Dynaudio S40's all day long;
I owned them and loved the sound so much I wanted more of it (bass reach, scale, volume) I wound up with Contour 30's then Contour 60's; Definite house sound all the way through.
In my very simple 5.1 home theater sound setup I have Focal Aria 906 with the matching stands. I am very used to the Aria 906 sound; I really like these speakers and they do a lot right. Very expressive and open; seems to do great with movie-audio content; Probably the speaker to beat in the ~1K mark;
The S40s are more finesse sounding, airy sweeter treble but the biggest thing, they sound more 3D; the 906 are flatter sounding, not as 'deep'; Overall the Dyns sound more natural to me and less strained. IMHO the Focals can sound shouty at times (Focal's I have owned over the last 12 months; Aria 948, Aria 906, Sopra 2);
If possible, audition both in your own space with your own equipment;
I owned them and loved the sound so much I wanted more of it (bass reach, scale, volume) I wound up with Contour 30's then Contour 60's; Definite house sound all the way through.
In my very simple 5.1 home theater sound setup I have Focal Aria 906 with the matching stands. I am very used to the Aria 906 sound; I really like these speakers and they do a lot right. Very expressive and open; seems to do great with movie-audio content; Probably the speaker to beat in the ~1K mark;
The S40s are more finesse sounding, airy sweeter treble but the biggest thing, they sound more 3D; the 906 are flatter sounding, not as 'deep'; Overall the Dyns sound more natural to me and less strained. IMHO the Focals can sound shouty at times (Focal's I have owned over the last 12 months; Aria 948, Aria 906, Sopra 2);
If possible, audition both in your own space with your own equipment;