[Profile] Ikethegreat

[ikethegreat]

I blew two speakers so I did some upgrading this past weekend.


Focal P130V15 5.25" components in the front.




Due to a shipping delay, I got sent upgraded crossovers for free!




Focal 690CA1 6x9s in the rear.




Full coverage of RAAMmat BXT II on the rear deck. 




Full coverage in both doors.



Passenger side crossover mounted under footwell carpet.




Driver side crossover mounted behind fuse box.




Removed all the factory wire and installed heavy duty 14 gauge speaker wire everywhere.




I decided to mount the new tweeters in the door instead of the factory location.  I installed quick disconnect connectors on the tweeter wiring in case I need to remove the door panel. 



The scarey part begins...





Whew, managed not to destroy my door panels!








All done!

[Pascal]

Damn not bad for the tweeters ! look almost stock. Is focal a high end brand ( never heard of it) and does the mat in doors and trunk make a big difference ?

[Nit3h4wk C0uP3]

Wow. That Looks pretty professional. I have to insulate my doors. With my new door speakers you can hear every word outside the car. How's the sound?

[Rich01]

Looks good Ike. Nice upgrade.

[Mike]

Great job ike!

[timot_one]

Damn not bad for the tweeters ! look almost stock. Is focal a high end brand ( never heard of it) and does the mat in doors and trunk make a big difference ?

Yes.  Focal is a very high quality speaker brand from France.  Their flagship speaker is the Utopia line, which are about $5000 for a pair of car audio speakers.

Tweeter install looks good Ike.  You've motivated me to want to get some work done on my audio system in my car.  I haven't done anything, but I'm getting ready to run some speaker wire and install my new kick pods this weekend.

[ikethegreat]

I would love a set of Utopias but sadly the Powerball ticket I bought a couple of days ago didn't pan out.    

I love how these focal speakers sound.  Now I know why they are so well reviewed.  The rear set is their entry line called Access and the front set is their mid-range line called Polyglass.  Since the front speakers are the most important, I figured I'd splurge and get something real nice.  

The RAAMmat makes a big difference.  It cuts down on unwanted vibrations and noise.  It also gives the door a much nicer solid feel.  I also covered the entire trunk lid but I forgot to take a picture of that.  It really cut down on the noise from the subwoofer thumping outside the car.  I even put a bit behind my rear license plate since it liked to vibrate and make noise when the sub hit.  

I was really worried about the tweeter install and saved it for last.  Cutting into anything on my car gets me nervous because there is very little room for error and I hate having things look half-assed.  The $7 a paid for that 45mm hole saw bit was sooooo worth it.  It cut a super clean hole in the panel without tearing the edges up.  I'm glad I didn't use my dremel, which was the original plan. 

[timot_one]

Yeah. Focal has 4 levels from what I know. Access, Polyglass, v2 and Utopia. I did an install with a set of v2's and was quite impressed. I may have to consider them if I ever get anything to replace my old MBQ Q Series speakers. Good call on splurging up front and not spending as much for the rears. I would have done the exact same thing.

[Pascal]

That's some interesting stuff ! Would you mind telling me the estimate cost of those speakers and the RAAMmat for the job you just did ?

[ikethegreat]

$600 for both sets of speakers and the RAAMmat was $110 for a bulk pack of 20 sheets (37.5 sq/ft).  For 100% full coverage of the rear deck, both front doors, and trunk lid, I used 18 of the 20 sheets. 

Not cheap but I spend several hours a day in my car listen to music and I wanted something nice. 

http://www.raamaudio.com/raammat-bxt-ii-bulk-pack-20-sheets-37-5-sq-ft-real-automotive-sound-deadener-best-there-is-for-the-money-period-please-click-to-see-product-description/

[Pascal]

it's not that bad, I guess it's a must-have when you start having quality speakers. I'll consider that if I end up doing another audio upgrade.

[timot_one]

Another company that has good sound deadening material is B-Quiet. They're based in Ontario I believe. I've used their stuff before and have been very happy with the results.

[ikethegreat]

Washed and waxed her this weekend. 

[Pascal]

looks good !