I finally got my new speakers and installed them this weekend. The difference is
huge (in a good way)! The sound is much more natural and bass actually exists. I'm very happy with the results and the final cost was $185 USD.
Based on Focal's great reputation and the factory-fit of the "Focal Inside" line of speakers, this solution seemed to be the best option for me. Focal sells a variety of kits that can replace from two to six of the factory speakers (two front, two back, and two front tweeters) and also have kits which add an amplifier and subwoofer.
I chose the IC VW 165 kit, which includes a pair of coaxial speakers (no separate tweeters). I replaced the front two factory speakers with the new Focals. I know, I know. The IC VW 165 is designed to replace the rear speakers since it doesn't include the two standalone (component) tweeters.
Here was my line of thinking. First, based on my previous frequency analysis and listening observations, treble response was not the main deficiency of the factory sound system. The main issues were lack of any bass and non-linear (unnatural) mids. Second, I absolutely
hate disassembling and re-assembling interior plastic trim panels. Something always breaks. Lastly, my goal isn't to have perfect sound. I just want the quality to be good enough that it doesn't drive me nuts. I have other listening areas I can go if I want really high-end sound.
So my plan was to start with the two main front speakers and incrementally replace more speakers (and/or the amp) if I wasn't happy with the results. That way the only trim panels I had to mess with were the two door panels. My main concern was the the dynamic output of the Focals would be too soft or loud compared to the remaining factory speakers and that perhaps the factory amp and/or crossovers wouldn't be sufficient. As it turns out, that wasn't a problem. The dynamics are well-balanced even with the remaining factory speakers and surprisingly there doesn't seem to be any low-pass filter or crossover that affects the co-axial speaker's built-in tweeter.
I tried to get mentally prepared for my battle with the trim pieces. I drank coffee. I watched YouTube videos, I read through pro's instructions a few times. I was ready. I started my removing the white trim on the door handles. I proceeded as carefully as I could, but the whole process was much more difficult (at least for me) than I expected. It still involved a lot of prying, popping and pushing while simultaneously hoping I wasn't applying too much force or working the wrong area. In the end, I got the trim pieces off but broke a few internal clips. I mixed up some epoxy, glued and clamped the couple broken clips, and set those aside. Ug, not off to a great start, but at least I was making progress.
Removing the door panels was relatively easy once I figured out how the heck to disconnect the alarm LED in the driver's side door. It took a lot of strategic pictures with my cell phone wedged in the crack to figure out that there are clips on both sides of the whole assembly that need to be squeezed. Drilling out the rivets in the factory speakers and riveting the new ones in place was relatively straightforward, though I did manage to cut myself twice. The good news is that blood wipes right off the interior white surfaces. lol.
With the new speakers installed, I re-connected all the wires, tested everything, and started re-assembling the door panels. I ended up struggling with the plastic door panel fasteners and wished I had a few extras. In the end, I managed to get everything put back together. However, I was
extremely relieved that I didn't buy the extra tweeters and rear speakers and have to go through the whole process another four times. Twice was more than enough.
I got in the car and did a quick listening test with a few of my go-to reference songs. The difference was immediately noticeable and honestly better than I was expecting. I was especially surprised at how much more bass there was and that everything sounded more natural. In the car's audio "focus" setting, I moved the balance slightly upward to favor the front drivers over the rear. Sitting in the rear didn't sound as good as the front, but it definitely sounded better than before and was more the adequate. Sitting in the front sounded great!
I got out my laptop and audio rig and did a frequency analysis test. This time, I achieved the flattest response with bass at -9, mid at +1 and treble at +8. Note that this is just a
starting point and is not what sounds best. I just wanted to know where my flat baseline was. Here's what the graph looked like.
View attachment 3821
In this image, the blue line is is showing the new Focal speakers while the light red line shows my previous factory speaker measurements. A few things jumped out at me: bass actually is present, the treble response is significantly better, and there's no more huge weird dip at 700 Hz. Interestingly, the 200 Hz dip was present in both the factory speakers and the new Focal speakers. I'm guessing that's inherent to the electronics or acoustics of the car. I should note that while it doesn't look like the Focals have much bass, this was with the EQ's bass turned all the way down (since I was trying to get a linear response). With the bass EQ slider at the mid-point, it wasn't linear but there was
much more bass available than with the factory speakers.
After figuring out the baseline, I moved the bass slider closer to the mid-point and reduced the treble a bit. That sounded pretty good to me. I listened to a variety of content and was very impressed by the difference. Again, the sound was much more natural and music finally had low-end. Would adding the amp, subwoofer, extra tweeters and rear speakers make it sound even better? Absolutely. However, I'm super happy with the results and glad I didn't have to remove more interior panels. I live in the California, USA but purchased the ICVW165 kit from an eBay seller in Germany for $185 including tax and shipping. I received the speakers 11 days after placing the order.
Is the final result perfect? Nope. Would it be better if I upgraded everything? Yep. Does it sound great and meet my needs? Definitely! I'm happy with the results and don't plan to upgrade any more components. That said, if I didn't have to battle interior trim pieces and everything just screwed into place, I would absolutely upgrade everything. I think this was a good compromise--plus, it's a lot cheaper. Hope this helps someone else!
