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Focal Aria 906 Speaker Review

Sparky

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Even with the Aria I have to reduce the bass around 45 Hz. Room modes are always a problem when you can't place your speakers as you'd wish.

Thats the issue most people don't realise.
Your room is an extension of your speakers (your room IS a speaker in effect) and people buy speakers without doing enough research on how it will interact in your room.

I would never have bought the Spendor A7's for my room had I realised the effect room modes and nulls would have. That 40hz mode is a killer though. Extremely powerful and not easily tamed.

These little 906's look to be the ideal speaker for a modest British lounge especially if complimented by a pair of subwoofers!
 

daftcombo

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Thats the issue most people don't realise.
Your room is an extension of your speakers (your room IS a speaker in effect) and people buy speakers without doing enough research on how it will interact in your room.

I would never have bought the Spendor A7's for my room had I realised the effect room modes and nulls would have. That 40hz mode is a killer though. Extremely powerful and not easily tamed.

These little 906's look to be the ideal speaker for a modest British lounge especially if complimented by a pair of subwoofers!
I have two pairs of Aria 906. One at my place, in the corners of the living room, and the room is excited. One at my father's, on a table far from walls, in a bigger room; there is no audible room mode problem and the sound is extremely clean.
 

Sparky

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I see Richer Sounds has them in at £650 with a 6 year warranty. Not too bad for such a lovely set of speakers... :cool:
 

daftcombo

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I see Richer Sounds has them in at £650 with a 6 year warranty. Not too bad for such a lovely set of speakers... :cool:
They can be bought in France for 420 € during sales. You should ask a friend in France to buy and send them to you. Or come and grab them here!
 

Sparky

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They can be bought in France for 420 € during sales. You should ask a friend in France to buy and send them to you. Or come and grab them here!

I bit the bullet and bought a pair of these direct from France. Got them from "Homecinesolutions".
After postage and sales tax, I paid £560 which is a bargain in my eyes.
It will be interesting to see how they stack up against my Spendors! :)
 

Sparky

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I hope you enjoy them!

Me too! I think they will work better in my room as my towers go too low in bass response for them to be suitable.
I think this is where most people make their first mistake in audio. People tend to buy the biggest and best they can buy yet they don't consider the room they will be placed in.
I would love a pair of Kanta's or Utopia's but they would overpower the room and excite every room mode in existence! :D
They would look good though....:cool:
 

Chromatischism

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Don't worry about that: the "Dark Walnut" finish on 906s is nothing but vinyl!;)

But, there's also some "Prime Walnut" finish, which is claimed to be real wood:
I'm a fan of the walnut veneer, but I can only find the dark walnut for sale. It's nice, but I think the regular walnut really sets off the look:

1600401859970.png

1600401984741.png
 

Beave

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All of those pictures above show variations of the same finish, the dark walnut finish. The other walnut finish, prime walnut, is much lighter, and the striping of the grain goes vertical, not horizontal.

I think the darker walnut came out first, then was replaced by the lighter walnut in the last year or two. Last year I saw several in the dark walnut in closeout sales.

Here is a pic of the lighter, prime walnut:
Focal Aria 906 prime walnut.jpg
 

Chromatischism

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All of those pictures above show variations of the same finish, the dark walnut finish. The other walnut finish, prime walnut, is much lighter, and the striping of the grain goes vertical, not horizontal.

I think the darker walnut came out first, then was replaced by the lighter walnut in the last year or two. Last year I saw several in the dark walnut in closeout sales.

Here is a pic of the lighter, prime walnut:
View attachment 83498
I'm not a fan of the vertical grain on that one. Different tastes and all that. I kind of wish the lighter walnut veneer was still available.
 

Beave

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I'm not a fan of the vertical grain on that one. Different tastes and all that. I kind of wish the lighter walnut veneer was still available.

That *is* the lighter walnut, which, as far as I know, is still available.

Do you mean you wish the darker walnut veneer was still available?
 

Chromatischism

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That *is* the lighter walnut, which, as far as I know, is still available.

Do you mean you wish the darker walnut veneer was still available?
No. The dark veneer and light vertical is all I see for sale. I'm saying that the pictures show there is a light veneer (horizontal grain) out there.
 

Beave

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No. The dark veneer and light vertical is all I see for sale. I'm saying that the pictures show there is a light veneer (horizontal grain) out there.

Not that I know of. I think you're just seeing variations in picture lighting along with variations in the veneer.
 

Chromatischism

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Not that I know of. I think you're just seeing variations in picture lighting along with variations in the veneer.
I'm a photographer and I'm 99.9% sure the variations above are not due to lighting. Have to logically leave 0.1%, but I'm seeing different finishes. You can't get that kind of color out of the dark walnut just by shining more light on it.
 

lc155

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Ok I am in France and the actual price from cobra_dot_fr is 600 EUR. I bought a pair 3 weeks ago.
Connected to Topping D70&D50->Rotel-04. Previous pair of speakers KEF iQ30.
Well, impressions are mixed, definitely they are not worth 2000 USD, 600 is the right price point and yes they are exactly in the same league as KEF 350 but different. It feels that they lack treble, it is not that detailed and brilliant as with KEF, midrange is comparable, bass is better than iq30. They sound slightly better with D50 because of its glassy Sabre treble but there is still something wrong with them, the sound is dull vs iQ30, even with treble boosted in the amp, so frankly speaking I should have tried KEF R3 but it is impossible is the part of France I live in, you either buy or read the forums. By the way KEFs were too bright with D50 and meaningfully better with D70 (seems that D70 should be bought with brighter "steeler" speakers).

Makes sense if you think they lack treble, since the 'smoothness' described as the sound of these speakers is due to the gradual roll off up the frequency response visible from the graphs.
 

Chromatischism

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Focal Aria seems to be a more "muscle-y" sound than Revel. More meat and fewer flashlights in your face. You heard that here first. Maybe I should try my hand at Hi-Fi reviews.
 
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