Focal Alpha 65 EVO Review (Studio Monitor)

[Juju]

Thank you both! I've now realized I started to ugrade my room the wrong way.
- I'm returning the EVO65 due to trial days running out, but I wasn't able to properly test them. They work very well for the price, I was pleased with imaging, punch and low mids, less pleased with highs, and I need a sub. Maybe a 6.5 is too big for my room (I was running them at very low volume), or I need to place them behind my desk on a stand. I will go back to audition KH120 and G8030, knowing that a sub can be added. It will be interesting to see how a 5' behave instead of a 6.5'. But im very picky on low medium and bass, as i wanna hear well what's being played on record to reproduce it. That's why I originally chose a 6.5' and not a 5'.
- Applying bass traps before buying speakers. My room is 8m/26ft deep and left side is completely open to the rest of the house. Celling is low and wood, floor is carpet.
- Aquiring a Umik / or XLR measurement mic before buying speakers. I will try REW/APO before investing in other options (DIRAC, Sonarworks).
- i will update my Audio interface (currently UR22...) before buying speakers. My audio interface did not help with testing new speakers. I'm looking at Scarlett, M4 or RME UCX II (RME is 3xprice, will be overkill for what I do (recording bass only) but I need good outputs to also enjoy music on speakers/headphones and translating bass well). I need good outputs to speakers (to listen to music), and enough I/O for reamping a single bass signal (no need for more or extras).
- A sub is a must. Even with 6.5.
- I will buy the new speakers once room is ready.

 

[YSC]

Thank you both! I've now realized I started to ugrade my room the wrong way.
- I'm returning the EVO65 due to trial days running out, but I wasn't able to properly test them. They work very well for the price, I was pleased with imaging, punch and low mids, less pleased with highs, and I need a sub. Maybe a 6.5 is too big for my room (I was running them at very low volume), or I need to place them behind my desk on a stand. I will go back to audition KH120 and G8030, knowing that a sub can be added. It will be interesting to see how a 5' behave instead of a 6.5'. But im very picky on low medium and bass, as i wanna hear well what's being played on record to reproduce it. That's why I originally chose a 6.5' and not a 5'.
- Applying bass traps before buying speakers. My room is 8m/26ft deep and left side is completely open to the rest of the house. Celling is low and wood, floor is carpet.
- Aquiring a Umik / or XLR measurement mic before buying speakers. I will try REW/APO before investing in other options (DIRAC, Sonarworks).
- i will update my Audio interface (currently UR22...) before buying speakers. My audio interface did not help with testing new speakers. I'm looking at Scarlett, M4 or RME UCX II (RME is 3xprice, will be overkill for what I do (recording bass only) but I need good outputs to also enjoy music on speakers/headphones and translating bass well). I need good outputs to speakers (to listen to music), and enough I/O for reamping a single bass signal (no need for more or extras).
- A sub is a must. Even with 6.5.
- I will buy the new speakers once room is ready.

I would say try a small sub under the desk, with some basic attenuation it can already be very satisfying

 

[Filio45]

less pleased with highs

care to elaborate why?

 

[bennybbbx]

Thank you both! I've now realized I started to ugrade my room the wrong way.
- I'm returning the EVO65 due to trial days running out, but I wasn't able to properly test them. They work very well for the price, I was pleased with imaging, punch and low mids, less pleased with highs, and I need a sub. Maybe a 6.5 is too big for my room (I was running them at very low volume), or I need to place them behind my desk on a stand. I will go back to audition KH120 and G8030, knowing that a sub can be added. It will be interesting to see how a 5' behave instead of a 6.5'. But im very picky on low medium and bass, as i wanna hear well what's being played on record to reproduce it. That's why I originally chose a 6.5' and not a 5'.
- Applying bass traps before buying speakers. My room is 8m/26ft deep and left side is completely open to the rest of the house. Celling is low and wood, floor is carpet.
- Aquiring a Umik / or XLR measurement mic before buying speakers. I will try REW/APO before investing in other options (DIRAC, Sonarworks).
- i will update my Audio interface (currently UR22...) before buying speakers. My audio interface did not help with testing new speakers. I'm looking at Scarlett, M4 or RME UCX II (RME is 3xprice, will be overkill for what I do (recording bass only) but I need good outputs to also enjoy music on speakers/headphones and translating bass well). I need good outputs to speakers (to listen to music), and enough I/O for reamping a single bass signal (no need for more or extras).
- A sub is a must. Even with 6.5.
- I will buy the new speakers once room is ready.

here you can see

, in bass the room is the most important part. he test diffrent speakers, they look in bass range very simular in FR. at 0:49 you can see FR. see also his other videos of speakers. in this hear test the focal sound better and wider i think. the focal have in the FR here a dip from 8-10 khz to 2 db khz can see. I think this need boost because i test the FR on headphone and can hear it good. if your room is not symetric on left and right cause more problems. i have a non symetric room and with correct that ERB smoothing look good sound also good. it is also usefull to hear for bass left and right speaker and measure both. because bass is often mono and i guess brain do interpolate between both ears too. i have basstrap 100 cm height 20 cm width and depth. can hear good that there is more clarity, but on frequency response measure there can see near nothing. i have this room modes in and with or without basstraps there can only see a little. only in the rt60 can see more simular over the FR. maybe there need lots qm and thousands of dollar to correct the FR. i teast also with basotek(the best damping) foam plates. change near nothing in FR. I have 4 plates 100 cm x 50 cm. if a subwoofer you need depend on how loud you hear. you can also with EQ boost the bass so that it fit

a little

 

[Juju]

care to elaborate why?

