 | Home > In Car Electronics > Focal iBus 20 sub. Disappointing |
 
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| pilsburypie Member Since: 19 Jul 2021 Location: Birmingham Posts: 176   
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Good tip. Will check. But I think the sub is struggling to hit frequencies.
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8th Aug 2021 8:13am |
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| Balvaig Member Since: 19 Feb 2016 Location: Fife Posts: 732  
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My factory fitted Alpine head unit and sub on the 2015 XS is a great improvement on the 2011 system, but the Defender acoustics are not great compared with other cars.
Did you use the correct size and quality of wire to the sub? This can make a big difference to sound. Otherwise it might be worth listening to the factory fit system in another Defender to compare. |
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8th Aug 2021 8:50am |
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| hank Member Since: 12 Sep 2016 Location: South Wales Posts: 2303  
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Kind of the opposite way around from what you describe but I fitted focal components in the front driven by the head unit and was a bit disappointed. I added the sub and used it to amp the components and it completely transformed things.
Definitely add the components and drive them via the sub and I think you will be pleased Some further background reading here https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic75049.html > 110 XS Double Cab |
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8th Aug 2021 10:51am |
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| Simboii Member Since: 09 Jun 2021 Location: Carmarthen Posts: 70 
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Is the focal sub worth the extra money over the alpine?
Im also looking to do the uograde but unsure which sub to go for!! Looking to install the focal es100k kit, but unsure what to do with the tweeters as mines a td5 |
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8th Aug 2021 11:12am |
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| landy andy Member Since: 15 Feb 2009 Location: Ware, Herts Posts: 5739 
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All the top Focal stuff that Mudstuff sell. I can’t run the sub at full as too much bass. |
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8th Aug 2021 12:47pm |
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| landy andy Member Since: 15 Feb 2009 Location: Ware, Herts Posts: 5739
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Yes, much better and is amp for the front speakers. |
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8th Aug 2021 12:48pm |
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| Simboii Member Since: 09 Jun 2021 Location: Carmarthen Posts: 70
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Great, tabks for that
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8th Aug 2021 12:55pm |
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| barbel jim Member Since: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Northants Posts: 1428 
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The Ibus 2.1 has an internal 2 Chanel amp which is great for the fronts and worth the money. Standard 2.0 and the alpine are pretty similar… Regarding the tweeters, take the dash top off, drill a couple of holes and …. |
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8th Aug 2021 4:26pm |
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| barbel jim Member Since: 12 Dec 2012 Location: Northants Posts: 1428
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 Click image to enlarge |
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8th Aug 2021 4:34pm |
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| Landymatt Member Since: 31 Dec 2018 Location: York Posts: 191
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[quote="pilsburypie"]
Finished instal of Focal ES100K last night and had a quick listen and was a bit disappointed, didn’t really sound much different. But went out for a drive today and the extra depth / quality / whatever is is really shone through… that coupled with the Ibus sub and all the songs I put on sounded awesome… I’m now looking forward to sound proofing to hopefully enhance further. |
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15th Aug 2021 7:46pm |
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| Stacey007 Member Since: 25 Sep 2015 Location: Cheshire Posts: 3760
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Hello
Have a look at my thread https://4x4tyres.co.uk/product/20-x-9-oem-...lack-et35/ during #lockdown1 I decided to mess about with my set up... Have to say it's pretty good now, my truck is a 110 and I wound proofed it ages ago... Upgraded all speakers, focal / rockford and amp / sub. My head as I ran separate RCS's for each channel lets me control the sub / speakers For a Defender I'm happy... from Dire Straits to Faithless... sounds great 
Took a while mind and my car was in bits... but wasn't going anywhere so all good. |
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15th Aug 2021 8:41pm |
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| pilsburypie Member Since: 19 Jul 2021 Location: Birmingham Posts: 176
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Having persevered with the focal IBUS 20 for a month I’ve had enough. Sound is medeocre. Does some filling out, but the range is missed and I get some bass notes booming and other so much quieter or non existent. Peculiar sound in my book. So that is going on eBay
With this “under seat” compact type sub leaving a bad taste in my mouth, I went full retard and ordered a JL Audio 12” all in one integrated amp and sub. Lord have mercy! Talk about one extreme to the other! The sound is amazing. Sure it goes stupid loud like a boy racer, but more importantly to me it is so warm and transforms the system into a joyful listening experience even at low volumes. Full range, clear, composed and all the other words you’d hear from hifi. Perhaps I went a bit OTT with a 12” and it also takes up boot space, but I can heartily recommend an offering from JL Audio over the Focal sub. Night and day. |
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15th Oct 2021 11:57am |
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| Smyles_ Member Since: 25 Aug 2018 Location: Copenhagen Posts: 517 
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Awesome, glad you found a better solution.
Never been satisfied with under-seat subs myself either, much prefer an ASBO solution too. There is really no replacement for displacement when it comes to bass. I managed (just) to fit a Kenwood PA-W801B 400W (peak  ) active sub in between the rear bulkhead and rear seats of my 110DC . EVERYTHING rattles and shakes when you crank it up. Wouldn't have it any other way   Stuart
Cummins 130 Build Thread 58 130 Double Cab HCPU - Cairns Blue 04 110 Double Cab - Black (gone) 07 Audi RS4 Avant - Silver |
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16th Oct 2021 4:28pm |
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| LandymanStefan Member Since: 30 Aug 2017 Location: Surrey Posts: 881  
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Ive not heard a focal setup but i can strongly recommend alpine. Ive gone through a few alpine sytems in my 90 now upgrading as the budget has allowed.
Ive fitted 13cm type G spg-13cs mid bass components front and rear. Being components the mid bass driver is very shallow so easily fits in td5 dash and rear speaker pods. Im using the included type g tweeters in the rear and bought some type r tweeters and crossovers to fit in the dash from a friend. Ive got an alpine type r 10" sub with a custom box, just upgraded from a very old type S 10". The type s was plenty sufficent and musically accurate but it didnt allow me to go full yobbo like the type r does. That said you cant turn the type r down and its still a lovely composed sound. All the above is powered by an alpine PDX-v9 amplifier which is small and mighty. This made an unbelievable difference over my previous alpine entry level 4 channel amp on the speakers and is worth it if youre seriously into your audio. It also has massive power headroom which gives me options for the future. I may well end up fitting an upper speaker panel in the rear and double up some 13cm speakers in the back running in paralell. The perfect match speakers for the amp are the SPR-50c's but are unfortunately discontinued otherwise id be after them. Ive also got one of the small alpine underseat subwoofers mounted to the bulkhead behind the centre front seat. A PWE-S8. This is something i fitted in the beginning which is ok but has no ooomph compared to the big stuff. Ive left it fitted as it fills in the gap between the large sub and the mid bass quite nicely. Also if im going on a big trip and need the boot space i can just unplug and remove the big type r sub and this little thing can suffice. The amp mentioned above has quick disconnect plugs for all the speakers and sub so you can unplug and remove extremely easily. In my opinion the true star of the system is the amp, the sound is amazing, its insanely powerful and extremely small. If you put it at the heart of your system to begin with you can upgrade everything around it as you go and the little beast will almost run anything. |
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18th Oct 2021 8:27pm |
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