Focal - JM Lab Owner's Thread - Page 181

As I have a good friend who owns an AV store I had the option to review the 700, 800 & 900 series center channel speakers

The 700 was an OK speaker, the 800 was better BUT the 900 was so much better there was no contest

If you can get a Profile CC908 for the same cost as an 800 - get the CC908 - you won't be disappointed in the least!

Hi,
I was set on getting PSB Image T6 for mostly 2 channel music (Jazz and classic mostly) for my buddy and saw Focal Chorus 716V @ A4L.
What are the sound characters of 716V speakers? $900 per pair is considered a good deal? Is 716V comparable to PSB Image T6?
His room is mid-sized family room with carpet floor open to kitchen. Receiver I’m thinking is Denon 2113ci. He’s planning to add sub, center and surround speakers for movies later.
716V is a bit cheaper than T6. So I’m wondering if it’s good idea to invest the saved money to a better sub. I've never listened Focal speakers before and I don't think I can audition them locally.
Thank you.

Thanks Dougofthenorth,

The used Profile CC908 sold before I called. I just pulled the trigger on http://www.musicdirect.com/m-853-focal.aspx
A little more money, but I have read nothing but great reviews on the CC908 on here and other sites, so it looked like the best option for an upgrade less than 3k that matches my other Focals.

Thanks for the advice everyone,
Mike

Anyone ever directly compare the Aperion Verus Forte to the Focal Chorus 814? I'm looking to give one of these two a try. The towers and matching center are about $100 in price for the front three, they are similar in dimension, and both look fantastic in my opinion. I was just wondering if any had ever listed to both of these. Wondering if they have similar characteristics or if they are very different in sound.

I too am wondering if anyone could help on a link to some some reviews of owners that have compared Focal speakers to other speakers. I'm thinking about the 1028be's but would like to hear more about the speaker from some owners. Anyone chime in even?

Am I crazy to be considering to go from a pair of Cobalt 826S to a used pair of B&W CM7s? The 826S is started to look dated and detracting from the decor..... I need something that looks as good as it sounds...

Anyone able to put some sense into me?

thoughts on focal 726v anyone down the cc 700v center anyone? any better setup for around the same price? 70% HT 30% music

Finally got my Center Channel back, it was a fried crossover. The crossover was totally melted.....they replaced it and the tweeter and it sounds awesome!! No more protection mode!!

Alternates in about the same price range and sound quality I would suggest auditioning include: Phase Technology and Paradigm.

FYI: A few years back, I did a comparison between the Chorus 716S and 726S and found the 716S to sound much better in the midrange where the 726S seemed to be more muddy (imo).
I am not sure if the Chorus V series has the same issues the Chorus S had, but you may want to do a comparison of the two yourself before you decide.

The CC700S was not very good but, it appears the CC700V series has relocated the tweeter higher than the mids unlike the CC700S. This may improve the performance of the CC700V over the CC700S.

Goodluck.

Sweet. Glad it all worked out, Now go on enjoy some movies. I was without a center for a bit and while the phantom center option is not too bad, IMO, it's hard to beat a real physical center speaker.

Any one has the Diabolo?

I have heard it at CES. It's a really impressive speaker that has surprising full range sound and it can play pretty loud. They were playing some heavy music and it sounded very dynamic.

Lyric Hi-Fi in NYC has them set up. Very, very impressive, particularly given their size. I don't own them but they would be at the top of my list for a two channel rig.

A pair of Diablos and a good sub would make for a very nice setup.

I just ordered a set of 1028BE's to replace my 836W's! Cant wait, Ill be home in 2 weeks and they should be arriving shortly thereafter.

sweeet! Hope you like them.

Holy Cow there's a pair of diablo utopia on audiogon for over 50% off; wish i had the money!!!!

Nice find. After looking through the other Focal Utopia's listed there I'd have to say, in terms of looks, they have not aged well. I wonder if the current design will fair better.

Maybe I'm not fully understanding. The Diablo listed is the current model, isn't it?

Anyone care to rate Electra 1008 Be against Diablo?

I think they are the current model. What he is trying to say is that the discontinued models have not aged well in comparison to that one.

