Focal SOLO6 ST6 Monitor Review

[Axo1989]

That Diablo Utopia has the 10X audiophile tax applied.

10x? Did they just go up to $15K?

 

[Zensō]

10x? Did they just go up to $15K?

That Diablo Utopia has the 10X 6.56597874X audiophile tax applied.

There, I fixed it for you.

 

[Axo1989]

That Diablo Utopia has the 10X 6.56597874X audiophile tax applied.

There, I fixed it for you.

I'm relieved, thank you.

I would have been devilishly happy with 6.66x really.

 

[Verig]

Obviously I'm not saying the Solos will sound as good as the Utopias but they seem pretty similar and price difference is insane

Older Diablo Utopias were 8k€/pair. Absolutely lovely build and sound. This EVO series is seriously stepping into realm of "just because someone pays".

I don't find the HF rise problematic. It will sound bright and revealing and you'll notice early when you're pushing your mix too far. I think this is better for the average listener who doesn't have very hi-fi speakers or headphones. Sure, it has a character but it looks nice and does double duty as living room hi-fi and monitor (+ hot HF and lo-fi reference.) That mid/woofer turning into fullrange is a neat trick.

 

[TheBatsEar]

They are available in Germany for 1300€ inclusive VAT, so a lot cheaper than in the US.
Here is another pic:

Thanks to Focal for sending the specimen, they are very cool!
My vote is "Fine".

 

[beagleman]

$3,200.....($1,600 each)..Not sure why, but just see a speaker of this size, be it powered or not, being more in the $800-1000 (EACH) at most range.


I am not sure it is that "Special" to cost this much. Hence no great rating from me.

 

[Spocko]

Again made in France doesn’t mean anything special. The KEF LS50 and R Series are made in china but yet has amazing build quality than many European made speakers.

No differently, Genelec speakers are made in Finland under the strictest standards of (1) great wages & working conditions and (3) transparent sustainability manufacturing practices. Engineering and performance is only one factor for their expense the other half is the cost of labor when you employees well. So when buying Genelec speakers, you make a conscious decision to pay more not just for performance but for everything that this company represents as an employer.

 

[Pearljam5000]

No differently, Genelec speakers are made in Finland under the strictest standards of (1) great wages & working conditions and (3) transparent sustainability manufacturing practices. Engineering and performance is only one factor for their expense the other half is the cost of labor when you employees well. So when buying Genelec speakers, you make a conscious decision to pay more not just for performance but for everything that this company represents as an employer.

True
But if there was an option for a Genelec made in China for half price some would choose it , not because they're douchbags , but because they can't afford it otherwise

 

[Spocko]

$3,200.....($1,600 each)..Not sure why, but just see a speaker of this size, be it powered or not, being more in the $800-1000 (EACH) at most range.


I am not sure it is that "Special" to cost this much. Hence no great rating from me.

It's "Special" to the degree that being made in France means higher labor and manfucturing costs - if they were made in China you can cut at least 30% off the price. This is not a judgement on performance but rather Focal's decision to support their national economy. They may also have affordable consumer level speakers that are made in China, just not this one.

 

[Spocko]

True
But if there was an option for a Genelec made in China for half price some would choose it , not because they're douchbags , but because they can't afford it otherwise

Agreed, but this company has deliberately avoided the "Golden Handcuffs". Remember that once you move production to China, then suddenly your sales volume increases, then suddenly margins go up, then suddenly you spend all that additional revenue on hiring more sales and middle management (or buy yourself fancy cars and yachts) and then the temptation to move ALL PRODUCTION to China is very compelling because your CFO is mad with success as he stares at the numbers on his spreadsheet.

 

[GXAlan]

OK, folks, let's move on from where things are built...

May I suggest a master thread for country of manufacture? Feels likes it’s something people like talking about but also a flashpoint topic.

 

[GXAlan]

What do you mean by "unique" sound ? Can you explain your more precisely and objectively what differences does it make ?

The inverted tweeters have a distinct dispersion, with the Be being different than the on-Be.

