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Focal Sopra, Kanta, Aria

I’m confused. I’ve been in the market to replace my B&W 802D speakers. I’ve had them for 10 years and finally cannot take the brightness of them anymore. I’ve replaced amps, preamps, cables, sources, and yet the fundamental brightness is there, fatiguing me after only 1-hour of listening.

I auditioned the Focal Sopra 3 which I am told are not as bright and more musical. LIstened to them a few times, and honestly felt that they were also on the bright side similar to the B&W’s.

Another time I listened to the Focal Kanta 3 speaker. Like the Sopra it also has the Beryllium tweeter. Yet the one time I listened to these, they didn’t seem as bright.

Anyway, recently a friend of mine was in the process of moving, and I stored his Focal Aria 936 speakers at my home. I decided to hook them up to my electronics in my listening room just out of curiosity.

What I found were loudspeakers that were not bright (non beryllium tweeter), a warmer sound, probably due to a better mid-bass then the big 802’s. The extreme resolution was not there, and the midrange seemed congested at times. Yet, I found I could listen and enjoy these speakers for hours at a time. Bad recordings sounded good, and great recordings sounded, well, good also. Speaker placement made minimal difference.

My questions is at what is the sweet spot for Focal speakers. The point where they sound wonderful with extended listening, vs the point where they become a finicky pain in the ass to live with (aka 802D).

I was expecting to spend around an equal amount of money as the 802’s as a starting point, now I’m not so sure if I need to.

Thanks in advance for everyone’s input…

onehorsepony

Showing 5 responses by audphile1

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,129 posts
 

@onehorsepony Kanta is the starting point.

Is your room treated? Speaker placement will only get you so far. At a minimum take care of first reflection points.

 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,129 posts
 

What are the electronics you’re using with your B&Ws?

Any acoustic treatment in the room? Speaker positioning optimized?
If this isn’t taken care of expect to be in the same situation you’re in now with any revealing/high resolution system, Focal included.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,129 posts
 

I owned N803 for many years and listened to 802D3 several times. B&W has its own sound. Some like it some don’t. But the 800 line of speakers is resolving and dynamic. I would not classify it as bright. There’s some midrange hump that emphasizes the vocals and goes into the presence region. Could be pleasant or fatiguing depending on your set up and room acoustics  

I ran my B&Ws with Pass X250.5 amplifier and ARC LS-25 preamp and that set up sounded amazing. 

With Diamond or Beryllium tweeters, or any high res tweeter, slightly less toe in would help tame the top end but if you don’t have at least some room treatment in critical points, fuhgeddaboudit

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,129 posts
 

So you swapped Bryston preamp and your amps for a Cambridge integrated? And how did you determine it’s the Bryston that’s causing the brightness?

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,129 posts
 

That would be an assumption. But a good start if a different brand integrated made a positive change. Worth pursuing. See if that Cambridge has preamp out and use it as a preamp to drive your classe. Check what that does. That will add a variable though - your interconnects. Something you had eliminated by going the integrated route.  
Also, can you borrow something more on the level of your speakers as far as an integrated or separates?
I had great experience with Pass X250.5 amp and Audio Research tube preamps driving my N803s.

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