Focal Aria 948 Walnut
Ex Dem £2000. Retail £2800.
Excellent Condition.
Original Boxes. Willing to ship internationally.
I believe that Laura Marling is a big favourite in the UK and playing her album I Speak Because I Can it’s easy to imagine how she sits in the studio with a guitar on her lap. The guitar sounds very natural and the rough edges of her voice are very clear, the flax midrange unit is extremely good with human voice. As soon as the band comes in and backing vocals join Laura on track three the Aria follows the jump in sound pressure without any strain.
I put on some nice jazz played by the Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio on the album Midnight Sugar. The cymbals are in the background with easy to recognize brushes and the bass is full of energy without putting pressure on my ears. The music is full of energy, as full as it would be in the front row of a jazz club.
I promised to stop but couldn’t help putting on Fourplay. Oh boy, that sounded good too. Hit that bass drum, shake that tambourine, play the guitar. This is the proof that you need a big speaker to produce a big sound without effort. Full marks to Focal for the flax cone.
If I were a CEO at one of the larger loudspeaker companies like Bowers & Wilkins, KEF, Dynaudio or Sonus faber these new Focal’s would give me a headache. The sound quality offered for the price is excellent.
Visitors often thought that the price was for just one speaker not the pair. Partly because of the size and looks, but mainly for sound quality reasons. I have no idea what influence the flax cone has on its own, but Focal makes very good use of the material in these enclosures. Bass goes deep, deep enough to even satisfy movie lovers, the high frequencies are detailed and smoother than I would have expected coming from a Focal inverted dome and the midrange is brilliant at this price.
This is in my opinion quite a remarkable loudspeaker and if this is the path Focal follows in the coming years I will be interested in hearing the results. Yes, the Aria 948 is big, but who cares if you can close your eyes and enjoy the music? The beast has escaped from the French flax fields and crossed the channel.
The Ear