Focal Scala or Diablos with subs?

Hi all,

apologies for not responding earlier, hadn't looked at the thread for a while & didn't realise that there were more responses.

Quick update, the Scalas have been sold, so for better or worse that option is off the table. The dealer does have a pair of Watt puppies 8 for sale though, hmmm.

Over christmas I ended up grabbing a second sub, JL-F112 & was able to find a Bryston active crossover from a seller on here. Will eventually sell the smaller 10" sub & buy another 12.

In the end there were just too many little doubts to justify the expense of the Scalas.

So now for the process of getting the subs integrated as well as I can. The crossover is proving trickier than I thought, getting some really bad humming?

NVP: no offence taken at all. You're right I don't know much, that's why I came here to get thoughts and advice from people like yourself who do have more expertise. I'm here to learn.

I read your thread about the price on the Scalas & how they seemed to be pretty easy to buy at a greatly reduced price. The dealer that I bought my Diablos from in France offered to sell me his demo units for $12k euro. Not sure exactly why this is, probably just economic pressures, they're not selling well enough for dealers to have them sitting on the floor, perhaps overpriced/better options in this price range?

I should have noted that although my father is a qualified sound engineer he hasn't actually worked in that field for a while. One most definite thought that he did have was that i was totally crazy for even considering spending that sort of cash on a pair of speakers!!!

The testing process that we carried out was a definite eye opener, really highlighted for me the impact the room can have. I have been able to move the speakers out from the corner & away from the walls a little bit (they now have a little more than a foot of space behind them) & this has helped. Also spiked the stands.

So plan to try & spend some time over the next few weeks trying to get the subs dialled in. Have read the thread you posted (thanks for that) as well as another pretty good one I found by the sound doctor ( http://www.soundoctor.com/whitepapers/subs.htm#2SUBS ).

Unfortunately I'm pretty limited in where I can place the subs, have been able to build them into my unit so that they sit side by side under my front speaker. Will be doing the crawl test to find out where the optimal position might be, but for aesthetic/space reasons they probably going to have to stay where they are. This allows me to keep the Diablos on their stands.

Have been reading a bit about the Velodyne SMS-1 EQ & have heard rumours that JL might be releasing their own active crossover. Any thoughts on these or alternatives?

Should I be considering room EQ instead? Rives PARC, Lygdorf, Accuphase?

not sure why that last response didn't jump up the thread? try again

Anyone have any idea how the newer viva utopia may compare to scala at a very similar price point accounting for stands? Viva a contender if 2 channel is the main usage? They Are marketed as multichannel LCR products.

Tubesrule, Scala seems to be very flexible. Not only it allows one to adjust the level of the bass and treble, but one can also adjust the position of the tweeter and midrange drivers to time align them at the listening position. IMO these are very important features that can make a huge difference if used properly. I do not think Viva has these features. Also, the Scalas go much lower than the Vivas.

Neuphonix, room correction systems can make a huge difference in the bass. However, electronic corrections should be applied only in the last step. Running the room correction procedure without optimizing the system first (i.e. place the speakers and subwoofer(s) in the best positions in the room) will almost always suck all the life out of the music.

I find it a bit hard to make a recommendation in this regard. I use an Accuphase DG-38 with great results. However, they are expensive and not that easy to use as the instruction in the manual are extremely vague (I know quite a few people who dumped them as they where not able to figure things out). Lyngdorf system seems to be more user friendly. However, I heard them doing both good and bad things, i.e. wonderful music when used with decently optimize rooms/systems or sucking the life out of the music when used in bad rooms. Probably your best bet will be to find a dealer that has some experience with room correction system and ask him to demo whatever he/she is using in your home.

Regarding your father comment about the price of the Scalas, I have found it very funny. However, I am not surprised at all. I get the exactly same comment every time a professional drummer sees my drum kit. Unlike we hobbyists, professional (drummers, sound engineers, etc.) can do their job just fine with much less expensive equipments. :)

Finally, it is interesting to see that dealers (all over Europe) have problems getting rid of the Scalas. I do not think it is their performance, just this bad economy. Most likely, getting rig of other large and expensive speakers is just as problematic.

In the past I sold Tact, to be unnest I never was convinced about the quality. The lyngdorf makes a big misstake. The sound is loosing it's emotion. People even call it dead. Audessey Pro give a more musical sound. The test I did with the Velodyne were all too slow. Buy Jacintha is her name. use track 6. The controbass need to be small in dimension also wenn you use the sub. Wenn it changes and voices and instruments become bigger or you image gets less focused it is too slow. For me it is that obvious. Scalas are even sols for less than 12000 euro. I still prefer the mid's of a three way system compared to a monitor. That is why I now use the Monitor Audio PL-200 with the PLW-15. This gives me stealth low quality starts from 16 hz. Speakers which can play to 117db without stress. And extreemly 3d holographic sound. It is stunning because with my Pass I play about 4 metres behind the speakers, mote than 1 metre beside the speakers. Even some recordings soms parts play beside and in front of you. This make the stage even bigger. But I even got an extreme sharp focus of voices and instruments within the deep and wide stage. Wenn you are in this business and yoy hear so many systems. My goal was: I want everything in my system. Wenn you use the right stuff at the end it is possible. Just use those tools who have the properties to make this happen!