Focal Chorus V

[TankTop5]

Finally hooked up the Focal’s, initial impression I might like them better than a Dynaudio Contour 20’s. Without messing with Audessey the soundstage is about 10’ tall. Gonna have to play with them a bit more tonight

 

[Mikado463]

good luck ! way too many hard / reflective surfaces in that room IMO ..........

 

[TankTop5]

good luck ! way too many hard / reflective surfaces in that room IMO ..........

You’re not wrong, thinking of selling the Dynaudio’s and spending the money on acoustic treatment.

 

[TankTop5]

Notice a bit too much background hiss in some songs. Just streaming Bluetooth to my Marantz SR 5014. Still haven’t rerun Audessey so I need to tinker a bit more. Wondering if the crossovers need to be recapped

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Just get a huge thick rug to cover the entire room and add curtains.

 

[lovinthehd]

Notice a bit too much background hiss in some songs. Just streaming Bluetooth to my Marantz SR 5014. Still haven’t rerun Audessey so I need to tinker a bit more. Wondering if the crossovers need to be recapped

Hard to imagine the observation of hiss and the capacitors "needing" replacement are related. Some recordings have more inherent hiss from master tapes than others. Rerunning Audyssey for major changes, sure.

 

[TLS Guy]

You’re not wrong, thinking of selling the Dynaudio’s and spending the money on acoustic treatment.

Be careful. The Dynaudios are the much better speakers. The Focals are not right in the top end at all, and will be very tiring. The Focals clearly have a tweeter with significant problems.

Focal: -

Dynaudio: -

The Focal tweeter has serious problems that I could not tolerate. You are also getting mislead by that deliberate miss-tuning with that peak centered on 120 Hz.

That Focal I'm sure is not a speaker I could live with, whereas the Dynaudio would seem to be an excellent speaker.

Over the years Dynaudio have produced some excellent drivers, and I have used them in designs. My surround speakers are all Dynaudio drivers.

I know which of the two I would be keeping. I know I would drop those Focals like hot potatoes.

 

[TankTop5]

Be careful. The Dynaudios are the much better speakers. The Focals are not right in the top end at all, and will be very tiring. The Focals clearly have a tweeter with significant problems.

Focal: -

Dynaudio: -

The Focal tweeter has serious problems that I could not tolerate. You are also getting mislead by that deliberate miss-tuning with that peak centered on 120 Hz.

That Focal I'm sure is not a speaker I could live with, whereas the Dynaudio would seem to be an excellent speaker.

Over the years Dynaudio have produced some excellent drivers, and I have used them in designs. My surround speakers are all Dynaudio drivers.

I know which of the two I would be keeping. I know I would drop those Focals like hot potatoes.

I think the peak in the Focal’s tweeter is what’s bugging me, a lot of music does have some noise and hiss in the background, but this tweeter accentuates it. That occurred to me after I wrote my last post but figured I would wait for other peoples input. Definitely need a large area rug and some curtains. I also think some bass traps because the room is a large sealed rectangle. I just moved in about a month ago so give me a minute.

It’s amazing how a new poorly performing speaker can impress you for a couple days if you don’t know exactly what you’re listening for. I’m still learning. I know I’ve been on here a while, but I mostly read bits and pieces, maybe a touch of ADHD. Nothing wrong with ADHD as long as you pointed in the right direction.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Be careful. The Dynaudios are the much better speakers. The Focals are not right in the top end at all, and will be very tiring. The Focals clearly have a tweeter with significant problems.

Focal: -

Dynaudio: -

The Focal tweeter has serious problems that I could not tolerate. You are also getting mislead by that deliberate miss-tuning with that peak centered on 120 Hz.

That Focal I'm sure is not a speaker I could live with, whereas the Dynaudio would seem to be an excellent speaker.

Over the years Dynaudio have produced some excellent drivers, and I have used them in designs. My surround speakers are all Dynaudio drivers.

I know which of the two I would be keeping. I know I would drop those Focals like hot potatoes.

