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Focal Speakers!

vintage 5.0

vintage 5.0

vintage 5.0
I was able to make a good deal and grab a pair of Focal Cobalt 816S speakers. Man I like them. I have not had any Focals before but I like a super clean bright and crisp speaker man these fit that bill I am running them with tube stuff and it really smooths them out. Was curious how others liked Focal?
 
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I have Focal speakers in my car. Their car speakers are the best I have heard. I spent a little time with their home speakers on a showroom one day and I was impressed. They seemed like a good value compared to some more expensive speakers in the same showroom. Only negative I would add was the ones I looked at were a little industrial looking...
 
I recently purchased a pair of Focal 806V at closeout from Music Direct. They are very musical and it has been a long time since a speaker has kept me up until very late. I have a closet full of other speakers but no interest in swapping out the Focal's.
 
I also recently bought some Focals through Music Direct and they have details like I've not heard before. Just spent about the last 2.5 hours listening to them.
 
I've had a pair of the Cobalt 806S for a few years. I've been meaning to hook them up to my tube amp, but never got around to it. They sounded very nice with the Adcom system I bought them for, although I found them a tiny bit bright. I can see how they'd be a good match for a warm-sounding amp. My tube amp isn't among the warmest out there.
 
I have had 816v floorstanders for a couple of years. They sounded incredibly better than the three or four others I listened to (which included B&W). Extremely clear, acurate sound - but still has a good mid. Mine work very well with a tube amp.

The 800 series is being discontinued - to be replaced by Focal's new flax-based speakers. The Music Direct deals are fantastic. I wish I could have gotten those prices back when I bought mine.

If I ever win the lottery I would move up to the Electra series in a heartbeat (or higher depending on the jackpot amount).:D
 
I have the 706v Chorus and the 908 Profile bookshelf speakers. Both are awesome performers for their respective prices. Very well balance and the 706v speakers don't seam to care where they are placed (like up against the wall), whereas the 908s like to be more out in the open. Excellent soundstage and imagining.

Wayner
 
To the Focal owners... I was looking at the Music Direct 806v speakers but was told that Focals can be a a bit "bright" sounding.

Do you guys find that the case at all?
 
SPL db said:
To the Focal owners... I was looking at the Music Direct 806v speakers but was told that Focals can be a a bit "bright" sounding.

Do you guys find that the case at all?
Click to expand...


No I do not find the 806V bright. I am not using much toe-in so the tweeters are not directly firing at my ears. I find the highs detailed and musical. I think the brightness complaints might have begun when the domes were made of titanium. I find the current alum/mag tweeters to be neutral.

I am using a Krell S-300i integrated amp. The combination is neutral detailed with great imaging. I can listen to my system for hours without listener fatigue. I think they are a great value.
 
Mine do not sound bright with the tube amp source. Mids are very nice. My word would be "clear".
 
I have an older pair of JM Labs, before they changed to Focal. They are the Tantal 509s and I like them much.

As for brightness, yes they are brighter than my Dynaudio Audience 42s and 82s but very fast and detailed. I tamed them a bit with Groneberg ICs between Player and receiver.

I am right now in the process of putting together a small bedroom system and am trying to decide between the 705v and the 706v depending on what I can fit nicely.

I will drive these new ones with an Onkyo TX-8050, which has tone controls if I need them. I generally do not use the ones I have.
 
I'd say they have plenty of upper extension and they aren't rolled off on the upper end at all, but I wouldn't call them bright. In comparison to Definitive Te hnology speakers over the last 10 years, the Def Techs are ABSOLUTELY brighter.
 
I'm the happy owner of a pair of JMLab/Focal 816's (the model right before the 816S) and I love them. Despite using them with Japanese solid state electronics (Integra), I don't find them bright at all. Resolving, yes. Detailed, yes. But not bright at all...compared to something like, f'rinstance, Monitor Audio.
 
Hyfi said:
I have an older pair of JM Labs, before they changed to Focal. They are the Tantal 509s and I like them much.
Click to expand...

First they were Focal . Started with only a few speakers and a lot of DIY proposals. French company. Their first, inverted tweeters had a kevlar dome.
In 1980 I started my first DIY project with Focal speakers (after several projects with KEF units). The so called Kit600. Had been two cabinets/housings. One for the bass driver, an Onken cabinet, and one for mid and tweeter - looking like an egg made of special fiberglass. Unfortumately this had been pretty expensive. Therefore I inquired Focal for a traditional housing, based on the Onken principal. And in fact I got a proposal which I realized. The result has been a box with a weight of exactly 50kg each. I still have today. Made with MDF (that's what it called in Germany), having a wall thickness of 38mm. Veneered with african wood, "Wenge".

After a few years Focal stopped giving away chassis for DIY and the got a new name, JMLab. But again after some years of being amongst the other sharks they decide to go back to their roots and renamed to Focal again.
 
Focals

I have a pair of original PSB alphas from the 90s. Grills are not removable. HK 3500 receiver and NAD 502 CD player. How much of an upgrade woul Focal 706 Vs be, and in what ways? Good sale at Music Direct and I am thinking of these or Epos Epic 2s.
 
As good as the PSBs are - and they're quite impressive for their price - they're still an entry level speaker...but a very good one. The Focal 700 series are a considerable step up. More power handling, more SPL, better integrated response...just pretty much better all around.

With Alphas, there's a point where "cranking it up" results in audible distress from the speakers...not likely to happen with the Focals.
 
Definitely a bit step up from the original Alphas to the 706s.

I have a pair of slightly modded PSB Image 2Bs which I'd consider to be a pretty big step up from the Alphas and I'd say the 706s are a decent step up from them.
 
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