 

[dogmamann]

No differently, Genelec speakers are made in Finland under the strictest standards of (1) great wages & working conditions and (3) transparent sustainability manufacturing practices. Engineering and performance is only one factor for their expense the other half is the cost of labor when you employees well. So when buying Genelec speakers, you make a conscious decision to pay more not just for performance but for everything that this company represents as an employer.

So brands like Kef who has major manufacturing in china - do you think, they do not provide any of these unlike genelec? I do not think so, kef factory in china must be paying good enough according to their brand standards.

 

[TheBatsEar]

So brands like Kef who has major manufacturing in china - do you think, they do not provide any of these unlike genelec? I do not think so, kef factory in china must be paying good enough according to their brand standards.

Genelec is transparent with that information, call them, they will tell you.
KEF is owned by the Chinese investment firm Gold Peak Technology Group Limited, maybe they are as transparent. Only one way to find out.

 

[Spocko]

So brands like Kef who has major manufacturing in china - do you think, they do not provide any of these unlike genelec? I do not think so, kef factory in china must be paying good enough according to their brand standards.

When you outsource to a third party manufacturer, you have no control, insight or supervision over their employment activities - that's the whole point of outsourcing. Apple has gotten in trouble many times because its Chinese contract manufacturers utilized abusive employment practices. So if Apple can't control its contract manufacturers, there is very little hope Kef can do any better. However, if Kef owns its manufacturing facilities in China and is the actual employer of record there, then of course it can raise standards but that is very unlikely and would defeat the purpose of "moving manufacturing to China". So to address your assumption that kef provides the same sort of benefits to its Chinese workers as Genelec, I can confidently tell you NO.

 

[Tovarich007]

Kef is not anymore a british brand, but a chinese one since many years. It is Kef which is owned by a chinese group, and not Kef which outsources to a chinese subcontractor. So the situation is not the same as Apple, it's the contrary.

By the way, the built quality and performances of Kef speakers have not at all been reduced since the chinese takeover, their standard is kept very high, even better than when they were made in England by the original british firm.

So, no generalization should be done as for chinese brands or outsourced products. You can get the better, the worse and everything in between. Kef is obviuosly among the best.

And in the end, please everybody ! let's go back to the only subject of this thread : the Focal ST6. This is not a place for "evening bar or party talks" about chinese factories or the usual "blabla" that can be read on mass market press or the internet.

 

[Spocko]

Kef is not anymore a british brand, but a chinese one since many years. It is Kef which is owned by a chinese group, and not Kef which outsources to a chinese subcontractor. So the situation is not the same as Apple, it's the contrary.

By the way, the built quality and performances of Kef speakers have not at all been reduced since the chinese takeover, their standard is kept very high, even better than when they were made in England by the original british firm.

So, no generalization should be done as for chinese brands or outsourced products. You can get the better, the worse and everything in between. Kef is obviuosly among the best.

And in the end, please everybody ! let's go back to the only subject of this thread : the Focal ST6. This is not a place for "evening bar or party talks" about chinese factories or the usual "blabla" that can be read on mass market press or the internet.

Actually, my original comment is relelvant to the subject of this thread as it was in response to comments about the high cost of the Focal ST6 as a result of its production in France (cost of employment practices in France is higher than China, this is a fact that's salient to the speaker) and my comments had nothing to do with engineering or speaker quality of China made products.

 

[fineMen]

For me the speaker in question is a #mealso thing. The potential of the activation isn't fully realized. In short, for the cost of ownership it leans towards 'poor'.

This is a technical comment comparing the Focal to an ideally flat/neutral speaker, that actually doesn't exist. IF the necessary deviations from ideal as seen here are actively made compromises or some 'sounding', I can't tell.

ps: the looks is consistent, some quite well engineered visual design, but not my cup of milk

 

[kolestonin]

We judge companies for taking their business to China for monetary reasons, but we also want them to stay home for monetary(local economy and community support) reasons.
We are worried about our cities and villages being deserted, but we don't care about cities abroad being flourished.
We think working 40h/week in a factory and being dependent on a salary(literally thanking our bosses for making millions out of our labor) is a good thing for a french guy, but for a reason we don't want the same thing for a chinese guy.

