Focal VS AudioFrog!?

[RaceDVS]

Wrote way more than I probably should've at first.

Anyways...

Focal PS 165 FX vs AudioFrog (GS and/or GB

Click to read more...

 

[SilverSquared 10+ year member]

I'd go Morel before either. But both are good...if you can listen to them side by side, that'd help your decision.

 

[Bobbytwonames 5,000+ posts]

I'd go Morel before either. But both are good...if you can listen to them side by side, that'd help your decision.

Mids/highs are such a personal choice. It's basically an ear thing. All three of those brands should work in a proper installation. What about hertz? Any good?

 

[Lasherž]

Hertz/Focal are on the same level for sure. If the price is right or as Silver said, if you can get a demo using them then all of the brands are worth the money. Audiofrog matches them on their less expensive lines for equivalent or lesser cost, but the other 2 get much better in the 200ish range.

 

[SilverSquared 10+ year member]

Hertz is pretty good too, I've had only a set of the deici 6x9s and cento 6.5s in a car I bought. Sounded pretty good on just a HU. The deici 6x9s didnt like the amp (dB Drive A7 75.4) that I put on them, so I changed them all out for Morel (already owned from previous project). Sadly, before car sold, even those got all swapped out and sold.

 

[Clifff150 10+ year member]

GB line gets tons of love at DIYMA. But, it’s all install dependent

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

If you have the install and processing power to really get reference quality sound in your car (or are planning to put in the work to get there) it shouldn't matter much what you use for drivers provided you're a step above mid-grade.

Almost everyone makes a premium quality component these days, JBL has one, Alpine has the type X (which have always been great), JL's higher end lines are excellent, and I think even Sundown has a top line component for which I'd have high hopes. You don't have to find brands that nobody has ever heard of or seen in person to get reference level sound.

 

[RaceDVS]

Okay so I have an aftermarket Sony head unit for Android auto and run Spotify atm. I have a mosconi 6 to 8 pro DSP, arc audio 600.4 X2 and 1100.1 X2 amps with 2 alpine R's sealed in my mk7 GTI with the focal PS 165 FX (2 sets). It sounds clear but at high volume a bit more icy than I'd like.

I heard the audio frog gb series is more mid bass oriented and a lot smoother with the fabric tweeters than focals. I want a more cohesive sound throughout the whole system at high volume (I love my metal, listen to plenty of other kinds of tunes: rap, hip hop and EDM of all sorts). I really like near deafening with top notch clarity sound on a frequent basis. I feel the mids of my current speakers lack the "heaviness" I desire to bridge the highs of the tweeters and the lows of the subs. I want to keep the power of the highs and lows as it stands currently and just get much more from the mids and mid bass.

My audio guy is going to have the same setup in the same golf GTI mk7 I have as soon as he had time BUT with the AudioFrog GB series speakers so I'm going to wait a few weeks to compare the sound side by side. With the replies I'm curious as to what other brands might give me the sound Id like.

I've heard morels might do the trick too, and budget isn't much of a concern as is the "perfection" I'm looking for when all is said and done.

I also feel like I could really step up the power in speakers with the 600.4 amp (the 2 sets of focals I've got are only rated at 75watts rms each) while maintaining exceptional sound quality.

*Edit because I'm on a phone.

 

[YourNameHere 10+ year member]

with enough processing power and proper install/placement you can pretty much make any speaker sound how you want nowadays....just choose one in your power range and have at it with EQ....high price tag drivers are pretty much just bragging rights (with some exceptions).....this is just my opinion though

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

with enough processing power and proper install/placement you can pretty much make any speaker sound how you want

This was my thought as well. Throwing new drivers at this may not give you the results you're after. How well deadened/sealed are your mounting locations? Have you experimented with tweeters on and off axis?

Listening to some drivers in someone else's car isn't really comparing apples to apples with how they'll sound in YOUR locations in YOUR car.

Just a fair warning before you start shelling out the prices of some of the stuff you've listed.

 

[Whitelighting]

I was running dyn's 172's with the gb25,gb10 and went with the utopia 8wm and it's a very nice improvment.

 

[marc2112 10+ year member]

Focal all day. Pay the extra $ and avoid chinese products.

 

[Whitelighting]

Dyn's are made in Denmark & the gb25,gb10 are much more detailed than the dyn 102 & 142 dome mid. Also the 8wm's blends so well with the 2 10wm subs, it's like all in the front as one.

 

[Rouleur]

Okay so I have an aftermarket Sony head unit for Android auto and run Spotify atm. I have a mosconi 6 to 8 pro DSP, arc audio 600.4 X2 and 1100.1 X2 amps with 2 alpine R's sealed in my mk7 GTI with the focal PS 165 FX (2 sets). It sounds clear but at high volume a bit more icy than I'd like.

I heard the audio frog gb series is more mid bass oriented and a lot smoother with the fabric tweeters than focals. I want a more cohesive sound throughout the whole system at high volume (I love my metal, listen to plenty of other kinds of tunes: rap, hip hop and EDM of all sorts). I really like near deafening with top notch clarity sound on a frequent basis. I feel the mids of my current speakers lack the "heaviness" I desire to bridge the highs of the tweeters and the lows of the subs. I want to keep the power of the highs and lows as it stands currently and just get much more from the mids and mid bass.