1) I can't back up anything with data...
2) Could be due to UR22 audio interface.
3) Could be due to no room treatment. Speakers were near like 70cms/30inch.
4) I've had to exchange one speaker that was giving complete distortion in the range 1K to 2.5K., already at very low volumes. This put me in a very suspicious mode. With any gear. I could unconsciously be looking for something wrong that wasn't there.
I found the highs too aggressive, specifically 1.5K to 2.5K range. At times distorted guitars sounded over-distorted. Like applying a subtle overdrive boost on the guitars, again around 1.5K to 2.5K. I could hear it very well on songs like Blackened Metallica around 2:35.
Here link below "The red violin Corigliano" with the violin, or specifically with the wind instruments at 9:49 or at 10:17 it sounded like it's completely distorted as the gain is too high.
Another song "Come Together · The Persuasions" the main voice got really to the point it was annoying it did not felt great. Again like around 1.8K.
There was another song I just couldn't hear what was played at a specific time. I had to listen to it again with my Mackie MC-450 to realize it was a snare rim shot. I played it back with the Evo, couldn't hear it clearly.
I never auditioned the Focal Evo in a shop.
I auditioned the Shape65 that were punchy, a bit too in your face but with smooth mids, woolly (like a P bass and old recordings (The Supremes How Long that evening train been gone?). I really like them for the bass sound. Evo can be punchy with good mids.
The Solo6 were just great all over, very refined, specifically the highs, imaging and instrument separation, I could hear every single notes. Thinking of it they were very good. Only issue is the price lol.

 

[bennybbbx]

Here link below "The red violin Corigliano" with the violin, or specifically with the wind instruments at 9:49 or at 10:17 it sounded like it's completely distorted as the gain is too high.

maybe you can do a audio recordof the speaker so can hear. i hear on headphone at 9:49. it sound also distortet. another important point. do you use a 24 bit output soundcard ?. remember a speaker that can output 106 db on a 16 bit soundcard use all 16 bits. but when you play only 70 db output then this are 36 db less and 6 bits less. so this mean you reduce the level of the soundcard to 70 db then only 10 bit sound you have. this is hearable and make a rough sound. I have a 16 bit mini dsp but 24 bit soundcard and i can not reduce the level of soundcard. i give the mini dsp full level and after the mini dsp i use a passive monitor controller. this work good

 

[thewas]

Focal has unveiled its new Alpha 80 Evo and Alpha Twin Evo powered monitors and additional Sub One subwoofer.

Focal Releases New “Alpha 80 Evo”, “Alpha Twin Evo” and “Sub One” Subwoofer - Mixonline

Two new affordable powered studio monitors and subwoofer are released to complete the Alpha Evo lineup, designed for musicians, composers, and engineers

www.mixonline.com

 

[dfuller]

Focal has unveiled its new Alpha 80 Evo and Alpha Twin Evo powered monitors and additional Sub One subwoofer.

Focal Releases New “Alpha 80 Evo”, “Alpha Twin Evo” and “Sub One” Subwoofer - Mixonline

Two new affordable powered studio monitors and subwoofer are released to complete the Alpha Evo lineup, designed for musicians, composers, and engineers

www.mixonline.com

Iiiiinteresting...

 

[amirm]

is the replacement speaker now here ?. maybe can also test at 75 db and please do also a step response for this speaker then. they use carbon material and this is very light and maybe give much better precision as other.

Yes it has been here for a while. I just need free time to retest.

 

[YSC]

Focal has unveiled its new Alpha 80 Evo and Alpha Twin Evo powered monitors and additional Sub One subwoofer.

Focal Releases New “Alpha 80 Evo”, “Alpha Twin Evo” and “Sub One” Subwoofer - Mixonline

Two new affordable powered studio monitors and subwoofer are released to complete the Alpha Evo lineup, designed for musicians, composers, and engineers

www.mixonline.com

I actually quite like the sub 1 design, but despite I already got the 7040A for my use the spec looks disappointing

1) too large for my use
2) -3db point seems really close to the 7040A, which is disappointing as the 7040A only have a single 6.5”, both ported
3) very expensive considering it’s a sub paired with their entry alpha line

 

[mightycicadalord]

That twin is a joke of a speaker, what on earth are they thinking there? Should have made it a 3 way with a small mid driver vertically aligned with the tweeter, it even looks like a mid should be there. I don't understand why companies who should know better, do stupid things like ignore basic speaker design principles.

The woofer is being run up to 4.5khz, ouch. The woofers appear to be in separate volumes but share port tuning so even when one driver is doing mids it's still ported?

