Need help from hifi anonymous to not buy Focal Aria 948

[Helicopter]

I have 948s. You won't go wrong with them in a decent sized room. They are really incredible in delivering undistorted bass on piano, organ, and cello, which all sound much closer to real instruments than anything else I have tried. And you need something that matches your other Focals.

I am scheming on a Hypex amp to drive them better. My 845 tube amp absolutely can't handle the load. My Loxjie A30 does better than one might expect, but there is some room for improvement. You will probably be fine with the Denon, but a powerhouse amp will be a worthwhile upgrade for them. They are sensitive but also difficult, so you need current delivery.

 

[Helicopter]

Thanks!
My living room is just about 30m2 with high ceiling (up to 4,5m) with open corridor in addition. I plan to built a house in the near future with larger living room, perhaps 50m2. However, with my music taste and listening habits, I doubt I will need more then the 926 arias for my future living room.

My room with 948s is 50m². I am sure 30m² or 80m² would be great too, but I bet 50m² is near the sweet spot.

 

[eriksson]

Sorry about late reply gentlemen, I had rather difficult and unusual week.

I have 948s. You won't go wrong with them in a decent sized room. They are really incredible in delivering undistorted bass on piano, organ, and cello, which all sound much closer to real instruments than anything else I have tried. And you need something that matches your other Focals.

I am scheming on a Hypex amp to drive them better. My 845 tube amp absolutely can't handle the load. My Loxjie A30 does better than one might expect, but there is some room for improvement. You will probably be fine with the Denon, but a powerhouse amp will be a worthwhile upgrade for them. They are sensitive but also difficult, so you need current delivery.

Thanks!
Since I have been eyeballing the 948 for months, I have read just about every review I can find using several search engines and even resorting to google translate in several cases. It seems they leave serious impact on some reviewers matching what you describe, given enough room and amp.

And yes, I want something that "matches" the tonality of my existing Focals. I am not much of a rock and roll guy, and much of my listening involves the instruments you mention. That's perhaps the reason I like my 926 so much.

 

[Galleon]

Sorry about late reply gentlemen, I had rather difficult and unusual week.


Thanks!
Since I have been eyeballing the 948 for months, I have read just about every review I can find using several search engines and even resorting to google translate in several cases. It seems they leave serious impact on some reviewers matching what you describe, given enough room and amp.

And yes, I want something that "matches" the tonality of my existing Focals. I am not much of a rock and roll guy, and much of my listening involves the instruments you mention. That's perhaps the reason I like my 926 so much.

I liked the Focal 926 and bought a pair, then I got the 948, and then the 906 and a CC900.
Now I have a complete 9 channel Aria setup, with SR800 atmos speakers. The Aria range are the nicest speakers I have ever heard for everyday, all day listening and movies. I use Audio-gd C1 Master monoblocks (250W) for the front 948, Rotel RMB1585 (200Wx5) for the 926, 906 and cc900, and Rotel RM1552mk2 for atmos. I also have SVS SB2000 Subs x 2 for movie Low Frequency Effects channel.

 

[BaaM]

I had the 948 for a few months...
If you need decent sub-bass and impact, please forget them, be aware that the trebles are really special, some like it, other don't. They are great for classical/jazz and very bad for rock/metal/electronic music.
If you have to pay more than 800e/speaker, then It's way too expensive for what it does.

Enjoy

 

[Astrozombie]

I guess I don't really know what the next tier is with speakers that are $6K $12K Towers?

 

[Helicopter]

I guess I don't really know what the next tier is with speakers that are $6K $12K Towers?

Next tier is beryllium tweeters like Focal Kanta or Revel F328Be.

 

[restorer-john]

Just buy the speakers. Then you can stop thinking about them and start listening to the damn things.

 

[TchErNoB]

I have the 936 and recently got a Naim xs3 to go with it (tried the musical fidelity, it was awesome for unplugged music but I mostly listen to rock / metal so it was a bit too harsh)
I've listen to the 946 but not with the same amp and their impact seems a bigger you can see that you could turn the volume up and up and up. But yes you'll need a big room cause all this energy need space to fill.
Also felt that high mid and bass where nicely balanced, more than 936

 

[Rja4000]

I won't help you going away from 948, since I own a pair.
I also have a pair of 906 in another room.
I like them very much, use them with a miniDSP Dirac and Musical Fidelity MP6PRX.

 

[eriksson]

The plot thickens.
Surprisingly a used pair of Focal Aria 948 is for sale locally for about 70% of the price of new. I am trying to dislike the color and keep telling me I don't want them because the color doesn't match my existing speakers.

Something tells me haggling might be in my near future.
First world problems - I kinda like them!

 

[Helicopter]

The plot thickens.
Surprisingly a used pair of Focal Aria 948 is for sale locally for about 70% of the price of new. I am trying to dislike the color and keep telling me I don't want them because the color doesn't match my existing speakers.

Something tells me haggling might be in my near future.
First world problems - I kinda like them!

These have been under $4k a pair from World Wide Stereo a couple times in the last year. They sell out. If I were going to sell mine (I won't.) I would probably ask $3k-$3200.

 

[eriksson]

These have been under $4k a pair from World Wide Stereo a couple times in the last year. They sell out. If I were going to sell mine (I won't.) I would probably ask $3k-$3200.

The seller is asking ~$2700, I am not too excited because I know I can haggle the price at the dealer for new pair (matching color to mine) down to $3200.

Not bad considering my local market is among the most expensive in the world. For example our Costco offers the lowest gas price in the country at $6 per gallon. Very unusual something is cheaper here than in the U.S.

However I think this seller is going to discover selling high end speakers is very difficult in our tiny marketplace, and his price will probably come down considerably in coming weeks. Few people know the Focal brand and those better off finacially are likely buying the latest Sonos or Apple gadget.

 

[WHO23]

Save for the next tier up as full-range system. What kind of sub do you have? Get another sub is what I'm probably going to say. Have you Mini-DSPed your sub? Do you have an external Amp yet?

I here too think that you should use the money on a subwoofer or an AVR with Dirac.

926 already goes down to 45Hz so you can already crossover at 60Hz without being able to localize the subwoofer. The 948 is 1dB more sensitive and has 1.4x more power handling, but that's only around 20% louder at max spl

 

[Snoopy]

How about getting a nice set of Focal Headphones and a good headphone amp instead?

 

[Helicopter]

How about getting a nice set of Focal Headphones and a good headphone amp instead?

You need the 948s first so you have a place to put the headphones.

 

[Snoopy]

You need the 948s first so you have a place to put the headphones.

View attachment 152851

This makes more sense than it should...

 

[steve59]

If you go to the focal homepage they describe the 948 for larger rooms with greater listening distances than the 926 as I believe is true with the kanta line and sopra. Speakers of a line are the same fidelity with woofers and cabinet sizes to fit different rooms.

 

[MarcT]

My room with 948s is 50m². I am sure 30m² or 80m² would be great too, but I bet 50m² is near the sweet spot.

My room, which is the family room, is around 30m2, but it is open to the breakfast nook and kitchen.

 

[Lailka]

Because of black Friday deal, I can get a pair of aria 948 for $1800 in France.

No reason not to buy them, I presume?