Focal vs. Hertz

[DanH 10+ year member]

I'm closing in on making my final speaker decision. I found a

Pioneer Premier PRS-D4100F on clearance today at Nebraska Furniture Mart today for cheaper than eBay has sold one. I'm also down to 2 sets of coaxials I'm looking at. It's between the Hertz HCX-165 and the Focal Polyglass. There are some things I'm wondering about however:

1) While everyone here loves and raves about Hertz, I've barely seen any posts regarding Focals. Any reason why?

2) The amp listed above is 75x4 RMS and the rear channels will be bridged to support a subwoofer. I know the Focal RMS rating fits there, but the Hi Energy wants 100 RMS at 4 ohms. Is that going to be enough to drive the Hertz properly?

3) On the Focal website, the Polyglass coax is listed as CV1, but I keep finding something that looks the exact same but is called the CVX. What's up?

After that, any opinions you have is fair game, just please back up your belief.

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[katodevin 10+ year member]

Hey DanH,

I just went through the same dilemma as you. It seems that a lot of people on here think that Focals in general, are a bit harsh, although they sport good midbass performance. I have not heard Hertz personally, but I have heard the entire Focal line besides the Utopias, and personally installed and owned a set of Access comps.

I ran my Access comps at -3 at the tweets, and they never seemed to harsh to me. The tweets were off axis, mounted in the door. I think if they were mounted on axis, they would be too harsh, so keep that in mind.

Their midbass performance was very good, and impressed many people who got into my car. They were installed in a fully deadened and sealed door with plastic rings and clay. I was pushing 150 watts to them, but never needed to approach all of it. They are extremely efficient speakers, but still can handle a lot of power well. Well past my comfortable listening level.

I recently got a new car, and I was wavering between the Hertz and the Focals. I just bit the bullet and ordered a set of polyglass's for it. If I was so happy with the Access series, I'm sure the Polyglass's will impress me too.

In my opinion, the speakers are less than 50% of the overall sound equation. The install is so much more important. You can put 3000 dollar speakers into a bad install, and they'll sound incredibly horrible. So in short, I chose the Focal's above the Hertz simply because of my previous experience with them, and I am really banking on taking my time with the install, and making things as best as I can.

 

[Powers 10+ year member]

I had an audition with the Focals, but not the Hertz MLK's yet.

We compared the JL ZR 6.5 to the Focal Polyglass 165V1 and the Focals blew the ZR's out of the water for warmth. Then, the salesman switched over to the Focal K2P's and it was another massive leap to the realm of a "perfect" speaker. Because of just how much better the K2P sounded over anything, I decided on them. I highly doubt the Hertz MLK's can stack up to the K2P's, but would probably be similar to the 165V1's in how much warmer and more wholesome they sound over the JL ZR Comps.

 

[ItalynStylion 10+ year member]

I've never heard a set of Hertz. I've been seeing a ton of people looking at them but I've never head a set personally.

I do however have a set of 165V1's and I love them. The tweeters are only harsh at a very loud listening level. At normal listening levels they are great. The mids are pretty potent with a good install. I've got my entire door sealed and the improvement was out of this world. The only place air escapes my doors is the water drain hole and the window opening.

 

[mefromfl 10+ year member]

i got the k2ps in my car now, and it's too harsh, i'm switch to the mlk 165

 

[BloWNMind 10+ year member]

^^^^Ok,,,, tell us how that goes.

 

[Vasquez 10+ year member]

If any one wants to listen to the HERTZ speakers I have them on my Display

in SAN JOSE CA

 

[ItalynStylion 10+ year member]

If any one wants to listen to the HERTZ speakers I have them on my Display
in SAN JOSE CA

I'll fly right on over.

 

[katodevin 10+ year member]

Vasquez: Where are you located in San Jose. thats my TOWN.