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Focal Aria 906 Speaker Review

Ucftechguru

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I waited for this one so long, @amirm !:)

This is absolute Bang for the buck when you consider these are made local and the ridiculous price Focal asks for it (in France)

Still love mine. In fact, I subjectively prefered my 906s to Kef R3s in my room. Here are my In-Room captures:

View attachment 68908

I recently did a shootout in my home with the Focal Arias and KEF R300’s and your graph shows what my ears were hearing subjectively. At first, I much preferred the KEFs, but as I sampled different music and movies, I noticed what I liked was that it had better low end bass and the Arias lacked that. But once I blended in my subwoofer, they sounded very similar. I ended up returning the KEFs because I preferred the look of the Arias and the sound was so similar minus the low end which was better in the KEFs. Plus the KEFs are noticeably larger which means they take up more space and more expensive to boot. Both are good speakers and if you don’t have a sub or want that extra bass, go with the KEFs. The Arias worked better for me and fit my room decor much better.

Full disclosure, I did try to find a room for the KEFs outside my theater room (in a room w/o a subwoofer) because I liked them
so much, but they were too big to fit on my bookshelf and too big for my office.
 

daftcombo

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I recently did a shootout in my home with the Focal Arias and KEF R300’s and your graph shows what my ears were hearing subjectively. At first, I much preferred the KEFs, but as I sampled different music and movies, I noticed what I liked was that it had better low end bass and the Arias lacked that. But once I blended in my subwoofer, they sounded very similar. I ended up returning the KEFs because I preferred the look of the Arias and the sound was so similar minus the low end which was better in the KEFs. Plus the KEFs are noticeably larger which means they take up more space and more expensive to boot. Both are good speakers and if you don’t have a sub or want that extra bass, go with the KEFs. The Arias worked better for me and fit my room decor much better.

Full disclosure, I did try to find a room for the KEFs outside my theater room (in a room w/o a subwoofer) because I liked them
so much, but they were too big to fit on my bookshelf and too big for my office.
Which sub do you use the Arias with, and what crossover frequency and slopes did you choose?
 

Ucftechguru

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Which sub do you use the Arias with, and what crossover frequency and slopes did you choose?

I have a Seaton Submersive HP sub. I ran my tests with just the speakers in stereo for both music and movies; then the speakers with the sub and the speakers set to Large and Small in my Denon x3300’s receiver settings. I didn’t adjust any more than that. The bass and better low end was noticeable pretty much across the board with the KEF R300s until I set them to small and had the subwoofer going. But the high end didn’t seem to be better nor more open or transparent.
 

Xyrium

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I wonder how the Evo 4.2 measures whatsoever.;)

Agree, I love compact 3 ways, and I'd ditch my current setup if I could find one that did well (Edit: $2k and under). I've been considering and reconsidering Murph's BMR kit for that reason, and that would be a nice shootout: BMR vs 4.2

Of course, comparing the 2 way Focal to such isn't exactly an equal match. I'd expect a band-passed mid in a 3 way to perform even cleaner in the midrange. I still really admire the 906 though, great product.
 
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superczar

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Long time fan of KEFs ...​
Recently spotted a deal on Focals (926) at a really good price point (although nowhere as good as in the EU) and couldn’t resist it​
I find them less precise (or more laidback ) vs a comparable KEF but they are surely nicer to listen to.​
My use case for these was to replace a set of ageing floorstanders that were typically used to play music in the family room while everybody goes about their business.​
I don’t listen to my music sitting in a sweet spot or with my eyes closed trying to create a phantom recreation.. but surely would have preferred the replacements to perform well if I chose to.​
Glad to state that they perform extremely well on both aspects.​
 

Sparky

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These 906's have really peaked my interest especially at these prices (in Europe).
I own a pair of Spendor A7 floorstanding speakers which I paid £2.8k for but they're just too boomy in my modest British home.

A pair of these would be great as I could use my two subs to handle the low end very nicely and pocket the cash in selling the Spendors.

Judging by the review, they would suit my 28 metre squared room very well.

