Old School Focals

4816 Views 19 Replies 9 Participants Last post by bLG, May 6, 2009

TALL

Discussion Starter · May 3, 2009

I recently stumbled across DYIMA after being out of the hobby for the better part of the decade and getting bit the the bug again. The appreciation of old school gear here inspired me to go treasuring hunting in my storage unit (AKA my parents basement) to see what I could find.

The best of the lot is this Focal 6.5 component set, which I was hoping you could help me identify. They were purchased late 90s early 00s when Focal was just getting into mobile audio(our shop also sold Dynaudio). The only model numbers I could find were on the crossovers FA 165KX. Everything works with the exception of one of the crossovers, I was wondering what the likelihood of getting a replacement would be. If I recall this was a pretty good sounding set that would be worth reusing.

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freemind

· #2 · May 3, 2009

Those look pretty damn nice. What is the tweeter made from?

freemind

· #3 · May 3, 2009

Plus, it might be worthwhile to trouble shooting the components in side the x-over and replacing the bad ones with the correct ones.

bLG

· #4 · May 3, 2009

titanium domes?

Tonyguy

· #5 · May 3, 2009

You should call focal America and ask them. I needed info for an old sub, and I called them and they emailed me an info sheet. They were a great help. Here is there number:
888-340-4403

TALL

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 3, 2009

I'm not sure on the tweeter material to be honest, everything came as a set and I want to say it retailed in the $599-$699 range but my memory isn't what it used to be. I think the non functional crossover suffered water damage, tweeter doesn't work when connected to either of the high pass terminals.

Back when I ripped them out, I thought I had blown a tweeter. Rather than troubleshoot the issue, I just ran out and bought a different set of comps to replace them. (oh to be young with vast amounts of disposable income again!!)

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TALL

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 3, 2009

Thanks Tony
I did try emailing focal America, the emails to tech support and service both bounced, but I think the one I sent to the general information address went though. Hopefully it will get passed on to the appropriate contact there.

freemind

· #8 · May 3, 2009

Gold anodized and inverted?

freemind

· #9 · May 3, 2009

TALL said:
I'm not sure on the tweeter material to be honest, everything came as a set and I want to say it retailed in the $599-$699 range but my memory isn't what it used to be. I think the non functional crossover suffered water damage, tweeter doesn't work when connected to either of the high pass terminals.

Back when I ripped them out, I thought I had blown a tweeter. Rather than troubleshoot the issue, I just ran out and bought a different set of comps to replace them. (oh to be young with vast amounts of disposable income again!!)

Rusty rusty. Pull that board out of there and look at the back of it. Don't break it tho. There are a couple of people here that could build you a new one to spec. Use the search function if nothing else works.

GlasSman

· #10 · May 3, 2009

freemind said:
Gold anodized and inverted?

It's inverted aluminum with the proprietary coating they used for eons....I forget the name.

Tonyguy

· #11 · May 4, 2009

TALL said:
Thanks Tony
I did try emailing focal America, the emails to tech support and service both bounced, but I think the one I sent to the general information address went though. Hopefully it will get passed on to the appropriate contact there.

I tried that too, but got too impatient, so thats why I called. Good luck.

delerium168

· #12 · May 4, 2009

I think the tweeter is TN46 kevlar..just like the one i just sold

BRAND NEW PAIR OF OLD SCHOOL FOCAL TN46 KEVLAR TWEETERS - eBay (item 300311149564 end time Apr-28-09 20:34:21 PDT)

an2ny888

· #13 · May 4, 2009

iirc the coating was called tioxide

dvsadvocate

· #14 · May 4, 2009

Its Tioxid i think. Are those Mistrals? Those things should sound really good!

TALL

Discussion Starter · #15 · May 4, 2009

I do believe that they are indeed Mistrals, I would like to say that model # of the set is 165KX but I'm not sure. I think there was also a three way set in this series if I remember correctly, it was rather pricey as well. If I have time I might try to give Focal a call today.

Some other old school goodies I found in storage
Alumapro Alchemy 10" DVC in a sealed enclosure(will definitely reuse this)

Nakamichi Cassette deck TD-35 I think, same era as the CD45z(I had one of those as well)

Nakamichi MF-41 four disc changer - pretty rare I think, slot load, RCA out used this with a preamp to run "HU less"

Soundstream SS10R

Some Coustic DR signal processors: 2 line drivers and a crossover model #s escape me. I had 2 of the DR 100X2 amps at one point, my brother blew one of them up, the other one still might be hanging around somewhere

a/d/s 5 1/4 mids

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thehatedguy

· #16 · May 4, 2009

Those are the inverted kevlar domes like previously stated. The metal domes would be metal looking. Focal has recently went back to the kevlar tweeters.

TALL

Discussion Starter · #17 · May 4, 2009

Just got off the phone with Focal America, they were very helpful but Unfortunately due to age getting a replacement crossover isn't possible. They did give me some tips on how to get the xover apart and what to look for. Also told me that the current XO165V2 crossovers should work. If I can find the tweeter mounts it might be worth looking into to salvage this set.

bLG

· #18 · May 6, 2009

The networks don't look very exotic, a little polypro capacitance and some air coil inductors. If you own an LCR meter, you should be able to parge something together. pm me if you want some more tips.

TALL

Discussion Starter · #19 · May 6, 2009

Thanks for the offer bud. I ended up taking the bad crossover into work and had my engineer/audiophile friend take a look at it. It appears freemind was right, there is some mild corrosion on the bottom side of the board that shorted out the tweeter connections. Should be able to clean it up no problem.

Now if anyone can come up with the tweeter mounts let me know, I'm sure I can rig something up though heh.

bLG

· #20 · May 6, 2009

glad the fix isn't too bad, definitely worth saving the x/o's.

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