Focal Solo6 Be Review (Studio Monitor)

[3125b]

The Solo6 ST was measured by S&R: https://www.soundandrecording.de/eq...-der-st6-serie-2-wege-nahfeldmonitor-im-test/
Impressive woofer, unimpressive tweeter, no fancy stuff like phase linearity etc.
Not too impressed for 2600€/pair, the KH150 are the better deal.

Oops, it‘s that thread all over again …
Well, I don‘t know if comparing the 5.25“ KH120II to the 6.5“ Solo6 makes all that much sense when the KH150 is much closer to it in price and size.

 

[dickiefunk]

I have the option to buy the Focal Solo6 ST6 at a price very close to the KH120’s and well over £1000 cheaper than the KH150’s. I will be using them in a studio for mixing.

 

[dfuller]

I have the option to buy the Focal Solo6 ST6 at a price very close to the KH120’s and well over £1000 cheaper than the KH150’s. I will be using them in a studio for mixing.

KH120 IIs are going to more than likely walk all over them.

 

[Pearljam5000]

KH120 IIs are going to more than likely walk all over them.

Probably
But judging from what I've heard (old KH120 and old Solo 6)
KH120 is flatter and more accurate
But Solo6 sound like a much bigger speaker with a ton more Bass

 

[heflys20]

KH120 IIs are going to more than likely walk all over them.

Yep, I'd just wait for the KH 120 II's personally. Heck, I'd wager they'd "walk all over" most speakers in their price range and slightly above.

 

[whitestardan]

I have a very newbie/rookie question about these. I'm a fan of the Focal sound and would like to have this for a combination home theater/music system. The room this would go in is 14.5 feet by 14 feet with a listening position about 9 feet away. My problem is I don't have $10-25K to spend on Focal Sopra or Utopia speakers. I know these are near field monitors, but would they still work effectively for what I'm thinking about or should I stay looking at passive home theater speakers?

 

[Ellebob]

Depends at what volume you listen? They have a similar sound, as the Sopra and Utopia bookshelves. If you like to listen loud then you need a bigger speaker if you listen at more moderate levels these will be fine.

There is no difference between nearfield monitors and home bookshelf speakers. The sound doesn't turn to garbage when you sit further. Nearfield is defined by two aspects. One, the sound is combined between all the drivers when sitting close. A tower speaker on your desk a half meter away one would hear the drivers closest to them and not the combined sound. Two, is volume level. At 3+m away a small bookshelf type speaker with a 6" woofer and a tweeter will not reac.h reference levels. However, many people in their homes don't listen anywhere near reference level and a smaller speaker works fine.

So, if you like loud then you need a bigger speaker. Something similar in design to this speaker whether a monitor or home bookshelf type regardless of price won't cut it. If your listening is more moderate than these will work. Many people have home theaters with smaller bookshelf speakers and smaller woofers. So if they play loud enough and you like their sound, go for it.

 

[urfaust]

I had the solo6 for a while, one of the best bookshelf ive heard, if not the best with a few culprits. Hiss was audible on a desk. They were getting hot indeed on a desk but that wasn't bother me much.
Highs were fantastic, i thought however the woofer crossover felt a bit low, leaving a tad too much to do for the tweeter which sounded amazing most of the time, if only a bit harsch/forward on some tracks but i trimmed it from the back at some point. Front port could be heard a bit at high volume but that was probably still better than a back port as i had them quite close to the wall.

Im willing to pick up the new versions reading all the improvements. Im just wondering for those who already have a pair if the hiss is still there?
By any chance if somebody has heard both versions, some comparisons would be fantastic to read of course.

Quoting myself, since then i not only got the ST6 but stepped up to the Twin ST6, paired with my sb4000 sub. Will possibly write some tidbits more in details later but to get this out right off the bat, they fixed all the little things i disliked and listed above with the solo. Only one remains, is the little pop after 10min or so of inactivity but you can choose to disable auto standby. Im amazed everyday with this set up so far the last 6 months. I reckon they might be a bit different (as in not just higher spl) than the new solos with their specific "2.5 way" design though.

