Focal speakers and audio system upgrade
05-25-2018, 02:53 AM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Focal speakers and audio system upgrade
I bought my current 993 with an aftermarket stereo already installed with Polk speakers. I didn't like the sound of them, the highs from the tweeters were especially fatiguing and the lower bass register was non-existent. I decided to look for 2-way 6.5" speaker systems that would fit into my existing door positions (no hifi option) to replace them.
I'm a music producer, so I spend a lot of time listening to music on all sorts of speakers/monitors. After 6+ hours of listening to various brands of high end car speakers at several dealers, I chose the Focal PS 165FX. They were to my ears the best at reproducing balanced, natural sound. One of my main goals was that they would work well with a wide variety of music. I played jazz, classical, rock, hard rock, pop, opera, singer/songwriter, bluegrass, country, hip-hop, etc. They worked well with everything, which is a particularly difficult test. The only speaker I liked as much were ARC Audio Blacks and they cost $350 more per pair.
I had the Focals installed and paired them with two JL Audio 8" subwoofers. Many thanks and a big shout-out to Rod Birch at Car Audio Innovations in Roseville, CA for supplying the subs and lots of expert 993-specific advice at no extra charge. Rod makes sub enclosures that fit in the rear footwells of the 993 perfectly. They're covered in matching carpet and can be easily removed if you choose to bring back the car to stock configuration. You wouldn't even notice they were there unless you need to haul kids around in the rear seats. The system is powered by an ARC Audio 6 channel amp that fits under the passenger seat.
The overall results exceeded my expectations. What a fantastic sounding system! I know many here would prefer just to listen to the engine in the 993, I get it. But I like to take road trips and be able to have great sound, especially for listening to music projects I'm working on. The Focals totally fit the bill, and at $650 per pair, offer huge bang for the buck IMO.
There are some other details to the installation such as sound dampening in the footwells and rear shelf, a new head unit, etc., which I can elaborate on if anyone is interested. This system puts out excellent full range sound without disturbing the stock cosmetics of the 993, and I'm a tough customer when it comes to sound reproduction.
I also want to thank Skip Fitch, the owner of Streetnoyz Customs in San Diego for graciously allowing me to spend the better part of day in his listening room, guiding me through the upgrade process, and doing a flawless installation. Skip also has a way to go above and beyond what you ask and to fix things you didn't know needed fixing. For example, he installed a small separate volume control for the subs in my (unused) ashtray. Such a perfect idea as it's totally hidden unless you need it, and it makes the system much more user friendly. I find that I often need to adjust the low bass frequencies depending on the music type or recording, and being able to dial it in without going into sub-menus on the head unit is the shizzle.
I'm a music producer, so I spend a lot of time listening to music on all sorts of speakers/monitors. After 6+ hours of listening to various brands of high end car speakers at several dealers, I chose the Focal PS 165FX. They were to my ears the best at reproducing balanced, natural sound. One of my main goals was that they would work well with a wide variety of music. I played jazz, classical, rock, hard rock, pop, opera, singer/songwriter, bluegrass, country, hip-hop, etc. They worked well with everything, which is a particularly difficult test. The only speaker I liked as much were ARC Audio Blacks and they cost $350 more per pair.
I had the Focals installed and paired them with two JL Audio 8" subwoofers. Many thanks and a big shout-out to Rod Birch at Car Audio Innovations in Roseville, CA for supplying the subs and lots of expert 993-specific advice at no extra charge. Rod makes sub enclosures that fit in the rear footwells of the 993 perfectly. They're covered in matching carpet and can be easily removed if you choose to bring back the car to stock configuration. You wouldn't even notice they were there unless you need to haul kids around in the rear seats. The system is powered by an ARC Audio 6 channel amp that fits under the passenger seat.
The overall results exceeded my expectations. What a fantastic sounding system! I know many here would prefer just to listen to the engine in the 993, I get it. But I like to take road trips and be able to have great sound, especially for listening to music projects I'm working on. The Focals totally fit the bill, and at $650 per pair, offer huge bang for the buck IMO.
There are some other details to the installation such as sound dampening in the footwells and rear shelf, a new head unit, etc., which I can elaborate on if anyone is interested. This system puts out excellent full range sound without disturbing the stock cosmetics of the 993, and I'm a tough customer when it comes to sound reproduction.
I also want to thank Skip Fitch, the owner of Streetnoyz Customs in San Diego for graciously allowing me to spend the better part of day in his listening room, guiding me through the upgrade process, and doing a flawless installation. Skip also has a way to go above and beyond what you ask and to fix things you didn't know needed fixing. For example, he installed a small separate volume control for the subs in my (unused) ashtray. Such a perfect idea as it's totally hidden unless you need it, and it makes the system much more user friendly. I find that I often need to adjust the low bass frequencies depending on the music type or recording, and being able to dial it in without going into sub-menus on the head unit is the shizzle.
