JL or Focal?

[Natey]

You know me, Jimmy, and you know I love my Focal Polykevlars. Anytime you'd like another listen, lemme know.

Also, I agree with Poseur about the amp, either choice of speaker won't sound as good as it has the potential to if it doesn't have enough clean power. Personally, I think PPI amps are some of the best you can buy, SQ or SPL.

 

[Jliao]

So you guys recommend that I should keep the stock rear speaker and just replace the front with K2s and add an amp? Also, I think the guy quote me for the K2 around 800ish (but I think that's for from and rear). Do you guys think I would get cheaper price if I went with this route? Will there be significant differences between the K2 and Polyglass?

Nate, I definetly have no complain to Focal at all, I love the sounding of you car.. A+. In fact, I think Focal is what I'm leaning towards to right now.

Thanks all!

 

[Poseur]

big diff polyglass to polykev. Don't you have a shop somewhere where you cna audition speakers??? it's be a very very good thing to try to put your ears on a couplefew hunderd bones worth of speaker if you're gonna make the leap. Everyone's ears are diff. and everyone's got their own music tastes, etc. However, if going blindly (or deafly as it may be) THe consensus in here of K2P's are definately a way to go. very nice speakers... and yea, amp the piss outta your fronts and don't worry about the rears. you can always add them lateron if you feel you need to. BUt the main thing here is to have a strong forward-biased "soundstage" where all of your sound appears to be coming form infront of you as if you were at a concert, etc. It might take a bit of getting used to, but soon it'll make sense and your ears will love you for it.

 

[sndsgood]

imo focal makes a better speaker, but your not listening with my ears, your using your own. if the shop sells them you should be able to listen, you don't have to listen to both side by side, but listen to them both. both speaker sets have a diffrent sound and u may like one over the other. take a few cd's you know inside an out and listen to each set, taking notes down on things that sound realistic or diffrent. think of speakers like women, what i may take to bed may not be what u would take to bed.

 

[1sty]

Depends, in many ways I think the Jl TR series sounds better then eve Focal poly kevlars. However the JL XRs do not hold the same advantages.

In my listenings to the Focals, I found that at the level I like the tweeters get pissed off. Only the poly kevlar didn't have this problem. The polyglass fell apart big time at high volumes. The same could be said for the JL TR series. NOw the XRs can certainyl sound nassal on a soud board, but in a car they come to life, not unlike the focal utopias. Something to keep in mind is that the JL XRs are not really in the same legue with the Focal;poly kevlars as far as price goes. Infact the XRs and VRs are closer to the polyglass in price. The Focal Utopia though is comparible to the JL ZR components.

My ear just hasn't been happy with any focal yet unless it been in a car and backed up by a well set 1/3 octive EQ. However, I have heard WAY more JL installs to either be please or displeased with so its not exactly a fair comparision.

 

[sndsgood]

Depends, in many ways I think the Jl TR series sounds better then eve Focal poly kevlars. However the JL XRs do not hold the same advantages.
QUOTE]



this is exactly why u should never purchase speakers based on some reccomendation off of a website lol what i like is diffrent then 1sty. 20 people 20 opinions, get out there and find some to listen too. what i really suggest is to find some competitons in your area and head out to them. most guys will be more then happy to audition their speakers for you. and it gives you more of an idea what it will sound like in a car. because truth is, speakers can sound allot diffrent when they arent stuck on a board in a room. ( u just gotta make sure you find the people with a good install, and not some half assed hack job install) the sound you get out of a system is in direct proportion to how good your install is. ive heard 1000$ speakers in poor installs sound just okay and ive heard average speakers sound great in a a quality install.

 

[JAC]

Well, I've owned a set of JL XR525's for almost 2 years and I really like them, my friend has focal components, can't remember the model but they're in the same price range, anyways, even though mine are 5.25 and his are 6.5, mine seem to hit harder and have more midbass. It could be because of the setup or bacause of the amps, I dunno, but I prefer mine, the sound seems cleaner.
But the Focals are fine components as well.

 

[speedhawaii]

jl