kef vs focal

Imaging also seemed better with the 836es than the R700s. I really liked the way the Reference 1s and Sopra No2s performed in my room, despite sounding different. My impression is that the Revel frequency response might be slightly preferred, but if the KEF were equalized, I wonder how close they would come in overall preference. Anyone hear both in the same room. . Yes I suppose the same goes for reviews on the focal aria 926s. Focal rates the Chora 806 as extending down to 49Hz(-6dB). When it comes to bass depth and output capability, size tends to matter. ... We got a chance to demo KEF's new Ci4100QL-THX in-wall speaker at the 2016 CEDIA EXPO and were impressed by its great sound. ... KEF LS50/KEF LS50 Wireless $1499/$2199 Such a configuration means that each driver – tweeter, midrange and bass – can be optimised to work in its specific frequency band and tuned with less compromise than a two-way alternative would demand. The R3s are a three-way design, with a dedicated bass driver. However, given that I’m a bit of a bassaholic and that I could tune out some of their boominess with the plugs, I quickly dismissed my reaction. Yesterday I worked out a deal to borrow KEF R700s, which I used to conduct a side-by-side comparison with the Focal 836 W Prestiges. My suggestion would be, if you can save up a bit more or are willing to go used, try to find the money for the next step up, the Revel F35. There is one thing that I don’t like and I must punctuate here. Enjoy. It is an elegant 25 mm thick MDF box to non parallel walls, a tweeter TNV Al/Mg inverted dome and a medium/bass speaker Polyglass of 165 mm OPC filtering and again. While the R900s are definitely my cup of tea, they may not be for everyone. 14Hz lower low-frequency? However, since I demoed them under rather different conditions, it is really difficult to reach a definite conclusion. But that’s just a guess. While surely a step- up in price, I would probably have made the same decision that you did. The improvements have entirely to do with the number of woofers and the size of the cabinets. Dali Oberon 5. I have also heard the KEF Reference 3, and the Reference 5 is actually even more resolving than the Reference 3, for some reason, so I guess that it is at least as resolving as the Reference 1 that you have reviewed. Do not for one second think that you're somehow making a wrong choice here. The 1 has one woofer and the smallest cabinet. My list of local options that I was interested in - in my price range was the following: 1) Revel Studio 2 2) B&W 802 D2 3) Magico S1 4) Focal Sopra No2 5) SF Olympica 2 Focal vs. KEF -- Decision Made Details Created: 24 August 2013 To Hans Wetzel, You asked me to keep you posted, so I’m sharing my final actions and decision. Hans Wetzel, SoundStage! To Doug Schneider, I follow your speaker reviews with great interest -- they provide much knowledge and valuable information in my search for new speakers. I’m also really curious about the KEF R11 vs Revel F208 comparison. Which brings me to my question. So iam considering the focal sopra no.2 and kef ref3 at the moment. The KEF Reference 1 were more or less ‘plonked down’ roughly in place, and the job was done. The 3 has two woofers and a bigger cabinet. suggested Dali Zensor 7 Focal Aria 906 KEF R700 Focal Aria 948 KEF R500 Sonus Faber Venere 2.5 Dali Opticon 8 Focal Aria 936 Focal Chorus 726 Dali Rubicon 6. Access (formerly GoodSound!) They certainly are a pleasure to the eyes. KEF > Monitor Audio > B&W/Focal > Golden Ear. KEF Q vs. Focal Chorus Vs. Klipsch Reference . . Bass performance, resolution & clarity and dynamics are what Iam looking for. Focal, like KEF, is a big player, so the No2 ends up also being a lot of speaker for the money. On the other hand, I found the Sopra No2 to be natural sounding overall, but with more of a contoured frequency response designed to produce a very pleasing sound. Moving up the Reference line from the 1 to the 3 to the 5, the biggest improvements you’ll experience are deeper bass and an ability to play much louder. All rights reserved. And now that it is on sale it makes it more attractive. Now you are up to 99db before clipping. Superb Award-winning floorstanders, right up there with the best. Also, for a bookshelf, they produced just as much bass as the 836es. I found the Reference 1 to be unflinchingly accurate, which is what the KEF designers aim for when they create speakers -- pretty much a ruler-flat frequency response. This site was designed by JoomlaShack, Karen Fanas, and The SoundStage! The only thing I can think of is that the 5 has the most woofers, so each one has to work a little less than the 3’s two woofers for the same output, which usually results in less distortion. Shop Now! Focal Spirit One vs KEF M500. When I first laid my eyes on these speakers I was impressed with the level of finish and polish they presented . KEF Reference 5 vs. Focal Sopra No2. Network. I’ve never heard highs and mids that sounded that good. The KEFs are IMO such aesthetically