Hi,

I've got the Alpha 80 recently and did some room measurements with them.
Seems there is indeed some distortion happening in the high mids and highs

I'm sure thats not the mic or the room response as I did the test before with my Genelecs which didn't show this sort of distortion.

So, don't only check the frequency response but the distortion.

Thanks, is the distorsion audible enough to make you fell like retunrnig them? Thx

Yes I can hear the distortion in that frequency region and was looking for other
root cause
Even if I get very close with the mic to the Alpha (about 10 cm) for the measurement the distortion is still dominant in that range.

I do not have the chance for getting my money back, however I'll contact Focal
to see how they act on this case and whether they know about this issue with this series.

Other than this obvious issue I like the Alpha 80 from the Frequency response and Impuls behaviour.

In the meanwhile I'm not sure whether this issue is related to the Focal Alpha's
as other people reporting similar distortion problems especially nasty sounding
Piano recording in that frequency area shown in the above graph with other
monitors and headphones.

I hear that nasty saturation, distortion also on my headphones and especially when I'm recording Vocals, Acoustic Guitar and other sources which are rich on overtones and harmonics.

I tried so far more less everything to sort this issue out but could not really find the root cause.

I have two Audio Interfaces (Antelope Audio Zen Tour and a Motu 8A)
both devices can be used either as an USB or Thunderbolt Interface.

With both interfaces I have that distortion/saturation in my recordings

I'm currently trying a class compliant driver for my Motu 8A whether or not it makes any difference.

If someone has similar issues or maybe a solution please let me/us know.

Hey guys,

I wrote in this thread a while ago because I had the distorsion issue with these monitors. Now it's gone. Only thing that's changed is that I placed some foam under the monitors for more isolation. I wasn't trying to solve the problem, I found some extra foam and instead of throwing it away, I thought I could place it there.

At first I didn't realise I had solved the problem, I wasn't mixing piano those days, and didn't check that at all. But a few weeks later I was mixing some heavy piano and realised there wasn't any distorsion at all.

So maybe that's it. These monitors need a soft foamed surface to lay on, then they won't vibrate so much, avoiding that distorsion to be generated. That's the only way it makes sense, at least for me.

Are you sure it's not the stands that were vibrating? It would see that if the speaker itself was vibrating it wouldn't matter whether it was sitting on foam or not. What kind of stands are you using?

i have the alpha 80 and get a little distortion on the low end, seems fine on pink noise, i only notice it when i have music from mids to the low
my room is desperate for treatment, one tone in the lower mid makes my radiator vibrate lol
but other than that its clear
iv not done treatment as i want to see what its like once i have curtains,i have played about with a bunch of towels in various areas and they did not make a big enough difference to panic at this stage, plus im moving soon so dont want anything to detract from the value of the house, i have to turn this room into a bedroom somehow :(
but i have plans for my next place fingers crossed

Thank God for this thread!
Just bought a pair of 65s and am experiencing the same distortion. And its most prominent right where im sitting, moving around seems to make the distortion lower.. Thought I was going INSANE!!

Please pop some foam under the speakers and let us know if that fixes things.

just to report i have the same thing with my alpha 65's, distortion on certain notes or high harmonic content around a certain frequency maybe. placing my ear next to the woofer or tweeter i cant hear it, but listening to the port i can. seems to be some kind of internal resonance in the cabinet mixing with the signal or something?

anyway its a mild occasional annoyance that hardly makes a dent in the cost/performance ratio of these things... still a great sound for not much money. at least i know when my mids get that twinge of distortion once or twice in the track they are probably at a good level

Alpha 80 owner of two years jumping in here to say that indeed there is really bad distortion between 900Hz-3000Hz. Mostly noticable with reverby piano. REW confirms.

First one of my copies sounded different than the other. Sweetwater was amazing and sent me a third, let me measure and pick the two that matched and return the one that didn't.

Then there was something rattling inside, cable tied the loose wires down to the bracing and soldered the connection between the amp and drivers because of loose clips.

There was also a horrendous distortion at ~200Hz. Much much troubleshooting later found it was poor mounting for the tweeters. Air from the woofers was blowing through the gaps above and below the tweeter. Sealed the tweeters and woofers also while I was at it.

Now that all those problems have been fixed, the amplifier distortion has become extremely apparent. Unfortunately nothing I can do about that except wait to buy something different.

Also one of the woofers starts to grind at ~60Hz at higher SPL whereas the other one doesn't, but I've been ignoring that.

Maybe this will help some people who have some of these issues with the Alphas.

Hi new to forum and just purchased a set of Alpha 65's from two different venders, because the deal I go in store was for a lone speaker. The one I ordered from on line has the distortion. Just wondering if anyone has found a real fix. Here is the message I sent to manufacturer and vender. Manufacturer said to test the bad woofer in the good speaker to see if it duplicates there and then order the appropriate part. Whether it comes from tweeter of woofer. Message...
"Purchased an Alpha 65 open box store refurbished single speaker online, as I got another from a local retailer with only one in stock. The one I ordered on line has the distortion when set at 0db setting if the fader is pushed above -15db on my master fader. I had seen similar problems mentioned from other owners, and wondering if their is a fix for it. Someone said it was a loose screw on the back of the tweeter that fixed theres. Rather than trying to go down a rabbit hole figuring a fix, I thought I would ask support here, before repackaging and sending back to vendor. I love the sound of these speakers and would like to keep the set. Do you have any solutions for the problem, because from the forums the distortion at higher levels sounds like it's a well documented anomaly. I would describe it mostly as being part of the cone surround lifting away from the basket where it joins the cage making a flapping sound. Any help you can give me, really would rather not send back if you know of a fix. Thanks in advance!"