hey guys, I'm looking to add some monitors/upgrade to my environment. I am currently intrigued by the Focals.........my listening environment is 15' x 12'.

So I am uncertain whether the twins would be too much for my room and I would be better suited for the solo 6's? My room is acoustically treated.

When I mix I typically check my mixes at various volumes.....but I do enjoy cranking things up on a regular basis as well.

I have tried to do some research online about this but have not been successful in finding accurate info, nor did I find anything when I did a search on this site.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I am a focal fan and have a larger passive version of the CMS line (which I love for mixing) and the SM9s which have the same tweeter and maybe mid driver as the Solo/Twin line. Anyway, the way I understand it is the Twins have a bigger low end which I'm sure would help in your space if you're working on low-end-critical music styles. So the key question is how much bass do you need to throw out into the room to work effectively. If more, then maybe the Twins. If less, then maybe the Solos.

One thing to consider is that the larger Twins don't necessarily have more or deeper bass, although I will say that they are a bit more clear in the bass.

The Solo6 is a more midrange forward sound for sure, their punch is a different delivery from the Twins. The Twins come across as being cleaner in the midrange with somewhat more dimension to them and a more open presentation.

The Solo6 is smoother up top, even though they share the same tweeter and crossover. The Twins definitely bring more presence when comparison side by side.

Neither have limiters on board and are capable of high volume, although I have to say if you like cranking them up for a bit to rock out...the Twins are like having a small PA system in the room.

Those are very general statements about the two.

Both benefit with 100 hours of break in in our experience.

War

thanks for the replies!!

I would say depending on the size of your control room , the smaller room, the smaller box. The larger room, pick the Twin 6be. We have had the Twin 6be for a couple of years now and they are fantastic boxes for the money and they actually do work much better after the 100 hours of break in time. You can actually see the difference in the way the speaker moves once they are broke in....and that midrange is almost scary good!

I use focal CMS 65s with the matching sub and they are stellar. I looked at the solos of course, but for the size and relative inaccuracy of my room and my general applications, it didn't make sense to spend the extra money. I am totally thrilled with the CMS65s though. they aren't forgiving, they expose all of your flaws. But when you nail it, you know you nailed it.

Either speaker would be great in a 15' x 12' room, I have used both extensively in our 12' x 14' room (very well treated and flat). They both have near the same bass depth response at least as the other!

War

thanks!! since you have experience with both and feel that bass response is similar between the two…….which is the one you actually prefer the most?

I have used the Twins way more so I would lean that way, it would depend more on your tastes though and not mine!

War

Also twins in vertical position

man I'm getting real close to making a decision......i'm pretty sure the solo 6's would likely be fine but there is just something about the twin's that are calling to me.....i'm just struggling to wrap my head around spending enough money on my monitors to have bought a decent used car with.....lol

You will hear the where your money is being spent with the Twins compared to the Solo's.

They are way more powerful and have bigger bottom end. They disperse way wider and I consider them much more pleasing to work with.

I feel like I am using half of a twin6 with the solo6. Not a big deal. Great Speakers, but the Twins are worth the extra money.



peace
a.j.b

I have never used the Solo6 before so I can't comment on that. But what I will add is that the Twin 6 can get really loud if needed or you prefer to mix that way. (I don't) but the other thing to consider is that your main monitors are the one thing in your studio that absolutely everything goes through. Your new mics, new pre, compressor, converter etc.....Kudos to you for taking the time to make a very important decision.

Another thing that someone else mentioned was the vertical position of the Twins...in a narrow room the vertical position is fantastic, while in a wider room the horizontal works better IMHO. I am not sure you would get as much of a difference going from horizontal to vertical while experimenting with the Solo6 as you will with the Twins. Just more options to consider.

Gonna go against the grain here. I had this EXACT same question posed to my Focal dealer Simon no more than a month ago. My room is similar in size, 17x12. And he's adamant about me going for the Solo's. So much so that he practically wont let me buy the Twins and says if I want to upgrade to the Twins within the first 12 months he'll take back my Solos. The reason he said is because of the distance of my sweet spot. Essentially its not big enough to evenly hit my ears. And I thought my distance was actually pretty big. But I guess just not big enough for the Twins. He's very confident that the Solos would give me better translation. But I was just like you, hoping someone would say the Twins are well worth the extra money. Because they look so damn sexy. Usually you'd be happy if someone said "save the money, get the other ones and they'll actually work better for you".

hey thanks for the info.....ironically, I have spoken to Simon via email as well and he expressed to me that he feels I'm in pretty good shape for either speaker......my room isnt too large for the solo's but not to small for the Twin's....although, he does feel that overall I would probably benefit the most from the Solo's.

so yes, it's damn strange to want to be talked into spending an extra thousand dollars.....lol

I just listened to your soundcloud stuff, all of it, from other thread, on twins, in a treated room about the same size, while I cleaned. I don't know which you'd prefer, but don't think room size would make or break the twins.

