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Focal Speakers The Spirit of Sound

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  #31  
Old 12-15-2017, 03:44 PM
inga inga is offline
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How do you like them with Maestro Utopia?
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Home- Focal GU EM,Bedroom- SF GM Memento,Studio- Focal MU,Car- Bower & Wilkins
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  #32  
Old 12-15-2017, 07:13 PM
GSOphile GSOphile is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BillK View Post
Before you are too hard on the MX-R Twenty, do you know what the behavior of Pass amps into two ohm loads is?

For example, when Stereophile tested the INT-150 integrated, they found at clipping it delivered 198w into 8 ohms, 284w into 4, but just 225w into 2.
Comparing an older generation Pass INT-150 with Ayre's top line monos at multiples the price would be misleading at best.
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  #33  
Old 12-16-2017, 06:06 AM
Bar81 Bar81 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by inga View Post
How do you like them with Maestro Utopia?
Pretty impressive. They're not broken in but they're even more impressive on the Maestros versus the MX-R Twenty than was the case when I demoed both amps on the Avalon Isis.

Right off the bat more energy, resolution and speed. Many more layers of music with greater seperation and a lower noise floor. Better control and grip and decay is enhanced. Background vocals are now no longer blended into the background and vocals are more intelligible. No more bass fatness. No complaints at this stage but let's see over extended listening as they break in.
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  #34  
Old 12-17-2017, 02:20 PM
Bar81 Bar81 is offline
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I've had the system on 24/7 since Friday (was broken in for 2-3 days by my dealer before that) and over today it's just transformed. Light years ahead of first listen.

Super smooth, supple yet forceful bass, vocals no longer have an edge. Supremely musical - changing fundamentally some songs I've heard 100s of times. Background, low level and surround effects I've never heard before. Pace is more relaxed but just right.

These amps are worth every dollar. I can't believe amps can make such a difference.

I also repositioned the speakers. Moved them in from the side walls and reduced toe in to only 1/2 inch. May need slightly more toe in but nothing that's urgent.

edit: New pics up on Audiogon if anyone wants to see. Just go to Virtual Systems and search for "Desert" it'll bring up my system with the Maestros as one of the top results.

Last edited by Bar81; 12-17-2017 at 02:36 PM.
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  #35  
Old 02-09-2018, 05:50 AM
Bar81 Bar81 is offline
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So now that's it been a couple of months, I think I can definitely say that the Maestro is the biggest speaker that will work in that room (I'm currently using it in a similar sized living room) and I definitely made the right choice in not trying to fit the Stella.

Ultimately more toe in wasn't needed; what was needed was to use the amazing jumper system on the Focal Maestro. The low end always appeared to be slightly heavy - not annoying but too much many times, but other times I actually liked it depending on the music. The Shunyata Denali definitely helped to control the bass along with the M400s but it was still a bit much and so I took the step of setting the bass jumper on my speakers to the low setting (-1.5db I think). That was an eye opener. Suddenly, not only did the bass even out but the low end become significantly more articulated and it was apparent that the bass at the normal setting had been smearing not only the low end performance but also the lower midrange of the system.

Finally, I updated my EMM Labs DA2 to V2 firmware (free update) and the system was complete. As much as the TX2/DA2 was by far the best digital I had ever heard, the V2 firmware transformed the DA2 to such a degree as to be unrecognizable - effectively, if you've only heard the DA2 with initial firmware, you have at most an inkling of what the DA2 is capable of. The TX2/DA2 now isn't good digital, it's the digital I've been dreaming about since I started this build in 2005.
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  #36  
Old 02-12-2018, 01:18 PM
greekspec2 greekspec2 is offline
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I currently have Sopra 3's having had the No2's and I was think of going to the Scala V2, I'm not sure how much better the Scala V2 will be over the Sopra's
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  #37  
Old 02-12-2018, 02:01 PM
bodiezaffa bodiezaffa is offline
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Hi.
I just started a thread on speaker placement calculators.
I had success with this one. It gives you options on speaker type.
Good luck.

https://www.hunecke.de/en/calculators/loudspeakers.html

Last edited by bodiezaffa; 02-12-2018 at 02:04 PM.
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  #38  
Old 02-12-2018, 02:20 PM
Bar81 Bar81 is offline
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How much better I couldn't tell you but based on what I've read from people who have made the move, it's obviously and clearly better. I assume you're getting a good deal on a used set.
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  #39  
Old 02-12-2018, 02:37 PM
greekspec2 greekspec2 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bar81 View Post
How much better I couldn't tell you but based on what I've read from people who have made the move, it's obviously and clearly better. I assume you're getting a good deal on a used set.
well the Maestro III and Scala V2 are on phase out so it's only a $5000 difference if given full retail value trade of $19999 towards the $25000 Scalas
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  #40  
Old 02-14-2018, 11:38 AM
Bar81 Bar81 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by greekspec2 View Post
well the Maestro III and Scala V2 are on phase out so it's only a $5000 difference if given full retail value trade of $19999 towards the $25000 Scalas
The Maestro and Scala V2 have been out of production since the beginning of summer 2017. I'm surprised that any dealer still has new stock. $5k for an upgrade is not bad at all and the Scala is a very good speaker.

Things to consider are that the tweeter can be a little rough in certain cases and the speaker is prone to accentuating sibilance so it's important not to have a bright leaning system. I had the original Scala for many years and got a lot of enjoyment out of it within its limits.
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