Focal Component + Stock JBL + Crossover Settings

Hey, just got a set of the Focal 165KRX2 2ohm components to replace my JBL front door speakers. I am curious as to what a couple of the crossover settings do exactly (the manual doesn’t really explain..)

In the photo below, you’ll see 3 switches:

-Left FULL or 12dB
-Top 12dB or 18dB
-Right 0, -3dB, -6dB

I understand the right switch to be Tweeter Level, but I am confused how to set the other two...

 

In the manual,

“Tweeter adjustment
The tweeter level adjustment is made
on the right of the terminal through
the 3 positions connector (pic. L). Two
internal adjustments are possible; the
first to increase the extreme treble,
switch up (pic. M.1) or a linear
response, switch down (pic. M.2)
and the second to chose the tweeter
filtering slope in 12 or 18dB/octave
(pic. N).
Midrange/woofer adjustment
On the crossover left part, a connector
enables you to choose to filter at
12dB/octave in low-pass or not to
filter your woofer (pic.O).”

So the way I understand this:

The middle switch adjusts how steep the roll-off is on the tweeter high pass filter, and then left switch allows you to apply a low-pass filter on the mid-bass driver if you wanted to send signal to your sub..

 

Thats a nice component set, but one of the most confusing translations. I think Focal is trying to include some basic crossover and EQ adjustments for people who aren’t doing active crossovers with sound processoring yet. From the description, it sounds like:

Pic M.1 is a built-in treble EQ setting. Extreme treble probably gives that familiar exponential EQ setting we’ve all used from 8k (or wherever) to 20k, creating a bright treble tone. Linear treble is literally straight line eq from the 8k to 20k.

Pic N is your slope between the tweeter and woofer. I’d probably go with 12 dB for a gradual rolloff, but 18 bB will be the safer setting to avoid blowing the tweeter. Not sure why they are offer this option.

Pic O is a slope setting to help protect the woofer in the set, not to direct frequencies to a separate subwoofer. They are allowing you to do a 12 dB roll off to the bottom of the woofer’s response. The set’s low freq response is probably around 55 Hz, but you would usually crossover at 80 Hz and use a 12 , 18 or 24 dB slope for a gradual filtering to protect the woofer.


I’m not fully certain and just going off that description. Would check some audio forums and see what suggested settings others are using.

 

Ah I see, well seems like a good place to start will be Linear on the Tweeter, with an 18dB slope and a 12db slope on the midrange. I’ll experiment from there. Thanks!

 

Where are you putting your tweeters? Stock location?

I'd recommend using any kind of angled mounting cups that they may have come with to mount them on the sail panel (triangle panel opposite of side-view mirror mounting location), and aim them toward head-level of the front-seated occupants.

Then you'll probably be happiest with either 0db or -3db on the tweeter level adjustment... most likely -3db. The acoustic response you get from the stock mounting location of the lower door speakers in our trucks makes it very easy for them to be overpowered by the tweeters in either location. 0db would likely be too bright for most people.

I'd go at 12db on both x-overs to start. This will give you the best image height (supposed to sound like the front stage is directly in front of you, not below). If you feel like the tweeters sound "muddy" at all, switch the x-over adjustment to 18db. If you feel like something is lacking from the lower speakers, switch it to full. A lot of people mount those crossovers in the doors. I would recommend taking the time to make arrangements for them to be mounted elsewhere, perhaps in the kick panels or under the front seat(s). This will make it easier to experiment with these adjustments until you are happiest with the sound. Mounting x-overs in doors is also generally inadvisable due to the moisture that can collect in the doors during wet seasons.

Hope the install goes smooth and you end up happy with the sound you get!

 

The other thing that you'll want to consider is that the OEM JBL system is actually tuned specifically for those speakers which you are replacing. They do all kinds of crazy shit to get the most "bang" for their buck in OEM amplified systems. The sound response that your OEM amplifier will output to those new drivers may be very hard to work with & get sounding right. Also, I could be mistaken about this, but I thought the JBL speakers in our trucks are 8ohm drivers? Replacing them with 2ohm may cause issues with the OEM amplifier. Or, if you're lucky, the OEM amplifier is built well enough to where it won't have any real problems and just increase your output wattage. Either way, you may inevitably want to consider replacing your head unit & amplifier... assuming you have not done so already.

One last thing to note: @mbrogz3000 mentioned that the woofer low-pass filter is there to protect the woofer from playing frequencies lower than (estimated) 55hz. This is correct of a high-pass filter, not a low-pass filter. The low-pass filter here will stop the woofer from playing frequencies above a certain level (which should be specified in the manual), tapered off at a 12db slope when turned on. When left off, the woofer should play full range all the way up as high as it can go, which will overlap with the tweeters response. In some cases, this can be advantageous, but especially if the tweeters are aimed and crossed over at the 12db slope, full-range should not be necessary in our trucks; the 12db LPF should be great.

 

Hey thanks for that. Great explanation!

Yes, I will be installing the tweeters in the stock location, as I really want to keep everything to appear stock.

Will definitely be starting with 12dB on both slopes and 0 on the Tweeter. Will test for a while with the door panels off, them button up the crossovers in the door. I really want to try to avoid re-routing the wiring.

