re a place to hear focals, cdt in person???

Hi, I might change my speakers again to a set of those cdt high defnitions as I hear so many great things about them. Is there a place where I can hear then next to focals? I already know where I am going to buy them, downtown la of course for crazy cheap, but I need to make a decision if they are better than the polyglass and the kevlar ones or whatever. thanks. I am also using a 5 channel ppi 5440 on them

There's an installer from Sacramento doing some work around Southern California, they seem to like Focal and will likely have something for you to hear. www.caraudioinnovations.com

they are out around here right now? I have talked to that guy before and he was pretty cool. Is there a way I can get ahold of him down here?

they are out around here right now? I have talked to that guy before and he was pretty cool. Is there a way I can get ahold of him down here?

Rod Birch <[email removed]> (no affiliatiation, yyy, just saw his stuff in a customer's 993 C4S ... the subs look like the goods)

Rod is coming to LA next week to do installs....I believe he is still in NorCal this week. Perhaps you can meet him at one of his customer installs and hear his work.

I did some online research and just settled on some cdt audio compoents over the old focals-

CDT has an interesting Web site. Looks like very high-end audiophile stuff. I'm interested to learn about the rest of the system in your car. I have MB Q in the doors and a/d/s in the rear shelf. I'm thinking the next step is to delete the rear shelf (near rear shelf) and fill in the bass with subs in the footwells behind each front seat. I have all McIntosh source and amps with optical connections (I think enough clean power to declare the car a hybrid gas/electric vehicle ...) so I'm considering an upgrade to the doors (which would probably require new door panels ... grumble ...) Still, I've been intently listening to my car audio of late. Aside from the (probably purely psychological) sense of hollow bass, I really can't fault the thing and the Porsche 993 is such a hostile place for music (other than the air-cooled kind ...) Perhaps I'll upgrade the doors just for the sake of it (and the eBay factor...) and that will give me the opportunity to tweak the tuning and fill in the low frequencies.

Lets see a photo. I thought I was the only one silly enough to do all McIntosh in an air cooled. Used to be Head unit to speakers, but I found their MS670 speakers to be less than desireable so I am back to dynaudio drivers with scan speak revelator tweeters. What head unit and amps. Let me see a pic of your install as I had some room issues up front.

neat, CGT seems to have it going on. I will have the cdt components front, coaxials rear and my jl 10w0 in the box I made that does the whole shelf deal. They are all powered off my ppi 5440 40x4 rms @ 4ohm, way conservatively rated I might add, and the jl is getting something like 250rms @ 2ohm. Unfortunately however it is still getting feed from the stock cr220 with changer. I really wonder again, how much cleaner it would be with a new deck? I just look at it as having to get an additional changer/storage device in conjunction with deck as a cost inhibition etc.

Here is my McIntosh system. I am using electornic crossover and 6 channel amp. I have a McIntosh 302 mono for my sub, but it won't fit hence the PG ZX in there until I build some verticle amp racks. Would love to see how others are installing mutliple amps for space and configuration ideas.

Here's the head unit. The system is now Nirvana. I tried out so many different speakers in their to get the sound right including CDT High Definition, Focal Poly Kevlar 165K2s, Focal Utopia, McIntosh MS 670s and MB QSDs. In fact, I have a picture of all of the drives above sitting on a table because they didn't make the cut. The Dynaudio drivers are incredibe and the scan speak revelator tweeter is the best I have heard, but they are pricey. Sub wise, I had an ID Max, but recently swapped out for a Diamond 12 inch H6 Titanium to obtain a little more accuracy.

Speakers anyone??? I actually have a few pair in the garage also just laying around that were not in photo. Here is my review of different speakers if interested. 2 sets of CDT High definitions here. They are very transparent and very efficient (loud). The mid range is extremely flat and detailed, but alot of people are probably not used to hearing such a flat response and would prefer a little less in the 500hz to 1k range. The CDTs also drop off around 110 and do not play the low enough for me. I like to set my mids at 80. Focal Poly Kevlars 165K2s have an aweful factory tweeter, TN 45. The TN 51 with the Utopia are okay. The Poly Kevlars are not extremely transparent and add a little color due to cone material. Kind of like a reverbish sound, but these speakers play very low and will hit hard like a small subwoofer. That is why alot of people like them. Focal Utopias are very smooth and transparent. Better tweeter than Poly Kevlar. Little drop off in the mid 250 to 505hz and not a lot of low end. Drops around 90 to 100. McInotsh MS 670s were top fo the line McIntosh and the biggest waste of $ 1,000 I have ever spent. Love their amps and head units though. MB QSDs, okay. Clear, but harsh tweeter and drop off around 100. Something about them makes them sound as if they are coming from a hole or out of phase just a bit. Hard to explain. Dynaudio, Morrel and Rainbow are the daddies for mid range speakers.