Yes, this is what I was trying to say.

Great upgrade. I heard the 1028's at a store one time and they sounded really good. And I have the 1027's. Let us know when you get them and give us some feed back. I am sure that I can get even more out of them and I plan on doing do in the future. Enjoy those 1028's. You will really like them for music and movies, if you are going to use them for movies.

I can just say that I spent some of last night listening to some Allman Brothers. Man I really like how the music sounds with the 1027's. I still am very impressed with how good they play the entire range of music. It would be hard for me to part with them. I would need to find something that is so much better. I don't know how that would happen when I take price into the equation.

11x16 room, acoustically treated. Very well. Took measurements, bought great stuff, reflections and dead points are treated, as well as bass traps placed as well. Have a JL F110 subwoofer. Mcintosh CD player, amps, and Anthem MRX for pre amp/processor and for the room correction system.

Option 1 -

Electra 1028 Be, Electra center, and electra bookshelves as surrounds

Option 2 -

Diablo Utopia bookshelves, Viva center?, and Electra bookshelves for surrounds.

Option 3 -

Scala Utopia
Viva center?
Electra bookshelves surrounds

I've heard the Utopia line, and love them. I heard the Electra briefly, and liked those as well.

Option 2 if you can upgrade the F110 to either an F112 or F113
Option 3 otherwise.

Pretty big price spread across the options. The Electra 1028be is a fantastic speaker but after recently auditioning them and the Diablo in the same room, if money isn't a factor I thought the Diablo was the superior speaker.

Why not three Vivas? Are you set on bookshelves for surround? There is an electra surround speaker as well. Your budget range seems very large. The Scala Utopia is 30K. The Viva is 12K each. The entire electra system w/ 1028 is around 20K if you also get the sub.
Edited by Tank_PD - 11/29/12 at 12:13pm

I cannot accomodate the size of the Vivas for surrounds unfortunately. The Diablos are pushing it actually. I'd probably use the Electra series for surrounds with the Utopia series. Surrounds aren't super important to me.

I guess I should rephrase that to be more clear. I meant those to be separate comments on different speakers.

FRONTS

Why not three Vivas for your FRONT-three sound stage? They come in L|R|C configurations.

SURROUNDS:

Why not the Electra surround speakers over the Electra bookshelfs for the single pair of surrounds?

The room might be too small for a pair of Scalas. I suspect that 3 Viva Utopias would be best. I've heard this kind of setup in a Hifi show and it was incredible.

The surrounds are much less critical and the problem will again be size. Even the Electra bookshelves are a bit big. You may want to try Profile bookshelves because they are relatively small. These are what I use, but I invert them because they are naturally pointed up so I make them point down because they are mounted high.

You can get a second JL sub and with that, you'll be done.

Mark

I just had a set of the 814V's delivered from A4L.

To be honest I find them to be muddy and disappointed in the sound stage.

Not sure if its the speakers or if its my setup/placement. I realize the Yamaha Adventage 1000 is not the best AVR amp wise but their is a significant lack of detail.

This is only after an hour or two of listening. I had heard Kef 700's in person and loved their detail. I brought down my KEF IQ10's and listened to the same content and obviously they lacked a lot of the bottom end but there was so much more detail.

So my question is could this be from a lack of amp and power? Break in? Strictly setup as 2.0 right now in the AVR. My eventual plan is to get an amp, not sure if that will improve the clarity and separation of the tweeter, it just seems to get lost in the background compared to the IQ10's which are all tweeter/clarity. I want to give them a chance but not sure how much will improve with placement/break in.

I took a gamble on the Focal's because it was $600 cheaper and I heard great things about them.

My other option is to send them back and get the KEF Q900's. From owners are there things I should try or change in the setup for this specific speaker?

I've had my Yamaha RX-V1800 hooked up to two different sets of speakers, and it was not the least bit "muddy" and there was plenty of detail. You mentioned placement. Are these the first speakers you have heard in this same room?

Could the tweeters be bad in those? I would put my ear right up to the tweeters to make sure they are working.

Also, I don't think there is any way it is a "break in" issue.