Just heard some Focal Ca1's

[gs300tx 10+ year member]

I finally got a chance to go to a car toys in my area to check out the focal ca1's. I was impressed with the clarity but the highs imo was too harsh. Good thing I got a chance to hear them first becuase I was thinking of ordering them. I do think they are great speakrs but not worth the $200 that car toys wanted.

What does everyone else think about the CA1's

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[Ferendon 10+ year member]

I work for Car Toys, and I can sell them to you for a better price than that. Not a whole lot better, as they lack margin, but probably $180 or so. We're an authorized retailer, so they come with a warranty. You can get them cheaper elsewhere, but Focal strictly forbids online sales. So, if you buy them online, they get ZERO warranty. Focal DOES follow serial numbers very closely. If you buy them with some other goodies I can really get you hooked up. Amp kits, RCAs, Dynamat etc, I can give you at LEAST 25% off, usually more. I-35 @ Hebron/Round Grove, name's Nick. Come see me. I'll get you hooked up.

FYI, you're gonna need a warranty with Focals. Especially Access series. They break. A LOT. And the local Focal rep is a snotty *******. I wanna break his face with my elbow.

 

[yotamutt 10+ year member]

I with OP. I listened to these yesterday.

To my untrained ear, they seemed accurate but not smooth, and lacking in midbase.

On most of the songs I played yesterday I preferred the JL C5s.

 

[gs300tx 10+ year member]

The mid bass was ok when I heard them, but the only thing that turned me off about them were the highs, it just didnt seem smooth. The infinity reference series seemed to have smoother highs than the CA1,s IMO.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

but the only thing that turned me off about them were the highs, it just didnt seem smooth.

Pretty much the same complaint about Focal/JMLabs all around //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[sarge_in 10+ year member]

Yes the lower lines especially do sound harsh. But they get better as you move up the chain. Btw, comparing them to C5 is not fair as they are at quite different price points. I started looking at 165A1 or 165V1, but then sprung for the 165KR as they seemed to made it better than the older models. See my thread here:

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=392637

In summary, I set the tweets to -3db, and they sound awesome to me. I was also comparing them to JL C5's, but they Focals are so much more clearer. If even that is too much, you may look at Hertz which are kinda between the two.

 

[Beerdrnkr 5,000+ posts]

I think the Focal Ca's and the JL C5's both are horrible IMO.

 

[lyttleviet 10+ year member]

They are definitely harsh.

 

[Bass911 10+ year member]

Imo, ca1's don't sound harsh. It seems to me some people really don't like the way music is supposed to sound. If you were at a live concert on the front row listening to cymbals and high hats, you'd say they were harsh too. Imo, Focal reproduces that sound near perfect. Why do you want lively instruments to be reproduced in a laid back fashion? Also those Infinity Ref can't compare to Focal Ca1 in sound reproduction. I've heard C2, C5, and every speaker mentioned in this thread. Just my 2 cents, but I respect your opinion. Let your ears be the judge.