of the sound, commonly found with Focal, and Mb Quarts."

my question is this. If i'm capping my spend to £200 for the front then he soundline range being £170 is the SQ a match or better than other manufacturers in the same price field and do the above comments made by other people follow for the soundline range.

Do CAD have a shop that you can go and listen to these speakers or is it based and dispached from a warehouse.

It seems the only way to get to listen to these speakers is to turn up to a meet and talk to you guys. No shop in the NW sells any of them i was on the phone Saturday for 3-4hrs calling shops throught the NW and the majority have Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony, Panasonic but not what i'm interested in Oh one shop used to stock Focal but everyone was buying them on the web and they were not selling them just fitting them and so removed the line from the shop.

cheers.

chiark

bit of a sod, isn't it?

200 quid will get you an excellent set... I haven't heard the rainbows, but they've been around a long time and are gaining popularity recently. I believe they're German?

Whatever you end up going for, with those brands you can't go far wrong. I'd be more tempted to look at something other than Focal, but that's just me: I like to be different.

Cheers,
Nick.

mobile-mouse

Cheers Nick you have been a real help and i will make my decision soon as the head unit is being fitted on Wed. I went for a Blaupunkt DAB53 and with it being German maybe the Rainbows will be a good match. It's going to be either rainbow's, crystal's or DLS's.

thanks i'll let you know what it sounds like i think i'll speak som more to the guys at Talk Audio before making the final decision.