Focus Audio 688's
I own a pair of 688s and enjoy them immensely. Theyre eerily three-dimensional. To my amazement, they work well with all types of music (jazz, world, classical & rock), and engage me through soft and loud passages, solo & complex. I've never experienced listening fatigue. Theyre forgiving of poorly recorded passages too. The oak burr is beautifully finished, and workmanship is gorgeous. FYI- I power them with a PS Audio HCA2, Musical Fidelity 3.2cr and Jolida j100 CD. My room is small, yet they are not set-up sensitive. (I toe them in about 15-20 degrees). They are definitely worth a careful listening. I dont understand why the 688's are not a more talked about speaker. |
Yes Tony is the one listed in Florida. Visited him last Summer in Central Florida. Wonderful gentleman! Rubinken hears the speakers the exact way that I do. 3D sound, works great with all music, makes virtually any recording listenable regardless of the quality with gorgous woodwork, mine are burr Oak as well. One thing that really surpised me was although Tony had both the Reference 3A Decapoi and FS688 when I told Tony my listening preferences, Rock and Jazz, Tony recommened the FS688's with its 5.5" midbass rather then the Decapo's with its 8" midbass! If you hear the speakers in the 50-200hz range you will know why. I've actually never heard better in this range regardless of price or size. Bass guitar and Drums are incredible. They made everything else I heard sound muddy and slow in comparison. When I went to buy my Jungson ClassA amp at Sekei (Sekei.com) the owner Andy (Great guy!) commented on how much he loved the bass and how much better it sounded then his much larger reference speakers. Near the end of the listening session he asked me if he could listen to some of his music on the FS688's. I'm with Rubinken. I don't understand why this speaker isn't talked about more. Merlin and Decapo's come up frequently in SOA conversations when you mention monitors in the 3k range. Amazingly while Merlins and Decapo's are always listed for sale on Audiogon, you almost never see the FS688's. Only 2 pairs used in the last 12 months. One seller was going to the larger Focus Audio Floorstanders the other was scraping his entire system and going to a budget system. I know as of August of 2003 Tony said they had sold over 1000 pairs world wide. So there are plenty of them out there the owners are just not giving them up. These are definitly in the same class, or above, and arn't nearly as finiky about component matching and recording quality. I will say that with the sweet extended treble of the Revelator 9900 tweeter, tube like midrange and incredible bass all along with forgiveness, I can see why a Hong Kong Audiofile publication listed the FS688 as #1 sounding bookshelf speaker ever made. Hate to sound like an add but they really are incredible |
I agree with what Rubinken and Maxxc have stated so accurately about the FS688's. I auditioned several speakers in the $2000-$4000 range. I liked the sound of the FS688's the best. I purchased my pair at Sonic Spirits in New Jersey. The owner, Phil is very knowledgeable and a pleasure to do business with. |
I have mine in a 13x12x8 foot room. The speaker positioned along the long wall. I pull them out from the wall to listen since my "dedication listning room" also doubles as my bedroom :) About 32" from the back wall and 24" from the sidewall. This puts them about 7.5 feet apart and almost in a perfect listening triangle. I have heard them in a room 26' long and almost as wide with valuted ceilings that opened into other rooms at Tonys. The bass is still very good but not as deep. Suprisingly the speaker filled up the room and didn't sound small, something Tony said a 6 foot tall pair of Dunlevys failed to do in the same room. One more thing. Each of the Focus Audio speakers while very similar sounding have slightly different voicing. The FS888's full range flagship. FS788's more emphasis in the midrange (possibly even slightly better according to Focus Audio website) and FS688's more punch in the lower midbass region. |
Audiodude...thanks for the kudos! Maxxc, nice to see you here in addition to Audioasylum! Although I disagree with you just a little bit regarding the differences between the Focus speakers. To my ears, the 688 and 788 are very similar in character, with the 788 basically giving you "more" of everything the 688 does (more detail, more body, more bass extension, etc). The 888 is different in character such that it projects a *much* larger soundstage, and the details that appear within the soundstage are surprisingly rich. The similarity between all of the Focus line is the seamlessness of sound across the entire frequency range and the extended-but-incredibly-controlled high frequencies resulting from the Revelator tweeter... Anyways, that's my opinion... Phil Sonic Spirits Inc |
Hi Phil, Yep rarely get over here but noticed the all to rarely seen Focus Audio post. I've never actually heard the other FS speakers. I was just going by what I read at FA's website, from a brief conversation from someone at FA and Tony in Florida. I know the FA website states they thought the midrange on the 788 might be a tad better then the other two since it was launched after the other two and that the FS688 choice to stay at its small size and use the 5.5 inch driver rather then the 6.5. I know Tony felt the FS688 had slightly more punch in the bass then the larger FA speakers. Its hard to imagine how good the other two must sound. I know Doug at Soundstage felt the same way that you do, that the FS788 do everything equal or better (ie same top end, better midrange and deeper bass) then the FS688 and from what those who post at AA, who have been to your store, the FS888 is another significant step up. Best Wishes Maxx |
You might want to consider the Blue Circle NSCS. It's my understanding that Focus and BC work well together. Cheers http://www.bluecircle.com/index.php?menu_id=3175 |
We've demonstrated at the Stereophile show together with Focus Audio and Blue Circle the last two years with pretty good results. The NSCS and the 688's are a great match (they are my top-selling pairing)... Phil http://www.sonicspirits.com |
