Focal - JM Lab Owner's Thread - Page 176

There is a pair of focal Mezzo utopia on sale at ebay. check the link "http://www.ebay.com/itm/Focal-JM-Lab-Mezzo-Utopia-Floorstanding-Hi-end-loudspeaker-/150847501019?pt=UK_AudioVideoElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_HiFiSpeakers&hash=item231f3632db"

Moderator, please delete this link, if it is illegal to post such links here!

How good are the focal 1028 compared to the monitor audio Pl200. In my country, they both sell for almost the same price. And is the 1028 better than Salk HT2-TL? I know that the salk and focal are in different price range, but importing the salk would cost me similar to the focal. When I asked some Salk fanboys, they recommended me to go the salk way even though the price I have to pay is vary high.
Is the Raal tweeter and the seas excel combo in the salk that good?
As my chances of auditioning the salk are Zero, I would like to get your suggestions regarding this comparisons.

I have heard the focal 1028 Be and loved them, but thought that their bass was not that strong (any way that is not my concern, as I will pair my floorstands with a good sub like submersive HP or captivator ).
The monitor audio Pl200 looks good too,with its leather baffle finish and 16 layers of coated higloss finish.

Which one among these is the best?

Your electronics? Will you be using your current ones or build around your new speakers from scratch?

Not that I'm very qualified to give you suggestion as I don't even own 1028Be. I did buy a set of 1008Be recently. One thing I know is Focal Electra 1000Be series speakers are very revealing and any shortcomings in your component chain will get exposed like President Bush giving speech (no offense to anyone).

For the amp section, I am thinking about emotiva XPA5 or XPR5. The new XPR5 scares me with 400w X 5, and since the xpr is new and has no reviews yet, I will go with the xpa5 for now and might upgrade to xpa2 for the fronts, in the future. But I have no idea about the pre-pros. the yet to release emotiva xmc-1 looks very promising on paper , but how that would reflect on the real world performance wont be known until it gets released.

So, which speakers should I choose : focal 1028 or monitor audio Pl200 or Salk HT2TL. I am expecting some advice from people with knowledge and experience with these speakers for my post 5253.

So, this thread is almost dead! nobody cares to give their advises anymore..

As mentioned earlier, I don't own 1028 Be so can't give your personal experience and info. Also I've no idea about Monitor Audio and Salk. But from what I can tell from my 1008Be, you can't really go wrong with 1028Be esp. you've heard them and liked. At that price point, it'd be really hard to beat Electra.

Now this is what I know from reading and talking with Focal owners in different forums, dealer, etc. But take it with a grain of salt. May not be exactly what you need or want to hear but some info nonetheless.

I've interacted with people who's very happy 1028Be pairing with Electrocompainet, Mcintosh, Chord and Plinus gears. But these are really hi-end brands (at least for me) and good results are expected. And a lot of people did mention they pair with Emotiva and got some pleasant experience. But with Emotiva, the shortfall is in the refinement and tail end decay of notes (I'm quoting someone here). But very acceptable in terms of power, speed and attack.

I've also heard despite its transparent nature, Electra is more forgiving then Utopia and more suited with different gear all around. Of course, the comparison might not be relevant here. From my experience, Electra is harder to match with electronics than Paradigm, Energy and Pioneer.

I just purchased a Bryston 4B SST2 to pair with my 1008Be and thinking of adding a hybrid/ tube pre down the road (something like Peachtree Audio's or ARC). It still depends on how Electra + Bryston + Anthem (pre/pro) combination sound to me. The amp is not delivered yet. If it is too transparent, revealing and clinical I'd like to think adding a tube pre might tame it a little and improve on the musicality side. I will keep it posted here how it turns out, but it might take a few months.

Most people also agree that Electra likes class A and tube flavor.

Lastly, from my experience, I feel Electra 1000 Be series speakers are the speakers that you can really build an excellent system around. Focal Be tweeter is amongst the best out there (better than Paradigm Be, B&W diamond tweeters IMO, I did auditioned them). Electra are dead neutral, musical, revealing, no coloration added which bodes well for playing different genres of music. As for HT, to me at least, the difference is harder to pinpoint with different brands (except on subwoofer side). Oh, don't go Electra subwoofer route though if you're thinking of one. You can get more bang for the bucks in SVS, HSU, even in Paradigm.

Again, I'm not really qualified to give you the info you need and I know this thread takes awhile to respond. But people will eventually. Just be patient.
Edited by kzhtoo - 7/10/12 at 1:52am

It's not that the thread is dead. It's just that you may not find people who can comment on all the speakers you listed and your post seemed to indicate hat was the only kind of reply you wanted. I can only give advice on some of the focal gear I have. I have the 1027's. Obviously the prior version of the 1028's. They are very natural sounding speakers that will basically sound like what ever you give it. I have personally heard 1027's with Pathos gear and Jeff Rowland gear and I have them with a Bryston 4b-ST. I can tell you that from my experience Focal speakers love tube amps and the also love amps that have a bit of Class A in them. Now I have also heard the 1028's at a store one time. I am 99% sure they were being run by Mac gear. They sounded simply fantastic. Not that my 1027's sound bad, but the 1028's did sound better. I also know that people have had good luck with a Focal+Pass Lab combo. I can't comment on on any of the other speakers so that's why I was reluctant to comment at all. I am not a "fan boy".

All you have to do is scan this thread for my posts and you will see that I have recommended Focal speakers for a long time. I may not have owned a lot of different speakers but I have heard a lot of different speakers. Some extensively. These are some of the best I have ever heard. I have read where I think someone went from the 1027's or 1028's to the Monitor Audio PL speakers but then he went from the Monitor speakers to something else. He just likes to try different speakers. So. as I stated in the beginning, I can only comment on Focal but my comment is that they are great speakers. I have read that the Emotive are great amps so I am sure that the two would sound fine together, Again, if you get the Focal speakers, I really don't think you will have much regret.

I have enjoyed Focal speakers for many years. I first had the 927Be speakers but then I had to the chance to upgrade so I jumped at the chance. At this one store(where I bought my 927's) they had Wilson Audio, Dynaudio, Martin Logan, JM Labs and maybe one or two other brands. To me, out of all of them the Focal's sounded the best. That includes the Electra range all the way up to the Utopia Be range. Now they sound even better. At least to me they do. So good luck in your search.
P.S If you heard the 1028's and then bass was not strong then a few things could be at work here. First, just an overall bad setup. Second, they were paired with poor electronics. Third, the room was maybe just too big for them. I have no lack of bass from my 1027's and the 1028's I heard at that store were in no way lacking in bass.
Edited by MIkeDuke - 7/10/12 at 6:48am

Thank you Kzhtoo and MikeDuke for your information share.

All,

Have a troubeshooting question for you. I had powered off my Focal SW 800V prior to going on vaca, and now it refuses to power on. The power off/on was done by switching off an external PS Audio Duet surge protector, and not the on/off switch on the back (I guess I should have done that instead), and now, the sub doesn't power on even when I switch AC outlets. The rest of my AV gear is fine, so I doubt it's something wrong with the power lines in general.

I imagine it might be a blown fuse, but can't check since it's probably internal to the cabinet. Warranty's out, and dealer went out of business. Happy to try DIY solutions, but thought I'd ask before I open up the cabinet.

Thoughts?

I have a pair of Focal 716V's that I love, but I find I am a little short on bass. What would a good recommendation be to improve the low frequency response? I am leaning toward a subwoofer, but unsure which one to get, or what is recommended on a "sub" $1000 budget.

Background:

At the moment they live in a 18 X 24 family room in a modern open concept home.. (i.e. no doorways per se,) I find the high end as good as I have ever heard from a speaker, yet that last little kick in the low end is missing. The Focals are powered by a Cambridge Audio 650A, with connections made by PBJ interconnects, using a Squeezebox Touch (lossless rips) and a Debut III turntable/CA640P as audio sources.

Main listening is classic rock, Mellencamp, Tom Petty, etc. They all sound a little "light".


Is the weak point the speaker response or is it the Amp? I never find it comfortable to listen any louder than 50% on the Amp so I think it shouldn't be the Cambridge.

Thanks

Bass slam is a characteristic of the amp and not a function of how much power it's outputting at a particular volume? I'm no expert, just thinking out loud here.
Edited by kzhtoo - 7/13/12 at 12:47pm

Rambo,
Generally bass response is mostly a function of the speakers and the room. Try working on the positioning of your speakers and possibly look into bass traps and/or other acoustic treatments. If you can't get what you're looking for with that, then I think a subwoofer should be your next move. By having one, you'd be freeing up the woofers on your Focals to handle only the mid-bass and above, which might help with that range too.

In instances where the amp could/would make a difference, it's usually because the speaker presents a tough load (say, <3 Ohms) in the bass region, and/or the room is huge and you're listening at loud levels, and that is straining the amp.

It looks like your Focals have a fairly benign/easy load (see link), so in your case I doubt a bigger, more powerful amp will make much difference.

http://audio.com.pl/testy/focal-chorus-716v:1

Looks like a subwoofer is where I am headed. The positioning is not negotiable in my house, unfortunately, but I do have the Focals spaced properly from each other relative to the listening area. Much too close to the wall, but compromises have to made. Not having to shop for another amp, is good news. I have played with the idea of going to the 726V and selling the 716's. Although in the end, I will likely get more impact for my dollar with a subwoofer.

I assume the Focal SW 700V would be the best to match, and cross it over somewhere around 50Hz. This would be 99% music use.

Not necessary that sub needs to match with the speakers. Any quality sub should sound very similar. My suggestion would be to look into something that has EQ built in.

Thinking about 1038 Be's coming from Wilson Sophia 2's. Anyone compare the two? Also curious about whether my MCIntosh 7 ch amp mighty be a good match for them. I also have to have them placed far apart as they will be flanking my 10 1/2 foot wide screen. Is this too far apart for center fill imaging? this is one of the reasons that I went with Sophia's to start with. They can be placed ver far apart. My listening pos is 9.5 feet away in front row of seats

TIA

Stuck with Chorus 816v speakers and feeling unhappy

---

My dealer was supposed to provide me with a pair of 816w speakers, but then delivered 816v and declared that the 800w series are not produced any more. Now, instead of being happy with my new Focals, I feel miserable, cheated, and stuck with 816v. Do I miss a lot not having the 816w speakers?

Thanks.

Did you pay the 816W price? The W should cost more than the v version.

Focal still shows the 816w on their web site. I would contact them directly for confirmation then address it with your dealer.

Sounds horrible. Did your dealer ask you wanted the v version if you couldn't get w?

Anyone using a Anthem MRX 500 with Focal Chorus V's? I have 836V fronts, 800CC and 807V surrounds.....Looking for opinions!!

I can tell you that I heard the original Sophia's a long time ago. To be honest, they were not my cup of tea. They just did not bring me into the music. the 2's may be different but I don;t know. Now a few weeks ago, I heard the 1028's with Mac gear. If you want to know if it was a good match I can say hell yes. That combo sounded incredible. So much so that if I had the space, when the time came, I would replace my Bryston amps with Mac gear and I am using 1027's. I don't think you will have a problem placing them that far apart, You should still get a great center sound stage. Oh damn. I just realized you said 1038's not 1028's. Given that fact, there should be no problem at all placing them at that distance. I think that combo would be a great one.

Bass "slam" can be a combo of both but if you want to try and max out the bass slam as much s possible you need to look at the damping factor in an amp specs. That is usually looked upon as how good an amp can control a speakers woofers which contributes to the bass response. The higher the number, the more control. But there are obviously more factors such as room acoustics and placement of the speakers. For ex, my amp(Bryston 4b-ST) lists its damping factor at over 500 at 20Hz. That is probably the reason my bass sounds so good. Along with other reasons. But that does not mean that you should just look for the amp with the highest reading. If possible, you should try and check out the amp in your own system first.

That is the first I have heard of damping factor. I will look into this with my Cambridge and see how it compares.

So, it's the Chorus 800 W line still in production?

Hey guys I have read and followed this thread for a while, posted here and there, and now need some advice. I’m hoping someone else may know what is causing this problem.

I have a pair of 826V's that I am now powering with a Bryston 9B-ST amp. When I listen to 2 channel stereo at 10 decibel below reference my right speaker will cause the amp to overheat and the channel will shut down. This happens within about 10 minutes of listening. At first I thought it may be a problem with that particular channel of the amp, so I switched channels and the same thing happened. The odd thing is it is only the right speaker that is causing this to happen. Plus when I do turn music up to reference level the clip lights start illuminating on both speakers.

I am wondering if there is some sort of problem with this particular speaker, or if the amp is not strong enough to run these speakers. Before it shuts down the speakers sound fine. I have never had this problem with my old gear paired up with the 826's which was a Parasound Halo A52 amp, and before that an Arcam P7 amp. I did notice that the Parasound sounded like it had more “balls” than the 9B.

Does anyone have any Ideas of what could be causing this? This is my first Bryston amp. I have always heard that they are underrated and can drive most anything.

The amp is in a well-ventilated area.

Thanks in advance for any info.

You cannot just go by the volume as it depends on your source and preamp as well. Could you tell us the SPL when the clip warning lights were on?

What are you using as a preamp? Can you increase the channel levels on the preamp?

The 826 has a sensitivity of 91.5dB, which is above average and should not require too much power.

I just bought the 826v and should have them by Tuesday. I will be pairing them with just a Denon 3312 without an amp. I'm confident I won't even need an external amp.

Thank for the replys.
avman09-
I have not used my SPL meter to check the levels yet. I know that I'm not pushing it any harder than I normally have with other amps. Next time I mess with it I will take some readings and post them

AcuDefTechGuy-
I'm using a Integra DHC-80.2 processor. The levels were automatically set using Audessey. I have not tried increasing the speaker levels. I have tried using both RCA, and balanced cables, plus the +6db selector switch on the amp. All the results were the same

I agree that these should need an external amp. When I first got these speakers I was using an old 7.1 Onkyo receiver and it sounded great, no problems at all. The Onkyo did get hot but never went into protection mode even when driven hard. The only explanation that i can come up with is the 826's have a drop in Ohms to 2.9. I'm wondering if that drop could cause the amp to overheat?

Pretty unlikely that it' related to the ohm rating of the speakers (unless something is defective). Have you checked all of the speaker connections on both ends to make sure you don't have a loose strand of wire in contact with an incorrect terminal?

Just manually check the speaker channel level on your Integra. Make sure it is set to at least 0.0 dB. Then increase the level to 3.0dB. See what that does. Doesn't hurt to try something this simple.