Focal and Kenwood setup. Comments/Tips/Suggestions please!

[invigrr8]

Hi Guys,

I have booked myself in to upgrade the front stage speakers on my '08 Subaru 2.5i Liberty next week. The guy at the audio shop suggested I go for a Focal 2way split and amp setup. The set up he suggested was the Focal Polyglass 165 VB 2way splits powered by the Focal 'Solid 4' amp (as I wanted a 4 channel amp because I intend to upgrade my rears and add a sub in later). After pricing me up with the package and install price, it was slightly over my budget so he suggested I go for a cheaper amp. The amp he told me to go for was the Kenwood KAC-8404 (4channel) which would save me $300 over the Focal amp.

I have been out of the car audio scene for quite some time and don't have too much clue of what he has suggested. I have heard of Focal before and hear that they make good car audio stuff so I wouldn't mind paying more for their stuff.

Just wonder what you guys think of the Focal splits and Kenwood amp setup he has suggested? Will this amp run the splits adequately?

Would it make much difference to pay and extra $300 and go for the Focal Amp over the Kenwood?

And also, is it worth spending an extra $100 and going for the next model up in the splits (Focal Polyglass 165 VR 2ways)?

What I am getting at is, if I was to pay the extra for all this stuff, will it make any difference to the sound that is produced? And if anyone has used any of this gear before, what are your opinions and experiences?

Any tips, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advanced!!

[garbo41610]

save yourself the $300 on the focal amp and buy the kenwood, then spend the $$$ you saved and spend it on Dynamat to deaden the doors

[garbo41610]

better yet, along with the dynamat, buy the focal VR's and my JVC 2 Channel to power them 150wRMS x 2 plenty of grunt and plenty of headroom

[invigrr8]

save yourself the $300 on the focal amp and buy the kenwood, then spend the $$$ you saved and spend it on Dynamat to deaden the doors

I was recommended to get soundproofing by a mate too, I got quoted $600 for front and rears with dynamats supplied so am thinking of getting it done sometime down the track.

Does Dynamatting make a big difference?

[garbo41610]

Yeah it makes a massive difference to mid bass response. I wouldn't worry about the rear doors personally, you want sound reproduction to be coming in front of you. Rears are just or "fill" and passengers. Run your rears off the HU and just amp your fronts, if your buying a 4 channel amp bridge it to give your fronts more power and tune accordingly.

This way you can save the $$. From the rears and use it for better speakers in your front stage.

[invigrr8]

Hi, Thanks for your response garbo41610.

I was told the same things about the rears as well. We used to have a Honda Euro and always thought the sound was better as they had 6x9's on the parcel shelfs which projected more sound towards ear level as outr Lib rears are in the doors at the bottom.

By 'bridge', do you mean connect all 4 channels so they power up the front 2 speakers?

Also, would you suggest I should keep the stock tweeters currently in the doors and install the new ones at the corners of the dash? Or would you say they will do more harm than good to the sound and is best get rid of them and just run the new splits on their own?

Cheers.

[garbo41610]

By 'bridge', do you mean connect all 4 channels so they power up the front 2 speakers? yeah, when you bridge the amp, you will use channels 1/2 for the left and channels 3/4 for the right... or better yet, by my grunty 2channel

Also, would you suggest I should keep the stock tweeters currently in the doors and install the new ones at the corners of the dash? Or would you say they will do more harm than good to the sound and is best get rid of them and just run the new splits on their own?I would completely disconnect them as they will do more harm than good. Rip em out and stick the focals in.

[invigrr8]

thanks for the tips garbo...

got my unit install yesterday... and god the sound is fc*king crisp from the VR's. a bit too crisp..

any way of tuning down the tweeting so they aren't so sharp?

i've got the subaru sat nav head unit and there doesnt seem to be any function to adjust...

cheers

[garbo41610]

Give it time for the speakers to wear in and you might find the tweeters mellowing out. If not, I'm not sure there is much yo can do. Do you know what type of tweeters they are? Aluminium?

Maybe playing around with different angles on the tweeters. Did you use stock locations?

Did you get any pics of the install?

[invigrr8]

[quote="garbo41610"]Give it time for the speakers to wear in and you might find the tweeters mellowing out. If not, I'm not sure there is much yo can do. Do you know what type of tweeters they are? Aluminium?

Maybe playing around with different angles on the tweeters. Did you use stock locations?

Did you get any pics of the install?[/quote]

Not too sure what these tweeters are, you are right about mellowing out actually because i've notice it has got a bit less sharpe today. These speakers are clear as, heaps of highs and mids, near to no bass at all though, is this adjustable for more bass at the crossovers or is it how the speakers were made?? my dad's got alpine 6.5 inch splits in his car and theres heaps more bass coming from the doors compared to mine?

The speakers were mounted in the stock locations in a 2.5, so the 6.5 in at the bottom and the tweeter near the door handle inside.


Didn't get to see the install, I just basicall left the car there and came back as I was told it would be ready by 2pm and I got there at 9am.