Focal Speakers?

[Midwesthonky]

I was listening to Klipsch RF-52's as possible upgrades to my existing speakers. I like them. Then the sales guy put a sales job on about these French speakers named Focal that at $600 each as just as good as a $4000 speaker...blah blah blah. If I wasn't so cynical and analytical in studying the sales pitch and technique, I would be impressed.

So...I listened and they sounded ok, but the upper frequencies handled by the tweeters were definitely more prevalent as compared to the Klipsch RF-52s. Good or bad... I dunno.

So has anyone studied these Focal speakers as all? Know anything? I'm more curious than anything. The sales guy was clearly trying to upsell. I can't blame him as it's his job but I wasn't biting.

 

[Davemcc]

I generally like Focal speakers. I'd love to have a pair of Electras. The Chorus 700 series is a little meh, to me. They do sound better as you move up through the product lines but the price goes up accordingly.

 

[walter duque]

Where did you demo these speakers? I've have never seen and audio store that would carry Focal and Klipsch (unless it's the Heritage Series) under one roof.

 

[Serj22]

I deal with Focals in car audio... eh. They are up there, no idea on home audio on the Focal front... no idea.

 

[walter duque]

I deal with Focals in car audio... eh. They are up there, no idea on home audio on the Focal front... no idea.

They happen to be excellent speakers, that's why I was wondering Klipsch and Focal sold out of the same place, that's something I am not used to, maybe only in my area.

 

[Midwesthonky]

A smaller midwest chain called AmericanTV carries both as well as others like Polk. They don't carry the Focal on their website, just in the store. I had just stopped in to listen to the Klipsch in a different room (vs BB). The sales guy went off on these.

I had never heard of them so I was curious to see what folks had to say. They sounded nice and the sales rep demo'd them using Ray Charles.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I heard Focal next to Polks, but honestly I found prior lacking in both SQ and finish quality.

p.s: I wasn't impressed with Polks ether - I do like Klipch sound a lot, but I had issues with size of centers..

 

[walter duque]

If I could afford them I would have to go for the Utopia (They are on my dream list along with Sonus Faber) IMO they are excellent speakers.

 

[Midwesthonky]

I found their website. The Focal I listened to were the Chorus line. They also had some of their Dome on display as well.

I though they were ok. I wasn't getting a woody like the salesman. Yeah they sounded different from the Klipsch, but then I would have been surprised if they hadn't.

http://www.focal-fr.com/

In case anyone is curious. I don't plan on buying them. But it would be interesting to demo them in my room against others like the Klipsch using my music.

 

[HDPCsound]

I only seen focals on automobiles audio system, in this case the 165 A1. The first time i heard them sound, they were pretty nice to me, the sound was amazing and the bass response is high.

 

[highfigh]

A smaller midwest chain called AmericanTV carries both as well as others like Polk. They don't carry the Focal on their website, just in the store. I had just stopped in to listen to the Klipsch in a different room (vs BB). The sales guy went off on these.

I had never heard of them so I was curious to see what folks had to say. They sounded nice and the sales rep demo'd them using Ray Charles.

American has 12 stores and they do hundreds of millions of dollars in sales volume, so I don't think they're that small. OTOH, their business is way down, so maybe they'll be scaling back.

Take your own music if you're going to listen to speakers. Focal has been around for a long time an they make high quality drivers. If you're near Milwaukee, there is a dealer in Glendale. It's a smaller store and it will be a lot more like a house, although his rooms aren't 17' high, like yours. He does have a larger theater room, though.