Focal Aria floorstander owners?

[mba7601]

Interesting video (using google translate). Probably more interesting is the comments as he seems to respond to almost every comment. The question is probably can we expect any different at this price range? He didn't speak favorably of the Dali Opticon 8 or Warfdale Elysian 4 either, from what I can gather from auto-translate.

 

[Tatr76]

I've now had my 926's for a while and my comments would be .... right song, right volume they're absolutely amazing ... although their mid / lows could be a lot better.

Turn them down for background music at low volume and you may as well have a £20 bluetooth speaker playing instead.
I was running them in a quiet multiroom setting tonight, the other speakers were Elac B5.2's with a sub in a room with the worst acoustic setting you could possibly imagine and yet they completely smashed the Focals out of the park making them sound really cheap and tinny.

Just interested to hear other's comments, time has gone by, their detail / seperation is incredible but they are quite bright and their low volume performance I find seriously lacking.

You could argue they need to run with a sub ............. err .... hang on for a second, I'm spending nearly £2000 on a pair of speakers and I need to then buy a sub because they can't do the job?

I just picked up some 926 floorstanders, black Friday only £1200 new so took a punt unheard. Using as additional system in 18 to 20 m2. Not finding bass that lacking but found to be a little fussy on placement from wall. Did add an svs sb-1000 pro, not the biggest of subs, I was not using which does add something for sure but happy running without.

 

[Head_Unit]

Focal assumes the use of a sub with the Aria series, imo.

Well, depends what "use of a sub" means. The big 936 is ported to 40 Hz, good enough for most-all music. Organ pipes, synth EDM, movie effect = subwoofer needed. Smaller bookshelf speakers, eh, subwoofer needed to go really low or powerful, it's just physics. I was surprised the CC900 is also ported down at 40 Hz however the output from that is not going to be rock concert level...

 

[MarcT]

Well, depends what "use of a sub" means. The big 936 is ported to 40 Hz, good enough for most-all music. Organ pipes, synth EDM, movie effect = subwoofer needed. Smaller bookshelf speakers, eh, subwoofer needed to go really low or powerful, it's just physics. I was surprised the CC900 is also ported down at 40 Hz however the output from that is not going to be rock concert level...

Interesting. I thought I had seen response graphs that indicate their response really starts sloping off at around 100 Hz.

 

[Head_Unit]

Interesting. I thought I had seen response graphs that indicate their response really starts sloping off at around 100 Hz.

Heh the 936 is like 4' tall, so no. Now in some room/placement, it's sure possible. One of ours is in a corner, run a bass sweep and you can hear the level go up and down a lot. Thank goodness for Audyssey (and now ARC Genesis). Now if you meant the CC900, it's smaller so possible it rolls off higher even though the port tuning is low.

 

[MarcT]

Heh the 936 is like 4' tall, so no. Now in some room/placement, it's sure possible. One of ours is in a corner, run a bass sweep and you can hear the level go up and down a lot. Thank goodness for Audyssey (and now ARC Genesis). Now if you meant the CC900, it's smaller so possible it rolls off higher even though the port tuning is low.

Well, it appears that the 936 does have some deep bass extension, but that is mostly due to the ports below around 60 or 70 Hz. And there will apparently be excessive upper bass energy in smaller rooms, per Stereophile measurements and commentary. This may not be the best for people who are not into room correction and want a "place and play" sort of speaker.

Focal Aria 936 loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 4: Measurements

www.stereophile.com

This review of the 936 K2(which is a very similar design to the 936) includes measurements that I think I saw in the past regarding the less than expected bass results for a speaker of this size. He feels that Focal intended the use of a sub. But the reviewer raved about the high frequency performance.

FOCAL ARIA K2 936 LIMITED EDITION LOUDSPEAKER REVIEW - HomeTheaterHifi.com

The Focal Aria K2 936 Limited Edition loudspeakers are some of the very best home theater speakers I’ve ever heard.

hometheaterhifi.com

 

[chips666]

Hello,
This might be a simple question but no info found about this
Do you guys waterlevel your Aria floorstanders (936) or tilt them backwards ?
My soundstage image sits to low
It might be the TV in between ?

Thanks in advance
Enjoy...

 

[Head_Unit]

This review of the 936 K2(which is a very similar design to the 936) includes measurements that I think I saw in the past regarding the less than expected bass results for a speaker of this size. https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews...ia-k2-936-limited-edition-loudspeaker-review/

Well while there are measurements, they are not anechoic or gated or anything so not comparable to say Stereophile's (though blessings for making measurements!!!) And actually that in-room measurement appears to show the bass quite strong down to like 35 Hz, contradicting the reviewer's bass complaints. Maybe the bumps up around 100 Hz overshadowed the low bass? We never felt a need for a subwoofer with music, we added the SB-2000 Pro for movies, though it adds a nice kind of firmness to the bottom even with music. And who doesn't like a firm bottom? (Well, maybe Spinal Tap )

 

[ash1980]

I am not sure if this is the correct thread to post this but I'm facing issues with configuring my Aria 936 towers with Anthem MRX 740 for both surround and stereo setup. I heard Dali Rubicon 5 , Dali Spektre 2 Bookshelfs and they sounded much more alive than my Aria 936 towers. The dali's were connected to a 10 year old Yamaha amp. We don't have much help available in this region so not sure how to proceed. I did have ARC configured by the person who installed the setup but my guess is he used multiple listening positions instead of a single. I have attached my Stereo 2.0 and Stereo 2.1 configurations below, along with some sample audio's as well.

