david ellwood
Kirabosi Kognoscente
Great bass drivers
Bloody awful tweeters
Bloody awful tweeters
davidf
pfm Member
well I guess my hearing must be off. Tell me professor Ellwood what loudspeakers you favor? Just as a "reference" for me. david
chevvies
pfm Member
sq225917
Bit of this, bit of that
There's two types of posters on this thread.
Those who've heard them sound fricking awful at shows, and those who have lived with them. I have a foot in both camps. They've never sounded anything but bloody awful at trade shows, but then I've never heard them sound anything but very good in owners homes, mine included.
The treble on the Be drivers is exceptional, it's much better than the tweeter on my NS1000m's for example. But compared the Yams the midrange on the Focals is basically shit. But then again so are most other midrange units- including ATC's...
Those who've heard them sound fricking awful at shows, and those who have lived with them. I have a foot in both camps. They've never sounded anything but bloody awful at trade shows, but then I've never heard them sound anything but very good in owners homes, mine included.
The treble on the Be drivers is exceptional, it's much better than the tweeter on my NS1000m's for example. But compared the Yams the midrange on the Focals is basically shit. But then again so are most other midrange units- including ATC's...
then, with respect, they are bloody awful. If dealers/manufacturers cannot make their products sound good at shows then they are not worth buying. The idea that such products transform themselves when moved from a show room into a house is laughable. I'm sick of reading such suggestions about certain ranges and Focal are far from the most common range about which one hears this stuff. Never sound good at shows means never sound good full stop, in my opinion.
davidsrsb
pfm Member
This one looks like boom and tizz to me:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/focal-chorus-807v-loudspeaker-measurements
darrylfunk
Banned
focal drivers are excellent, the weakness i think is the styling and rather to larger range.... but they sell a lot of speakers... the drivers are great and were popular when they sold them to the diy market.
the active big monitors they do are fab and a serious rival to the all conquering events and far better than adams i've heard.
the active big monitors they do are fab and a serious rival to the all conquering events and far better than adams i've heard.
david ellwood
Kirabosi Kognoscente
I love focals bass mid drivers, when coupled to a scanspeak tweeter in a decent box fantastic results are possible.
I have never heard the focal inverted dome tweeters sound acceptable.
It's a shame focal stopped supplying drivers I particularly liked their neoflex cones.
sq225917
Bit of this, bit of that
Cos its a cheap bookshelf speaker.
Here's the 1028 at 1m
That better than +/- 2db which by any standard is reference flat.
manicatel
pfm Member
I've been using Focals 1007be's & now 1008be's for a few years now.
OK, I've got a valve amp so maybe that evens things out a bit.
Main reason I don't bang on about them here is that I can't be doing with all the " they're too bright/ harsh/I heard them at a hifi show & they sounded awful" type comments.
Mine definitely are not over bright or harsh etc in my system/room & haven't heard much that would tempt me to change, at least for sensible $$$. And I'm not a fan of an overly aggressive sound presentation.
Yes, they're detailed, but also have present a fantastic 3D soundstage, superb vocals, & a pretty deep (for stand-mounters) clean bass.
I rate them very highly, just can't be bothered to "justify" them in arguments here.
Matt.
OK, I've got a valve amp so maybe that evens things out a bit.
Main reason I don't bang on about them here is that I can't be doing with all the " they're too bright/ harsh/I heard them at a hifi show & they sounded awful" type comments.
Mine definitely are not over bright or harsh etc in my system/room & haven't heard much that would tempt me to change, at least for sensible $$$. And I'm not a fan of an overly aggressive sound presentation.
Yes, they're detailed, but also have present a fantastic 3D soundstage, superb vocals, & a pretty deep (for stand-mounters) clean bass.
I rate them very highly, just can't be bothered to "justify" them in arguments here.
Matt.
darrylfunk
Banned
ha ha, you must be wrong matt as they measure very well and subjectivists still say they are crap... so they must be crap....
chevvies
pfm Member
ATCs are very neutral, probably why they are so revered in studio circles. Midrange weakness probably comes from somewhere else in the chain.
Steven Toy
Accuphase newbie
This particular subjectivist thinks that Focal speakers are excellent. If I didn't have Tannoy Turnberrys I'd probably have Focal 1008s or 1028s.
They are dynamic, fast and very revealing speakers. If they sound bright, don't shoot the messenger. They are telling you that something might be wrong with the rest of your system. Get your system right and they will reward you with an incredibly insightful and involving listen. This may be too much for some of course.
They are dynamic, fast and very revealing speakers. If they sound bright, don't shoot the messenger. They are telling you that something might be wrong with the rest of your system. Get your system right and they will reward you with an incredibly insightful and involving listen. This may be too much for some of course.
G
Guest432
Guest
PMCs are also studio monitors but they didn't work very well with my sugden. The PMCs were way too warm and not revealing enough for the clean sugden.
This is why I've avoided ATC so far, they look very hard to drive and I'm worried they may be too warm.
I think I'll have to give the Focal 1007 or 1008 a try as I really like the 816v and that is their bargain model.
Steven Toy
Accuphase newbie
Use the proprietary stands if you do or, for a different sonic flavour, the acrylic MusicWorks ones. You definitely need to listen to the stands though as they are an integral part of the speaker ensemble.
manicatel
pfm Member
For longer term peace of mind, I'd concentrate on the 1008s or the floorstander equivalent 1028's.
From my experience, the 1008be's are good step up in smoothness & quality all round. They seem to be far less fussy about room placement, which I think is a sign of a more even response.
I got mine 2nd hand for a steal.
Room/speaker inter-action is vital & totally variable from room to room IMHO, so a good home dem is recommended.
Matt.