Focal Aria 906 Speaker Review

[damirj79]

I really like the look of the UBR62, thank you. Only ever owned two way bookshelf speakers so would be interesting to see how a three way design benefits the presentation,. And it has the front port design too. Do you have any experience with it by any chance?
In the UK where I am both the UBR62 and the Aria 906 are roughly £750. Perhaps an audition is in order if I find a dealer with both models available.

I considered at that time Elac's also, I read all reviewes, but only read, because I could not find any shops around me that would have Elacs available to demo. But I could listen to Focals and I was sold, the sound is how I like it, I only miss a little deeper bass, but Elac UBR62 is worse in this regard. Below is response graph (black is Focal, green is Elac) )don't take it as a proffesional comparison) and Elac looks like it has lower sensivity of few dBs also some issues lower part of frequency range. Focal are having some other issues in upper part of spectrum, but that is where our ears are more sensistive. Focals also do reach few Hz lower. Maybe. Hard to make real judgements just from pictures. Maybe some other who has demoed both can say more.

 

[delta76]

UK is not in EU any more so the prices got higher. If you import from FR there are import taxes to add to the listing price.

It actually depends on the retailers. The correct way to do it is to adjust prices according to the shipping address and declare customs so the amount you pay at check out is the final amount (Amazon for example is very good at this). Another way is that they do not charge VAT at check out, you will have to pay import fees + VAT for the courier. That means more cost for you but not by much.

Of course some retailers don't care and still charge you full VAT without any declaration and you will have to pay import fees and VAT on that price. The only retailer I know of, is actually from UK (Niche which produces Niche Zero, a coffee grinder)

 

[chingaling]

I just grabbed a pair of these, stopped in the local stereo store out of boredom and they were on sale for $998 USD. They had to bring them over from the warehouse so I stopped back the next week to pick them up (today) and they realized all 10 boxes shown in inventory were marked wrong and they didn't have them new in the box so I wound up getting an open box pair for $850.
I'm not complaining, a big step up from the B&W 685 S2's I've been listening to the past year or so.

 

[chingaling]

Dude sells parts to a certain community. EQ in the digital realm doesn't pay:

You know, what you said to him was my exact thought when I was watching that video. And guess what, I'm running them straight into my MiniDSP SHD and running Dirac live for room correction and PEQ.
I'm glad there are other like minded people here.

 

[delta76]

I just grabbed a pair of these, stopped in the local stereo store out of boredom and they were on sale for $998 USD. They had to bring them over from the warehouse so I stopped back the next week to pick them up (today) and they realized all 10 boxes shown in inventory were marked wrong and they didn't have them new in the box so I wound up getting an open box pair for $850.
I'm not complaining, a big step up from the B&W 685 S2's I've been listening to the past year or so.

Congrats - and happy to hear that you liked it much better than your B&W. As an user, and somewhat a fan of Focal, it's always great to hear we are winning!

 

[chingaling]

Congrats - and happy to hear that you liked it much better than your B&W. As an user, and somewhat a fan of Focal, it's always great to hear we are winning!

Now that I think back maybe three years ago I do remember demoing some floorstanders, focal and B&W and one pair stood out my favorite among 4 pairs of speakers. After some googling I believe they were the Focal Aria K2 936 Limited Edition. I can just remember A B-ing them with my eyes closed and going no, clearly this one is the winner to me. They were the cheapest priced ones on the floor at the time too which then gave me a complex because cheap is not suppose to be better, right? lol

​

 

[wje]

Now that I think back maybe three years ago I do remember demoing some floorstanders, focal and B&W and one pair stood out my favorite among 4 pairs of speakers. After some googling I believe they were the Focal Aria K2 936 Limited Edition. I can just remember A B-ing them with my eyes closed and going no, clearly this one is the winner to me. They were the cheapest priced ones on the floor at the time too which then gave me a complex because cheap is not suppose to be better, right? lol

​

The "K2" version has those lovely yellow woofers, right? I never heard the K2 version of the 936, but did hear the anniversary version of the 1038BE, I believe. I wasn't a fan of the yellow woofers in the event I'd want to use the speakers with the grills off.

