FLAX CONE / 6”1/2 / 2-WAY COMPONENT SPEAKERS
This for me is a first, this brand I had heard of but not really had any involvement with, so looking forward to this review.
Ok time to see what Focal themselves have to say about this product, see below…
The 6”1/2 woofer has the new flax cone for a neutral sound without coloration, more dynamique, natural reproduction hung by a Butyl surround with an excellent reliability. The phase plug in the centre of the cone also offer a better dispersion than the PS 165 F woofer.
Processed Aluminium/Magnesium inverted dome tweeter for smoothness and definition without directivity. The tweeter is equipped with the new poron suspension for long life.
The speakers are plugged to a powerful bi amp crossover.
The right material for the right sound;
Focal continuously searches for materials that allow them to produce some of the most accurate speakers in the world. This time, Focal found that flax fibers help create a very rigid, lightweight cone for their speakers. With half the weight of fibreglass, the hollow flax fibbers are woven and sandwiched between thin glass membranes. Mounted to a sturdy aluminium basket, you’ll enjoy a lively and accurate speaker that resists unwanted vibrations.
A detailed soundstage;
Focal’s Expert Series PS 165FX component speaker system combines these innovative flax 6-3/4″ woofers with their renowned inverted dome tweeters and versatile crossovers. The inverted dome tweeters act like little woofers, dispersing the highs in a wide pattern to create an exceptionally natural soundstage. Focal includes two options for surface-mounting the tweeters, or you can flush-mount them for a more discreet look in your car.
Distributing the frequencies;
Focal uses their crossovers to effectively create open and natural imaging for your music. The PS 165FX crossovers include tweeter and midrange level adjustments that let you create an ideal blend of the highs and lows for a dynamic stereo image in your car. And these crossovers are bi-ampable, if you want to further customize your sound by using separate amps to power the tweeters and the woofers.
Highlights:
Component speaker system includes two 6-3/4″ woofers, 2 tweeters, two external crossovers, and installation hardware
Flax and glass fibre woofer with butyl rubber surround
Aluminium frame basket
2″ inverted dome tweeter
2-way external crossover with 2-position tweeter level and 2-position midrange control
4-ohm impedance
Power range: 6-80 watts RMS (160 watts peak)
Frequency response: 55-28,000 Hz
Sensitivity: 87.6 dB
Depth: 3-1/16″
Woofer;
Cone: The woofer cone is a sandwich design, with a 0.4mm flax centre between two 0.04mm glass layers. This combination of materials results in a neutral sound without coloration.
Surround: The butyl rubber surround is resistant to ultraviolet rays, temperature extremes, and humidity to add to the speaker’s reliability and longevity.
Phase Plug: The bullet-shaped phase plug in the centre of the woofer ensures a smooth, flat off-axis frequency response by preventing the high frequency sound waves emanating from one side of the cone from interfering with sound waves from the other side of the cone. Aluminium Basket: The cast aluminium basket is rigid and non-magnetic.
Voice Coil: The voice coil is wound around a 1-1/4″ diameter low-mass Kapton former, ensuring no coil deformation.
Tweeter;
Inverted Dome Tweeter: The tweeter is an inverted Aluminium/Magnesium dome, producing a broad sound stage. The tweeter uses a durable poron suspension.
Mounting Options: The tweeter can be surface or flush mounted using the included adapters. Focal recommends flush mounting, but the included angled cup allows surface mounting at approximately 30°.
Crossover;
Components: Focal uses audiophile grade polypropylene capacitors and air core inductors to ensure high definition and a dynamic sound quality.
Tweeter Level: You can adjust the output level of the tweeter on the crossover to -3 dB or 0 dB (flat).
Midrange Level: Set the midrange output to High or Flat to match their position in the car. When the mids are installed low in the door, some of the output is absorbed by the upholstery and they benefit from the High output setting.
Bi-amp: Each crossover has bi-amp inputs, one input for the tweeter and one for the woofer. When bi-amping the speakers, the input jumpers need to be removed. Using four amplifier channels to bi-amp the speakers typically improves the dynamic range and presents an easier load for the amp(s) to drive.
Crossover Slopes: The crossover uses 12 dB per octave low-pass and 18 dB per octave high-pass filters. The crossover point for both is 3.6 kHz.
Wiring: The inputs and outputs are screw terminals; they will accept bare wire or spade connectors up to 0.3″ wide.
Well certainly nothing lacking in the information department from Focal, now how do they sound? This is the fun part, well maybe after 30+ years in audio I still enjoy sound, music and of course Bass!! A world with no Bass is, well that’s not an option.
Focal History:
Founded at the beginning of 1980 in Saint Etienne, Focal-JMlab started life in a small workshop, within a precision engineering firm. The fledgling company had a workforce of just two people including the current Chairman and CEO Jacques MAHUL, a trained engineer and specialist in drive units.
The first drive units developed in this workshop quickly won international acclaim thanks of the originality of their design. At the same time as it was producing drive units under the Focal brand (specially designed for the most famous brands of speakers and for top-of-the-range kit enthusiasts), the company also launched its own range of loudspeakers under the JMlab brand.
Sound-wise non amplified they have a rich bass and mids are promitent with clean nice highs to compelement the package. when amplified, well most speakers do love a bit of power and these were no different, nice strong bold sound with all notes being covered nicely.
Pros: Sound amazing, attention to detail well balanced, smooth bass, Strong mids and clean highs.
Cons: Mid drivers a little large for some cars, Default crossover settings may need a tweck, Note they are adjustable.
The Verdict: Yes I do like these; have to say the Flax cones in these Component Speakers have a very distinct sound. They sound fantastic and do live up to being High Quality components.
Sounds Alive Rating: 4
1 = Disappointing
2 = Average
3 = Acceptable
4 = Impressed
5 = Wow!!
Ashley Madd Bass Burrell