speakers final choice: Chario/Focal (Sonus?)

lorcar

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so today I had valuable listening sessions, where I brought my cd (Debussy/La mer/Karajan/Berliner)
I am almost set for amp/cd: Cambridge CXA80 + CXC. The Totem Mite which impressed me so much few weeks ago, with my cd had a narrow small closed sound. With a more "modern music" cd (fewer instruments, better recording perhaps), they player like first time, and the sound didnt seem to come out from such a small speaker. But they were now out of my list.
Kef R200: terrible closed compressed sound.
Focal Aria 905: great, I would get bigger sisters 906. Natural and open sound.Focal Electra 1007 BE: there are another league, they were not supposed to be listened, but are ex-demo, so just 300 euro more than Aria 906. You can immediately say these are another league.
Chario Lynx: again, high levels here. Totem Mite price, but not even comparable quality. What energy, what clarity of sound.
Elac bs 403: for sure a great sound, but I didnt like them. Different sound from Chario.
Sonus Faber Venere 1.5: I wanted to listen the Venere 2.0, but I couldnt find them. These are closer to Chario than Elac, fortunately. Very good, but bass section inferior to Chario. When we tested back to back Chario and Sonus with "modern" music Chario came out incredibly, with a level of energy which left all the people in the room amazed. The SOnus Faber were power-hungry: volume had to be set much higher than with Chario. Therefore I must clear my mind now: Focal or Chario. Focal Electra cost 300 euro more, and I cannot choose the color I like (black), but are probably the best of these 3 What would you suggest? Have you ever had the chance to listen Chario Lynx e FOcal Aria 906/Electra 1007 BE?thanks!
 

Infiniteloop

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lorcar said:
so today I had valuable listening sessions, where I brought my cd (Debussy/La mer/Karajan/Berliner)

I am almost set for amp/cd: Cambridge CXA80 + CXC. The Totem Mite which impressed me so much few weeks ago, with my cd had a narrow small closed sound. With a more "modern music" cd (fewer instruments, better recording perhaps), they player like first time, and the sound didnt seem to come out from such a small speaker. But they were now out of my list. Kef R200: terrible closed compressed sound. Focal Aria 905: great, I would get bigger sisters 906. Natural and open sound. Focal Electra 1007 BE: there are another league, they were not supposed to be listened, but are ex-demo, so just 300 euro more than Aria 906. You can immediately say these are another league. Chario Lynx: again, high levels here. Totem Mite price, but not even comparable quality. What energy, what clarity of sound. Elac bs 403: for sure a great sound, but I didnt like them. Different sound from Chario. Sonus Faber Venere 1.5: I wanted to listen the Venere 2.0, but I couldnt find them. These are closer to Chario than Elac, fortunately. Very good, but bass section inferior to Chario. When we tested back to back Chario and Sonus with "modern" music Chario came out incredibly, with a level of energy which left all the people in the room amazed. The SOnus Faber were power-hungry: volume had to be set much higher than with Chario. Therefore I must clear my mind now: Focal or Chario. Focal Electra cost 300 euro more, and I cannot choose the color I like (black), but are probably the best of these 3 What would you suggest? Have you ever had the chance to listen Chario Lynx e FOcal Aria 906/Electra 1007 BE? thanks!

I have a pair of the Focal Electra 1008Be, which I think are the successor to the 1007Be, and they are quite superb in my lounge with the Devialet or Unison Research S8. However, I think you should carry on listening using a varied selection of music. - Don't be in a hurry, this is probably the most important piece of the HiFi puzzle to get right.

In your position, I'd listen to some different Sonus Faber speakers too. - Second-hand can be a good option here. I haven't found them to be particularly power-hungry. My UR S8 - a 24 watt SET Valve Amp, drives them with ease to satisfyingly high levels without coming anywhere near clipping.
 

RLCCM

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From my experience here, Cno speaks a great deal of sense usually, and would agree with him here. I personally dislike the focal's. I'm looking in a similar bracket to you, and have done quite a few tests now (I have a thread somewhere not too long ago that is long and very detailed!). I find that focals are overly bright, forward and very fatigueing to the ear - which make them both instantly appealing in the shop for the reasons you like them, but terrible once you listen for over an hour. I also tend to think the balance of the focals is better suited to modern music than classical - they have a nice crispness for anything very modern, but in my opinion at the cost of balance and richness for classical and accoustic music.

I understand your feeling on the KEF floorstanders too - I thought the same about them myself, especially prominent side-by-side with Focals. For you I would say certainly to try out Tannoy and B&W - the CM8 is well balanced and does everything pretty well as an all-rounder besides being far less fatigueing than the focals.

I have no experience of Chario.
 

CnoEvil

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Infiniteloop said:
FWIW I also have a pair of Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M's, which I also enjoy in a dfifferent room, although the presentation is very different.

If I was going to swap the Focals, it would be for either the Focal Diablo Utopias or Sonus Faber Guarneri Evolutions. It would take such a leap to better them IMO.
Ah, but you suffer cognitive dissonance!
 

Infiniteloop

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RLCCM said:
From my experience here, Cno speaks a great deal of sense usually, and would agree with him here. I personally dislike the focal's. I'm looking in a similar bracket to you, and have done quite a few tests now (I have a thread somewhere not too long ago that is long and very detailed!). I find that focals are overly bright, forward and very fatigueing to the ear - which make them both instantly appealing in the shop for the reasons you like them, but terrible once you listen for over an hour. I also tend to think the balance of the focals is better suited to modern music than classical - they have a nice crispness for anything very modern, but in my opinion at the cost of balance and richness for classical and accoustic music.

I understand your feeling on the KEF floorstanders too - I thought the same about them myself, especially prominent side-by-side with Focals. For you I would say certainly to try out Tannoy and B&W - the CM8 is well balanced and does everything pretty well as an all-rounder besides being far less fatigueing than the focals.

I have no experience of Chario.

It's good that we all have our preferences. It's what keeps these forums and our hobby interesting.*yes3*

I listen mainly to Classical, Jazz and modern Folk with a little more contemporary music for variety. Like I said previously, The Focals I have sound superb in my lounge with a Devialet 200. They are far from being tiring to listen to and rather than being bright, I find them accurate, dynamic, transparent and possessive of 'in-the-room' imaging, sparkling clarity and impressive bass. Before these I've had Monitor Audios, ProAcs, Martin Logans and an ancient pair of Sonus Fabers. Out of all of that list, I'm enjoying the Focals the most.

I'm not saying the Focals cannot sound bright in some systems. All I'm saying is that in my system, in my lounge, they don't.

FWIW I also have a pair of Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor M's, which I also enjoy in a dfifferent room, although the presentation is very different.

If I was going to swap the Focals, it would be for either the Focal Diablo Utopias or Sonus Faber Guarneri Evolutions. It would take such a leap to better them IMO.
 

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