You mean at 20 kHz?

Now at 10kHz, it's +4dB, but that's not any worse than any of the B&W 800-Diamond speakers measured on Stereophile.

 

[Mikado463]

Just get a huge thick rug to cover the entire room and add curtains.

corner bass trapping perhaps as well ? Heavy curtains over the windows on the right to be complimented by some first point of reflection absorption on the left wall as well perhaps ......

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

corner bass trapping perhaps as well ? Heavy curtains over the windows on the right to be complimented by some first point of reflection absorption on the left wall as well perhaps ......

I think most thick curtains are probably much cheaper than bass traps, so I would get a thick 2.5" thick rug and fill the entire floor and put one big curtain on each of the 4 walls to be symmetric.

Then do REW measurement and go from there.

 

[TLS Guy]

You mean at 20 kHz?

Now at 10kHz, it's +4dB, but that's not any worse than any of the B&W 800-Diamond speakers measured on Stereophile.

But it is worse, a lot worse. You can't just count db. There is a sharp peak break up mode in the Focal measurements. That is catastrophic cone break up and that tweeter will be an awful beamer. The OP is already becoming tuned into it.

The is the measurement I got on the B & W 800 D3. Not perfect, but it sounds like a really decent speakers. I have to say though I have no been fond of other members of that family, but that speaker is a very good speaker.

B & W 800 D3

Focal under discussion.

That speaker is just not acceptable. In fact if you look at the waterfall plot, that speakers is starting to get ragged above 3 KHz.
A speaker like that will start to drive you nuts fairly quickly.

 

[TLS Guy]

I think the peak in the Focal’s tweeter is what’s bugging me, a lot of music does have some noise and hiss in the background, but this tweeter accentuates it. That occurred to me after I wrote my last post but figured I would wait for other peoples input. Definitely need a large area rug and some curtains. I also think some bass traps because the room is a large sealed rectangle. I just moved in about a month ago so give me a minute.

It’s amazing how a new poorly performing speaker can impress you for a couple days if you don’t know exactly what you’re listening for. I’m still learning. I know I’ve been on here a while, but I mostly read bits and pieces, maybe a touch of ADHD. Nothing wrong with ADHD as long as you pointed in the right direction.

A new speaker is generally the best speaker you ever heard for a while. It is the same with the speaker you just built, and then reality sets in and you realize you have work to do. A tweeter with a response like that will bug you and your description is right in line with what I would expect. I think you will find that artificial 'warmth' between 80 and 150 KHz will bug you more and more also. That is sometimes referred to as "artificial bass." It fools the unwary and is one of the oldest tricks in the book.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

But it is worse, a lot worse. You can't just count db. There is a sharp peak break up mode in the Focal measurements. That is catastrophic cone break up and that tweeter will be an awful beamer. The OP is already becoming tuned into it.

The is the measurement I got on the B & W 800 D3. Not perfect, but it sounds like a really decent speakers. I have to say though I have no been fond of other members of that family, but that speaker is a very good speaker.

B & W 800 D3

Focal under discussion.

That speaker is just not acceptable. In fact if you look at the waterfall plot, that speakers is starting to get ragged above 3 KHz.
A speaker like that will start to drive you nuts fairly quickly.

You cannot compare your personal measurements with Stereophile.

When you compare all the B&W Diamond speakers measured on STEREOPHILE, they all look bad.

For all we know, all the B&W Diamond speakers (that measure poorly on Stereophile) measure great when you measure them personally.

 

[TLS Guy]

You cannot compare your personal measurements with Stereophile.

When you compare all the B&W Diamond speakers measured on STEREOPHILE, they all look bad.

For all we know, all the B&W speakers (that measure poorly on Stereophile) measure great when you measure them personally.

