Looking for Advice on Focal Speakers


Hey everyone, so currently I have a 9.1 Klipsch RP system. I’m looking to upgrade big time with new towers and a center channel. I was able to audition some Focal 936s last week and was really impressed. The store offered me a pretty good deal on them and also a good deal on the Kantas which I love the look of, but haven’t been able to audition them. Are they worth slightly over double the price? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

These will be used in a living room, open floor plan. I have a Marantz Receiver and a Parasound Halo for the tower speakers. I am mostly upgrading for music listening, but of course I would also appreciate the extra quality for movies/tv.

I’m drawn to focal for the aesthetics and sound quality. I also like Sonus Faber but all of their speakers have leather on them which is a non starter for me. I only mention these so you can get an idea of the style I like. I dislike the more futuristic plastic looking speakers out there. I’m open to suggestions. I did audition some Paradigms and I did not like them (too bright for me).

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Showing 1 response by mac742

I love the Aria series. I bought (on trial basis) three of the Focal Aria series models - 906, 926 and 948. The 906 was amazing and I wanted more. They went back and I had the 926 and the 948s delivered the same day.

I had a tough time choosing, but ended up keeping the 926s. I use stereo subs. The 948s were overkill with subs and for my room size (14’ x 21’).

The three models I bought sound very much alike. All four models have the same tweeter; it’s made of Boron, not Beryllium. The 926, 936 and 948 also all share the same midrange driver, so the differences are basically cabinet size, woofer size, and I would imagine some crossover changes.

I didn’t try the 936 but I can’t imagine it being much different from the others.

Oh about the prices: this speaker lineup has been around since 2013, and they stayed pretty cheap until recently. Yes, inflation’s part of it, but they are a quite a bit more expensive than they were two years ago.

I think the Arias sound wonderful. Smooth as butter. I don’t find the tweeters harsh at all but I do prefer slightly bright speakers. I have Kantas in my big room - I love them too (though they are fugly - the Arias are so simple and pretty), although it seems lots of folks find them to be too bright as well.

The advice about toe-in is spot-on. Arias prefer very little of it.

Hope this helps.