More than Twice the Price: Focal Aria K2 906 vs. Chora 806

More than Twice the Price: Focal Aria K2 906 vs. Chora 806 - SoundStage! Real Hi-Fi (Ep:30)

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2 жыл бұрын

In February 2020, we published Diego Estan’s review of the Focal Chora 806 loudspeaker on SoundStage! Access.
You can read the full review here: www.soundstageaccess.com/inde...
On March 1, 2021, we will have a review of the new Focal Aria K2 906 loudspeaker, which was also written by Diego Estan. In this video, SoundStage! Doug Schneider does a lead-up to Diego’s review by explaining some of the differences and features that the Aria K2 906 has that makes it more than twice the price of the Chora 806. But does the sound improve, too?
#soundstage #audiophile #hifi

Пікірлер: 43

@psyphonyxaudio 2 жыл бұрын

Fair. I do really love the measurement site / list you have on the SoundStage webpage. VERY insightful. .. It would be nice to see a 'waterfall' of the resonances too. ( cabinet comparisons ) Thanks, Doug ! Hope you are enjoy Florida!

@richardramorino3319 2 жыл бұрын

Doug, I would submit that being an audiophile is a little bit of a fetish hobby. I spent Saturday agonizing over whether the mono version of Miles Davis Sketches of Spain was better than the stereo version of same. I listened to each version twice, in succession. So, an "incremental" improvement in the sound can be worth quite a bit to an audiophile. That's why I think you have to be careful with diminishing return questions. I appreciate the time you gave to aesthetics and build quality. Those two things are very valuable.

@Robbo-eh3wb 14 күн бұрын

How would a Focal Aria 948 speaker sound in comparison to both of these speakers do you think?

@dougschneider8243 13 күн бұрын

Too difficult to know. Even two identical speakers are tough to make sound identical -- so a different model even from the same company is something you'd have to listen to.

@DougMen1 2 жыл бұрын

Doug, can you please create a database of past reviews like the one you have for measurements? To find your past reviews I have to Google to find and see them, because there's no way to access them from your website

@soundstagenetwork 2 жыл бұрын

If you go to our www.SoundStage.com site you will find summaries of all the reviews back to 2010, subcategorized by product type and even price, under the Buying Guides section.

@DougMen1 2 жыл бұрын

@@soundstagenetwork Thanks

@edwinsprojects7039 Жыл бұрын

I just picked up a pair of 936 k2s. Any opinions on weather the Arcam SA20 80wpc would be a good pairing?

@everything777 13 күн бұрын

I have that exact combo. The Sa20 sounds great, but if you like to play loud or bass heavy music it struggles with the low impedence the 936 demands. Mine cut out when playing demanding music very loud. I've added a power amp and solved it but it's not ideal, but you need a very expensive integrated amp to power these properly

@michaelmityok1001 2 жыл бұрын

Diminishing returns is a thing but once you get a taste of high end sound and you have money it is difficult not to spend it for incremental improvement as your listening skills improve.

@18yearsoldnot 2 жыл бұрын

It’s not diminishing returns, it’s another world imho. Like you may get the same service from a hooker for $100 as you would get from a $500 hooker… but the details add up to something a lot more positive and coherent

@michaelmityok1001 2 жыл бұрын

@@18yearsoldnot agreed with the analogy - the real difference though comes at the $1K mark and above for hookers.

@tothemax324 2 жыл бұрын

The Sopra No 1 vs Chora 806 link? I cannot find video. Thank you

@soundstagenetwork 2 жыл бұрын

Hello, please see: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mst8fbydyMjMo30.html

@jackfalco5351 2 жыл бұрын

Can’t find the review for the 906

@soundstagenetwork 2 жыл бұрын

Here is the link: www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1659-focal-aria-k2-906-loudspeakers

@MRPC5 2 жыл бұрын

Makes sense that double the price gets you much better build quality, but to me the 806 looks like a $300 speaker. I strongly considered trying one out but couldn't get over how cheap it looks.

@andrewwood9067 2 жыл бұрын

MRPC I felt the same about the Black pair of 806's but they also have an off White gloss plastic with light oak real veneer. If it wasn't for the grill they would be beautiful

@danielhenderson8316 Жыл бұрын

You might check out the Theva. They're replacing the Chora with better build and a better tweeter for a couple more bucks.