Sample audio's:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1trq9hj1y1xwxyp/IMG_4661.MOV?dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k2crdgs0plor9y0/IMG_4662.MOV?dl=1

Would love to get some feedback and learn on how I can improve the sound.

 

[Head_Unit]

much more alive than my Aria 936 towers

We have those and while I would certainly not call them dull I would not label them as lively either. They are pretty neutral.
- I don't that ARC is really the answer to that. I used ARC Genesis in our AVM 70 just to set up. It's more about the bass. Now previously with a Denon AVR-X3600H I used the Audyssey App to dial in a wide gentle 1 dB boost in the upper mid which left us more satisfied.
- But more likely it could be the ROOM, can you post pictures of that? And maybe one from the position of your head, so we can see how the speakers are aligned (we had to severely cross-fire due to a reflective right-hand window and wall).

 

[ash1980]

We have those and while I would certainly not call them dull I would not label them as lively either. They are pretty neutral.
- I don't that ARC is really the answer to that. I used ARC Genesis in our AVM 70 just to set up. It's more about the bass. Now previously with a Denon AVR-X3600H I used the Audyssey App to dial in a wide gentle 1 dB boost in the upper mid which left us more satisfied.
- But more likely it could be the ROOM, can you post pictures of that? And maybe one from the position of your head, so we can see how the speakers are aligned (we had to severely cross-fire due to a reflective right-hand window and wall).

You can hear some samples + how the speakers are placed in the below videos:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1trq9hj1y1xwxyp/IMG_4661.MOV?dl=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/k2crdgs0plor9y0/IMG_4662.MOV?dl=1

For complete room, see this please:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/p27pjm1262b43f6/Room.mp4?dl=1

 

[Head_Unit]

For complete room, see this please:

A video! Ah, genius! I've somehow lost track of the sound complaint, though I'd note the existing speakers are small, and the center speaker I'd move up to the front edge of the cabinet. Wait...I don't see any 936???

 

[ash1980]

A video! Ah, genius! I've somehow lost track of the sound complaint, though I'd note the existing speakers are small, and the center speaker I'd move up to the front edge of the cabinet. Wait...I don't see any 936???

Lol. Sorry, I uploaded the initial empty room video.

This is the complete setup.

Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0q8v33www4aglxz/Room Setup.MOV?dl=1

 

[Witterings]

Has anyone heard the 926's and 936's side by side and can decribe any differences in sound / characteristics .... is it just about more base extension or do they generally sound richer / deeper and do they still have the same level of detail / clarity as the 926's?

One person at a dealers said the bass doesn't really sound any deeper but it's just more controlled with the 936's, don't know how valid that is.

 

[MarcT]

Has anyone heard the 926's and 936's side by side and can decribe any differences in sound / characteristics .... is it just about more base extension or do they generally sound richer / deeper and do they still have the same level of detail / clarity as the 926's?

One person at a dealers said the bass doesn't really sound any deeper but it's just more controlled with the 936's, don't know how valid that is.

That's a great question. Considering that the 936 is significantly larger and the price Focal is now charging for the 936, it better have deeper bass. A slight difference is not good enough, imo.

 

[anotherhobby]

Has anyone heard the 926's and 936's side by side and can decribe any differences in sound / characteristics .... is it just about more base extension or do they generally sound richer / deeper and do they still have the same level of detail / clarity as the 926's?

One person at a dealers said the bass doesn't really sound any deeper but it's just more controlled with the 936's, don't know how valid that is.

I auditioned the 926, 936, and 946's all side by side in a nicely treated show room for about 30 minutes. With budget to buy any of them, I chose the 936's. To me, the 936's had better quality bass and the tweeter/mid height from the ground are better for my use than the 926's. The 946's weren't as big of a performance jump and I prefer the look of the 936's driver array, which matters since I don't use grills. That said, you couldn't go wrong with any of them.

 

[ash1980]

I auditioned the 926, 936, and 946's all side by side in a nicely treated show room for about 30 minutes. With budget to buy any of them, I chose the 936's. To me, the 936's had better quality bass and the tweeter/mid height from the ground are better for my use than the 926's. The 946's weren't as big of a performance jump and I prefer the look of the 936's driver array, which matters since I don't use grills. That said, you couldn't go wrong with any of them.

What are you using as your electronics?

 

[anotherhobby]

What are you using as your electronics?

I have a Denon AVR-X4300H, with an 80 Hz crossover and a pair of JL Audio e112's.

 

[hifi72]

I've now had my 926's for a while and my comments would be .... right song, right volume they're absolutely amazing ... although their mid / lows could be a lot better.

Turn them down for background music at low volume and you may as well have a £20 bluetooth speaker playing instead.
I was running them in a quiet multiroom setting tonight, the other speakers were Elac B5.2's with a sub in a room with the worst acoustic setting you could possibly imagine and yet they completely smashed the Focals out of the park making them sound really cheap and tinny.

Just interested to hear other's comments, time has gone by, their detail / seperation is incredible but they are quite bright and their low volume performance I find seriously lacking.

You could argue they need to run with a sub ............. err .... hang on for a second, I'm spending nearly £2000 on a pair of speakers and I need to then buy a sub because they can't do the job?

This has been my experience with them as well, moved on the Lintons.

 

[ash1980]

I'm returning my MRX740 , wasn't happy with the sound at all. I have aria 936's towers (CC900 center and 906 bookshelf for surround). I got a chance to connect 15 year old Marantz (SR5040) with them and the sound was very amazing and much better than the 740. I am now deliberating between SR 6015 + Parasound A23+ combination OR Marantz SR 8015. Any recommendations?