 

Well, do keep in mind that the door panels will have a lot to do with how it actually sounds when it's re-assembled. Take a look at the speaker positioning relative to the contours surrounding the speaker grill. With the door panel off, you can hear the lower door speakers directly from the speaker cone. With the door panel on, not so much. Almost everything you hear is reflected, and "bottlenecked" for lack of a better term, through the speaker grill & perforations. Not to mention how poor the perforation is on the speaker grill. This all has a massive impact on how it sounds with the door panel on versus off, and should be accounted for during tuning.

I appreciate wanting to keep the stock look for sure, but aiming the tweeters and shifting the mounting location to the sail panels really does make a night and day difference. With some patience, it can be done stealthily. If you end up hating it, replacing those sail panels and reverting to the stock location could be done easily and affordably.

I'm VERY particular about the way my stereos sound. I've been working on what I like to think of the higher end of car-audio installations for the better part of a decade. I've always had huge plans for my current Tacoma, since my last one turned out pretty incredible. My (not so) "temporary" setup consisting of a $100 component set up front has become permanent due to the level of satisfaction I was able to achieve with it by implementing a few of these tweaks.

 

Good point. Well I may look at mounting the crossovers in the kickpanels after all! I really appreciate your guidance. Very helpful! Will report back after I get these installed. Still waiting for a day off.

 

From all the research I could dig up on here about the OEM JBL System, people said the speakers are 2ohm.... I really hope that is the case! Hoping the amp has enough power, and isn’t overly ‘tweaked’ specifically for the OEM JBLs...

 

Hey @shaneckc I would like to pick your brain about my rear speakers for a moment.

I am going on install the Focal 165KRX2 components up front, and at the same time Dynamat the inner/outer door skins this weekend.

After that I plan on upgrading the rear speakers, but I just noticed the matching Focal 165KRC coxials are 4ohm, not 2ohm like the fronts. So my questions to you are:

1) will this impedance mismatch be an issue?

2) if so, do you think I can get away with just keeping the rears stock (I’m not worried about the listening pleasure of my backseat passengers)? If I did this I would still Dynamat the rear doors also...

Thanks in advance!

 

I wouldn't worry about the rear speakers at all. In fact, I would only worry about them if they are too loud. The theory of creating a good sound stage in car audio means that all the sound should come from up front, and any sound coming from the rear should just be a light, ambient "fill". You should barely be able to tell that the rears are playing, if at all. I haven't even bothered with rear speakers in either of my last two trucks. Most likely, your rear-seat passengers won't even miss them if your front stage is set up well enough.

Are you, by chance, adding a sub-woofer? If you're not, it may be the only case for adding rear speakers, in which case I'd keep them focused on picking up the lower end of the sound spectrum that you'll be lacking without a sub. You can do this by implementing a LPF on the rear speakers. Probably around 100hz would be a safe bet but beware of door rattles. The impedance mis-match shouldn't ever be an issue if you're going higher in impedance. The only thing you'll likely run into is output deficiencies, but that also depends on the difference in sensitivities between the OEM and aftermarket speakers. I.E. If the OEM speakers are 82db sensitive @ 2ohms, but your aftermarket speakers are 86db @ 4ohms, you should see the same output volume.

 

Copy that! Awesome. Sooo should I even worry about Dynamat on the rear doors?

 

I edited my last post and added some more info.

You should always worry about sound dampening when possible It really does make a massive difference. Even leaving the stock speakers and adding dampening should yield a noticeable improvement.

 

Right, I figured. I planned on all 4 doors... cool. Will have it done this weekend!

 

Finished the install. Wow these speakers rock. Even on the stock JBL amp.. So clean! The clarity is really amazing.

Only drawback is that even at 2ohm and 93dB sensitivity they could be louder. So looks like I will get a amp for these one day (and install after the factory JBL amp, as it works in unison with the factory Entune HU).

-Speakers From Crutchfield (best company ever). Actually slipped and put the bit of my drill through one of the woofer surrounds (so dumb), but they’re sending me a replacement free of charge! Patched up the current one with a dab of RTV.
-Brackets from ********* (6.5 bracket was great, tweeter bracket was cut .3” smaller than ordered. Made it work, but total PITA). Crossover brackets 100% useless crap, just drill into door metal with a selt-tapping sheet metal screw. Tweeter Adapter Wire Harness +/- not marked...
-Dynamat inner+outer door skins.
-Sealed brackets with RTV.
-Only broke one trim clip and a small piece of the interior door latch (fixed with a small piece of Dynamat to hold in place.


Crossover:
Woofer Slope: 12dB (Full)
Tweeter Slope: 12dB
Tweeter Level: -6dB

 

You are really going to need an amp to get the most out of those speakers. JBL just won't have enough. I currently have Focal KRX3 3-way setup running active and each speaker is getting about 150w continuous. Game changer

 

I’m just not clear on how to wire in a new amp. I know I need it after the JBL amp under the rear passenger seat, but I don’t know exactly what needs to be done. Any help would be much appreciated!

 

I have these speakers and can tell you need more power. These Focal 165KRX2 put my JL C3-650 components in my other vehicle to shame and i have JL Audio amps on both systems. You have $1200 component speakers being fed by a $75 amp. Do yourself a huge favor and take it to a professional shop and get a real amp installed. BTW very nice install. I don't know the heck you got the door panel back over those huge crossovers, i had to put mine in the back.

 

So I added a JL RD400/4 and and LC6i, summed up the signals to the front. Left the rears stock and power the fronts and sub off the JL amp. Sounds great. The crossovers are big, but I found that sweet spot and shaved a little of the foam out of the door panels...