Focal

Since April 2015 they're in my homestudio set, I've been discovering them progressively since then and I guess they certainly need an extra breaking time, still they're already really good. Great for mixing, I finally can distinctly hear my reverbs' depth and the musical stage is incredibly precise. Spaced by 1.3m (a little over 50 in) in a zone with Auralex phonic isolation foam. Now, let's not get mistaken: the sound of a speaker depends a lot on the room's acoustical properties and to take full advantage of it nothing compares with a precise metering and compensation system such as Ik multimedia's Arc 2, and suddenly everything starts making sense. Magical! The Alpha 80 goes very low in the bass, and I personally will do without a subwoofer. (see the graph on the accompanying pic) They rest horizontally on Isoacoustics stands. The lows are punchy and don't drowl (if you hear otherwise then have your room treated for your listening spot is exactly at the worst place). Its power allows to listen at a small volume with a high level of details, while pushing it produces a huge sound (my house resounds at 50 Hz...). A test using daft punk's latest release, a Bob Marley or Rage Against the Machine will achieve convincing you, if need be. Caution: they're heavy and take a lot of space on a 1.8m (6ft) wide desk, I have just enough space left fot two 27" screens and the speakers. Overall, it comes with a huge value for money ratio that allows doing without a sub (hence less to spend), and accessing the Focal range with a precise, almost surgical sound full of air that makes mixing easier. On a side note, no listening fatigue to be noticed on long sessions. Still, the plastic structure seems fragile and sensible to scratches. No protection grill on it. note regarding metering and compensation (which I consider a necessity) : Use Arc 2 within your favorite DAW (remember to bypass it for rendering) and use Foobar 2000 + the asio George young's Vst wrapper addon. You won't believe your ears, which in return will thank you. As a bonus, the included measuring mic is great when used to record a guitar or voice. Other solutions are the freeware mathaudio room EQ (http://mathaudio.com/download.htm) and Sonarworks (21 day trial version, https://sonarworks.com/speakers/ov, but it requires buying a separate measuring mic - that approximates €/$70).

I was extremely happy with my CMS50 + CMS sub kit after my room underwent an acoustic treatment, then I had an opportunity to invest into these Trio 6. No regret! They're unbelievable, very precise even at minimal volume, with an incredible dynamic reserve, if you wanted you could use them to blow your head off - litteraly. Everything is optimized: power, bandwith, stereo image, filter frequency, I've heard things I'd never heard before from records that rank among my favorites which I'd previously listened to thousands of times. One of the things that most astounds me is the way you can walk in front of them without the sound changing entirely, as on other models. The sound is extremely good, not too directive - incredible! Plus, they look classy, you can put them as you like and the focus mode is a great idea. Great job, Focal. I also had to try their customer support for an unexpected problem: they're very reactive and friendly.

Features 9/10 This pair of monitoring speakers found their place seamlessly in my home studio's very simple setup: My Imac equipped with an Apogee Duet soundcard and Logic X and Garageband. I use them as near fields in a small room to listen to different music styles: Pop, rock, funk, blues, reggae, lots of jazz, and some classical music. I use them regularly every day, but not intensively. Despite the constraints of placing them back-to-back with the wall, which wouldn't be approved by a purist, I was looking for gear that wasn't too influenced by such constraints, I think this speakers are very well adapted to my context because they do their job perfectly, even at high listening volumes. Sound 9/10 I think the reproduction is neutral and the sound excellent at low levels, but they can also handle high levels without a sweat, although, personally, I prefer "decent" levels for my daily use. I really love the sound of these "Alpha 65" speakers, I thinks it's reliable and pleasant enough to my ears, the stereo image is respected. I'm a music lover but consider myself an amateur, that's why I said I use them regularly, not intensively. I think the sound of these speakers is very good, even excellent considering their price and performance. Overall opinion 9/10 I was seduced by the Focal CMS with their more silky side, a very nice smoothness... But my wallet preferred the "Alpha" range, which is more affordable. The investment isn't justified for my use. I also compared them to the Yamaha HS-8, which are rather convincing, but the sound of the Focals pleased me more... That may have prompted me to consider choosing the Alpha 65 model rather than the 50. The latter are compact and precise but seem a bit weaker, the lows seem to be handled better by the 65s, they seem to "breathe" more. As for the 80s, which I tested next, you really need to crank them up and pump up the lows to notice any difference. In short, I think the Focal Alpha 65s are more homogeneous and better suited for my personal use.. I strongly recommend you to listen to these Alpha 65 before making a choice, nothing will replace your own ears to make up your own opinion... After several weeks of use, I am currently really satisfied and happy with them!

The focal cms65 looks plain but are far from plain monitors. I bought mine from sweetwater brand new for $1,000 each. If your going to be mixing you need serious monitors. These are the best I've found in the $2k range Before I purchased these I was looking at dyn audio. All the great things I heard about Focal swayed me into getting these and I'm glad I did. These monitors sound really, really good. I love the shelving options on the back. FYI you will need to remove the grills from the monitors and insert the phase plugs. I didn't and was disappointed when I first played these monitors. Then I noticed some pics of the monitors online had the grills removed and I read on another review that they should be removed. After removing the grills and inserting the phase plugs I was blown away. I see myself keeping these monitors for a long time. The back of the cms65 has plenty EQ shelving options on the back, however they are hard to switch Focal has a really good rep when it comes to monitors and these don't disappoint Excellent flat non fatiguing monitors. These monitors really sound great. I'm very happy with this purchase This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com