@DougMen1 Жыл бұрын

It's shameful that Aria charges twice as much for their speakers in the US as in Europe. In Europe the standard 906 is $1000 US and the Chora 806 is around $500. Many other European speakers do that too, B&W, Wharfedale (actually, any IAG product), and some others, and I find it to be just unfettered greed. Elac and KEF don't do that. Their speakers only cost a small amount more in the US than in Europe. And, you can't blame it on shipping and logistics, because all the speakers I've mentioned cost less in SE Asia than in the US, because I know someone in Thailand, and we've compared prices. Even Polk costs less there than here! If these companies didn't jack up their prices in the US market, they would sell a lot more speakers here, and woud be a lot more competiton for the likes of KEF, ELac, and Polk, JBL, and Klipsch.

@everything777 7 ай бұрын

The irony of an American moaning about prices driven by the market is hilarious

@fertanollume4658 2 жыл бұрын

*Talking is never better than sound! Reviewers always make the same mistake : they rather only talk than letting speakers talk for themselves!*

@andrewwood9067 2 жыл бұрын

I agree, but it's so difficult to hear the quality of a speaker from youtube even if you have good desktop speakers.

@DougMen1 Жыл бұрын

@@andrewwood9067 Duh! You have to listen with headphones! That's obvious to anyone with a brain.

@andrewwood9067 Жыл бұрын

@@DougMen1 lol You still can't with headphones, but I'm sure you know that, just try to look cool on the internet and dream that you have the guts to talk like this in person.

@leonsam12 2 жыл бұрын

The Chora are a lot looser in quality, the Aria 906 are far superior to the Chora in sound quality🤔👌

@-MarkWinston- 2 жыл бұрын

You have no idea what you are talking about. Sound quality wise its a small improvement, very small.

@leonsam12 2 жыл бұрын

@@-MarkWinston- well looks are better, materials are are better, construction is better, tweeters are better, more controlled and mature, midrange is better, more depth and fullness in vocals, so that’s a lot of better qualities, so like I originally said, “far superior”, so yeah I do have some ideas of what I’m talking about😎👍

@-MarkWinston- 2 жыл бұрын

@@leonsam12 ignorant. Tweeters are exactly the same, they measure near identical and everyome that have heard both say they are sound identical with very minor differences. You totally have no clue what you ate talking about. Different tweeters... yeah right. Shows how much you know.

@leonsam12 2 жыл бұрын

@@-MarkWinston- I’ve owned the 906s for over a year and have compared them with the Chora in store when shopping for new speakers, I know just what to listen for and have done multiple A/B test, you’re going off of what other people say when not evening listening for yourself? Your input is questionable at best🤔

@-MarkWinston- 2 жыл бұрын

@@leonsam12 you are comparing what you heard at home vs at a store? That is not AB. And Ive heard the 806, 826, 906, 936 and 948 side by side. I have the luxury to do that because there is a dealer here that have all those lined up next to each other. My subjective AB listening coupled with data from multiple reliable sources such as ASR, Soundstage Network and Stereophile correlate to my experience during the AB audition. On axis, off axis, LW, PIR, directivity, dispersion and distortion all show very minute changes, I mean VERY LITTLE differences. Questionable? Not really.

@brentcollins9727 2 жыл бұрын

Literally the worst “comparison” I’ve ever sat through. Repeating the same things for seven and a half minute’s and without any listening impressions.

@Robbo-eh3wb 14 күн бұрын

You realise he is from the USA don’t you? It’s called an accent. Weird observation you have.

@leonwangls 2 жыл бұрын

terrible review. urethane is basically plastic. thanks for trying to fool the viewers. Just tell it as it is. There's no need to try to justify the overprice speaker. It is just a thicker cheap MDF cabinet in a different color. Its produce the same frequency due to similar size speaker woofer and tweeter.

@dougschneider8243 2 жыл бұрын

I'm not sure why pointing out that it's urethane is a bad thing. It's no secret that urethane is a plastic, but it's different than, say, hard plastic. And, yes, the size of the drivers are all pointed out. If you watch the video more closely, though, you'll realize that I'm saying to go read the written reviews, both accompanied by detailed measurements. Thanks.

@stephenfletcher6801 5 ай бұрын

Seriously? You don’t know how to pronounce “Aria”, and you don’t know if the two tweeters are the same or different? But we are supposed to take this “review” seriously? Ridiculous!

@Robbo-eh3wb 14 күн бұрын

You realise he is from the USA don’t you? It’s called an accent. Weird observation you have and somewhat ignorant I might add

@dougschneider8243 13 күн бұрын

@@Robbo-eh3wb Hi, thanks for the defense, but I'm used to A-holes on the internet, so I'm OK. @stephenfletcher6801 is another keyboard warrior. And Stephen, if you're listening, I did say to go check out the reviews. This wasn't an actual review.