Focal components

[boddy 10+ year member]

Trying to decide what components to get, im stuck between the PS130 and 130VR. There gonna be working with a 1000w sub and ran off a 90w x2 amp and a 100w x4 amp in the future when i upgrade my rear speakers.

The VR's are 50w but have a sensitivity of 94 dB and have a higher fq response.

Where as the PS's are 60w and have a sensitivity of 91.4dB but then i like how you can mount the tweeters, like raised off a surface facing you eg the dash.

Click to read more...

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

Try to listen to them first. They will sound different

 

[boddy 10+ year member]

Im buying them online, no where by me sells them. Is one clearly not better than the other then?

 

[BnGRacing 10+ year member]

Trying to decide what components to get, im stuck between the PS130 and 130VR. There gonna be working with a 1000w sub and ran off a 90w x2 amp and a 100w x4 amp in the future when i upgrade my rear speakers.
The VR's are 50w but have a sensitivity of 94 dB and have a higher fq response.

Where as the PS's are 60w and have a sensitivity of 91.4dB but then i like how you can mount the tweeters, like raised off a surface facing you eg the dash.

First off, the VR's are ZERO watt...not 50w. Those number do not mean a **** thing and only serve the purpose to confuse people and help clueless salesmen move boxes. Sensitivity is nice to know but it's not the end-all be-all when it comes to how loud a speaker will get. Something typically that high, you'd normally see in a home audio environment. Now here's where it gets tricky; when home audio rates their speaker sensitivity they use 1w (2.83v @ 8ohm) of pink noise and measure 1m away.

In car audio? Who the hell knows what frequencies they use. Now, the real kicker is that most car audio companies will tell you they tested with 2.83v @ 1m...just like home audio, right? No. Car audio speakers are usually 4ohm, so they're sending more than 1w of power to them. Pisses me off.

Company A uses one method, company B uses another, etc. While you can debate who is more honest & forthcoming about their products, what you cannot debate are the products themselves. If everyone uses different testing you cannot use their specs to compare one speaker to another. There's also a lot of stories out there where people have tested speakers and the results were WAY off from what was printed on the spec sheet & given as T/S parameters.

The moral of the story is you have to use your ears to figure out what will be best for you. Forget specs...they're useless. Forget watts...what does a watt sound like anyway? Your ears, though, will never lie to you.

Focal is a good brand and make outstanding products. Personally, I like their higher end speakers much better than most brands out there. Their lower lines, to me, leave a lot to be desired. From reading specs, you'd never come to that conclusion. In addition, your listening preferences are probably much different than mine and you may either like them better than I do or you may hate them even more than me.

Buy the speakers from somewhere that allows returns within 30days. If you don't like 'em, return/exchange the Focals for something more mellow. The lower-end speakers, to me, sound a bit on the harsh side. Some like that though...

 

[boddy 10+ year member]

Thanks alot for that, i know what you mean. My old components where 80w but i heard some 25w alpines which sounded way better. I think i will go with the PS130's i can get them for £110 and they have a 7 day returning policy once received so that will give me enough time to test them. I should be pleased with them because they look alot better than my old components.

 

[boddy 10+ year member]

How would these compare to them? Car Audio & Security: Car Stereo, Speakers & Subwoofers, Car DVD Players, GPS and CD Changers roughly the same price, im just wondering.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

the new Type-R are surprisingly decent, but I would expect the Focal to be better.

correction

both tweeters are inverted dome. both woofers are polyglass. they will be similar.

 

[boddy 10+ year member]

What one would you recommend then? If there similar why is one 100w and the other 60w

 

[stocker08 10+ year member]

Do not put a whole lot of stock into what the wattage ratings on these comps are. Many people on here send far more power to their comps than they are rated for. Use the gain on your amps and send enough clean power to the comps and it really shouldn't matter.

 

[boddy 10+ year member]

Well there going to be ran on a 90w 2 channel and a 100w 4 channel soon, what ones should i go for then the alpines or the focals?