AE Radiance 2 or Focal Aria 906 or Tannoy Precision 6.2

[rainsoothe]

I say go for CA CXN for streamer/dac/preamp, with either XTZ 99.26 mk II or them Aria 906. I don't like Tannoy with CA, but feel free to audition.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_10203552373284939]

How's about the focal 816 VW? Maybe the best of both with the 'w' series drivers?

 

[Philim]

I wouldn't have a k2 or 3 if you paid me personally....I thought it was a terrible amp.

 

[bigfish786]

If you are open to buying second hand, I can recommend leema amps to power the focals. A brill match imo.

 

[antakar]

I have similar room 25m.

I am considering to buy Yamaha 2050 or marantz 7010.

The speakers will have to be close to the walls. About 3-5cm away from the wall in the rear and about 15 cm in the front.
I would like to eventually have 5.1 setup. Where sub would be SVS SB-1000.

I am considering below speakers:
Tannoy Revolution XT 6 - down-ported. Can be pretty close to the walls.
KEF Q300B - but i dont like the styling...or rather my wife is not a fan.
Focal Aria 906 - these hit all my ticks but one. I have read in one of the reviews that thay have to be at least 30cm from the walls to sound correctly.

Regarding Aria, is here an owner who has these speakers close to the walls that could share his/her opinion?

What do you think of my selection?
Are there any other choices i should consider?

 

[antakar]

I had a chance to listen to:
Focal Aria 906
KEF Q300
Tannoy Revolution XT 6
B&W 686 S2

Tannoy was a great disappointment - the sound was like coming from a speaker which has been covered by thick duvet. This is regarding all levels of sound - flat, absent. Not exciting at all. Twitter though was really nice.

KEF's were a big surprise, i could bet the subwoofer was connected, it wasnt. The stage was full from bottom till almost the end.
The bass was present strong, sometimes too much of it, always "under control" - no surprises(good thing). I could feel the rumble in the belly. Really good mids.
Space, the sound wasnt omnipresent, it wasnt filling the room entirely. It was there but not fully.
The twitter, well, nothing special, and kind of the lack of it just didnt fit to the rest of the great sounds coming from that speaker.
So really good but, missing the highs.

B&W 686 S2
Wonderful speakers. I would place them between KEF Q300 and Focal Aria 906.
Great bass, under control at all times, spacious sound, vocals were great. Twitter was also doing great job, better than KEFs but less exciting than Focals.

Focal's - the best speakers i have heard so far.
Full scene, sound filling the room so tightly it would be difficult to stick a sheet of paper into the gaps.
Bass, can run out of control at times. I think it could be down to the room. Initially the speaker was about 15cm from the back wall.
I moved it to be about 35cm away - but that didnt change anything.
Bass was very pleasent. I think the boominess can be tuned up.
This is especially with the addition of a subwoofer which i intend to buy.
Wonderful mids - voices like on a live stage.
Twitter was working hard to please me and it succeeded.

All tested on Yamaha 3050.
All tested in stereo without prior calibration, on vanilla AV settings.
All speakers were about 15cm from the back wall, and then moved 30-35cm away from wall.

At the moment i am more towards Aria, this is because i cant really say anything off about them. Maybe bass was a bit..well, boomy. But i think i could correct that with a sub or DSP.

If it would be about the budget, i would say B&W would win. They wouldn't be far behind Focals.
I also prefer the wood veneer of the Focals, i try to avoid black obelisks in the living room.

I hope this small, my first, review will help someone to at least make some pre-selection of what to listen during the demo in the shops. The choice is truly huge.

 

[expat_mike]

I do love voices and piano on the Focals!

I bought some focal Aria 936s over Christmas, and I also think they do voices and piano well. I am impressed with the bass as well.

Both driven by a Yamaha RX-A1020, so I do sometimes wonder just how good they could be with a dedicated stereo amp.