I gave advice based largely on your original post, as a fan of Focal speakers. There are many separate threads on this forum dealing with your subsequent questions with advice from others wiser than I. Most on this site would tell you to keep the integrated and DAC separate, mostly for the reason that DACs are likely to get better over time — but also because you are out of commission if one of the parts go bad (most likely the DAC). I think most would agree that a solid state integrated likely has a shorter lifespan than a corollary separates system, given the impact of heat on the circuitry. Cool running Class D integrateds however would be an exception I think. I would not pair Class D with Focal speakers IMHO. I think most would tell you that the sound of separates (amp + preamp) exceeds that of an integrated, but the margin here has gotten smaller over time, and really high end integrated amps are perhaps equal to or better than separates (the argument being there are shorter signal paths with no need for interconnects that can color the sound). Robert Harley gave a highly favorable review >5 years ago on the Moon 600i integrated, stating it gave separates a serious run for the money. This is likely outside of your budget. As an aside, I am also a fan of Moon and believe that integrated with Sopra 2s would be a giant killer, and compete with systems twice its price. There are threads on the issue of HT bypass. I am in the camp of keeping 2 channel and HT systems separate. Hope this helps — but again, I am one person giving you his opinion so keep that in mind. Best advice perhaps is to use this forum to do your research, narrow down your choices, and then let your ears decide.
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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One last bit of advice. If you cannot home audition equipment from your local brick and mortar audio shop, or travel to listen to your narrowed field of choices, there are many companies that will let you home audition for 2-4 weeks provided you pay a nominal restocking fee if you opt to return it. Schitt is one such company, and the $900 Schitt Freya+ tube preamp has been said to offer 85-90% of the performance of high end tube preamps. FWIW. |
@willy-t Damn that's a steal. You get them on here or local? |
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