FWIW, mixes sounded well balanced, deep and clear. Nice work.

the twins are great, they have a wide sweet spot.

I use Twins vertically and absolutely love them.

twins on a massive +1 vibe for me, I love 'em

hey thanks a bunch for listening and for the kind words! I appreciate it.

thanks everyone for the responses and opinions.....i've gotten lots of good stuff!

ok guys i did it…..made my decision today and have placed an order for the…………………………………..Twins!!!! I'm super excited but also bummed a bit because they are on back order and will likely not be here until late April. anyway, i appreciate the input and I'm looking forward to this step up.

Hey Guys,

I own a pair of Twins for some years now. Actually I´m very happy with them, but there´s a thing that keeps annoying me:

If I play music with very low sub bass (very deep and long 808 kicks for example) there´s a buzz to be heard (starting at lower mid range volume)....like something is moving inside the box (it´s not the woofer´s membrane. If I put my arm over the bassreflexion opening, the sound dampens). Sounds a bit like fluttering...in my case, it´s stronger on the left side. Has anyone recognized this on his Twins too?
Since I bought a used pair, I´m not sure if it´s normal or something is wrong with my pair. Before I send them in to get them checked, maybe someone can confirm that it is (un)usual to some degree...?

and a another question: I give them a full boost at HF section (+3dB). If I leave it flat, my mixes are too crispy at other systems. Do you have expierienced the same? I ask myself if it´s something wrong with my room or my ears...

Thanks in advance for any reply!

I have never heard the sound you describe on our Twins. Make sure it isn't something in the room! Also it could be something with that much very sustained low end is just too much for something inside the box. Try with a sub and see if it subsides (pun intended).

As far as your +3 setting goes, my guess would be your room first. But then again, if you are listening to the LF sound you described for prolonged periods of time it could be your hearing!

Thanks for your answer!

The fluttering must come from inside the box. Can´t be the room...
I attached a short video and a wave file to show it better...the kick is very low (peaks at 30-50hz). I know it´s very deep for the twins, but for example my NS-10 just cut off what they cannot image. There´s no fluttering at all on those...

The movie is recorded with my mobilphone. It cuts out all the depths so the fluttering can be heared clearly. My monitor controller shows about -9db at -10dBV input setting on the focals. As you can see the woofers aren´t overstressed too much.

Maybe someone is able to play this file on his twins at a similar volume...I would really like to know if it´s usual?

Thanks!!

Mine had this 'fault', basically its due to the damping material coming loose or not enough damping material, speak to your dealer/distributor and theyll sort you out im sure

I was once at a demo for Focal given by Fabrice Dupont. The entire Focal range was set up.

Everyone was ooing and aahing at the speakers. But I thought the Twins sounded like it had some phase anomalies going on. I turned to a well respected engineer sitting next to me and told him what I thought and he said he heard it too. I suspected the dual driver design.There was nothing wrong with it, just had this hyped sound, like a nice hi fi speaker. I was not convinced. I felt the Solo 6 was the stand out. of the range.

But the CMS 40 performance was quite amazing as well.

Listened to it and I would say it is definitely inside the box. Maybe a wire or something resting on the backside of the magnet that only gets enough vibration at the lowest frequencies? Maybe the edge of a cone coming loose from the spider? I would pull out a speaker and have a look before I went through the trouble of boxing them and and shipping them anywhere. I would also be interested to know what you find out.

Unless you and your "well respected engineer" were sitting directly in the sweet spot, and the Twins were listened to both horizontally and vertically in the space you were listening your opinion is suspect and a dual driver design is not an issue for hundreds of other speakers in both studio and live sound use. The twins are awesome but you really need to experiment with the position as changes can vary the field widely. Here we have Genelec, Focal, Yamaha NS-10M, KRK Customs, and some JBL customs and the Focals are more detailed than all of them without the hype that the Genelecs can get. But then again...I am not a well respected engineer.....

Just my two cents.

Thanks for your help!

I think having a look on the inside and the damping material is a good idea before shipping them...garantee is expired anyway. I just need to get the right tools first to open the back of the speakers. I´ll post what I´ll find out!