Guys are the VSlim Focals any different than the VRS Focals (shallow) components.. They look identical and they are even the same price... im confused why have 2 models of the same thing?? IF, of course, they are the same... please help an audio noob

EDIT: Actually it appears that the VSlims retail for a bit more than the VRS...

 

^^ The Focal 165 V Slim and the Focal 165 VRS are pretty much the same speaker, the latter (165 VRS) being the current version designation. The mounting specifications are the same (width and depth).

I have the Focal 165 V Slim (the older “slim” model) mounted in the stock door position in my Z and really like the sound. The newer Focal 165 VRS will fit here as well.

I tried mounting a Focal 165 V2 (newer version is Focal 165 VR), but couldn’t get it to fit into the stock door location.

Mounting specs:
Focal 165 VR (older model is 165 V2) - Depth from wall: 68mm (2.7")
Focal 165 VRS (older model is 165 V Slim) - Depth from wall: 56mm (2.2")

--Spike

 

thanks spike... yeah thats what i assumed, but just wanted to be sure

do you have the tweeters mounted in the sails? hows the sound? is it too bright or too harsh?

 

thanks spike... yeah thats what i assumed, but just wanted to be sure

do you have the tweeters mounted in the sails? hows the sound? is it too bright or too harsh?

 

^^ My initial mount for the Focal tweeter was the Sail Panel, but I did not like this position. The sound was too direct, seemed harsh to me, and I wasn’t able to stage the sound properly in this location.

After some experimentation, I decided to mount the tweeters in the A-Pillar, firing them forward, and bouncing the direct sound off the windshield back towards the driver and passenger seat.

A picture of the installation


The schematic


Of course, this is a little tricky (sort of like a shot in Billiards). My intention was to eliminate the very direct “side hit” using the sail panels that makes it impossible to stage for both the driver and passenger. My goal was to make the sound seem as it was coming from the front, and distribute it in such a way that it was level highs to both left and right side listeners. Tweeters are very directional, so in theory this arrangement should work.

There are members here who don’t like this configuration, but it sounds good to me. Other than doing the custom A-Pillar tweeter enclosures Bing used in a solution for a customer or firing from kicks, I think this is a good way to do front tweeter-staging in the Z

--Spike