I highly doubt that. I stand by my measurements. Those speakers sounded a lot better then the 800 model he had before. Stereophile never measured those speakers, and I can't find anyone else who did. You are welcome to look for other measurements, but I can't find any. I used accepted techniques on tweeter axis at 1 meter, and carefully did the off axis measurements. I do know what I am doing and have been studying speakers for over half a century.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I highly doubt that. I stand by my measurements. Those speakers sounded a lot better then the 800 model he had before. Stereophile never measured those speakers, and I can't find anyone else who did. You are welcome to look for other measurements, but I can't find any. I used accepted techniques on tweeter axis at 1 meter, and carefully did the off axis measurements. I do know what I am doing and have been studying speakers for over half a century.

You think that just that ONE SINLGE model year measured well, but all the other year models measured poorly? NOT LIKELY.

Stereophile measured D1 vs D2 vs D3 (800/802). Not sure about D4. But all the Generations they measured looked almost IDENTICAL.

 

[TLS Guy]

You think that just that ONE SINLGE model year measured well, but all the other year models measured poorly? NOT LIKELY.

Stereophile measured D1 vs D2 vs D3 (800/802). Not sure about D4. But all the Generations they measured looked almost IDENTICAL.

The D3 was a very different speaker. It was the first in the series not to use that Kevlar midrange, which was not very good. The midrange in the D3s is an excellent driver. Then in its successor, they messed it up basically reverting to an old fashioned spider center suspension. The idea and theory was to create less air resistance in the suspension. By others measurements it was a downgrade. Phil's previous 800 speaker was the D2. I did not like those much.

Do you have a link to any measurements of the B & W 200 D3? I can't find that stereophile ever measured it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The D3 was a very different speaker. It was the first in the series not to use that Kevlar midrange, which was not very good. The midrange in the D3s is an excellent driver. Then in its successor, they messed it up basically reverting to an old fashioned spider center suspension. The idea and theory was to create less air resistance in the suspension. By others measurements it was a downgrade. Phil's previous 800 speaker was the D2. I did not like those much.

Here is the Stereophile measurement of the Diamond D3, which looks almost identical to the D1 and D2, like I already said. I just saw the D4 on Stereophile and it looks even worse.

Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 Diamond loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com

Sidebar 3: Measurements I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 Diamond's frequency response in the farfield; I used an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield frequency responses. (For logistical reasons, I measured a different...

www.stereophile.com

Here is the new B&W 804 D4 and it looks the worst yet.

Stereophile has been very CONSISTENT with their measurements on the D1, D2, D3, D4.

Someone could measure these Focal speakers in their house, and it could look just as good as your personal measurement of the D3, even though Stereophile has shown that the D3 FR look just as bad as the D1, D2.

 

[TLS Guy]

Here is the Stereophile measurement of the Diamond D3, which looks almost identical to the D1 and D2, like I already said. I just saw the D4 on Stereophile and it looks even worse.

Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 Diamond loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com

Sidebar 3: Measurements I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 Diamond's frequency response in the farfield; I used an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield frequency responses. (For logistical reasons, I measured a different...

www.stereophile.com

Here is the new B&W 804 D4 and it looks the worst yet.

Stereophile has been very CONSISTENT with their measurements on the D1, D2, D3, D4.

Someone could measure these Focal speakers in their house, and it could look just as good as your personal measurement of the D3, even though Stereophile has shown that the D3 FR look just as bad as the D1, D2.

That Stereophile measurement is almost identical to mine and insignificantly different. Mine just is posted with a more expanded x-axis. Both show a rise at 10K, but it is not a sharp spike break up mode. Having said that, I am not someone who is fond of hard dome tweeters and personally prefer good soft dome ones.

Stereophile.

Mine.

If you expanded the stereophile x-axis they would look virtually identical.

 

[Hunter Mike]

OP, I have owned a set of 705V‘s for over a decade now. Paid $150 for the pair when I worked for a retailer. They were old stock that were automatically marked down by their software due to non-movement.

I love the sound at reasonable volume levels, very revealing. I use them in my bedroom mounted to the wall and it warms up,the low end a bunch.

We don’t hear like the measurement microphones do so if you like the sound then roll with them.

Here’s a REW measurement in my 17x12x8’ room