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Focal Aria 906 Speaker Review

thewas

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Beave

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Interesting how different his verdict is compared to Amir's one.

It is. But I bet a lot can be explained by different room, different music, longer listening times, and maybe younger ears.
 

VintageFlanker

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It is. But I bet a lot can be explained by different room, different music, longer listening times, and maybe younger ears.
I'm actually younger than Erin, and yet disagree with his subjective verdict. Anyway, it looks like somewhat a different speaker to me. Like if Focal has made a few changes, IDK...
Focal Aria 906 Bookshelf Stand mount speaker spinorama CEA2034 frequency response measurements...png
CEA2034 -- Focal Aria 906.png
Focal Aria 906 Bookshelf Stand mount speaker spinorama CEA2034 Predicted In-room Response  fre...png
Estimated In-Room Response (1).png
 

Rja4000

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Interesting how different his verdict is compared to Amir's one.
And compared to my own experience as well, I should say.

I own a pair of those and I'm actually very happy with them.

Sure, they don't do deep bass at high volume.
They are not meant for that either.
But that's pretty common for this type of speakers.

And I have some comparison points, yes.
 
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Aerith Gainsborough

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In EU, Banana plugs are not usable anymore with 906 (the hole is literally filled). On mine, nor many pairs I saw recently, you couldn't use bananas.
Hmm, the plugs were a pain to remove (knife is mandatory) but I use Bananas on my Arias.
I think I bought them in uuuh... before Covid, 2019? Sheesh that long ago already. :X

Guess I had one of them 2018 production batches.
 

Beave

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I'm actually younger than Erin, and yet disagree with his subjective verdict. Anyway, it looks like somewhat a different speaker to me. Like if Focal has made a few changes, IDK...

Yeah, there are some subtle but perhaps important differences in the measurements. Makes one wonder if it's setup related, simple speaker-to-speaker variation, or if Focal made some small changes. I don't know.
 

delta76

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In EU, Banana plugs are not usable anymore with 906 (the hole is literally filled). On mine, nor many pairs I saw recently, you couldn't use bananas.
when did you buy/see it? Mine was bought 1 year ago (not sure when it was produced) and yes I can use the banana plugs. I need to pull out the plastic "plug" but that's it
 

thewas

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Yeah, there are some subtle but perhaps important differences in the measurements. Makes one wonder if it's setup related, simple speaker-to-speaker variation, or if Focal made some small changes. I don't know.
Or maybe even different vertical measurement axis?
 

VintageFlanker

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you need to unscrew the top first (not sure what it is called), and then it can be easily removed. I used one of this but it can be done without

71S2IlnkHeL._AC_SX679_.jpg
Ok, that's very kind of you, but... do you really think that I didn't try already?...:p
I'm perfectly familiar with hard to remove pins/caps. I'm indeed talking about impossible to remove ones.
Caps were litteraly glued-in with mine. Not that I care much today, I sold them like 3 years ago. ;)
 

delta76

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Ok, that's very kind of you, but... do you really think that I didn't try already?...:p

Caps were litteraly glued-in with mine. Not that I care much today, I sold them like 3 years ago. ;)
maybe it was a production error? Removed all mine 10 (5x speakers) without problem :)
can't live without banana plugs these days :)
 

Beave

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Or maybe even different vertical measurement axis?

They both appear to be right on the tweeter axis (as judged by their plots of vertical off-axis response).

One thing I do notice that is different is the impedance in the bass. Each has different wiggles there, but the main thing I notice is that Amir's shows the two impedance peaks for the bass tuning are 19 Ohms and 20 Ohms. Erin's sample shows the two impedance peaks to be about 29 Ohms and 20 Ohms. Some changes to the woofers maybe? Or different stuffing/bracing in the cabinets?
 

VintageFlanker

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maybe it was a production error?
Or this was simply done on purpose. From the French manual:
Branchements
Les connecteurs des Aria 900 assurent des contacts fiables et polyvalents, pour câbles dénudés (jusqu’à 4 mm de
diamètre) ou des fourches. Les bornes bananes sont obstruées pour être en conformité avec les normes électriques et de raccordement en vigueur dans certains pays. Ne pas retirer les opercules en plastique.
 

delta76

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For this reason, throughout the European Union, audio amplifiers and loudspeakers that accept banana plugs must have plastic plugs in their sockets which can be manually removed by the user.

so it is a requirement in EU at least, but the plugs can be removed. (I had same plugs in my AVR that needed removal)
 

GXAlan

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I had the Vestia and removing the plugs was very painful.

It’s interesting that a production change could result in such a difference. I loved the Cobalt line and the original Electra Be and 2nd gen Utopia Be. The Vestia was a disappointment to me.
 

wje

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Looks like the 906 is being marketed as a "Closeout" item by many vendors. Since it has been a speaker around since 2014, I can imagine Focal is looking to refresh the product. Similar to the Chorus, which went on sale with no announcement of a replacement - until the Theva came in to replace it, a similar situation might be happening with the 906.

I'm seeing the 906, in the United States, for $998 in Noyer Walnut Vinyl finish. For the gloss black and prime walnut veneer, the price $1,318.
 
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