pleasing speakers, and measure exceptionally well too it seems. In all of my research, I never included the Electra series because at that time I thought they all were outside of my budget. I have procured some ATC SCM11's (S2 curved box) which work very well, but wondered if the new KEF's might be better in some way. Focal 300ICW4, 300ICW6, and the 100ICW5 architectural speakers promise to bring you box speaker level performance in disguise. Also, since I didn’t have the R900s, I could only imagine that they would have greater bass. The Kef is a 40lb monitor vs 18 lbs for the Dynaudio The Kef is a true point source the Dyaudio is not. is part of. And yes the focals clearly don't agree with my system, but I have demoed dali, acoustic energy, Wharfedale, Monitor audio, and kef with no sibilance all on my system with silver QED genesis cables. Yesterday I worked out a deal to borrow KEF R700s, which I used to conduct a side-by-side comparison with the Focal 836 W Prestiges. The Focal Sopra No. First, they are not as efficient as the 836es and second, I learned that the stands were not included. Their sound is not as divorced from the cabinet as a more sophisticated, or at least a smaller, loudspeaker would be. Jan 6, 2021 #1 I've heard the q550's and liked them very much, and they're on sale for $1k. After approximately two hours of auditioning the two pairs in question, I decided that I preferred the 836es. . Doug Schneider. That’s why mo… ‘Fantastic sound and looks from KEF’s high end floorstanding speaker – now in special edition colours, Black and Orange, or White and Blue’ KEF Reference 5 ‘The KEF Reference 5 sets the benchmark in how a floorstanding speaker should sound, yet remains easy to listen to without being overpowering’ Focal Sopra 2 ‘Think they look good? Hide sidebar Show sidebar Thread starter BrianC; Start date Jan 6, 2021; B. BrianC Junior Audioholic. Some might say that the KEF is, as you put it, “more correct,” since it’s more faithful to the recording; however, if you like the sound that the Sopra No2 puts forth, which, as you noticed, is fun to listen to, it’s hard to call that wrong. The 5 has four woofers and the biggest cabinet. . Thanks again for responding to my initial inquiry. The Focal 906 with its far larger enclosure is more efficient, giving you 89.5 db efficiency and a bit more bass dig than the Revel. So I made one mistake by buying a receiver based on specs and price without really researching it and now I am suffering from buyers remorse. Well, to make this shorter, I decided to up the budget and spring for the larger 1028 Be speakers. Focal Spirit One. Treble/mids -- this is where I felt the comparison was similar to if I had the R900s. I've never heard the Focals, but have read enough to wish I could, for about the same $. Just as I noticed the boomy bass of the R700s, the R700's midrange sounded more cupped or boxy compared to the 836’s midrange. Its sonic character is vivid, fast, vibrant, and thoroughly engaging. KEF M500. Reviews of Attainable Hi-Fi & Home-Theater Equipment. I decided on four speakers to compare. I have yet to try the Focal Aria 905's v ATC SCM11 and i think that for me it could be close despite the price difference. Encompassing unmatched sound proficiency and attractive sleek design, Kef’s hifi floor standing speakers are the ultimate acoustic experience. So you may have read where I stand with the Kef LS50 from the other thread I posted a while back. And I know what you mean by the R700s having a "boxy" sound to them. To contact us, please e-mail info@soundstagenetwork.com. 1 retails for $8,000, £7,000 or AU$14,250 per pair and it's awfully good, but it's not Focal's best stand-mount speaker. In your review of the Reference 1 you wrote, “The bottom-most octave excepted, it’s among the very best speakers I’ve heard of any size and price.” So, I am really curious about how you would judge the Reference 5, which has the bottom-most octave with full power. 22000Hz vs 20000Hz; 1dB/mW higher sound pressure level? John, it's funny how things work out, right? The focal Chorus 706 is the archetype of the reference compact speaker, in the purest tradition focal. . After I decided on the 836es, I asked if there was a speaker in the Electra line that was close to my “original” budget. The Kef is room tunable via port selection the Dyaudio is not. Focal Aria 906 vs Kef q550. I do not get quite the same sense of dynamics and detail I did from Focal’s Kanta No 3 I … The KEF Reference 5 is to my ears even more resolving and, to use a perhaps not always the most important comparison criteria, more correct/neutral than the Sopra. 