|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
76.5.85.248
Would use with a NAD 326 in a medium size room. Marantz 5004 CD player though mostly I stream files from Apple or YouTube.
My first impressions are that the treble is very clear but a bit prominent and the bass reasonably extended but a bit subdued.
I've moved them around some but these qualities don't disappear completely.
Lovely finish and great terminals.
Thank you in advance for any comments!
It's never too late to turn back the clock.
Follow Ups:
I agree and would bet your source is the "major" problem.
If you use a regular purchased CD how does it sound?
If you are going to stream then see if the CDP has a digital input and use your iPhone to stream. It's better than using the sound card on your other devices.
Remember your source is about the most important piece of your audio system. Crap in equals louder Crap out.
Traditionally Focal's are on the "brighter" side. However if you are going the digital route, which I agree and did myself years ago, you should look into a better DAC. Look into the Marantz NA7004 or similar models. Then start looking into either sites or services to stream from that suite your musical taste.
What do you listen too most of the time?
Thank you for your suggestions. I managed to exchange them for some B&W CM1s that sound more neutral and are also more convenient for my small room and creaky body. The dealer very kindly set up the Focals alongside the B&Ws and played them on his rig which featured pretty high-end stuff. Only this demo was in a different room. We used the dealer's source material filtered through my preferences.
On his equipment in the different room they sounded harsher than ever and the B&Ws sounded warm by contrast. If you feed the Focals high voltage symphonic material, like the end of the Firebird, they can produce some breathtaking resolution, but they tend to sound too peaky on everyday fare.
Focal has a very fast tweeter in the 706 but I think they have a problem with smoothness and neutrality. Great tweet, woofer only meh.
As for breaking in, I don't see why they can't be broken in at the factory. Why try to sell a speaker that isn't working up to its potential? Why not hook all units up to white noise for a few days? Break-in sounds to me like a convenient excuse when a speaker doesn't sound good.
I will say that the Focals are absolutely beautiful in the white gloss with black grills and have great connectors. Manual is totally minimal though.
It's never too late to turn back the clock.
It's great you were able to exchange them so easily for the B&W's. EXCELLENT choice. I've found over the years that if it doesn't sound right the first few minutes it most likely never will.
I always felt a speaker faithfully reproduce what is sent to it without it's "own" interpretation. I think that's the big reason I can't stand horns.
Post more on how you like them - enjoy!!!!
charles
Thank you for your post! I have white BWs with gray grills which I like the look of and the size and weight are convenient for my arthritic bones. As for the sound, I find them just about as bright as you can get without sounding too bright like the Focals. The sound is clear and sweet with good solidity and impact on rock despite their size. They are solid all through the mids and the bass is nicely full without the port plugs. There is a double port plug so you can close the hole half-way or completely. In both cases you lose a little warmth so I prefer them without the plugs for most material. I did think Tony Williams' tight bass drum shots sounded a little deeper with the port half-plugged, which gives you a little more extension without losing too much volume. This trade-off is of course what subwoofers are meant to eliminate for music listeners, apart from their function rendering explosions or earthquakes.
To steal a line, I would say that where the Focals sin by commission the BWs sin more by omission. They might not give you quite as dramatic a rendering of certain orchestral climaxes as the Focals, but they are more reliable in that they sound good on just about everything. Listened to some live Hendrix today Hear My Train a Comin on youtube. Best Hendrix I've ever heard! Super stuff if you like Hendrix at all. But I also was surprised at how good some violin and harpsichord works sounded. As for Coltrane Plays the Blues, one of my all-time favorites, it sounded like a dated recording of some very great music. The BWs didn't enhance it at all but they didn't seem to be messing up or missing anything. Interesting comparison with the 1990s CM1 that was sealed matrix speaker of approximately same size and spec. The 1990s version as I recall was more colored (relatively - both are mostly uncolored) but tighter in the bass at the cost of sounding a bit lightweight. They had optional woofer columns that served as bases but were enjoyable as is. Anyway, no buyer's remorse from ME.
It's never too late to turn back the clock.
I owned Focal Chorus speakers about 5 years ago. I forget the model but it had two 6.5" woofers and WAY too much energy in the high frequencies. I managed to get rid of them for a decent price and bought Tannoy Precision 6.4's. The Tannoys beat the Focals in every respect, most notability in that the harshness is gone. They also image incredibly well.Knowing what I now know I'd never own another Focal product.
Edits: 04/26/17 04/26/17 04/26/17
It's kind of a cautionary tale. Focals sound great at first but tend to be wearing in extended listening. Tannoys are probably more neutral and natural in the Bwiddish tradition.
It's never too late to turn back the clock.
Are your files mp3? mp3 in itself can have issues with frequency response. YouTube material can very wildly in response, and sound level.
Focal has exhibited prominent highs in some systems I've heard, component matching is required. I would have thought a decent match with NAD.
I've not heard Focal be shy on bass, normally punchy.
If you already own them and no return, look into room treatments, you'd be amazed. I don't know anything about your room, so can't really help, there is a lot of info on the internet on room treatments, this helps with both bass and highs. It doesn't lower or cut anything, treating stops the reflections that distort, so the frequecnies you hear are clearer, more resolution.
Also, if the speakers are brand new they will require break in, often break in smoothes highs and bass will have more bloom as the voice coils relax. You might want to play the tuner or put on something that will stream continuous and let the speakers play while at work etc. Even over night if it wouldn't keep you awake. They won't be broke in in 100 hours but I'd think that sufficient to hear if the speakers are on the way to showing any improvement.
I was able to exchange them. But I suspect one could do a fair amount for them with a good equalizer. I know high-end tends to abjure equalizers but I bet they would allow many speakers to preserve their virtues while minimizing their flaws. Room treatment could help too, but that is very tricky. I found it easiest just to listen from way off axis. Bosing them you might say!
NAD integrateds are pretty neutral sounding but the speakers sounded even peakier with the dealer's Rotel poweramp. They sounded less peaky with his $10,000 Classe, but that's no good to ME(-;
It's never too late to turn back the clock.
Did you get another set of speakers?
There's an excellent speaker that sells direct but I can't ever remember the name, something like Orum Cantus.
The Spacial Audio speakers are a very good value if you have the room.
I'm of the opinion you can't go wrong with Dynaudio who has a wide range of series and prices.
You might also like KEF. The little LS50 is killer for the money and the R series is good.
There's also Tekton who sells direct and product gets good reviews.
The Golden Ear get raves. Many models have powered bass, which you might like, takes load from your NAD and allows adjusting bass to your taste.
Thanks for the recommendations! I was able to swap up to B&W CM1S2 at a demo discount and I think they're a good match for my ears and my room. Easy to lift, too! Now I'm thinking about getting a compact sub (see above.) I heard the low-priced Golden Ear monitor but didn't like it as much as the BW. Thanks again!
It's never too late to turn back the clock.
Nice. Glad you found something you are happy with.
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: