Originally Posted by kodebode ➡️

Thanks.

I'm chiming back here to register my change of opinion on the Alpha 80's. OK for tracking, but I now feel that the low end is not very tight (sounds a bit too woolly and indistinct to me) and as accurate as I would prefer. I have come to love the accuracy of non ported monitors, and acknowledge that serious monitors which are worth the investment in time to learn them and work with them, in a professional setting may cost a lot more than the Alpha 80's. I have not found anything in the less than $1000 approx (per pair) range which I was satisfied with. Sad but true. Looks like you have to spend a bit more to be happy.

My current impression is that you have colors of tone.

Focal Alpha 65 (and even moreso the Alpha 80s) is a bit dark sounding compared to others such as the HS8 and Presonus Eris 8, but this should prevent ear fatigue.

HS8 - slightly smiley

HS 7 - a bit more balanced

With the HS's being brighter in the high end than the Alphas

In general I think that the larger the woofer, the more accurate you will need your room, placement, acoustics etc, to avoid an overblown bass.

One more thing I learned, some music - especially pop, does not have as much low end (volume wise) as we think, especially when listening at a healthy listening volume in the nearfield - less than 1.5 meters from the monitors.