6Hz vs 20Hz; 2000Hz higher high-frequency? So I have ~$1000 to spend on upgrading the fronts on my AV setup. As far as springing for the Electra line, I can't blame you. Kef Ref 1 offers very deep bass for a monitor sub 40 hz bass vs 41hz bass for the Dyaudio. After much looking and listening I've settled on the KEF Reference 3 as an upgrade from my Totem Fire bookshelf (which were just great). I have demoed both the KEF Reference 5 and the Focal Sopra No2, but, unfortunately, in different stores under different conditions, so a direct comparison is difficult. The similarly-sized KEF R3 reaches all the way down 38Hz, and the noticeably smaller Buchardt S400 goes almost as low as the KEFs. Focal says that the Sopra No1 is an appropriate loudspeaker for rooms up to 275 square feet and my space is 15′ x 15′, with the ceiling height varying from 11′ to 13’—so my room should have been a felicitous match. Can be used as a headset? That was with KEF R500s, MA Silver 8s, B&W CM9s, Focal Aria 936s and GE Triton 1s. Unfortunately, the demo pair were missing three of their four port plugs, so I didn’t have the opportunity to tighten things up a bit. They got a tiny wee bit better sounding through some real care and attention (as in, stopping one of them from wobbling a bit, and making sure they were level), but in audiophile installation terms this is criminal neglect. The thing with Focal’s speakers is that I’ve never found them to be quite as neutral as KEF’s designs, which our measurements of their various models show -- they usually have contoured responses, though they don’t stray so far from strict neutrality that they sound … Each speakers has 4 drivers: 2 bass drivers, on midrange driver and a tweeter. Upon listening to the R700s, I was immediately surprised with how much bass they produced. As for why you feel the 5 is more resolving than the 3, I don’t know exactly. 104dB/mW vs 103dB/mW; Has an over-the-ear form? We and our partners use cookies to give you the best online experience, including to personalise advertising and content. . I follow your speaker reviews with great interest -- they provide much knowledge and valuable information in my search for new speakers. I was a little disheartened because I went into this wanting to buy the KEFs, but I had to go with what I liked to hear. All contents available on this website are copyrighted by SoundStage!® and Schneider Publishing Inc., unless otherwise noted. But now that I have already purchased the receiver, I want to set it up that I feel kinda better about the whole thing. The trade-off tends to be the greater cost and complicity of trying to combine three drive units to work as a cohesive whole. However, there were two negatives to considering the 1008s. I keep going back to the Focal Aria 906. In fact, it was quite boomy. The ELACs arrived on a Friday, the KEF on a Saturday, and the Klipsch on a Monday. The Sopra is really fun to listen to -- basically, everything sounds great and they are really musical in a very positive way. Why is Focal Spirit One better than KEF M500? Well, I immediately fell in love with the 1008s and, after negotiating for more Wife Acceptance Factor, decided to up my budget. Each of them has a separate protectio… Since you have reviewed the KEF Reference 1 and the Focal Sopra No2 under very similar conditions, would you be able to say anything about how you think the Reference 5 would perform compared to the Sopra No2 in your listening room? Now comes KEF's revamped R series, represented here by the only standmount in the range, the £1300 R3. Also, Focal has been making good loudspeakers for a long time, so I think you did well. You asked me to keep you posted, so I’m sharing my final actions and decision. Focal Aria 906 $1499 From Focal’s Aria line, the compact two-way 906 has a lot to sing about. It uses Focal’s innovative F-cone sandwich-construction with a flax-fiber core driver for lightness, rigidity, and superior damping. And please do also let me know if I should be looking at any other passive soeakers in the 10k pound range. It’s safe to say that they stand very well in the design/build quality departments. KEF LS50 Anniversary Model: ... Focal Kanta No.2: $9999/pair The Kanta No.2 combines a 1.1" beryllium inverted-dome tweeter with three 6.5" flax-sandwich cones, two used as midranges, one as a woofer. Helom, Jun 6, 2018 #11. punkmusick likes this. Frankly, I think the Electra line is the looker of Focal's various ranges, and their beryllium tweeters are phenomenal. I have listened to the Concept 20's in a demo - good speakers but clearly a step down. Knowing how the KEF Reference 1 and the Focal Sopra No2 each sound because I reviewed them, and learning a bit about how KEF designs speakers when I visited their headquarters last year, I’m not surprised that you found the Reference 5 to be more neutral than the Sopra No2, even though your auditioning was at different stores. Print Email Details Category: Reader Feedback Reader Feedback Created: 07 March 2016 07 March 2016. I am still looking for a bookshelf to replace it. Sensitivity: … Then some Focal Electra 1008 Be speakers were thrown in the mix. These were all auditioned with the Halo I owned at the time but not all in the same room. Any listening impressions from forum members will be most useful. I find both speakers very impressive, but a bit different in character.

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