The sound. Will shed a lot of happy tears.

Need a lot of power. Powering it with just 100W/ch simply won't cut it, even when you think your amp is underrated.

I drive these speakers using my 4ch McIntosh MCC404M amp running in bridged mode to produce 400W RMS per channel. I must say that these speakers sound truly amazing and have surpass my very demanding expectations! Now we're talking hifi :-) The midbass is very realistic and transparent, you'll never notice that the speakers were there. The tweeters, they're stunning and unbelievably smooth! Both male and female vocals sound very real. Very detail and very revealing. You can even hear the singers parting their lips, taking their breath, etc. And yet, it does all that without emphasizing any part of the audio frequencies. Everything sounds balanced and just right. I'm not good at explaining, but these speakers sound much much better that what I can tell you. Go and listen to one, and you'll understand what I'm trying to tell you. The sound is so phenomenal that even my wife could appreciate the sound! Trust me, she didn't notice anything on any of my previous installs. Now I can play my music loud without irritating my wife. Initially I gave it 100W/ch each and it sounded okay at best. While 100W is enough to drive them loud without clipping, the tweeter sounds rough and harsh. They're better than the TN45, but still too harsh for me. At 100W, some tweaking is necessary to tame down the tweeter. However, when I gave 400W/ch to it, miraculously everything suddenly sounded just right. No need to tweak anything at all! Only now I'm convinced that more amp power is better. If you like these speakers, make sure to give them plenty of power. I use 400W/ch coz that's what I'll get when the amp is bridged. But I think 200W/ch should be sufficient for optimal performance. If you're running an active setup, try 100W for the midbass driver, and 50W for the tweeter. Theoretically, it should outperform a passive setup in terms of SQ.

Similar Products Used:

Focal Polykevlar 165K.

Crisp, clear sound reproduction

$$$$$

Completely awesome speakers. The tweets are a bit harsh when crossover set at 0dB but I changed it -3dB and I really like it now. These speakers like power, I use Phoenix Gold Titanium amps 75W RMS per channel and I wish I had 100W to drive them with. Very clean, but note, these are expensive.

These speakers can be discribed in one word ACCURATE. It just doesn't get any better than this

A bit pricey but worth it for the true "pureist". Plus they need alot of power. (Not a bad thing)

I was going out of my mind trying new products, constantly upgrading, spending way too much money and still not satisfied with the sound in my 4 door silverado. Until I finally smartened up and started researching on line reading reviews on high end car audio. Went out and bought the Focals and at first was pretty disappointed though they sounded good but not what I expected for that kind of money. I was running a Rockford 550X 4 ch amp (75 watts x 4) to the door speakers. The Utopias power supply is recommended at 100w rms so I went out and bought a JL audio 450 big block 4 ch amp. (150w x 2 for fronts. 75w x 2 for rears) Got it all hooked up and when I first heard them I finally felt I was closing in on the sound I've been trying so hard to get. With alot of hours tuning I have my system sounding really nice. My friends are always wanting to go for a ride and listen. And although a true audiophile is never sastisfied I can honestly say that even after a year with these speakers I'm always excited when I get in my truck cause I know that when I turn on my system I'm going to thoroughly enjoy the miles in front of me. Also I can't say enough about JL audio amps. In their price range they are incomparable. I now find myself listening to music that I didn't really care for in the past. Funny how everything changes when you here it reproduced the way it was intended. My system: Focal Utopia 165w's fronts. Boston accoustic silks in pillars to raise sound staging. Rockford Fanatic X 4 inch rears. 3 JL Audio 8W3'S in sealed box. Alpine CDA 7998 head unit. JL Audio 450 big block 4 ch amp. JL Audio 500 mono sub amp.

Similar Products Used:

Polk, Rockford Q Series, Diamond (listened to), MB Quart (listened to), Infinnity Kappa's.

The power is more than enough and pure SQ. They sound is warm and very detailed. It's the pure sound your ears need. Even at higher volume they sound warm without pain in the ears and headaches ;)

The price is a little high but al good things have a price.

I used many speakers since 1988, but the Focal Utopia 165W where the best speakers i have ever used. The speakers are a little expensive and every driver likes a different sound off course.....but People who complain about this speaker needs a new amp and HU....that's simple!

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I use an Alpine 1505R HU, a Focal 27V 11" sub and an Orion 8004 amp.

every thing.

make you feel like crying life is to short wish you could live forever so you can listen to them for eternity

