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French Speakers?

For sale on this site are a pair of JM Focal Cobalt 806S speakers. I'm interested...but French speakers? Sacre bleu! My demise as an audiophile began in 1992 with a subscription to Stereophile. I remember the great review of the Grand Utopia. But, French speakers? Favorable reviews are had online for the 806S's. An aggressive, bright treble is noted. That's my preference in a speaker, however (one person's "bright" and "hot" is another person's "detailed" and "precise"). Of course, it's all about the midrange as far as speakers and sound reproduction are concerned.
My crux question is this: my musical tastes are rock, pop and female vocals. Has anyone listened to these speakers and does he or she believe they would be appropriate pour moi?
llanger
br3098
1,001 posts
 
I am a big fan of the French sound. I own or have owned speakers from the best known French speaker manufacturers: Focal (JM Labs), Triangle and JM Reynaud.

Focal can probably be considered the most mainstream the three, with several product lines. IMO, the Cobalt 806S is a very nice "budget" speakers that sounds better then it's price point.

You need to listen to a pair; preferably with your gear and in your room.
phasecorrect's avatar
phasecorrect
2,013 posts
 
Probably a bit lean for primarly rock/pop...they tend to favor small jazz combos, string quartets, etc...and the hyper detailed treble might be too unforgiving on less than stellar recordings...at my local hifi store...I much preferred Sonus Faber or Spendour....just my .02
loomisjohnson
1,975 posts
 
i posted a (largely favorable) review of the 806s on these forums a couple of years ago if you care to search for it. i generally agree with phasecorrect that they're not the optimal rock speaker, though i've never found 'em too bright or fatiguing. fwiw, as hyperactive an audio trader as i am, i've continued to listen to these daily for three years and they're one of the few pieces i haven't considered upgrading.
chrisr's avatar
chrisr
543 posts
 
It seems that focal-jm labs has not put any effort in home speakers in years. They did a lot of developments in the automotive, studio gear, personal gear but not much in speakers since utopia (late 90s?). Last time I checked them, chorus line I believe, they were bright with muffled medium.
I did not care for them at all. I would not buy even 1/2 price.
mike60
275 posts
 
Chrisr, I dont think you are up to speed here. Focal has whole new ranges of speakers since then that are highly engineered in collaboration with research institutions in Europe.
Whether you like their current sound is a different question but I would describe it as the exact opposite of what you heard. I have heard the 800 series and was impressed for the price, Ounce you move higher up the range their speakers are outstanding (in my opinion) and I believe the engineering is stellar. Their technology trickles down into the budget products but of course price becomes a limiting factor. Many good speakers at that price so try hear a few.
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