This is all capitalism ethics planted to us since we were kids, uncritically adoption of stereotypes and indisputable truths, and of course unintentional and low level nationalism and racism.

I believe there is nothing ethical nor good we need to support and encourage in doing a thing you don't like for 8h/day just to pay your rent(literally survive cause the alternative is the street), following instructions of persons you have not chosen and appreciate, without having an opinion in the manufacturing process and final product outcome and of course without sharing the profit from it's sale.
And this does not change no matter the product is produced in China, France or Mars. Making a conversation under an ethical prism for something that is by default unethical makes no sense for me.

And again, I am not moving the finger to anyone. I live in a capitalistic society, work for a capitalistic company, and own a close to 5000euros sound system produced by capitalistic companies exploiting human labor. I am not proud of all that nor finding a reason to praise any of their practices though.

I love Focal products, personally bought and returned speakers of current review but this patriotic(sic) marketing, that dropped to my attention way later, could even be a deal breaker for me. No bad or offensive intentions from my side cause I am sure most of the comments came from some really great guys who after all had proved themselves way more than me for their ethics and community spirit. Just wanted to share my opinion and give some food for eventually different thought on the matter.

Speakers were looking gorgeous, were built like tanks, and sounded great having some impressive bass for their size and getting really loud without a trace of distortion. But I wouldn't have paid more than 2000euros for them. They were also getting very hot which was something I personally did not like and tolerate. My current system is a hypex nc252 power amp, a topping pre90 pre amp and a pair of KEF R3 Meta's which cost me a bit more(3600euros) than the Solo's but it's by far superior in my personal opinion and liking especially in terms of clarity, imaging and room filing factor(focals are of course nearfield monitors). And I also think that with a basic research one can find better active or passive options for 3200 euros.

 

[Maiky76]

This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Focal ST6 SOLO6 powered studio monitor/speaker. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $1,599 each.
View attachment 293907
This generation of SOLO6 looks gorgeous especially in this market where a lot of speakers are utilitarian. It would look just as good in a studio as it would in an executive office! The enclosure is extremely solid and heavy for its size, adding to feeling of value and luxury. Back side shows the controls and connectivity you have:
View attachment 293911
Note that the speaker is analog (no DSP). As such, while I attempted to set the EQ controls to center, there can be variations from other samples or from flat response (by small amount at least). Nice set of screw mounts allows easy mounting to ceiling and such for spatial audio/Dolby Atmos applications.

Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than an anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.

I performed over 1000 measurement which resulted in error rate of about 1%. Reference axis is approximately the center of the tweeter.

I have run the measurements you are about to see by the company and there is general agreement around them.

Focal SOLO6 ST6 Measurements
Let's start with our standard anechoic frequency response measurements: [actual measurement level = 86 dBSPL]
View attachment 293913

While the response is broadly flat a peak around 60 Hz stands out. There is also extra off-axis energy kicking in from 3 to 8 kHz or so. That extra energy naturally impacts our off-axis measurements:
View attachment 293912

Combined the two deviations stand out in the predicted in-room response for far-field listening:
View attachment 293915

Near-field, non-anechoic measurement of the radiating components shows excellent control of resonances from the port/cabinet, but there is some from the woofer:
View attachment 293916

That may be the reason for the few resonances we see in the waterfall:
View attachment 293917

Something I have experienced in other Focal speakers is nice control of distortion which is reflected here as well:
View attachment 293918

View attachment 293919

At 86 dB the level of distortion rivals large tower speakers!

Horizontal directivity plots show the increased off axis response in treble region:
View attachment 293920
View attachment 293921

Due to shallower waveguide, you do benefit from wider beam width which enlarges the sweet spot/region.

