Morel has some outstanding speaers and you should definitely short list them. I too find the Focal speakers a little on the bright side. The mid bass in both the Hybrid and the Focal is fine for my liking. The tweeter on the Clarus set we have found is the exact opposite of the Focal, leaves a little left to wonder. Upgrading the tweeter a model makes a difference.

From most of the inputs it seems that Focal is much brighter than the Hybrids.

Personally I enjoyed the Focal board more than the Hybrid board, maybe I'm a brighter speaker type guy.

Currently I am purchasing from them:

-Hybrid Clarus 6.5 component set/ Legatia tweeter
-Arc Audio XXD 4080
-cache OEM summing

I wonder if switching the Hybrid with Legatia tweeter with the Focal in this case be a good idea.


And a little off topic but is it necessary to buy a cache OEM summing unit? I am running on a OEM system. Would that device really help to distinct the music? I'm kinda on a tight budget.

Thanks for all your inputs and comments.

Sorry guys but I just found out the Focals which I was listening to are actually the Focal 165 KR.

Total newbie here, please don't kill me.

I guess I'm going buy the Focals 165KR, Arc Audio XXD 4080, cache OEM summing.

I will post again once I get it and let you guys know how it went.

Again thank-you for all your inputs and comments, and you guys have been a great help.

ya the $500 price tag is alot better now then. you should be happy, thats some nice gear!

if you want to do those speakers justice, make sure the install is up to snuff (proper deadening etc)

have fun!

If you find the Focal tweeter too "hot" you can pull it dowm -3db. Might help the "brightness".

Too bad you didn't take MR2NR's suggestion on checking out morel. The Hybrid Ovations looks more impressive from the specs (2x the power handling for one) and are the same price. I would comment on how they sound, but I've never heard those focal before. The consensus is that morel has a more natural sounds (not so ear piercing) vs focal.

Specs are fine on paper... trust your ears..

Other thing with the Focals - pretty much designed for off-axis listening in the 12V product, so they will be bright on a board - and when improperly installed etc vs the recommended methods. I've always found they need about 50 hrs of break in time.. most speakers on display boards get alot less than that.

It's a great speaker.. I'm sure you will love them. Just install em right and spend some time setting up the system and tuning it.

Either choice isn't a bad one, I'd learn more to the hybrids since they are more tonally accurate and much more forgiving in tweeter installation.

I have to go with focal, reason being, it is what I am running and I love them!!!

That's the best answers here Tony.:appl:
Always made me wonder what people "hear" when they "look" at specification sheets.:dunno:
Just because a particular product got a raving or poor review, does NOT mean that it'll work great/or not with your equipment, in your car, with your music. This is where we come to a term called "Matching".
In this case matching the tonal characteristics of one component with the rest, sort of like cooking a fine meal. You may start with the finest choice ingredients, but if you over cook or over spice, your dog won't touch it.
As example, someone here mentioned "bright and shrill" sounding ( I used the term before myself) to describe speakers. The same may apply to amplifiers of differing classification. So if you match a "shrill" sounding speaker, with a "bright" sounding amplifier, despite great reviews, both components together may result in a rarely used system, a poor investment.