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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
winoguy17
1,083 posts
 

^^^ 

 what Erik said. I have very little toe-in on mine. I do not find them to be bright, but rather very revealing of every thing else in the chain. I did change my cabling after I had them for a short while, they do not need silver to shine. I love these things, they just do every thing to my liking, and if you want to rock, they go beautifully loud effortlessly.

 

johnlnyc's avatar
johnlnyc
59 posts
 

Interestingly, we often let the visual impact the aural. Conventional wisdom emerges. 
In my experience for example, tubes look warm, are warm yet do not necessarily sound warm (or warmer).
Tweeter materials don’t necessarily sound a certain way. metal domes are shiny looking but don’t sound “bright.” A speaker’s sound is dependent on far more than tweeter or woofer cone materials. I have some experience with Revel (Voecks designs going back to Snell) and never found them “bright”…I never found my CJ preamps (with Krell SS amps) to be “warm”….

This is worth perusing

Finally, the made in China issue.

I just found out Dynaudio speakers (at least some) are “Made in China.” Some Revel’s are “assembled” in Indonesia (not sure about China). There is a difference between design, engineering, parts manufacture and assembly etc. Regardless, quality control is critical…here, there, or wherever.

 

Ag insider logo xs@2x
samzx12
1,216 posts
 

What is the sonic signature of your preamp?  I'm thinking that's part of the problem 🤔.  In addition, I'm more of a Sonus Faber fan that tends to on the warmish side instead of hyper or detailed side. 

onehorsepony OP
30 posts
 

my bryston bp-26 preamp is supposed to be neutral sounding. also, I don't have class D amplifiers, I have a pair of Classe CAM-200 monoblocks

verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio
1,463 posts
 

Sorry...I am a dope.  I was thinking of the Sigma amp line.  My apologies.  Based on the review of those CAM-200 amps in stereophile, amplification is not your issue.  

Try over-toeing or increasing the damping in your room.  Lack of toeing or toeing the speakers out will be less effective.  
 

If you are committed to replacing the B&Ws, I just wouldn't pick Focal.  It is every bit as bright as B&W.  You need to look at a different brand.  

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