AVI > Focal?

Hi guys,

I'm new to car audio so please any comments appreciated...

Was thinking about getting a pair of 6.5" splits, and the guys at Metrosound (Sydney) recommended AVI (a Canadian brand) and he said it sounded better than the Focal in some categories. Well I heard so many good things about the Focal K2P but they don't have them at the testing section so I tried their AVI EL160 ($400) + TNT 25B (tweeties $300) and they sounded pretty good to me, matching up with the $2k+ Focals...

Was wondering if anyone has any experience with AVI and should I still go and find out more about the K2P?

Also they quoted $90/hr labour and estimated around 3hrs...

not sure about AVI but i know focal 165K2P are $600 - $800. I heard that Focal has raise their prices by ~30% because of the drop of the Australian dollar. I'm not sure about this but everything seems to have increase in prices since the $AU crashed. So it could be true... or not.
if your talking about the $2000+ Focals, they are Utopia Be's. Ranging from 2k-4k. I have the Utopia Kit No.7 and i reckon they are the best! of course in my opinion others may differ.
Utopia Be's will never be on the show board but K2s should be easy to find. look on focalaustralia and find your closes recommended focal dealer. they most prob will have them in the show room, but sound will differ ALOT in the showroom and in a person's car.
best thing i found was to ask if they could contact anyone that has that installed in their car for you to listen to.

When choosing speakers dont letthe sales person tell you one sounds better than the other listen for yourself back to back tests with the same tracks listen to as many brands as you can you might like the focals another person my like the AVi some one else might like boston in the end it your ears your car find the one you like


if you want to hear focals i know Marty @ FHRX has a set of the utopias in his car, his contact details are one www.fhrxstudis.com

I listened to Focals, MB Quart Reference, Alpine Type R/DDL, Pioneer Comp, Rockford Fosgate and Eclipse splits....The MB Quart stood out for low and mid end response, clarity and depth....not to mention supurb build quality.

The only speakers i specifically didn't like out of the bunch were the focals and the pioneers...even with the crossovers at -3db it sounded far too sharp and basically all the speakers besides the MB Quart's and Rockford Fosgate lacked greatly in low-to-lowmid end response.

The sales person tried to push the alpine Type R's......no chance.... BTW all were around the same price range between $400-$600 i think the focals where the most expensive in RRP.

As mentioned above...listen to anything and everything...you may find your ear likes something that others would criticize but who cares...you are the one who's listening to it.

My Current Setup includes the reference for front and rear stage powered by eclipse.

Thanks guys for your advices!

Will keep an eye on MBQ, haven't listened to them yet...

Hutch is very very experienced, and has done somee high end quality installs, not for the George Street crew, but for audiophiles...

Ive had my AVI's for 9 years now, 6.5 split in the ML range i think it was, with 6 inch in the read running of a clarion AMP with a Clarion DSP head unit, there have been many new models since, but the clarity without being difficult on the ears has been a majic for me. I would never choose any other speakers... there would have to be truly truly amazing for me to shift from AVI...

Just trust your own ears . . .

Hutch is very experienced since he has been the industry very... very... long time BUT he is not an Audiophile person, he only believe on his product (AVI) is always the BEST.....

he's an audiophile because he listens to the products himself, goes to regular tradeshows and has contacts in the industry around the world... not just listening to what the market brings in here...

At the end of the day it is each person individual ears, for the price, for the build quality, range and clarity i havent seen another product which will match AVI

^to you my friend, i would be VERY careful about what you say on here regarding a business, you dont want to get caught up in a defmation case.

Cheers guys, Hutch's a great guy the other day I was in the shop he's very friendly...

Will try to find somewhere I can hear the Focal K2P before making a decision. Thanks!

i think there is a new K2P upgrade version.. =)

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Originally Posted by Zilli

he's an audiophile because he listens to the products himself, goes to regular tradeshows and has contacts in the industry around the world... not just listening to what the market brings in here...

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That's enough for you to justify someone being an audiophile? Wow I didn't know people started becoming audiophiles for going to tradeshows and have contacts around the world in the car audio industry. If that is the norm these days then I'm more of an audiophile than most, I'm in the industry, I've been to Europe for the largest car audio show in the world ourside the continental US, I own my own car audio company (closed to the public) and listen to fine music. Think that makes me an audiophile too?

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Originally Posted by Zilli

At the end of the day it is each person individual ears, for the price, for the build quality, range and clarity i havent seen another product which will match AVI

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As you say, at the end of the day it's what his ears like not what other people 'think' is good.

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Originally Posted by Zilli

^to you my friend, i would be VERY careful about what you say on here regarding a business, you dont want to get caught up in a defmation case.

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Do you know the meaning to defamation? It's only defamation if it's not truth. And I second what AKA_NSX said, Hutch is not an audiophile, far from it. He's a business man who prefers to push the product he brings into Aust. rather a competitors product. It's called higher profit margin. I've known Hutch for many many years and I admire the guy, business is business regardless what language you speak. He's in it to pay bills and make a living, not for love...

