I doubt what I am hearing as muffled is the same thing happening in yours. This is a pretty stark difference though if I hadn’t heard the aria a/b I would have been happy with it and never thought it was possible. I suspect it is either something about the less than ideal room or perhaps a bad sample from Kef. but now that I have heard the difference going back is not really an option.
Been thinking about a better mic but haven’t committed to it yet. Knowing me, I’ll probably order something tomorrow
Well, I sound like a broken record if you've read my past comments, but it sounds like a classic matter of directivity preference. The Aria, if they measure anything like the 906 and 936, are very wide directivity speakers, while the KEFs are relatively narrow. The Aria will sound bigger and vocals probably sound clearer. It is the expected result based on directivity characteristics.
On the other hand, the kef may sound sharper and more focused. The fact that you said classical music made the speakers sound closer reaffirms my belief this preference is directivity related, as classical recordings include more spatial information in the recording itself rather than relying on room reflections to create a sense of space, helping the KEFs feel less spatially compressed. Add to that the Focals tend to have a little more energyaround 6-10kHz and it's not surprise the focal sounds more detailed to you. Did you try EQ?
Directivity is partially a matter of preference, partially a matter of your room acoustics.