Vertical directivity is typical of 2-way non-coaxial response which means it is best to stay at tweeter axis:
View attachment 293922

Finally, here is the step response:
View attachment 293923

Focal ST6 SOLO6 Listening Tests and Equalization
On first playback, I was impressed by the dynamics and level of bass, in addition to clean sound. I could have lived with the speaker as is but thought I should play with EQ to see if I can improve on it:
View attachment 293924

Pulling down the 60 Hz hump resulted in "tighter" bass but then it was a bit light in that department and the highs stood out more. I dialed in the dip for the highs and that helped but still too much of a trade off. So I added the third filter in upper bass to fill that region. With all three there, I liked the sound better. Clarity was improved and vocals came more to the forefront. But I could see someone liking the stock sound as well given the small amount of adjustment here.

I could detect no distortion even after the clipping light came on. On that note, the above EQ postponed the onset of the light by a bit, getting me more volume. I could only detect some muddiness starting to set in as the clipping light was more on than off. Playing music with extreme sub-bass resulted in playback of such with mild amount of distortion. Many speakers either don't play these notes or severely distort them.

With the EQ in there, I could sit there and enjoy the speaker for hours.

Conclusions
The new generation of SOLO6 is gorgeous to look at and sports some nice engineering in the form of very low distortion, likely due to design of drivers in-house. Large port with right absorption internally means that you don't have the usual problem of resonance coming out the front. There is some extra off-axis response which was also there in previous generation but I think exaggerated a bit here. Seems like the company has compensated by allowing more bass enhancement through the port. I can see that as one solution or deploying the EQ as I quickly designed.

I should note that the company reached out to me to test this speaker which speaks volume to their level of transparency and confidence in the design.

Overall, I like the Focal SOLO6 ST6 and I am going to put it on my recommended list.

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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Here is my take on the EQ.

Please report your findings, positive or negative!

The following EQs are “anechoic” EQs to get the speaker right before room integration. If you able to implement these EQs you must add EQ at LF for room integration, that is usually not optional… see hints there: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...helf-speaker-review.11144/page-26#post-800725

The raw data with corrected ER and PIR:

Score no EQ: 4.6
With Sub: 6.6


Spinorama with no EQ:

• Pretty good
• When are going to make decent WG?
• Probably not suited for far field

Directivity:

Better stay at tweeter height
Horizontally, better toe-in the speakers by 10/20deg and have the axis crossing in front of the listening location, might help dosing the upper range.

EQ design:

I have generated two EQs. The APO config files are attached.

• The first one, labelled, LW is targeted at making the LW flat
• The second, labelled Score, starts with the first one and adds the score as an optimization variable.
• The EQs are designed in the context of regular stereo use i.e. domestic environment, no warranty is provided for a near field use in a studio environment although the LW might be better suited for this purpose.

Score EQ LW: 5.5
with sub: 7.5

Score EQ Score: 6.3
with sub: 8.2

Focal Solo6 ST6 APO EQ LW 96000Hz
July172023-175131

Preamp: -0.9 dB

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 64.11,    -2.75,    2.32
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 159.78,    0.63,    1.23
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 623.26,    -1.63,    2.49
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1191.00,    -1.07,    3.10
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 1933.87,    -0.90,    3.89
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 3869.21,    -0.99,    3.39
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 6043.59,    -2.48,    4.03
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 7591.85,    -2.46,    4.86
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 10777.67,    1.11,    1.50

Focal Solo6 ST6 APO EQ Score 96000Hz
July172023-175131

Preamp: -0.5 dB

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 63.72,    -2.93,    2.76
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 163.16,    0.54,    1.58
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 588.21,    -1.50,    2.00
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1249.33,    -1.09,    2.12
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 2327.18,    -0.65,    4.82
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 3909.71,    -1.76,    2.64
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 6096.81,    -2.90,    2.69
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 7903.43,    -2.61,    2.90
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 16259.30,    0.52,    3.23

Spinorama EQ LW

Spinorama EQ Score

Zoom PIR-LW-ON

Regression - Tonal

Radar no EQ vs EQ score
Nice improvements

The rest of the plots is attached.