Last edited by palladio; 05-25-2018 at 03:27 AM.
05-25-2018, 06:03 PM
#4
Three Wheelin'
05-26-2018, 11:51 AM
#5
Rennlist Member
I bought my current 993 with an aftermarket stereo already installed with Polk speakers. I didn't like the sound of them, the highs from the tweeters were especially fatiguing and the lower bass register was non-existent. I decided to look for 2-way 6.5" speaker systems that would fit into my existing door positions (no hifi option) to replace them.
I'm a music producer, so I spend a lot of time listening to music on all sorts of speakers/monitors. After 6+ hours of listening to various brands of high end car speakers at several dealers, I chose the Focal PS 165FX. They were to my ears the best at reproducing balanced, natural sound. One of my main goals was that they would work well with a wide variety of music. I played jazz, classical, rock, hard rock, pop, opera, singer/songwriter, bluegrass, country, hip-hop, etc. They worked well with everything, which is a particularly difficult test. The only speaker I liked as much were ARC Audio Blacks and they cost $350 more per pair.
I had the Focals installed and paired them with two JL Audio 8" subwoofers. Many thanks and a big shout-out to Rod Birch at Car Audio Innovations in Roseville, CA for supplying the subs and lots of expert 993-specific advice at no extra charge. Rod makes sub enclosures that fit in the rear footwells of the 993 perfectly. They're covered in matching carpet and can be easily removed if you choose to bring back the car to stock configuration. You wouldn't even notice they were there unless you need to haul kids around in the rear seats. The system is powered by an ARC Audio 6 channel amp that fits under the passenger seat.
The overall results exceeded my expectations. What a fantastic sounding system! I know many here would prefer just to listen to the engine in the 993, I get it. But I like to take road trips and be able to have great sound, especially for listening to music projects I'm working on. The Focals totally fit the bill, and at $650 per pair, offer huge bang for the buck IMO.
There are some other details to the installation such as sound dampening in the footwells and rear shelf, a new head unit, etc., which I can elaborate on if anyone is interested. This system puts out excellent full range sound without disturbing the stock cosmetics of the 993, and I'm a tough customer when it comes to sound reproduction.
I also want to thank Skip Fitch, the owner of Streetnoyz Customs in San Diego for graciously allowing me to spend the better part of day in his listening room, guiding me through the upgrade process, and doing a flawless installation. Skip also has a way to go above and beyond what you ask and to fix things you didn't know needed fixing. For example, he installed a small separate volume control for the subs in my (unused) ashtray. Such a perfect idea as it's totally hidden unless you need it, and it makes the system much more user friendly. I find that I often need to adjust the low bass frequencies depending on the music type or recording, and being able to dial it in without going into sub-menus on the head unit is the shizzle.
I'm a music producer, so I spend a lot of time listening to music on all sorts of speakers/monitors. After 6+ hours of listening to various brands of high end car speakers at several dealers, I chose the Focal PS 165FX. They were to my ears the best at reproducing balanced, natural sound. One of my main goals was that they would work well with a wide variety of music. I played jazz, classical, rock, hard rock, pop, opera, singer/songwriter, bluegrass, country, hip-hop, etc. They worked well with everything, which is a particularly difficult test. The only speaker I liked as much were ARC Audio Blacks and they cost $350 more per pair.
I had the Focals installed and paired them with two JL Audio 8" subwoofers. Many thanks and a big shout-out to Rod Birch at Car Audio Innovations in Roseville, CA for supplying the subs and lots of expert 993-specific advice at no extra charge. Rod makes sub enclosures that fit in the rear footwells of the 993 perfectly. They're covered in matching carpet and can be easily removed if you choose to bring back the car to stock configuration. You wouldn't even notice they were there unless you need to haul kids around in the rear seats. The system is powered by an ARC Audio 6 channel amp that fits under the passenger seat.
The overall results exceeded my expectations. What a fantastic sounding system! I know many here would prefer just to listen to the engine in the 993, I get it. But I like to take road trips and be able to have great sound, especially for listening to music projects I'm working on. The Focals totally fit the bill, and at $650 per pair, offer huge bang for the buck IMO.
There are some other details to the installation such as sound dampening in the footwells and rear shelf, a new head unit, etc., which I can elaborate on if anyone is interested. This system puts out excellent full range sound without disturbing the stock cosmetics of the 993, and I'm a tough customer when it comes to sound reproduction.
