Focal K2 Power 165 KR 6.5 [WOW!]

[bikejog]

I replaced the front midranges and tweeters. Perfect fit. All that was needed was to remove the factory tweeter ring and add some 1/16" speaker gasket around the opening. The Focal tweeter install kit fit perfectly clamping the tweets from the back.

Endless mids and good highs. Lows only go down to 60Hz, but slams hard enough for me. Very mellow. And never harsh even when listening to Def Leppard. Nelly (hey don't judge. I like my gangster rap on a good day ok?) slams hard and very satisfying.

However, putting the Focals in the front doors will only yield moderate improvements: slightly louder but much more clearer sound. My setup has other things to add about +6db louder and slams much harder than stock. All my other speakers are stock. I have to say it already exceeded the SQ of the Alpine with Kicker setup in my old Prelude. I might replace the center and perhaps add a small sub later but I'm already super happy with the way it's now!

WOW!!! Best $350 I ever spent on speakers! YMMV

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[MarshX]

What made you go with this specific setup apart from price? I was looking to get something decent from JBL. Considering I am not a audio geek by any means, I do love to hear my music with such crisp. It’s a shame I’ve been putting this upgrade off for what seems to be a very long time haha.

 

[bikejog]

What made you go with this specific setup apart from price? I was looking to get something decent from JBL. Considering I am not a audio geek by any means, I do love to hear my music with such crisp. It’s a shame I’ve been putting this upgrade off for what seems to be a very long time haha.

I initially bought the JBL GX 6.5 from BestBuy, but was totally unimpressed after opening the box. The speaker cage looked cheap and they felt so light. So I returned them. Then I contemplating getting the JBL Stadium at $350, but they looked exactly like the Infiniti Kappa. Since JBL and Infiniti are both Harmon nowadays, the JBL Stadium is probably just a rebadged Kappa. So I found the Kapps on sale for like $250 on Amazon. I ordered that, but it was back ordered until Oct 1st.

I didn't want to wait that long so I tried to get the JL Audio C2/C3/C5, but Crutchfield had none in-stock at the time so I went to my local JL Audio dealer and he recommended Focals but then he tried to sell me a Focal ISS 165. The ISS doesn't even use real crossovers: it uses in-line crossovers. So I said no thanks, but I do like the more expensive Focals specifically the K2s for their beefy magnets and exotic materials. But no way I'm gonna spend $800 for a latest version from Crutchfield or my local dealers so I got them from Amazon knowing Focal won't honor warranty from Amazon.

For the $350 I paid sold by Amazon, they're probably either grey market or something. But they looked new and the materials look legit and all the parts were included. Though there's space on the box said was for the Authentication Sticker but the sticker is not present. Not sure if real Focals come with the stickers or not. But I tested them on my home stereo first and they sounded really good compared to stock. So I didn't care. I'm totally happy with the purchase. So dame warm/mellow and no sign of high fatigue. Huge improvement over the legit Kicker, which had ear splitting highs, I bought years ago.

But I do have to say just upgrading the speakers will do moderate improvement at best. The volume from the stock amp EQ is just not there.

 

[xcivicx]

after hearing my brothers system (not honda) i'm sold on the higher end focals. get them on sale for fairly cheap 4-5 hundred. good enough for no sub, but you should have one anyway. just for when.
waiting for a plug and play dsp to come back in stock before i start any audio mods.

 

[bikejog]

after hearing my brothers system (not honda) i'm sold on the higher end focals. get them on sale for fairly cheap 4-5 hundred. good enough for no sub, but you should have one anyway. just for when.
waiting for a plug and play dsp to come back in stock before i start any audio mods.

It's no hype. They're really that good. If you can get the latest gen K2 (even the least expensive model) for $400-$500 from a reputable dealer, then def go for it. Mine was last gen and probably new old stock or grey market. I played the stock set and the focal set on the L/R channels in my home stereo and the difference is huge and obvious. The mids on the stock set was really muddy and crackling up. It's like the stock speaker cones are made of concrete. YMMV of course.

I never like the stock speakers when playing them loud. It always sounded muddy to me in my car and the worst was the ear splitting echo effect with the windows up. With the windows down, the echoing was more bearable but the SQ still wasn't good. I was worried the stock premium amp would sound muddy even when driving the Focals. I'm happy to say the stock premium amp is not muddy at all and as a matter it's capable of producing some really nice sounds. It's just Honda f it up (either intentionally or by accident) by applying some retarded EQ.

I don't plan to add the plug-n-play dsp from Axxess nor any electronics for that matter. The way I had it setup, it can play really loud (probably at least 90%+ of what my old Alpine 25wpc rms can put out) and the SQ is better. The next thing I might do is to test the signal feeding the stock 8" woofer. If the signal looks good, then I might replace it with a better driver. If not, then I might feed the front signals to a power sub. But the low end is already pretty tight as is now.

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