Help with a pair of Focal Aria 948 please

[hifikrazy]

FWIW. I feel a great Amp/Speaker combination encourage the exploration of other genres of music.

That is a very good point

 

[CnoEvil]

FWIW. I feel a great Amp/Speaker combination encourage the exploration of other genres of music.

That is a very good point

Do we make a good tag-team, or what! *diablo*

 

[hifikrazy]

FWIW. I feel a great Amp/Speaker combination encourage the exploration of other genres of music.

That is a very good point

Do we make a good tag-team, or what! *diablo*

Haha, and the classical jazz acoustic statement came out in exactly the same order *shok*

 

[unsleepable]

P.D @ Unsleepable: Nice to see You live in Seville too. Tried to PM you but couldn't find the utility in the web. Would have been awesome that you could had come to the listening session. *good*

Well, I'm from there but I haven't lived in Sevilla for many years now. I only get to go there to visit every now and then—I really need to work on a plan to go back to living in Andalucía. *scratch_one-s_head*

How are the new speakers coming along in your place? Did you get to try them already?

 

[Krorghar]

P.D @ Unsleepable: Nice to see You live in Seville too. Tried to PM you but couldn't find the utility in the web. Would have been awesome that you could had come to the listening session. *good*

Well, I'm from there but I haven't lived in Sevilla for many years now. I only get to go there to visit every now and then—I really need to work on a plan to go back to living in Andalucía. *scratch_one-s_head*

How are the new speakers coming along in your place? Did you get to try them already?

If my dealer got the equipment supplied on schedule, he will bring the SF venere 2.5 and the Boston Acoustics 350 to my home this wednesday or Thursday, along with the dev 200 ad the Rega RP10, to install, and make the final tests, and help me decide between those two models after listening to them in my room. He is also asking his Dev supplier about what speakers would recommend for the Dev 200, and try to bring them home also.

 

[lashing]

The Aria line has terrible bass control. Its really messy and smeared. A;; e;se is great. I agree too that the do not fill a room. Its how they are. No amp will fix this.

 

[lashing]

have provided. you're experiencing an amp-speaker mismatch.

In addition to a matching amp, you definitely need proper cables (speaker cables, interconnects, and power cords) in your setup, in order to smooth out the highs and generate an even more punchy bass. I do realize that all of these creates more costs, but in the end it is absolutely worth it.

The above is pure hocus pocus dealers spew. I have been in top end recording studios. I can assure you they do not use anything but decent cable. This has been proven many many times to be BS. Decent cable is not expensive and buying expensive cable does nothing but releive your wallet. Especially the power cable. Yes you need adequate power so as not to starve your amp. A standard power cable can easily handle the entire 15 amps on a household circuit all day long without issue. Its called code and ESA. But I can guarentee you that plug in your wall is the cheapest and so is the romex going to the breaker. Dont fall for these fibs.

 

[Vio]

Speakers are exceptional. Have a verry good sound, bass(all music) and super bass too (depeche mode - violator,...). Perfect work with Naim amp & Dac.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Looking at your room plan and the photo you need to do some serious rearranging to achieve what you want.

The kit at the start of the thread should deliver.

So.....

Clear the clutter out shift those cardboard boxes. Next, that carbinate to the left with the model alien in it- move it.

Don't get me wrong I love me some Star Wars and Alien but c'mon.

The actual position of those speakers out in the room is good...... But you also need to lock those speakers down on spikes - try 8 jenga blocks or a small piece of mdf under each box on blue tac. If they move about chances are they are losing energy (sound), lock them down.

Take out the toe-in too. Once all the clutter is removed make sure the side walls on your speakers are 'facing' each other(parallel).

If you do all of this I'm sure those speakers will disappear - not sure about the bass. But that will improve once the speakers are locked down.

Your current situation will not improve no matter how much you throw at it with the room like that.

 

[Vladimir]

Dust off the PC and buy a big green lava lamp and you are good to go.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_10152789288237820]

I also have the focal 948s. They are big bright and bassy but something is missing. Its almost like the bass which isn't tight punchie and attacking is washing over the mid section. I listen to heavy music and find the rhythm section of songs is washed out by what seems like sloppy bass but maybe the mid or lower mid isn't there. When i play light music they seem ok because of fact the rhythm and bass is different. It could have something to do with the cross over but im just not sure. I was running them with 300watt monos so had all the power but the speaker lacked clarity in the mid section. I am going to try them with another amp and if the problem remains im putting it down to a poor speaker design. Poor crossover frequency maybe.

 

[Caithe]

I have own these speakers. They now have about 25-30 hours of play time. The speakers are in a furnished livingroom area with about 15 feet between them and the same from the tweeter center to the listening area on each side, They also are 18" off the side walls, 22" from the rear and with about a 15-20 degree toe-in. 18' ceiling to the listening point then drops to 8' into the area behind. All open no walls. I use a Motif MC8 pre-amp and a Haffler SE240 (120 per chn.) for the power amp. Program sources are digital Flac music streamed to the dac decoder and CD's. We listen to a wide variety with leanings to rock and jazz. Up to the first 10 hours the speakers were airy and not very extended in the bass. There was some loss of itegration between the highs and mid sounds. We were also in the process of moving then this way and that trying to get a feel for the sweet spot. Right at 10 hours the low end extended and became much more present. After another 5 hours the overall balance became smoother and seamless. At this point I can say this is one of the best speakers I have heard at the price point and some higher. The bass response seems exactly what you have to expect given the -3db point of 37Hz/-6db @ 31Hz. It is present well controlled and defined right to the point of where you expect to feel it vibrate on your skin. Acoustic stand up bass is full and present throughout it's entire rage. Bass kick drums have impact and incredable definition. The mids and highs are clear and well defined with no indication of crossover error or mismatching. It does not deliver the very low impact of a sub-woofer. My previous setup used an pair of Celestion Sl-6i and 2 M&K 12" subs in a stereo pair. The sound stage established by the 948's is solid and defined. I suspect some of Brendon's issues may come not from lack of power but that 948 hit 2.5 Ohms at about 150Hz. His amps may not have sufficient dampening at that low imp. and resulting high current point. These speakers are very sensitive to good room placement. Khrorghar will never be happy with them given his room. The 948's are recomended for rooms of 320ft./sq. min. Even the 936's at a recomended room of 270ft./sq. would be out of place for him. In the end what we like is a personal thing. For myself and my family these speakers are providing an amazing, life like and enjoyable listening experience. Clearly they are not for everyone and at this price point there are a number of great sounding speakers. Lastly anyone looking for a system or upgrades has to remember we listen to the system. And the system includes the rooms, the equiptment, your ears and your mind. If a bigger bass is your thing, I would recomend a listen to the Golden Ear line. They have an amazing balace throughout and include an active adjustable sub-woofer. These are much more forgiving of room placement and can provide a real kick ass bass if you want it.