 

[sliffy]

Hi all,
I am using my Solo6 on a desktop setup: laptop >> usb canle >> Ifi Neo idsd >> xlr cable >> Solo6.
I wonder if the system would be better with a better dac/preamp or separated dac- preamp? Does anybody have experience with preamps?
Thx...

 

[Mike8040]

I'm late again.
Like perhaps others, I enjoy analyzing and critiquing the speakers Amir measures.

Since I, like others, have certainly wondered about the very unsteady radiation in the range 4-8kHz, this time it should be more about the need for compromise in speaker design, than simply criticizing.
What were the designers thinking and did they think anything at all?

There are certainly, unfortunately, commercial speaker manufacturers where the driver placement is more or less random and even measurements up to +-90° are considered irrelevant.

But one should also not judge too hastily.

To show this, I have created a BEM simulation for the Solo6 and transferred the resulting frequency responses of the tweeter from +-180° to VCAD.

Of course, when the amateur developer (like me) looks at the design of the Solo6, he immediately knows everything better and notes that the woofer is vertically centered and the tweeter is arranged so that the distance to the top edge is exactly the same as the distance to the woofer surround.
My God, it's so obvious!
All we have to do is move the tweeter and woofer down two centimeters on the baffle and everything will be better!

Then let's see what happens (only tweeter frequency responses without any filter/crossover):

1. Sketch
2. on-axis FR, LW, SP, PIR, SPDI
View attachment 145046
3. Horizontal frequency response +-90°
4. Vertikal frequency response, normalized to on-axis FR, +-90°

View attachment 145045

Ohh, the amateur designer moved the problem area, at 5-6kHz, down so now the area around 3-4kHz is unsteady and also the frequency range around the crossover frequency (2-3kHz) fits less well
So the developers at Focal did have something in mind when it came to the driver positioning.


So there is no way to improve the design anymore?
Of course, only a listening test can judge whether a change leads to a sound improvement.
But one could, for example, move the woofer a bit further away from the tweeter and round off the upper baffle edge as well.
Then you get the following:
View attachment 145049
In the 3-4kHz range the axis frequency response (vertical too) worsens slightly (better not move the woofer after all?) and in the 2-3kHz range a bit more "sound energy" is radiated, but radiation is much more even overall and the 5-6kHz range is now inconspicuous.
The production of the speaker would be more costly.

Most of the time it is more complicated than it seems at first sight

Hey what tools did you use to simulate the speaker?

 

[srrxr71]

Hi all,
I am using my Solo6 on a desktop setup: laptop >> usb canle >> Ifi Neo idsd >> xlr cable >> Solo6.
I wonder if the system would be better with a better dac/preamp or separated dac- preamp? Does anybody have experience with preamps?
Thx...

I don’t see the value in going separated but i’m sure there are plenty of great Topping etc options these days. I doubt you’d need to spend more than about $300 to hit the best possible.

 

[srrxr71]

Depends at what volume you listen? They have a similar sound, as the Sopra and Utopia bookshelves. If you like to listen loud then you need a bigger speaker if you listen at more moderate levels these will be fine.

There is no difference between nearfield monitors and home bookshelf speakers. The sound doesn't turn to garbage when you sit further. Nearfield is defined by two aspects. One, the sound is combined between all the drivers when sitting close. A tower speaker on your desk a half meter away one would hear the drivers closest to them and not the combined sound. Two, is volume level. At 3+m away a small bookshelf type speaker with a 6" woofer and a tweeter will not reac.h reference levels. However, many people in their homes don't listen anywhere near reference level and a smaller speaker works fine.

So, if you like loud then you need a bigger speaker. Something similar in design to this speaker whether a monitor or home bookshelf type regardless of price won't cut it. If your listening is more moderate than these will work. Many people have home theaters with smaller bookshelf speakers and smaller woofers. So if they play loud enough and you like their sound, go for it.

My memory of them was that they got plenty loud for me. I haven’t heard the Sopra or Utopia but they really amazed me and served me well for years.