Doug, I'm probably going to put a Focal 165 V3E 3 piece component set in with 2 JL Audio 8W7 subs in a box on the rear shelf of my 2001 C2 coupe. I'm going to drive it with a JL Audio 500/5 amp. What do you think? What Dynaudio set do you use/like. Where did you get them as well as the Scan Speak tweeter. Thanks. Ken

that sounds like a nice setup check out www.woofersetc.com

Ken: Sounds great. The W7 are incredible and I have one in a boat. The other sub to check out because it take less power to drive, a smaller enclosure and the depth is much shorter is the new JLW6v2. It is only $ 349 and I read a recent review of it in CA&E who found it to be best sub they ever tested SQ wise and they had previously tested the W7 as they pointed out. The JL amps are definitely my favorite for that price range or mid level gear (less than $ 1,000). JL have regulated power supply and impedience correction. They also have very nice and smooth sounding filters which are not common on amps in the $ 500.00 range. Check out www.madisound.com for scan speak and basically all very high end raw drivers from Eton, Morrell, Vifa, and etc. The scan speak revelator tweeters are truly unbelieveable. Their is nothing like them and you cannot imagine what a difference they make until you hear them. The run about $ 280 each if I recall correctly. I use the 7 inch Dynaudio 170 and the 140 mid range. Dynaudio has an Esotec tweeter that is made by Morrell (on Madisound's web site) that is my second favorite behind the scan speak and cheaper than the scan speak. I think this tweeter is the MD 110 and it is not listed on woofersetc.com. Woofersetc.com does not have the high end Esotec Dynaudio components that run around $ 1,400 a pair. I have ordered from woofersetc.com and received very good service. I think I had my product the next day one time and like two days the other time I ordered from them. I used to be a Focal person, but since using Dynaudio, there is no comparison in sound quality. Dynaudio used to only come in funky sizes as does Focal, but Dynaudio now has a 6.5 inch without the huge basket that will fit in most car installations without substantial modifications. I, however, would try to fit the 170s as they have a tremendous low end response and superflat crystal clear mid range.

SPR & Doug, thanks for the replies. Doug, are you referring to the 8W6 v2 subwoofer. The Dynaudio 170 & 140, are they drop in replacements for what's in my C2 now. I have the hi-fi option which has the mid and tweeter up front on the dash and a 6.5 in the front door lower pod. I don't see a Dynaudio MD110 tweeter. I see a MD130 for $130.00 and a MD 100 for $199.00/piece. I keep forgetting these are per piece and i still need to buy a crossover. I don't want to spend close to 1,000 for the fronts. What Dynaudio comp set do you recommend in the 400-600 range that is better then a comparable Focal comp set that would be a drop in replacement in my 2001 C2. I would think the Dynaudio set would be the 240GT. What do you think of this comp set. How would this compare to the Focal 165 V3E 3 piece set. Thanks for all you help. I really appreciate it. Ken

Not sure about 8 inch size. I guess I did hear that there were doing the W7 in an 8 inch. I am sure they would have the v2 in an 8 inch then also and it would be even cheaper. The 110 tweeters are listed under Morrell at the Madisound website. Morrell makes Dynaudio drivers. The GT set is the 6.5 inch. Three ways are really nice, but you get so much better tweeters and drivers with Dynaudio. If within your budget, buy the 6.5, the 140 mid and their cheapest tweeter and use an electronic crossover. That will sound leaps and bounds better than the Focals limited by a passive crossover. I have not heard the GT set and the baskets are little different for fitment issues. This should not affect SQ and they are actually a bit more price than the 170s so they may even be better. I just don't know. I doubt you would be able to tell a difference between the 170s and 6.5s except down low and I am sure you will be crossing at around 90 to 100 so that won't matter. They will be the same there. One other speaker to consider would be the Rainbows in the same price range. Rainbows actually make a $ 4,000 2 way component set that is the absolute best in car audio. It just goes to show with quality drivers you do not need 3 ways. I have seen the objective testing specifications on these speakers and I have auditioned them. Rainbow's pro line is around the same price range you are looking at now. Really, you will be happy with all 3 pairs, but the Rainbows and the Dynaudio in the same price range will be a notch above. Speakers are very subjective and some people prefer a U shaped curve as opposed to a flat response and some people prefer a bit of coloration. The Rainbows and Dynaudios are dead flat response and their is absolutely no coloration. They are totally transparent and as accurate as you can get in car audio. Focals do have a bit of coloration except the Utopias are pretty transparent. The tweeter quality is still not as high as it could be though with the TN 51.