The JM lab Focals are transparent, smooth, detailed, and extrmeley acurate. They can play loud without making your ears bleed. they are a little forward and tad bright but that can be fixed up with amp and speaker cables, to balnce out the sound. supra speaker cable is perfect match for the focals. each instrument is placed in the sounstage and vocals are creamy, the midrange is superbly accurate. you want to play music loud with clarity poise finnesse and sweet airy highs the jm lab focals are the best car audio splits on the market regardless of price. pure bliss and sound that can even put hi end home audio loudspeakers to shame. drive them with a good amp and you will be rewarded with a beautiful sound that can play loud and sound like the real thing. I am using the jm lab focal chorus 707 home bookshelf loudspeakers in my home audio system, with a 100 watt pure class A amp and valve preamp and pure silver cables I have to say these speakers sound better than $10,000 loudspeakers I no because I have had them running for a couple of months, and i have to say the chirus connected to the pure class a power amp and valve preamp sound as though the singer is in front of me the ultimate transparency, lush midrange, and treble thats as accurate as the instrument itself I have been in tears from these speakers they are incredible when you have good amplification and good cables and front end. ohhh what a f***ing sound they give me goose bumps al over my body and have bought tears to my eyes more than once, thats telling you something very special about the loudspeaker. mmmmmmmm ahhhhhhhh what a sound so sweet, so gentle, so beautiful, so lush, so velvety, so creamy, so warm, and so so NATRUAL....

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none what for if these are the ones and the only ones full stop.

Razor-precise tweeters, high quality construction.

Really designed to work in an enclosure, mounting them free air doesn''t do them justice.

I did a lot of listening to high end car audio equipment... MB Quartz, Dynaudio, Rainbow. I wanted a set that I could LEAVE IN the car... As I''m always upgrading something. It''s been a few months now, and I''m still very happy with the Focals. Nothing has lasted longer than 2 weeks in my car, before. The other sets I listened to were quite excellent, but none of them had the vivacity. There is a greater depth to all the music I play now, and I am very happy with my decision. More than a few people have commented on the system''s lack of midbass, but I certainly don''t find this to be the case.

very transparent, good tweeter

no midbass, muttled vocals

Over Priced. That pretty much sums it up. Don''t get me wrong, it is a nice speaker, but it does leave more to be desired. The midbass is non-existant. I switched out the 165W for a pair of 5.25" Q''s and was floored at the difference in vocal presence and midbass. The utopias were VERY tranparent, and presented a nice image but had a dip in midbass and in upper midrange frequency even when using Audio control EQT''s on Xtant amps.

Similar Products Used:

MB Quart Q''s, Kicker resolutions

Imaging, treble accuracy, treble extension, lower midrange clarity, overall spectrum dynamics

They retail for $999. Grills come off easily but are a bit more difficult to put on.

All the other high-end 6.5 component speakers out there really left something to be desired when I listened to them. I was anxious to hear the Polk Momos since everyone was raving about them. I wasn't impressed at all. They sounded as if they were playing through cardboard. Then I listened to the lower-level Focals. Better. Initially, I didn't even sample the Utopias since they retail for $1000. I chewed the fat with the salesman and he put on the Utopia 165Ws. I was impressed. The detail they presented was astounding. I have never heard car speakers able to reproduce the highest octave of human hearing like the Utopias. Unlike the other speakers I mentioned above, these are as uncolored as you will get with a car speaker. I am used to studio monitors in the recording booth, and everytime I listen to consumer audio it disappoints me. Not the Utopias. They stay detailed and controlled even at absurd listening levels. I bought them for under $500 because I knew the salesman. Powered by a Class A Planet Audio Nebula amp, and supported with a Eclipse 88120 DVC Sub (1.35 cu.f. sealed box) and a JL Audio 500/1 Class D monoblock amp, The DMB never sounded better (Hear the subtle detail of Carter's Promarks on the H/H).

I could wax poetically forever about these speakers, but you should listen for yourself. Nothing can replace personal listening. You will understand what I am talking about when you do.

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Boston Pros, Infinity Perfects, Diamond Audio components, JL audio components, MB Quart Qs, Polk Momos- All fall short of the Focals.

Amazing sound Depth, clarity and detail. Apperance and build quality.

None found.

After months of listening to most high end speakers (Diamond, MB Quarts, A/D/S, Dynaudio, Momo's, Bostons and etc) I decided on Focal 165W Utopias.

I insatlled the Focal 165W's in my 2001 Dodge Ram using Q Form kick panels. I also added 2 10 inch IDQ D4.V2 subs and a Orion 800.4 amp running 100 watts to each front speaker and 400 watts to the subs.

After 50 hours of breakin and fine tuning I got down to some serious listening. The Focal Utopias are the finest sounding car speaker I have ever heard. The clarity and depth is astonishing. I have played Rock, Jazz, Big Band, Vocals, Classical and Heavy metal. Everything sounds fantastic. The Tweets are incredible so smooth and accurate, you hear every note played from every instrument. The IDQ subs add the perfect blend of bass. The combination gives the listener as close to a live reproduction of music as is possible.

Focal speaker are not cheap, but the superior sound quality makes them worth every penny. If you want the BEST, buy Focal Utopias.

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A/D/S, Focal poly flex, Diamond & Cerwin vega.

Clean sound. Good lower extention and excellent sound from the tweeters.

Price. Not worth what I paid for. I already have a sub, so the lower sound doesn't do much for me. It's not really worth buying this set unless you must have the absolute best tweeters. It's also power hungry compared to all the other focal products I have tried.

I would recommend this product for people who want an all-in-one product. The utopias offer low bass, surround sound when the tweeters are placed up front.

Similar Products Used:

Diamond Audio, Focals