 

[Pearljam5000]

I would avoid the Alpha series, I had the older Alpha 80 and it had no clarity and separation at all compared to KH120 and Solo6.
It did have an Insane amount of bass output though.

 

[YARE]

I would avoid the Alpha series, I had the older Alpha 80 and it had no clarity and separation at all compared to KH120 and Solo6.
It did have an Insane amount of bass output though.

Used the KH120 and the Alpha 50's. I do not agree, I really don't get your comment.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Used the KH120 and the Alpha 50's. I do not agree, I really don't get your comment.

There's no comparison at all
Especially regarding the tweerer
I heard the Solo6 and Alpha 80 side by side, they're not even from the same planet

 

[phoenixsong]

Maybe sharing your differing room setups/listening conditions for them will reveal more

 

[bennybbbx]

Used the KH120 and the Alpha 50's. I do not agree, I really don't get your comment.

the alpha 50 have a much smaller woofer/mid and comparable to KH 120. he compare small woofer /mid with a big 8 inch woofer/mid. i notice this often. big woofer/mid are not so precise because more mass need move so they have less transients and stereo width. large dynaudio speakers maybe are fast and precise because they have cooling holes in the membrane. a strong driver with a heavy membrane produce much heat. the new focal have carbon fibre. so they maybe are not so heavy as others and can be also in big size give good stereo width.

 

[dfuller]

There's no comparison at all
Especially regarding the tweerer
I heard the Solo6 and Alpha 80 side by side, they're not even from the same planet

*Sigh.*

I swear I've been over this with you like 5,000 times. It's not just the tweeter. It's the whole speaker. Crossover, cabinet, waveguide (if any), amplifier, woofer, tweeter.

the alpha 50 have a much smaller woofer/mid and comparable to KH 120. he compare small woofer /mid with a big 8 inch woofer/mid. i notice this often. big woofer/mid are not so precise because more mass need move so they have less transients and stereo width. large dynaudio speakers maybe are fast and precise because they have cooling holes in the membrane. a strong driver with a heavy membrane produce much heat. the new focal have carbon fibre. so they maybe are not so heavy as others and can be also in big size give good stereo width.

This is a total misunderstanding of how this works. They don't have "worse transient response" because of their size and certainly not stereo width (??????????????????????).

 

[bennybbbx]

This is a total misunderstanding of how this works. They don't have "worse transient response" because of their size and certainly not stereo width (??????????????????????).

maybe when all use Carbon fibre woofer/mid then size is no problem anymore. but currently it is a big problem. I hear this. maybe when the carbon fibre is so good as the focal marketing say then 3 way speakers are mostly not need anymore. because 1 crossover and system more is 1 problem more

 

[dfuller]

maybe when all use Carbon fibre woofer/mid then size is no problem anymore. but currently it is a big problem. I hear this. maybe when the carbon fibre is so good as the focal marketing say then 3 way speakers are mostly not need anymore. because 1 crossover and system more is 1 problem more

?????????

The reason you want a light diaphragm is because it improves sensitivity and frequency response for a given motor strength, not for any other reason (Mms (moving mass), Sd, sensitivity, and motor power are all interrelated). More Mms and larger Sd = more motor power required for a given sensitivity. That's it. It can in full range scenarios affect frequency response but those don't really matter in anything that isn't a guitar speaker.

"Speed" is not a thing - that's just frequency response (as is transient response). But considering that woofers are band limited on the top end in a multi-way speaker system anyway, I'm pretty confident in saying that as long as the driver is linear enough and the sensitivity is high enough for the amplification available, diaphragm material doesn't matter. Besides, every driver material out there has pros and cons - many light and stiff materials have problems with a lack of internal loss and as such can be quite prone to very problematic resonances that need to be notched or crossed significantly below to avoid affecting frequency response.

 

[bennybbbx]

I'm pretty confident in saying that as long as the driver is linear enough and the sensitivity is high enough for the amplification available, diaphragm material doesn't matter. Besides, every driver material out there has pros and cons - many light and stiff materials have problems with a lack of internal loss and as such can be quite prone to very problematic resonances that need to be notched or crossed significantly below to avoid affecting frequency response.

Have you hear large carbon fibre speakers in compare with small or large traditional speaker materials so you can judge this ?. carbon fibre is light and strong. so the driver need not so much power and then produce less heat. it look as higher level . the evo version(the older not) have this too now https://www.focal.com/en/focal-teach/the-slatefiber-cone

sure speed and a faster speaker can go higher in frequency and bass /mid is band limit. but should remember that less or more humans can hear for ITD phase diffrences between left and right speakers low as 10 µsec. so it seem better a bandlimit to 2.5 khz a bass/mid that can reach upto 15 khz - 3db instead of one that can reach only 5 khz -3db. 5 khz is period tme of 200 µsec. when this s5khz woofer/mid run in problems over 5 khz and less than 200 µsec period time seem not good. I dont believe that this can produce good enough phase for ITD. movement at same time of left and right speaker in a stereo system is always diffrent. so the slow speakers create more diffrent phase shifts between left and right channel. not good for ITD