Audio Build Journal | HELIX | FOCAL | SoundShield

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That is fantastic craftsmanship and an excellent range of speakers. Is the lower OEM section also part of the enclosure? or only the new section?

Is there a picture from the behind the seats to get a perspective. Have you heard it yet?
So they left the oem enclosure in place but built cups into the openings to add CU FT.

I'll take some more pics while I wait for them to supply theirs.

The shop tasked me with critical listening for 3 weeks before I revisit them again to tune to my preferences.

So far in the 2 days I drove it the sound is crisp and very accurate. There is no distortion to 100% volume. It gets slightly louder than OEM did in a more comfortable manner to which it doesn't cause fatigue in the ears.

How did you get the focal branding around the tweeters ?

Also how are you liking the audio setup now ?
They just took it off the Focal grill and stuck it on over the JBL logo.

Very crisp and accurate. The mid bass at 100% volume is enough to feel it in the door handles. The subs at 100% volume is enough to vibrate all the mirrors, especially with the windows down.

I want to have the shop adjust the midbass and bass to come in sooner at 50% volume.
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That's great news. With my system due to the small 4inch speakers in door I had to tune in some midbass from the subwoofer. Using the DSP. I found that increasing the Freq range that the subwoofer plays at but reducing the amount of amplification at the higher frequency by 6db so it blends in with the front speakers. It now sounds like the little 4inchs are thumping but in actual fact they are not. It took a lot of playing around and I have never done this before.

The mobridge software is really easy to use. Just plug it into a PC and play around yourself otherwise you will forever be going back and forward to the shop. You can save the settings and simply go back if you make a mistake.
 
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That's great news. With my system due to the small 4inch speakers in door I had to tune in some midbass from the subwoofer. Using the DSP. I found that increasing the Freq range that the subwoofer plays at but reducing the amount of amplification at the higher frequency by 6db so it blends in with the front speakers. It now sounds like the little 4inchs are thumping but in actual fact they are not. It took a lot of playing around and I have never done this before.

The mobridge software is really easy to use. Just plug it into a PC and play around yourself otherwise you will forever be going back and forward to the shop. You can save the settings and simply go back if you make a mistake.
I wanted to use my MacBook last night but I couldn't connect to the amp. It may be because its the Mac or the type c adapter I was using.
 

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I'm not sure if for ta Mac compatible the software. I use an old windows PC.

You can increase the gain overall as the output from the head unit seems very low to me. And then you can also increase gain on each individual output. It's very easy to use.
 
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I'm not sure if for ta Mac compatible the software. I use an old windows PC.

You can increase the gain overall as the output from the head unit seems very low to me. And then you can also increase gain on each individual output. It's very easy to use.
I downloaded the Mac version and played with it offline. I also read a tuning DIY guide so I'm anxious to see what I can do.

I'll try my iMac to eliminate that the type c adapter caused error. If still doesn't work looks like I'm buying a windows laptop.
 

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I’m a big fan of REW for home theater. Laptop and calibrated microphone, it allows you to measure the frequency response and then use EQ to make adjustments. Guessing your installer is using something similar to dial in EQ.
Your build turned out awesome.
 

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Looks fantastic. So you're using the ES 100K's as passive's with active crossover via DSP correct? I looked at those early on, but figuring out where to put the passive crossovers for them in the door without clearance issues put that idea on pause.

I saw you also hooked the extra channels to the OEM locations center and rear... although I know it wouldn't be as clean (channel-wise) have you listened with all of them on? Do they integrate decently with the Focals or not?

Great build and obviously you chose the right shop for the fabrication. Sure it's quite a bit more pricey than a drop-in solution... but the results speak for themselves IMO (at least visually).
 
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I'm not sure if for ta Mac compatible the software. I use an old windows PC.

You can increase the gain overall as the output from the head unit seems very low to me. And then you can also increase gain on each individual output. It's very easy to use.
I was able to connect with my iMac. I think the type-c adapter I was using wasn't compatible on my MacBook Pro.

I played with some settings last night and so far it sounds amazing. The software is very easy to use, though there are a couple glitches, I've already told mObridge about them.

I’m a big fan of REW for home theater. Laptop and calibrated microphone, it allows you to measure the frequency response and then use EQ to make adjustments. Guessing your installer is using something similar to dial in EQ.
Your build turned out awesome.
When I accessed the DSP last night I didn't really see any tuning done by the shop except for basics like selecting the speakers, settings the gains and crossovers. Not sure if they were waiting for our 1 on 1 custom tuning session together?

Looks fantastic. So you're using the ES 100K's as passive's with active crossover via DSP correct? I looked at those early on, but figuring out where to put the passive crossovers for them in the door without clearance issues put that idea on pause.

