Tweeter wiring

[speedracerx 10+ year member]

I have just wired up a set of Focal TN51 tweeters and 4 in Utopia mid ranges and the tweeters seem pretty harsh at high volume. Nothing is mounted yet, I'm trying different placements. Currently I'm trying a Kenwood 4 x 124 watt RMS amp and Audio Control 4XS crossover. I bought resistors in every available value for building frequency modules, I have 3KHz and 300 Hz installed now (18dB) and the tweeter channel gains down a little. Mid woofers are Adire Extremis. I don't have the Focal Manuals. What would be a logical order of things to try to mellow out the highs? Can I assume the "striped" tweeter wire is the negative? Couldn't tell any difference swapping the two.

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[blue 10+ year member]

I have just wired up a set of Focal TN51 tweeters and 4 in Utopia mid ranges and the tweeters seem pretty harsh at high volume. Nothing is mounted yet, I'm trying different placements. Currently I'm trying a Kenwood 4 x 124 watt RMS amp and Audio Control 4XS crossover. I bought resistors in every available value for building frequency modules, I have 3KHz and 300 Hz installed now (18dB) and the tweeter channel gains down a little. Mid woofers are Adire Extremis. I don't have the Focal Manuals. What would be a logical order of things to try to mellow out the highs? Can I assume the "striped" tweeter wire is the negative? Couldn't tell any difference swapping the two.

I'm a Focal dealer , and we sell quite a bit of Focal ..... But man , have NO doubts the Focal tweeters are VERY hard to tame , because yes ... as you have correctly stated they ARE harsh at high volumes , even the very expensive Utopia Be's ! Focals are known for this , and MUCH info can be found about just how disliked they are over on the DIY forums .... When our customers notice it or comment on it , showing us they hear and dislike this trait , we generally talk them into letting us switch them to a different brand tweeter to mix with their Focals.

Sad part is , the Focal tweeters usually sound good on sound boards , and usually only show their harsh nature after being installed in an auto.

HTH

 

[speedracerx 10+ year member]

Maybe I'll use them for rear fill, I have several spare Infinity Polycell 8 ohm tweeters I used on my home theater speakers, I"ll try them too. What sucks is I'm hours away from quality audio stores to test drive stuff. I decided on these Utopia components from reading opinions on this sight and spent a month E-baying for them. Can anybody verify which wire is + and -? I cant read French wires.

 

[speedracerx 10+ year member]

Pulled the tweeter out of its housing, there was a red marking where the factory wire was soldered, so the striped wire was +. I hooked up a 8 0hm self contained midrange and matching polycell tweeter (old Infinity SM series home speaker components) to the left channel. The right consists of Focal Utopia tweeter and midrange in nice sealed test enclosure. I left the Adire Extremis midwoofers on both channels, also in sealed MDF test enclosures. I was disappointed after comparing the two setups. I totally prefered the Infinity home speaker componets. Even at 8 ohms vs. 4 the Infinitys were louder, they were being driven to hard when I got the right "Focal" channel to its upper power range, but max clean spl seemed about the same, again with less power and 8 ohms vs. 4. The Focals did "creep up" on its limit more smoothly than the Infinitys though, course that is not always a good thing.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

If you liked the Infinities more...go ahead and give them a shot.

But...do have an EQ ?

 

[speedracerx 10+ year member]

If you liked the Infinities more...go ahead and give them a shot.
But...do have an EQ ?

If I tell you I like Yugos more than Chevys...go ahead and give me a shot (shoot me) Ignorance is bliss, but not after already paying for quality. Maybe convincing myself the expensive stuff sounds better is okay...since I already paid for it. I'll just get another Boss amp and maybe a Yugo for my Focals and life will be good.

 

[speedracerx 10+ year member]

Hey Blue, What tweet do ya show someone replacing new Utopias. Hey, I'm pretty sharp, I figured out how to mellow out the Focals, now all I need is.... well treble. Might have to mount up another set, maybe inside the car this time.

 

[speedracerx 10+ year member]

Low passed them at 3.5k (was 3 k), much, much better. I was out of line sniveling about these tweeters before I dialed them in, sorry Focal.