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Focal Alpha Evo line - new speakers

dfuller

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https://www.focal.com/en/pro-audio/monitoring-speakers/alpha-evo/

Looks like Focal dropped an updated version of the Alphas - looks like a slight waveguiding of the tweeter(?), a new woofer ("slatefiber" unwoven carbon fiber vs the polyglass on the original), and class D amps, plus a slightly different cab design. Less power than the original Alphas, though (55W+25W for the 65 Evo vs 70+35 on the 65)... 55w is little enough that I'd be worried about the amp running out of steam before the driver. Either way, looks interesting. Still no word on whether or not it's DSP or just a plain old analog active crossover UPDATE: Still analog active crossovers - I guess Focal's design philosophy is "design the drivers properly so we don't need to compensate in the electronics too much".
 
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YSC

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Looks interesting but I doubt will it be competitive in price and performance
 

YSC

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I had the alpha 80, they don't even come close to the Genelec's
The Solo 6 comes pretty close though, but costs a ton more
the low end alpha is surely no where near the genelec performance, that's why I was looking at the similarly priced shape series, luckily I wasn't tempted enough by their flax woofer and design
 
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dfuller

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Okay, so I asked Focal about these over on GS in the product announcement thread. Few things to note:

1. The efficiency of the new woofer is higher than the polyglass on the older one, which makes up for the reduction in amp power somewhat.
2. They totally redid the port design, which should help with port resonances (1 large vs 2 small, so pipe resonances and chuffing should be reduced).
3. The slatefiber is considerably stiffer and better damped than the polyglass, which was a lot of the impetus for the change. (side note, the construction of the cone reminds me a lot of the W cone, but reversed - so that's hopefully a good sign re: distortion performance)
4. The cabinet has been redesigned, and is stiffer than the old one (and better braced, for that matter), so that should also help with some of the midrange resonances people on GS have noticed.
 

Beershaun

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I was surprised that they stated that the crossover and eq are analog, and that they do not want to use an equalizer to compensate for the transducer limitations. That seems a bit...arrogant. Meaning we see significant measurable and audible improvements in performance for a speaker using DSP, and they are explicitly choosing not to take advantage of that benefit. Seems like they are tying one hand behind their back for...reasons.
 

Pearljam5000

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Okay, so I asked Focal about these over on GS in the product announcement thread. Few things to note:

1. The efficiency of the new woofer is higher than the polyglass on the older one, which makes up for the reduction in amp power somewhat.
2. They totally redid the port design, which should help with port resonances (1 large vs 2 small, so pipe resonances and chuffing should be reduced).
3. The slatefiber is considerably stiffer and better damped than the polyglass, which was a lot of the impetus for the change. (side note, the construction of the cone reminds me a lot of the W cone, but reversed - so that's hopefully a good sign re: distortion performance)
4. The cabinet has been redesigned, and is stiffer than the old one (and better braced, for that matter), so that should also help with some of the midrange resonances people on GS have noticed.
The tweeter is the same?
I didn't like the highs on the Alpha 80 that's why i sold it
 
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dfuller

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I was surprised that they stated that the crossover and eq are analog, and that they do not want to use an equalizer to compensate for the transducer limitations. That seems a bit...arrogant. Meaning we see significant measurable and audible improvements in performance for a speaker using DSP, and they are explicitly choosing not to take advantage of that benefit. Seems like they are tying one hand behind their back for...reasons.
It doesn't seem to be much of an issue for them, all things considered. Their designs measure remarkably flat for the most part. Presumably this is because they're doing the driver design alongside the crossovers and everything.

But, Focal has done DSP crossovers in the past, e.g. the SM8 and SM11. They just don't bother right now, for some reason.

The tweeter is the same?
I didn't like the highs on the Alpha 80 that's why i sold it

Yeah, but everything else is different, including the crossover, the waveguide the tweeter is mounted in, and the amp.
 
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dfuller

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It's funny they update everything except the Solo6
the SM6 line (Solo6, Twin6, Trio6, Trio11) haven't been upgraded because apparently they haven't really found much to upgrade.
 

Pearljam5000

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the SM6 line (Solo6, Twin6, Trio6, Trio11) haven't been upgraded because apparently they haven't really found much to upgrade.
Not exactly, the Trios have different drivers than the Solo6 including an improved berillyum tweeter.
 
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Id very much love to see these measured here, if only to shed some light on what was up with the top end. I had the alpha 50s and man, something was off with the tweeter for sure.

Seen a few users concerned about the 50w power rating on the woofer. Its plenty. Have you ever heard a monitor with 50w on the woofer? They generally get way too loud before running out of juice. My 8030c can get scary loud and they're only 50w.
 
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dfuller

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Id very much love to see these measured here, if only to shed some light on what was up with the top end. I had the alpha 50s and man, something was off with the tweeter for sure.

Seen a few users concerned about the 50w power rating on the woofer. Its plenty. Have you ever heard a monitor with 50w on the woofer? They generally get way too loud before running out of juice. My 8030c can get scary loud and they're only 50w.
I had Shape 65s up until fairly recently and it was somewhat stunning how quick they ran out of steam trying to produce low end, and they had 30 watts more on tap. They were actually straight up worse in that respect than the Alpha 65s I used to own despite having the same F3 according to Focal's spec sheets. Now admittedly that could be the passive radiators not doing as good a job as the ports, but I dunno.

In fairness though, the "80w" probably was via some class AB chip amp with a very high distortion for rated power like a TDA7293 (100W/8R at +/-40V, but 10% THD) or similar.
 
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Cant say i experienced any output limitations on the shapes in the limited time that I used them.
 
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dfuller

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Cant say i experienced any output limitations on the shapes in the limited time that I used them.
Don't get me wrong, they got loud, but there was no low end to speak of.
 
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