CTD HD vs Focal Utopia

I just installed the CDT HD 52 set... Payed $269 from Sounddomain. (They cut me a deal. Retail is like $389) This is a 5.25" midrange with a 1" silk tweeter. 110watts handling. Nothing fancy. Paper cone. Butyl surround.

When I opened the box, I was a little let down.. the Crossovers weren't assembled very well, and hte speakers looked less impressive than the stockers. (On the note of the crossover problem, CDT has EXCELLENT customer service, and replied within 30 minutes of my after hours email regarding that.)

The magnet is about the same size as that on my Utopia 6.5 midrange.

The install went without a hitch, although Toyota makes it APPEAR safe to tug and grab on things, it's not. Ow. (The Utopias were installed in my Corvette, which has more holes and loose parts I can sneak wire through... tight as a drum comes to mind when thinking about the toyota install...)

I ran the Clarion HX-d10 and ARC2100 head/amp to them like I had on my focals 165w in the vette (An $1100 component set)

So here's a h2h between these and the focals:

BAD BEHAVIOR:
CDT: No bad behavior found yet, but i ha ve 3 hours listening time on these, and I've had the focals a year...
FOCAL: Tends to hiss at really high volumes, resonance at 160hz is super-annoying.

The Tweeter:
CDT: Lighter, cheaper looking. The supplied flush/surface mounts are cheap, and come with 2 sided tape. These tweets are INCREDIBLY smooth. I could NOT make them sibilant, even with songs like "Bodies" from Drowning pool.

FOCAL: Heavier, Metal. Thick surface/flush mounts, with screw holes. These tweets are INCREDIBLY detailed. Metallic instruments are incredible with these tweeters. Very analytical... Maybe too analytical. These will sound shrill in comparison to the CDT's at high volume.

MIDRANGE:

CDT: cheap looking, flexible cone. Nothing fancy. These mids are VERY smooth, VERY clear. They define the term "Warm." The midbass out of this 5.25 set is slightly superior to that of the Focals.

FOCAL: Heavy duty, fancy, built like a brick house. These mids are smooth, clear to an extreme, but really seem like they are too weak for the tweeters they came with. Could be my install (and probably is.)

Vocals...

CDT: Smooth, accurate. You could easily belive the artist is in the vehicle with you.

Focal: Also smooth, but the Focals do something to Male Voices that just make them seem a little off. I can't really describe it.

INSTRUMENTAL:

CDT: Very smooth and clear. When lots of similar instruments are playing, they tend to blend together.

Focal: Somewhat smooth, and incredibly clear. When lots of similar instruments are playing, you can easily pick each and everyone out. The Focals simply have the CDT's beat hands down on this.

Overall:

Focals are an excellent choice if you want surgical accuracy and clean crisp sound.

CDT's are an excellent choice if you want an incredibly smooth and warm component set.

The CDT HD's are very near the Focals in sound quality. In some ways, better. I can't wait to hear the Eurosports... they must simply be aurgasmic. (Look, a pun.)

Hope this helps someone.
:cheers:

[The_spacemonkey]

Nice review!!!! Remember to take into acount different cabin sizes, imaging in different installs, and different air space behind the speakers!

The focal tweeter is EXACTLY as you described it and I find it has an amazingly wide dispersion pattern and is best listened to a bit off axis.


Again, thanks for the review!!

Yep... Maybe hte Vette made the focals sound bad, and the truck made the CDT's sound good.

Well actually, there's a nasty peak in the truck cabin at around 5000hz. I'll Eq that out.

[Snausages01]

then aparently the utopias arent worth the extra monye

Originally posted by Hazard269@Jan 6 2003, 11:32 PM
then aparently the utopias arent worth the extra monye

Only if you want bleeding edge, really.

[Snausages01]

Originally posted by Nevermind+Jan 7 2003, 12:38 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Nevermind @ Jan 7 2003, 12:38 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin--Hazard269@Jan 6 2003, 11:32 PM
then aparently the utopias arent worth the extra monye

Only if you want bleeding edge, really.[/b][/quote]
the onyl reason i went for them was bc ihad the PGs and just wanted to hear what the utopias could do....