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Focal Sopra, Kanta, Aria

I’m confused. I’ve been in the market to replace my B&W 802D speakers. I’ve had them for 10 years and finally cannot take the brightness of them anymore. I’ve replaced amps, preamps, cables, sources, and yet the fundamental brightness is there, fatiguing me after only 1-hour of listening.

I auditioned the Focal Sopra 3 which I am told are not as bright and more musical. LIstened to them a few times, and honestly felt that they were also on the bright side similar to the B&W’s.

Another time I listened to the Focal Kanta 3 speaker. Like the Sopra it also has the Beryllium tweeter. Yet the one time I listened to these, they didn’t seem as bright.

Anyway, recently a friend of mine was in the process of moving, and I stored his Focal Aria 936 speakers at my home. I decided to hook them up to my electronics in my listening room just out of curiosity.

What I found were loudspeakers that were not bright (non beryllium tweeter), a warmer sound, probably due to a better mid-bass then the big 802’s. The extreme resolution was not there, and the midrange seemed congested at times. Yet, I found I could listen and enjoy these speakers for hours at a time. Bad recordings sounded good, and great recordings sounded, well, good also. Speaker placement made minimal difference.

My questions is at what is the sweet spot for Focal speakers. The point where they sound wonderful with extended listening, vs the point where they become a finicky pain in the ass to live with (aka 802D).

I was expecting to spend around an equal amount of money as the 802’s as a starting point, now I’m not so sure if I need to.

Thanks in advance for everyone’s input…

onehorsepony
onehorsepony OP
30 posts
 

from what others are saying in the forum, that the Bryston BP-26 is a bright sounding preamp, and that the Classe CAM-200's are neutral sounding monoblocks?

 

what are your thoughts?

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,323 posts
 

That would be an assumption. But a good start if a different brand integrated made a positive change. Worth pursuing. See if that Cambridge has preamp out and use it as a preamp to drive your classe. Check what that does. That will add a variable though - your interconnects. Something you had eliminated by going the integrated route.  
Also, can you borrow something more on the level of your speakers as far as an integrated or separates?
I had great experience with Pass X250.5 amp and Audio Research tube preamps driving my N803s.

archerious's avatar
archerious
6 posts
 

Which speakers did you buy OP? I am debating between Kanta 2 and F226Be. I desire detail.

Currently have Revel's M105, and they're great but lacking a bit of detail and play it very safe with their neutrality. 

onehorsepony OP
30 posts
 

I still haven't chosen a pair of speakers to replace my 802D's. To be honest, I haven't found anything that is enough of a difference to justify the cost.

I did replace my Bryston BP-26 preamp with a PSAudio BHK Preamp and things have calmed down quite a bit. I can truthfully say that the Bryston BP-26 is a bright sounding preamp.

But, I still ultimately listen to the B&W 802D's. No matter what the electronics, they are voiced bright. The diamond tweeter says 'look at me'. Also, I continue to be listening to 3 speakers per cabinet, instead of one full range speaker. Maybe this is a function of 3 different speaker materials used?

 

 

dedobot
9 posts
 

I had a Aria 948 almost 5 years. Sold them a year ago . With a feel of relief and just 20% down of initial price. Exceptional look outside, exceptional highs and mids and .. something wrong in the low field. I can't describe exactly what but whit many recordings the lows was mud and "cardboard" sounding . Especially with sampled/ electronic generated stuff. The inside build was...like high grade school job. Glue ,silicon  everywhere, the wading not stuffed but just thrown inside.

The amp was NAD c370, of course I tried bunch of other amps but with the same outcome.

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