 

[chingaling]

The "K2" version has those lovely yellow woofers, right? I never heard the K2 version of the 936, but did hear the anniversary version of the 1038BE, I believe. I wasn't a fan of the yellow woofers in the event I'd want to use the speakers with the grills off.

Yes it does have the yellow drivers

 

[delta76]

Now that I think back maybe three years ago I do remember demoing some floorstanders, focal and B&W and one pair stood out my favorite among 4 pairs of speakers. After some googling I believe they were the Focal Aria K2 936 Limited Edition. I can just remember A B-ing them with my eyes closed and going no, clearly this one is the winner to me. They were the cheapest priced ones on the floor at the time too which then gave me a complex because cheap is not suppose to be better, right? lol

​

If you are in the US, and you realize how much cheaper Focal aria is in France, here, your jaw.

Speakers are quite cheap to make. Even the "higher end" one. Mark up, transport and storage , and marketing cost are pretty insane

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

If you are in the US, and you realize how much cheaper Focal aria is in France, here, your jaw.

Haha, I know, right?
Though ever since COVID, I feel the really good deals have gotten very rare indeed. Merchants must be struggling.

 

[chingaling]

Haha, I know, right?
Though ever since COVID, I feel the really good deals have gotten very rare indeed. Merchants must be struggling.

Pretty true. Not many discounts and deals being thrown around the past couple years. I think $850 for an open box pair is a pretty good deal here in the states. All documentation and box included.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

Pretty true. Not many discounts and deals being thrown around the past couple years. I think $850 for an open box pair is a pretty good deal here in the states. All documentation and box included.

Focal sems to be crazy expensive in the US, so I think you snagged a nice deal, aye.
To put it into perspective: converted to Euro, you paid 10% less than EU-MSRP, when the normal US price seems to be almost 2x the EU-MSRP.

 

[chingaling]

Focal sems to be crazy expensive in the US, so I think you snagged a nice deal, aye.
To put it into perspective: converted to Euro, you paid 10% less than EU-MSRP, when the normal US price seems to be almost 2x the EU-MSRP.

Well that’s reassuring. Honestly the only piece of gear I bought new and paid full MSRP for was the Minidsp. If I recall correctly it was $1199 when I bought it 3yrs ago.

 

[sniegs]

There have been way better deals from HCS. Like 420€ for 906s and 198€ for S900s (what I personally paid for these great stands).

Better wait a few weeks for Winter Sales to start.

What is HCS?

 

[VintageFlanker]

What is HCS?

Maybe read the post that I was answered to, to get any kind of the context...

 

[sniegs]

Maybe read the post that I was answered to, to get any kind of the context...

Your answer is longer than the explanation.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Your answer is longer than the explanation.

Perhaps... Did you figure it out?

 

[sniegs]

Perhaps... Did you figure it out?

I'm starting to think it's short for homecinesolutions.fr. I had written to this store today and am waiting for a reply regarding the discount and taxes.

 

[delta76]

I'm starting to think it's short for homecinesolutions.fr. I had written to this store today and am waiting for a reply regarding the discount and taxes.

Yes. I haven't bought anything from them yet (mostly due to shipping cost and warranty concerns) but i am very fond of them. If you are interested in France made audio equipment, like Focal, they should be in your watch list.

Note that they have confidential prices (special price on selected items), and quotes. Remember to take advantage of those for best prices

 

[sniegs]

Yes. I haven't bought anything from them yet (mostly due to shipping cost and warranty concerns) but i am very fond of them. If you are interested in France made audio equipment, like Focal, they should be in your watch list.

Note that they have confidential prices (special price on selected items), and quotes. Remember to take advantage of those for best prices

Thanks for help!

I bought one today at a special confidential price that was so good I nearly fell off my chair. In reality, all these speakers in the store are overpriced by 2-3 times, so the cheapest and best option will always be DIY if the requirements are high, but I don't have such high requirements.

And also, I've read elsewhere that these speakers will sound good with time, the manufacturer also recommends it, so maybe many people sell new ones because they think they don't sound good or they bought them at half price and now they're making money, including without paying VAT. I don't know, just a guess.