Focal Solo6 Be Review (Studio Monitor)

[Jim Matthews]

I have got to stop reading these reviews.
Two more sets of two ways that I want, and that's just this week.

I'm intrigued by Focal's decision to put analog amps in these.

The rapid pace of DAC development makes that a sensible choice.

I loved me some Focal Polyglass, back in the day...

 

[Somafunk]

My krk’s hiss from the tweeter as well, at 2” from the tweeter in a room with background of 24db I register 41db which is noticeable when seated at the desk but it doesn’t bother me as it is not audible when playing music.
Think I may have just got my head turned by a glowing review of the focals but sensibler thoughts still point me to the LYD 48’s, and possibly the 9s or 18s matching sub if I decide I need it. A mate wants the krk monitors and sub as a 2.1 system.

 

[richard12511]

The Genelec/Neumann thing is based on worshiping a single number, the preference score.

I don't think this is true. If anything I'd say the opposite is true. I think most of us see the score is a silly metric most of us just like to have fun with, but don't take too seriously. You brought up the 708p. The 708p is (imo) a great example of why the score needs to be taken with a grain of salt. It scores low(based on PIR), but most of us agree that it is a near SOTA monitor for the price. The reason many like Genelec/Neumann is because they generally have SOTA frequency response, directivity, and distortion performance for the price. Imo it has very little to do with the preference score.

If they were as good as you think everyone else would be out of business by now.

This is a silly argument, and you know it . Objective performance has very little correlation with market adoption. Marketing has a much larger effect. Plus, there are many other brands out there that are just as good(Revel, KEF, D&D, Kii, MEG)

We get it, you hate Genelec and Neumann because too many people pointed out how good they are for your liking . You don't need to repeat it in every thread in which they get brought up. Revel gets brought up just as much, and I don't see you in those threads complaining about it. The reason Revel, Genelec, Neumann get brought up all the time is because they generally show the best performance(nothing to do with Olive score) at any given price point. It's only natural that when a really good review (like this) shows up, people will want to compare it against the other great monitors in the class. The reason Genelec got brought up here is because it does some things better and some things worse than this monitor. It's a logical comparison.

PS. I do think KEF probably doesn't get talked about enough. Their directivity and FR is often even better than Revel. A lot of that may be Amir's somewhat negative subjective impression.

 

[richard12511]

A cool experiment would be to have someone design a waveguide for such a tweeter that we could tape on and off on the speaker and judge the difference. There are some challenges with this as far as diffraction and such but if we get close, it would be a very cool experiment.

I agree.

 

[Ron Texas]

@richard12511 I don't hate any gear. The problem with Genelec and Neumann is they run out of gas when loud unless one spends a ton of money on the big ones. Maybe you need to clean house, and the cobwebs too. I don't think the sales argument is silly at all.

Genelec worship is silly, IMO.

 

[Sancus]

I'd love to see the Trio6Be reviewed after seeing this one. While the sub-bass distortion performance is great, 100-500hz isn't as good. It would be cool to see what Focal can accomplish with a 3-way especially considering that probably also improves directivity matching quite a bit.

 

[AnalogSteph]

The rapid pace of DAC development makes that a sensible choice.

Rapid pace? DACs and ADCs with a dynamic range approaching or even exceeding 120 dB have been reasonably common for over 10 years now, more like 15+... the first ones date from the late '90s. They rarely seem to be made for less than about 6-7 years, and some popular models have made it to downright biblical lifecycles... AK5394A came out in 2002 and was EOL'd in late 2018 or so (together with its predessor AK4393 released early 1999), the PCM1804 (Nov 2001) of EMU 1820 fame is still active along with PCM4202 (2003) and PCM4220 (2006), the CS4272 codec (2003) is still active (although the DAC-only CS4392 (2000) of similar specs has recently moved to NRND and is likely to be gone soon), and so is the CS4398 of same vintage. ES9016 (2009) was still used in new devices last year.

Compared to the wild times of the 1990s, this is all fairly chill.

