1. Home
  2. speakers
  3. 142152-6999

Why so many used focals?

I look on the forums to read and learn about owners reactions about focals and compared to many brands there's little action which would make me think it's a small company... til I search on AG for used focal speakers and pages of used speakers come up! Are they the type of speakers that offer a clear upgrade path OR are they short term speakers that wow the listener early and fatigue in the long term?

I couldn't be in the same room with focal's from the 90's, but the recent speakers have been very pleasing to the ear in auditions. Experienced reply's would be appreciated and please no hating on the brand. Tks
steve59
helomech
766 posts
 
^ Good find. Rest assured you chose well - much better speakers than what Focal produces at that price point.

There's an old saying in engineering Steve, "If it looks right - it usually is".The Kanta 3's look right. I don't know why, but rear ported speakers are a game breaker for me.
Any speaker engineer worth his/her salt knows that a front port is more likely to produce audible port noise when playing near its limits. 
steve59's avatar
steve59 OP
268 posts
 
Thanks helomech, the seller said his inbox exploded when he listed them and I was the first to offer pick up with cash in hand, after last nights listening session I believe him. I still want to hear the dyn C60 and Kanta 3 down here but i'm not in such a hurry now. Thanks for everyone's contributions.
kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
The old engineering saying that if it looks right it usually is, is usually wrong. That thinking produced lousy aerodynamics on cars. It produced a lot of lousy speakers, especially in the 60's and 70's. It's produced plenty of architectural and structural failures. Good engineering hardly ever produces things of fine esthetic beauty. 
hudo
4 posts
 
Focal gets sold sometimes because owners can't find a good system match (amp, dac) - they can sound ok, or amazing, depending on the rest of the system.

Also, focals have open but not bright (fatiguing) sound. 
Are there some speaker cable brands and models that are proven to work well with Focals, specially ones with Be tweeter?  
philkoan's avatar
philkoan
50 posts
 
With manufacturer warranty, you can buy Focal speakers at 20% - 30% discount. Without warranty, you can buy them at 40% discount. For good like new speakers, they're sold at 50% of the retail price. I have a pair of Electra 1038 Be, CC1008 center speaker, 3 SR 1000 Be, and 4 IC1002 ceiling speakers. In my office, the little Naim Unitilite is powering a pair of 1008 Be bookshelf and the Dome Pack 2.1. When I don't want to disturb my wife, I wear the Clear Pro or sometimes the new Elegia. There are many great speakers out there as you have listed them, I like Focal better than the B&W.
More to discover