I saw you also hooked the extra channels to the OEM locations center and rear... although I know it wouldn't be as clean (channel-wise) have you listened with all of them on? Do they integrate decently with the Focals or not?

Great build and obviously you chose the right shop for the fabrication. Sure it's quite a bit more pricey than a drop-in solution... but the results speak for themselves IMO (at least visually).
The front Focals are actually wired as 2-way active so each speaker individually has its own channel of power and tuning. There is another owner here on the forums that installed his own ES 100K's in his car, forgot his tag but I have seen him in other audio threads, maybe he can tell you where he fit his.

So all the oem speakers have the gain set to -6 so they are slightly present and the center speaker is only present when you have the "surround" turned on, which I personally didn't find appealing. I haven't had much seat time yet to critique the rear speakers.

Yes it was definitely expensive, most of the money went into the enclosure fabrication. This IS the only shop here in the valley that can accomplish this level of work and they have people driving in from other states. Took two months to finally get my car in, they are that busy. John the owner does great work and personally does all the fabrication.

Update

The center channel is actually always on with the gain set low at -6db. All the oem channels blend well with the Focal front speakers.

The surround button has been reconfigured by mObridge to allow you to switch between Preset 1 and Preset 2. Each preset can have different tune settings. For example if you want to compare what new changes sound like to your old tune.
 
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dazza

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That's awesome you got it working. It sounds like you need to tune it. I don't have rears or centre anymore connected.
My doors are passive. So it was much easier to setup.
 
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That's awesome you got it working. It sounds like you need to tune it. I don't have rears or centre anymore connected.
My doors are passive. So it was much easier to setup.
I highly recommend you go active. You have the channels available on the K2 8.1.1 .
 

dazza

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I highly recommend you go active. You have the channels available on the K2 8.1.1 .
Yeh. I wanted to but I struggled with the idea of running additional wires to doors through the door connector. It's not easy and I tried this with my Mustang and I stuffed it up. So gave up. I have the mobridge preamp and I ended up just using a 4 channel amplifier. The front sounds really good with the audisons and I chose them for the tiny crossovers which fit neatly behind the doors
 
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@digicidal

Looks fantastic. So you're using the ES 100K's as passive's with active crossover via DSP correct? I looked at those early on, but figuring out where to put the passive crossovers for them in the door without clearance issues put that idea on pause.

I saw you also hooked the extra channels to the OEM locations center and rear... although I know it wouldn't be as clean (channel-wise) have you listened with all of them on? Do they integrate decently with the Focals or not?

Great build and obviously you chose the right shop for the fabrication. Sure it's quite a bit more pricey than a drop-in solution... but the results speak for themselves IMO (at least visually).
Update

The center channel is actually always on with the gain set low at -6db. All the oem channels blend well with the Focal front speakers.

The surround button has been reconfigured by mObridge to allow you to switch between Preset 1 and Preset 2. Each preset can have different tune settings. For example if you want to compare what new changes sound like to your old tune.
 

dazza

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@digicidal



Update

The center channel is actually always on with the gain set low at -6db. All the oem channels blend well with the Focal front speakers.

The surround button has been reconfigured by mObridge to allow you to switch between Preset 1 and Preset 2. Each preset can have different tune settings. For example if you want to compare what new changes sound like to your old tune.
Can you explain how the presets work? I did not realise it had that functionality?

In the mobridge do you set preset 1 and 2 differently and then in the supra screen when you switch surround on and off it triggers the different settings?

If this is the case is preset 1 surround on and preset 2 surround off?

The only letdown with mobridge is their documentation. Everything else works perfectly.
 
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Documentation is lacking but their CS is superb. I have the emails for Mark that does the software part and Fraser that does the hardware part. That is where I have been getting my info.

I have been working with Mark to solve some of the glitches on the Mac software version. I asked about controlling bass on the fly and he suggested to switch between two presets with different sub channel gains.

So in the mObridge software on the top right you can tune on 4 different profiles(presets). Mark programmed the surround button to trigger preset 2 when you checkbox it. Unchecked will switch back to preset one.

Edit: I also hot mapped the surround option to #3 on my number dial. So now when I need more bass I just hit that button and it changes my preset. MOST25 is a blessing in disguise. haha
 

dazza

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Documentation is lacking but their CS is superb. I have the emails for Mark that does the software part and Fraser that does the hardware part. That is where I have been getting my info.

I have been working with Mark to solve some of the glitches on the Mac software version. I asked about controlling bass on the fly and he suggested to switch between two presets with different sub channel gains.

So in the mObridge software on the top right you can tune on 4 different profiles(presets). Mark programmed the surround button to trigger preset 2 when you checkbox it. Unchecked will switch back to preset one.
That's awesome. Did they send you a new firmware to enable that? Could you send me that file? This would be perfect. I met the owner of the company in person so I can reach out to him but if you have the file it would be good.
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