Would I be foolish getting rid of the Spendors for these speakers that cost a tenth of the price? :oops:
 

daftcombo

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These 906's have really peaked my interest especially at these prices (in Europe).
I own a pair of Spendor A7 floorstanding speakers which I paid £2.8k for but they're just too boomy in my modest British home.

A pair of these would be great as I could use my two subs to handle the low end very nicely and pocket the cash in selling the Spendors.

Judging by the review, they would suit my 28 metre squared room very well.

Would I be foolish getting rid of the Spendors for these speakers that cost a tenth of the price? :oops:
I got rid of 1.899 € Epos K3 for them.
 
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Sparky

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I got rid of 1.899 € Epos K3 for them.
Wow! Really? What was it about your Epos that you disliked? It's crazy that we spend so much money on speakers when such a relatively cheap pair will do an equal if not better job.... :(
 
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Chromatischism

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In this case the speaker gets out of breath at 100Hertz up to 140Hz. A sub would have to overtake the workload up to that high, in order to make the little one keep pace.
As crossovers aren't a hard stop, a subwoofer crossed at only 80 Hz is merely 24 dB down at 160 Hz, so it is still contributing quite a bit and there would be some benefit.
 

daftcombo

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Wow! Really? What was it about your Epos that you disliked? It's crazy that we spend so much money on speakers when such a relatively cheap pair will do an equal if not better job.... :(
Harsh treble, impossible to correct by EQ due to poor directivity (I tried everything). Cymbals were scratching my ears and violins were annoying too.
Bass was deeper and stronger but it excited my room modes too much anyway. At low SPL there is not a lot of difference.
 

BYRTT

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Now you ask :) KM1 and 104 had a few times sounded great to my ears but admit those cases was some year ago..

maty_1.PNG
 

superczar

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quite a few over the years.
q35, iq 5 , q300 and a short stint with a r3
i still have the iq5 and the q300 in active duty.
love their house sound - but the focals are just a teeny bit nicer
 

Sparky

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Harsh treble, impossible to correct by EQ due to poor directivity (I tried everything). Cymbals were scratching my ears and violins were annoying too.
Bass was deeper and stronger but it excited my room modes too much anyway. At low SPL there is not a lot of difference.

I've read the link you posted about the Revel Vs Focal. Very very interesting.
I think, looking at the data, that the Focal would suit my room better as I can't position them perfectly as I'll have a wall near the right speaker (about 30cm).

I have a lot of thinking to do. My speakers cost a ton of cash and I'm fighting with myself over selling them and losing so much money in the process! They are too much for the room though. They activate a room mode at 40hz which even Anthem Room Correction struggles with. I use two subs though that I EQ with a minidsp and I've got them both flat from 15hz and they would work perfect with a pair of bookshelves like the Focals.
 

Chromatischism

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I think, looking at the data, that the Focal would suit my room better as I can't position them perfectly as I'll have a wall near the right speaker (about 30cm).
The Revels have less directivity error so they should be more room friendly. Meaning, the wall reflections will better match the direct sound. They do look a little more energetic in the treble though, so if you are looking for speakers that are easier to listen to, maybe the Arias are it.

What speakers do you currently have?
 

Sparky

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The Revels have less directivity error so they should be more room friendly. Meaning, the wall reflections will better match the direct sound. They do look a little more energetic in the treble though, so if you are looking for speakers that are easier to listen to, maybe the Arias are it.

What speakers do you currently have?

Ah, I misread (or misunderstood) the meaning of directivity. :facepalm:
I currently use a pair of Spendor A7's but they can go quite low and its been an issue from the start. My Anthem preamp can deal with it bit it's not the point. I don't want to have to EQ the bejesus out of my speakers really.
 

daftcombo

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Ah, I misread (or misunderstood) the meaning of directivity. :facepalm:
I currently use a pair of Spendor A7's but they can go quite low and its been an issue from the start. My Anthem preamp can deal with it bit it's not the point. I don't want to have to EQ the bejesus out of my speakers really.
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.
 
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