I also want to thank Skip Fitch, the owner of Streetnoyz Customs in San Diego for graciously allowing me to spend the better part of day in his listening room, guiding me through the upgrade process, and doing a flawless installation. Skip also has a way to go above and beyond what you ask and to fix things you didn't know needed fixing. For example, he installed a small separate volume control for the subs in my (unused) ashtray. Such a perfect idea as it's totally hidden unless you need it, and it makes the system much more user friendly. I find that I often need to adjust the low bass frequencies depending on the music type or recording, and being able to dial it in without going into sub-menus on the head unit is the shizzle.
On the custom subwoofer boxes... any pics? Can you still put the seat all the way back or not?
05-26-2018, 01:10 PM
#6
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
JB 911. The seats will still go all the way back. The car is in the shop today getting some work done, but I'll post pics of the sub enclosures when I have it back.
05-26-2018, 01:33 PM
#7
Three Wheelin'
About ten years ago, I upgraded my 1996 993. I installed a Alpine CDA-9820XM head along with the satellite antenna hidden under the rear window deck cover (no problems with reception). Rod supplied a Audison SRX5 five channel power amplifier. This I mounted to an aluminum plate and secured under the passenger seat. Up front, Focal 165 KF kit consisting of TN 47 tweeters (mounted in OEM plastic housing and located in 1.77" holes), K2 power woofers are mounted in the door panels with the Crossover hidden in the side pocket. I think I pulled new heavier speaker wires out to the doors through the OEM rubber cable boots. Two Tantrum Series X Coaxial speakers were set in the rear deck. I had also purchased Rods JL Audio 8W3v2 Subwoofers and rear foot well mounting kit. While the kit looked fine, I felt that the speakers were too close to the seat backs. A couple of years later, I did a major refresh of the interior. The rear seats were pulled out, rear decks covered in leather and I built new ducted mounting boards to place the subwoofers in the rear seat pockets. Perforated aluminum sheets protect (recessed into the board to be flush) the speaker cones and new carpeting (no padding) covers all. I had a DAS bolt in roll bar installed so losing the rear seats was not a big deal. Monster audio cables were fitted head to amp. Also a iPod adapter was added and routed to the glove box.
I am sure over the years, the components have greatly improved since I bought my system, but I am very happy with what I have. Sounds like your system kicks it up some notches!!!
I am sure over the years, the components have greatly improved since I bought my system, but I am very happy with what I have. Sounds like your system kicks it up some notches!!!
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05-26-2018, 10:20 PM
#8
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
A forum member PM'd me with some questions on what my installer used for sound dampening. I'm posting my reply here as well in case anyone is interested in doing the same thing.
As per Rod Birch's suggestion, I asked my installer to line the rear shelf with sound dampening mats that also have a heat shield material. They use the same stuff Rod does, it's called "Roadkill Expert"
https://stingerelectronics.com/catal...oadkill/rkx36b
I think they probably went above and beyond and did some more dampening in other areas, maybe in the doors and footwells too. I'll have to ask them as I didn't when I picked the car up. I couldn't believe how much quieter the cabin was when I got the car back, it's almost TOO quiet! Before the installation, I had a hard time hearing the stereo since there was so much engine noise, especially at cruising RPM on the highway (say 2500-3500 RPM). Now I must admit I miss a bit of that noise. If this was just a weekend pleasure car, as were my past 993's, I probably wouldn't have done the sound dampening. However, now I often have to spend several hours in the car on the highway, and the car is so much more comfortable for that purpose with the reduced noise in the cabin. Plus the stereo is much more enjoyable now that I can hear it without so much road and engine noise.
As per Rod Birch's suggestion, I asked my installer to line the rear shelf with sound dampening mats that also have a heat shield material. They use the same stuff Rod does, it's called "Roadkill Expert"
https://stingerelectronics.com/catal...oadkill/rkx36b
I think they probably went above and beyond and did some more dampening in other areas, maybe in the doors and footwells too. I'll have to ask them as I didn't when I picked the car up. I couldn't believe how much quieter the cabin was when I got the car back, it's almost TOO quiet! Before the installation, I had a hard time hearing the stereo since there was so much engine noise, especially at cruising RPM on the highway (say 2500-3500 RPM). Now I must admit I miss a bit of that noise. If this was just a weekend pleasure car, as were my past 993's, I probably wouldn't have done the sound dampening. However, now I often have to spend several hours in the car on the highway, and the car is so much more comfortable for that purpose with the reduced noise in the cabin. Plus the stereo is much more enjoyable now that I can hear it without so much road and engine noise.