My audio guy is going to have the same setup in the same golf GTI mk7 I have as soon as he had time BUT with the AudioFrog GB series speakers so I'm going to wait a few weeks to compare the sound side by side. With the replies I'm curious as to what other brands might give me the sound Id like.

I've heard morels might do the trick too, and budget isn't much of a concern as is the "perfection" I'm looking for when all is said and done.

I also feel like I could really step up the power in speakers with the 600.4 amp (the 2 sets of focals I've got are only rated at 75watts rms each) while maintaining exceptional sound quality.

*Edit because I'm on a phone.

A couple of things that may be very helpful:

Since you mentioned you're installing into a GTI, a few of my own(MK4 VR6) discoveries may help you.

1 - The "A-Pillars" are resonating most of the engine noise you hear in the cabin. I filled the space between the facia and the structure with left-over Thermotec™ Thermo-Guard, and also surrounded each contact point/clips with little Dynamat scraps to isolate any physical vibrations.
I went for a drive down my test circuit. It sounded like my ears had been boxed. I could barely hear the motor. What I did hear instead was the exhaust note. The acoustic upgrade was pretty massive; a very clear sound stage.

2 - I should also note that I had previously stuffed about 4 inches of high density open and closed cell foam into the stickshift cavity, topped with a layer of dynamat. This cut out all the road noise coming up through and around the shifter(i.e.: "hole in the middle of your car".

These two improvements will kill 98.5% of the sonic and physical vibrations coming from the engine bay.
(I did the same on the B and C Pillars and the sills, but it wasn't until I treated the A pillars that the cabin suddenly became very quiet.) Now I hear all those subtle little things like fingers sliding up the frets on guitars, and the "air" between the instruments, details that had been drowned out by motor noise previously. The MK4 12v VR6 exhaust note is very musical too(think "Chewbacca"), and now it sounds even better since the motor noise upfront has been attenuated.

Treating your environment takes time, but once done, It will pay huge dividends. I also isolated my subwoofer in the trunk using Isolate-It! sorbothane bumpers and strapped it solidly to the side of the trunk using threaded inserts and tie-down straps. The Focals in the doors are isolated and the door skin behind the woofers is treated to deflect backwaves laterally into the door cavity, which is selectively dampened and sealed. I originally had entry level Focal 165's before upgrading and while the ES165K's are definitively an upgrade, it wasn't huge(non-audiophiles couldn't tell).
Most of the acoustic improvements came from the original structural work.

*Get a plastic lever kit for removing your interior bits. This will save you grief. Also good to get extra plastic clips from VW for the inevitable breakage.

 

[mat3833 10+ year member]

A couple of things that may be very helpful:

Since you mentioned you're installing into a GTI, a few of my own(MK4 VR6) discoveries may help you.

1 - The "A-Pillars" are resonating most of the engine noise you hear in the cabin. I filled the space between the facia and the structure with left-over Thermotec™ Thermo-Guard, and also surrounded each contact point/clips with little Dynamat scraps to isolate any physical vibrations.
I went for a drive down my test circuit. It sounded like my ears had been boxed. I could barely hear the motor. What I did hear instead was the exhaust note. The acoustic upgrade was pretty massive; a very clear sound stage.

2 - I should also note that I had previously stuffed about 4 inches of high density open and closed cell foam into the stickshift cavity, topped with a layer of dynamat. This cut out all the road noise coming up through and around the shifter(i.e.: "hole in the middle of your car".

These two improvements will kill 98.5% of the sonic and physical vibrations coming from the engine bay.
(I did the same on the B and C Pillars and the sills, but it wasn't until I treated the A pillars that the cabin suddenly became very quiet.) Now I hear all those subtle little things like fingers sliding up the frets on guitars, and the "air" between the instruments, details that had been drowned out by motor noise previously. The MK4 12v VR6 exhaust note is very musical too(think "Chewbacca"), and now it sounds even better since the motor noise upfront has been attenuated.

Treating your environment takes time, but once done, It will pay huge dividends. I also isolated my subwoofer in the trunk using Isolate-It! sorbothane bumpers and strapped it solidly to the side of the trunk using threaded inserts and tie-down straps. The Focals in the doors are isolated and the door skin behind the woofers is treated to deflect backwaves laterally into the door cavity, which is selectively dampened and sealed. I originally had entry level Focal 165's before upgrading and while the ES165K's are definitively an upgrade, it wasn't huge(non-audiophiles couldn't tell).
Most of the acoustic improvements came from the original structural work.

*Get a plastic lever kit for removing your interior bits. This will save you grief. Also good to get extra plastic clips from VW for the inevitable breakage.

As a fellow mk4 owner this makes me happy. Treating the inside of the trim panels with some deadener and CCF helped alot on my jetta. I'm running a 1.8t and pretty stiff drivetrain mounts, so I still get a good bit of vibration. Biggest improvement for me was doing the footwells and the trunk. I'll go check out the A-pillar and see what I can do with it. I should be doing the engine bay metal sometime soon.