Guys I just ordered the new door pods and am putting the Focal 165v2's in them. Do these speakers need an amp with them?? I'm replacing stock hu with either a pioneer or sony hu. Anyone running these speakers in their doors?? I listened to them in the store and I liked them very much, just not sure about how they sound without an amp.

chris

 

Yes I would advise an amplifier!

 

+1.

 

absolutely

 

you can obtain significant gains thru amplification

or

get an amp

 

Ok well, how about some amp suggestions. I don't want to go crazy here but want quality sound.

 

I installed those speakers (Focal 165's), and agree with the other messages on this thread. You need an amp to get the high quality sound these speakers deliver. I am using an Infinity amp. I would think any intermediate to better amp would be adequate.

You are going to love the sound coming from those Focals. It is just a great speaker. From my experience, the first thing you will do is turn down (probably turn-off) the rears (unless you have installed very high-end speakers there). Anything less than the best from the rears only pollutes the great sound coming from the Focals you have in the front.

--Spike

 

I really liked my Elemental Design amps, they provide a lot of clean power and the sound was solid and very full. If you want to spend a little more, I might be upgrading my DLS amp to the Alpine PDX lineup, however, its more costly. The DLS is very very clean and natural. I almost went with the Focals too, great sound and very neutral. I think Focal paird with DLS would sound amazing.

 

Diamond Audio. Prices aren't bad and quality is top notch. They will compliment those Focals nicely IMO.

 

Ok guys, I'm a real rookie here. Can you give me some specific model numbers to go with these focals???

 

Ok... since placing my last post to your thread, I swapped in an Eclipse EA3422 Amp (model number given as per your request). The sound with my Focal 165 Slims is just great. This Eclipse amp is an older model (I've had this sitting around for about 2 years now). I give more credit for great sound to the Focals (instead of the amp, but an external amp is necessary with these speakers to get great sound).

From what I've read (but, no personal experience), Elemental Design amps (as mentioned by BlueBoxer) is a great product that optimally drives Focals. I believe this is Bing's preferred amp.
--Spike

 

Yup, I really miss my Elemental Design amps. I sold them to condense down to a single five channel DLS amp and while the SQ was improved, my system did not have the power I was use to. I am switching to the Alpine PDX or good old JL at this point, but for the price you cannot go wrong with eD.

 

if you plan to get more power simply i would just go back to Ed, maybe run the Nine.5? i perosnally dont see the point of going to PDX or JL from the RA50, you are just going paralell, similar quality and similar cost...

where as if power is your main concern, you should either go to ED to get more poewr for the money, or get cleaner power hehe, try an A6 on the sub and an A3 on the polks you got or an A5 and A2 combo might work if yo uwant to power the rears too

 

Tempted to take on a bigger DLS project, but I got hooked up with a 300/4 and 500/1 from the shop doing the install. The 300/4 is probably similiar in power to the DLS, but 150 watts to the Polks seemed excessive. I wish JL had a 400/4. However, instead of biamping just the front pair of SR's I am going to toss both pairs in and run them both off the 300/4. I went with JL due to the brand being more recognizeable and they seem to keep their resale value a little more so than the eD and DLS. It's not as boutique and selective as DLS, but I think the SQ should be around the same and the 500 watt sub amp should pair up perfectly with my plans.