Need help from hifi anonymous to not buy Focal Aria 948

[bodhi]

My plan is to try a different amplifier, if this is not working then I will be sending them back and looking for speakers with non-metal tweters.

I have a better plan for you. Spend a few hours reading ASR before spending any more money.

 

[anarchist]

I have a better plan for you. Spend a few hours reading ASR before spending any more money.

I did, but there are far more sales pitches and small talks than actually useful information.

 

[bodhi]

I did, but there are far more sales pitches and small talks than actually useful information.

So, you didn't pick up anything about fixing the speakers by changing the amp? What about the stuff with metal tweeters having piercing sound? DAC filters being audible? Nonsense.

The measurements of 936 seem to be very nice, nothing suggesting piercing highs or mids.

Now, it's completely fine if you are not fond of neutral sound. As the Focals are already nice speakers the best solution would be to EQ them to your liking which in this case means boosting the bass, probably a lot. Now you have your warm sound and if in the future you end up liking neutral sound you just remove the EQ and you are again fine.

 

[anarchist]

So, you didn't pick up anything about fixing the speakers by changing the amp? What about the stuff with metal tweeters having piercing sound? DAC filters being audible? Nonsense.

The measurements of 936 seem to be very nice, nothing suggesting piercing highs or mids.

Now, it's completely fine if you are not fond of neutral sound. As the Focals are already nice speakers the best solution would be to EQ them to your liking which in this case means boosting the bass, probably a lot. Now you have your warm sound and if in the future you end up liking neutral sound you just remove the EQ and you are again fine.

If you cannot hear DAC filter changes on Yammy 3080 - that's solely your hearing and your speakers problem, could be also your music selection. I couldn't also before I tried Arias, I guess that's sole benefit of metal tweeters, they seem more resolving, or may be Arias just have a better tweeter, they do cost twice what I paid for my Jamos, something must be better in them besides sensitivity.
I don't use EQs in general, my system must sound well in direct pure mode, I feel the whole thing about those Dirac, Odyssey etc. is just a load of marketing BS, which is plenty on most AV forums, including this one.
As to changing amp, I will try it solely to eliminate possibility of defective power amplifier section in my receiver, don't have high hopes for it, since my REW measurements look just fine. This is not going to cost me anything, since I just plan to borrow friend's Sony receiver.

There are plenty of people complaining about Focals being too bright, there are also "measurements" which support this, for ex.:

 

[Snoopy]

I'm not really sure how in the year 2023 someone in this forum of all places could have the opinion that EQ and Dirac etc are bullshit.

And I'm not saying a system shouldn't sound good without all that stuff... Obviously the better your room treatment and speaker placement is the better will be the results with EQ, Dirac ... But DIRAC or room perfect is a entire different thing from what ypao was 10 years ago.

 

[anarchist]

I'm not really sure how in the year 2023 someone in this forum of all places could have the opinion that EQ and Dirac etc are bullshit.

And I'm not saying a system shouldn't sound good without all that stuff... Obviously the better your room treatment and speaker placement is the better will be the results with EQ, Dirac ... But DIRAC or room perfect is a entire different thing from what ypao was 10 years ago.

Well, may be BS is too strong word, but let's say overrated . They might work for movies, for HIFI stereo in my personal experience they make things worse, and any EQ circuit inevitably adds distortions, which may not be discernible in movies, but can be heard easily on many decent stereo recordings.

 

[fpitas]

Very often there is no distinct EQ circuit. Correction is done in software.

 

[anarchist]

Very often there is no distinct EQ circuit. Correction is done in software.

And the software needs hardware to run on, which is EQ circuit of some form.

 

[fpitas]

And the software needs hardware to run on, which is EQ circuit of some form.

The data is already digitized in many cases, was my point.

 

[Chazz6]

There are plenty of people complaining about Focals being too bright

Some people report the speakers are on the bright side. I've seen few if any reports that the Aria 906 is too bright. They were fine for me before I had an RME ADI-2 FS DAC that lets you apply EQ curves. Then I rolled off the treble, and they were even better.

 

[anarchist]

Just to update on my issue with brightness: I tried my friend's Sony AN1000 receiver with my 936s, wow what a difference! Most of harshness/brightness and sibilance is gone and sound stage expanded to like almost whole room (around 400 sq. ft)!
The only thing I see negative is bass is reduced, likely due to this Sony is a bit under-powered for Arias.

Looks like my Yamaha A3080 is fuc..ed in some way, will be replacing it likely with Sony ES series since I liked sound signature so much. Too bad Sony doesn't have discrete subwoofer outputs.

 

[fallawayjay]

I was planning to keep the 926 and use them with the 948 in multi channel stereo and as surround speakers. The 948 Arias I am considering are new in the box, but have been sitting in storage for few years I guess.

So what are you waiting for, jump to it, those speakers would be the bomb.