Requesting Feedback on Focal Speakers

[Method]

Gentlemen:

Any of you guys familiar with Focal speaker products?

If so, what are your thoughts/personal exepriences/feedback.

I guy I know, who is a U of Miami Audio Engineer major, and, wlthough his desired set of speakers are Krell (which sound absolutely out of this world, although they tout a $50,000 price tag), he was very high on Focals (which are obviously a lot more "affordable" (I believe the set I looked at cost about $6K.

I was just curious as to what you guys knew of the line, and if you had higher quality alternatives at that price point or lower.

Thx.

Method

 

[hunnybunny2383]

I know focal from car audio and I havent heard very many speaker for car audio use that could out do them. Having had Focal utopia 6 and a halfs in my car doors and a massive Utopia 12 in my trunk I would say that if their home speakers play anything like there car speakers then you would be in for the ride of your life !!! However if you hear them and dont like them I would suggest speakers from RBH particullarly the 1266 with status acoustics drivers. I havent heard any speakers that I think are a better value. You get avery high end sound for a not so high end cost. Personally I like their sound some much that for speakers if RBH doesnt make them I aint buying them . But good luck with your search

 

[Method]

Thx. Appreciate your feedback.

I gotta tell you...this kid sat me down in front of an $80,000 Krell HT System, and played a scene out of that movie, X-Men 2, and it was incredible. Better than what you get from movie theaters.

Afterwards, every speaker system he played in the the high 4-figure/low 5-figure range sounded like absolute garbage, which is a shame considering mid-high 4 figure speakers is all I can justify spending right now with the other things I have to invest in in the upcoming months (home, cars, etc.)

 

[hunnybunny2383]

Dont you hate it when that happens . But look at it this way in some states in the good ole USA $80,000 is a house bought and paid for.. That always makes me feel a little bit better (not really but Im trying ). Hey could you imagine the cost if you ever got upgradeitis???

 

[T2T]

I haven't come across a Focal/JM Labs speaker that I didn't like.

I think they make great products that perform quite well. Over at the AVS Forum, there's an individual that recently made a post where he purchased 3 Focal studio monitors that list @ $1K (each). Keep in mind, these are amplified speakers and feature the berillym (sp?) tweeters.

Actually, I should clarify my first sentence above a bit more. Tweeter recently started carrying the Focal speakers. The monitor model does not impress me nearly as much as the floor-standing speakers do. With music, the floor-standing speakers produced a great amount of bass and sounded wonderful. Then again, I'm usually not satisfied with the bass produced by most speakers unless a subwoofer is present in the picture somewhere.

Now, keep in mind, a pair of the floorstanding models at Tweeter list for $3,999 a pair. Whether the price is worth it or not is up to the purchaser. I've heard $3,100 DynAudio monitor speakers that had me impressed, but then again, one would need to add $500 (for stands) to the cost which puts you in the same ballpark as the floorstanding Focal speakers at Tweeter.

 

[rollinrocker]

I've listened to a pair of utopia's at a store here in dayton. They were impressive. Smooth and very good bottom end. but we also demo'd a thiel pair in the same room. For the diff in price, (thiels were 4,400 and focals 17,000) i would pick the thiels, even tho the focals were the better speaker. Thats been my only experience with focals. I havent heard the less expensive line.