 

[AudioJester]

Genelec worship is silly, IMO.

As is any gear worship, LS50 included.....

 

[ROOSKIE]

Without a home division Genelec and Neumann do have to make all profits in one division and therefore have no way to share R&D costs.
I do wish they would entertain some expansion Into home audio.
The one thing we do know about Harman is they actually blind test their speakers.

As is any gear worship, LS50 included.....

Gear worship is cool in my book as long as it is understood that like worshiping anything is just part of a road to loveing something and seeing gorgeousness.
Gotta love your gear and find it beautiful, otherwise what is the point. Duty? No way.
Genelec, Neumann, JBL, KEF all artists who have highly refinded their craft. Kudos people, we have sick options.

 

[Ron Texas]

As is any gear worship, LS50 included.....

I don't worship my LS50's, or anything else. You appear to be implying that I do. Don't put words in my mouth.

 

[dfuller]

I'm intrigued by Focal's decision to put analog amps in these.

The rapid pace of DAC development makes that a sensible choice.

These are a relatively old design (earliest review I can find is nearly 15 years ago) when DSP crossovers and class D amps were nowhere near as good as they are today.

I'd love to see the Trio6Be reviewed after seeing this one. While the sub-bass distortion performance is great, 100-500hz isn't as good. It would be cool to see what Focal can accomplish with a 3-way especially considering that probably also improves directivity matching quite a bit.

Me as well, on top of that the Trio11 Be (by Sound And Recording's measures, anyway) gets absolutely monstrously loud without severe distortion - 110dB/1m or so for 3% THD even into sub-bass. So, at normal person listening levels, that means no notable misbehavior at all.

 

[Billy Budapest]

It looks like the woofer is physically made out of white noise.

They also have a glass bead coated design of woofer construction where molten glass beads are set on/into the cone material and it is very stiff. Then there is the "W" process of a Glass/Foam/Glass layered composite which is what the reviewed speaker uses. It's a foam core sandwiched between two thin woven-glass tissues.

Here is a factory tour video showing Focal making their W speaker cones. The funny “static” pattern on them is a purely decorative layer painted on the Rohacell with no acoustic purpose at all. See from 4:10-4:20:

 

[AudioJester]

Edit: No point spoiling a great review thread

 

[dfuller]

Here is a factory tour video showing Focal making their W speaker cones. The funny pattern on them is a purely decorative layer painted on the Rohacel with no acoustic purpose at all. See from 2:10-2:20:

Focal does make drivers with glass beads embedded on paper, though - it's called the Polyglass cone.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Focal does make drivers with glass beads embedded on paper, though - it's called the Polyglass cone.

Sure, but that’s not what I am talking about—I am talking about the W cone used in the speaker under review.

 

[dfuller]

Not what I am talking about—Ivam talking about the W cone used in the speaker under review.

Yes, I'm aware. The way I'm reading it, it looks as though you misunderstood what @Doodski said.

 

[Billy Budapest]

Yes, I'm aware. The way I'm reading it, it looks as though you misunderstood what @Doodski said.

No, I understood it. I am talking about the W cones mentioned by @Doodski and contained in the monitor under review. I do not understand how some other speaker cone material not involved in this review is relevant.

 

[Helicopter]

Fire is required.

Or sandpaper, a file, grinding wheel.

I would have zero concern about Beryllium tweeters and child safety.

Probably relatively safe (compared to small particles or a solution) in a similar way to lead paint chips to eat, i.e., look scary on an x-ray, but I bet kids just crap them out without absorbing much.

Very dangerous would be if sanding and grinding materials were allowed to dry.

Virtually all the risk is inhalation.

 

[ReaderZ]

Focal monitor‘s NA price is a joke. I would buy them if I am in EU, but in NA, I feel I get a lot more with Neumann or Genelec.

 

[amirm]

Focal monitor‘s NA price is a joke. I would buy them if I am in EU, but in NA, I feel I get a lot more with Neumann or Genelec.

What is the price in EU?