If you really want to dob me in, please, tell him George Anton's friend said hello :) Oh tell Haig he still looks like Osama Bin Laden :p

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Originally Posted by aka_NSX

Just trust your own ears . . .

Hutch is very experienced since he has been the industry very... very... long time BUT he is not an Audiophile person, he only believe on his product (AVI) is always the BEST.....

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I agree. In order to be classed as an Audiophile I BELIEVE that you must have nothing that could cause bias in your opinion.

I think what zilli is trying to say is that he is experienced and knows what his talking about.

Also it would be very difficult to win in a defamation case such as that as the term audiophile is very controversial and can mean several differant levels of experience/expertise + no one would bother because its on a damn forum.

If it were up to me...i would buy a set of Jamo E855's and use the midrivers and ZCO tweeters out of them...no one builds speakers like the danish and build custom pods with a multi stage equilizer...lol but all this is pretty useless...after all it is just a car.

MAIN POINT: In a car the audio quality is VERY limited due to the door/panel/enclosure design. Think about the home theatre speakers you purchase from your local reasonably High End Audio Store....they all have engineered enclosures to tune resonance and frequency response....it is impossible to REALISTICALLY do this in cars as all are very differant...and you have to think about structal rigidity first as well as servicing accessability etc.... The only half decent option is building custom enclosures...sometimes known as "PODS".

My $0.02 as per usual.

ktvin09, the simple version of what some above have stated is this; no one here can tell you which speakers to purchase. Rather, we can only offer lists of quality speakers to audition based on our own opinions and past experiences.

I sell numerous brands of speakers, Icacha sells numerous brands of speakers, Hutch sells numerous brands of speakers, as others do too. They're all good quality but you really need to take yourself to as many places as possible armed with a pile of your favourite CD's in order to audition as many different brands as possible. Don't just limit it to Focal and AVI either. Try as many brands as possible and let your own ears make the speaker decision for you. :D

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Originally Posted by Sp00ny

My Current Setup includes the reference for front and rear stage powered by eclipse.

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Is this amped or just running off headunit?

Thanks guys, appreciate for all your advice! Will spend more time listening around before making decision, can anyone suggest any good place for car audio shopping in Sydney? Cheers!

Fhrx has a auditioning room with at least 8 brands to listen to

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Originally Posted by Frost_FD

Is this amped or just running off headunit?

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Powered by Eclipse EA4100 4*75wRMS Amplifier
MB Quart Reference 10" (custom enclosure) is powered by XA1000 1*325wRMS MonoBlock

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Originally Posted by Fhrx

Icacha sells numerous brands of speakers

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Not anymore mate, you forget, I closed the shop over 4 months ago for reasons you know why. New workshop we took delivery of last week (purchased) is not going to be a retail outlet nor is it open for the general public. :)

i wish there are some quality audio auditioning room in melbourne. so that i can have a try.. hehe.. =)

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Originally Posted by ICACHA

Not anymore mate, you forget, I closed the shop over 4 months ago for reasons you know why. New workshop we took delivery of last week (purchased) is not going to be a retail outlet nor is it open for the general public. :)

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So you will still be installing gear though? Sad to hear G. :eek:

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Originally Posted by Wayne

i wish there are some quality audio auditioning room in melbourne. so that i can have a try.. hehe.. =)

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Stylin' Car Audio in Boronia is where I got my speakers from...not too sure if I would go by the workers opinion/suggestions however if you just want to audition and know what you want...it's pretty good.

Just go to the speakers you want and view the dealers for your area...more often than not they should have at least one in melbourne.

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Originally Posted by mr ©harisma

So you will still be installing gear though? Sad to hear G. :eek:

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Installing, shit yeah! Bit like invitation only you can say, already have more on my plate that one person can cope with.

Had to close the shop, my fault really, went into business with people that didn't have any money or willing to put any into it, big mistake. But life goes on and I'm still "new (young) and hotness not old and busted" as Will Smith says in Men In Black 2. I'll still be ahead thanks to being from a hard working ethnic background unlike some I have had the displeasure of knowing.

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Originally Posted by ICACHA

Installing, shit yeah! Bit like invitation only you can say, already have more on my plate that one person can cope with.

Had to close the shop, my fault really, went into business with people that didn't have any money or willing to put any into it, big mistake. But life goes on and I'm still "new (young) and hotness not old and busted" as Will Smith says in Men In Black 2. I'll still be ahead thanks to being from a hard working ethnic background unlike some I have had the displeasure of knowing.

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Wow, I hope all works out for you. It is sad to see specialists go under but I'm sure you will bounce back. You will be ahead from your rep anyways.

Good luck with it all - not that you will need it ;)

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Originally Posted by mr ©harisma

Wow, I hope all works out for you. It is sad to see specialists go under but I'm sure you will bounce back. You will be ahead from your rep anyways.

Good luck with it all - not that you will need it ;)

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Sad thing is...it's the specialists and hard, direct workers that get it hard in business. Usually the only people that get a quick and so called "stable dollar" is the people who rip customers off...sad really.