Upgrading Car Sound System

When you’re looking to upgrade your factory sound, the best place to start is with the speakers. Unfortunately, one of the challenges is that better sounding speakers are typically less efficient. Fortunately, Focal has a solution. The Focal 165 A1 is one of the Access series of products that comprise Focal’s entry level into car audio. Unlike other company’s entry-level products, the Focal 165 A1 does offer high quality performance and high efficiency. Let’s see how it stacks up.

The Focal 165 A1 is a two-way component speaker system. The midrange 6.5-inch speaker uses a special braided woven glass fiber cone. Instead of a dust cap, the midrange relies on a specially profiled phase plug for optimal off-axis midrange response. A Butyl surround connects the cone to the basket. The tweeter uses a one-inch dome made from aluminum.Dividing the signal between the tweeter and midrange is a 12 dB-per-octave crossover set at 4.8 kHz. Included is a three-position tweeter level control to match the output level of the tweeter to the midrange in different installation situations.Both the tweeter and the woofer boast a high-grade black finish. The passive crossover has a clear plastic cover to showcase its internals. The Focal 165 A1 is designed to reproduce frequencies from 60 Hz to 20 kHz with RMS and Max power handling at 60 watts and 120 watts, respectively.

The first thing that struck me about the Focal 165 A1 was its efficiency. Using the same power, the 165 A1 played noticeably louder than my reference speakers. The sound quality is extremely good. From 50 Hz, the Focal 165 A1 almost fits with a plus or minus 5 dB window. Quite good. From 250 Hz to 12 kHz, the window tightens to plus or minus 3 dB. Midbass performance is outstanding, and the lower bass extension was good. Vocals sounded very good, although a bit forward and at times slightly edgy. The performance was very impressive given the price point.

The performance of the Focal 165 A1 is excellent. With the ability to fit into a wide array of factory locations and the high efficiency of the speakers, the Focal 165 A1 is a perfect choice for high-end sound into a factory system of a decent powered aftermarket radio. Either way, you will be treated to great sound.