Focal Aria 948


Currently I have a pair I am trying to see if I like before purchasing.  Not sure if all the all the great bass that people talk about is there. Plenty of midrange. Just not in love with them.  Anybody have any suggestions in this price range?  was considering a pair of Klipsch Forte, Salk Song3 beats and Philharmonic BMR Towers.

bucket91

My Aria 948s have 7’ between them with a listening position 9’-10’ away depending on reclining. Play with the distance from the back wall as well.  When I moved the speakers further from the front wall it helped a great deal.  Don’t forget room treatment if not already done.  

I have pair of Aria 926 and pair of Klipsch Forte IIIs in the same system. Proper positioning in room relative to sitting area is critical, both width and distance from wall as well as toe in for both.  The Aria’s are way more finicky with position vs Forte’s.  Once you find the sweet spot the Aria’s are excellent. Notwithstanding 91dB, they do require more amp punch than the Forte’s.  I’m not familiar with your amp, mine is 23 wpc 300b driving 845 output SET, plenty of power.  Volume pot no more than 9 o’clock with the Forte’s and same sound level is 10 o’clock with the Aria, plenty of headroom for dynamic transients.  
 

Consider marrying with a good sub, REL or in my system a 300w 12 inch Klipsch reference.  Also takes a little position tuning and gain/crossover experimentation to get just right, but once you do…WOW! Bass comes not from sub, but sounds completely integrated with the speakers.  Gain for the Aria isn’t even first notch on the dial, with the Forte’s just past first notch and the sub disappears into the speakers.

Finally I’d call the Aria sound detailed, with warm, tight bass, excellent vocal midrange and sparkling highs.  Good soundstage, excellent instrument separation.  I call it an “audiophile” sound.  The Forte’s? Well, much wider, taller soundstage, rich bass, not boomy with penetrating midrane and clear, clean treble.  Superior dynamic transients, awesome instrument separation, superior vocal presentation, yes kinda like being there live! They are my “reference” speakers to judge all others (I have other Klipsch, Focals, and Vienna Acoustics in other systems).  I listen to country, rock and upbeat pop with the Aria’s, jazz, opera, acoustic folk, blues and low level late night anything on the Forte’s. 
 

lf I could only have one pair, I’d pick the Klipsch Forte over the Aria, but what fun would that be?? Just because you have a pair of dream speakers, doesn’t mean you don’t have a dream speaker! Klipsch Jubilee.

Best of luck! 


 

 

I'm a Focal owner, Sopra no2, her is my quick take on the Focals.

They like being powered with an amp that has a high damping factor

They are very sensitive to room placement

They are front ported so they can be placed closer to the front wall then many other speakers witch will boost room gain for the lower frequencies.

The Focal Aria 948, with 92.5 dB sensitivity, gives up almost an octave of bass potential for that sensitivity. if were re-engineered to give up 3dB of sensitivity it could probably reclaim bass down to near 40 Hz.

The statement is inacurate.  Aria 848 was already rated 37hz -3dB and 31hz -6dBat the claimed sensitivity, unless you are asking for 1dB tolerance which is rarely industrial standard.  Usually, the tower speakers with port or other low frequency enhancements are immune from the Iron law.