Focal or Infinity? which speakers?

[jazzyc]

My drivers side front speaker is blown and i want to upgrade them. I am undecided between infinity and Focal.

Just have a run of the mill pioneer head unit at the moment and will be looking at upgradeing that to an alpine unit in the future but for now the speakers will just be running off the headunit i have. Also not sure at this stage if i want to fit amps and such like so i dont think its really necessary to go to made as i wont be able to get the most from them unless they are amped.

anyways, all advice appreciated

 

[AndyMac]

More a case of what will fit really.
The stock fronts are 4" with 1" tweeters. You can go to 5.25" components but you only have 55mm depth maximum and this also has to incorporate the speaker adapter. Whatever you fit will be highly compromised by the flimsy door card the speakers are mounted to, so no real benefit in spending more than about £120. I've got Rainbow 230slx's fitted to my B5, seperately amped, primarily chosen for the silk dome tweeters, and the slimness of the mid woofers. I have a seperate 10" sub so the fronts are high passed at about 90Hz as you'll never get any bass or even very good mid bass from door card mounted units. So you need to pick some components with good smooth high end.

 

[jazzyc]

so there is not much to be gained by fitting anthing to much then. Guess its not really worth putting dyno-matt down either then?

I were to look at the Focals or Alpines which would you recommend Andymac?

I am swaying towards the Focals only because i have heard more talk of them. I know that Alpine are not so much know for their speakers as their headunits.

I think in the focal range there seems to be about 3 in the lower end, what would best suit the audi set up? would it be worth going for the utopias and using dyno-matt?

 

[AndyMac]

It's definately worth doing, just don't expect a dramatic transformation and don't spend a fortune.
Every little helps so you definately need to Dynamat the hell out of the door and especially the door card. Making your own MDF adapters helps as well, as they are far more rigid than the feeble plastic ones and you can make them as big as the space allows which gives the speaker something a bit better to kick against.
I'd go with Focals over Alpines, but just keep your eye on the depth.

 

[jazzyc]

i spoke to Sextons (local car audio shop) and i think they said 13cm for the size?

so go with the Focals, dyno matt as much as possible and use mdf plates if possible.

Stick with the lower range Focals and maybe spend the money saved on an amp? (dont know if i can stretch to that)

I do have a jbl bass tube(btx-250) in the garage i could maybe get fitted also. I know its maybe not the best but it would get some bass in the car and because its active i will not need to spend on another amp just at the moment.

Because its only a cheap headunit i think it only has one set of pre-outs though. Is this going to be a problem?