Hi have the opportunity to acquire a discounted pair of Focal Aria 948’s to replace my 20 year old Linn Kelidihs.
What is the hive minds opinion on this pairing vs the Kelidihs? Good, bad or indifferent?
Demo tomorrow with a Uniti on the front end.
Am I wasting my time, going to be disappointed?
I should imagine a completely different presentation to the Linns. Speakers are such a personal thing, and room dependent. Can you take home for a trial period?
Demo in store only (xxxxx in the UK).
I had Linn Kelidhs with my 82, Olive HiCap x2 250 CB system. And they sounded very good but lacked punch and power and dynamism in my opinion. I changed them for Focal Aria 936 which are a really well built beautiful modern speaker. I paid about £1800 for them but now they retail at £3000. They are really good and can cope better with more power. The 948s can take more power and will be superb. If the price is right get them. They will be effortlessly more powerful.
The Linn Kelidhs are lovely but versus a modern speaker the 948s will be more modern, clearer presentation and handle more power.
I would have got the 948s but at the time I thought they would be too big for my room. They wouldn’t have. I am happy with 936s though. Lovely looking speaker in walnut with glass tops. Very very well made for the price. Build and finish are exceptional for the price.
My room is quite small but the Kelidihs work well in it, hence I like floorstanders.
Do you like the Kelidhs or do you want something else? Mine felt lacking for what I wanted.
I’ve just gone SuperNait + hicap dr and I am concerned that 20+ year old speakers are holding it back.
I’d add speaker decoupling to your list. I’d say one of the biggest and probably cheapest improvements I’ve made in recent years was by adding Isoacoustics Gaia feet to the speakers.
I currently use Kanta 1’s with a SN3 for reference so similar in some respects.
I have a pair of aria 906 and a pair of sopra n1, both pair great with the SN3, the area 948 are big speakers if your room is small you will have to deal with the bass they produce, the are good speakers and if you like the sound of focal speakers I Am sure you will like it. The 948 are not difficult speakers for the SN3 but the bass could be a problem in a small room.
What is the size of the room?
26m2
Not small at all.
Sounds like they will work. The Kelidihs don’t over power the room and they are probably on 25-35% smaller.
I thought the Focals were too warm and lacked sparkle, so listen with care.
Well I can report that the 948’s are wonderful…… but…… they completely overpower the room and look huge. So they are going back on Sunday to be replaced with 926, which should suit the room more,
Try 936s. I have similar sized room and they work well.
I’m afraid the boss says the 936 is too tall….
926s should be very good anyhow. Good luck with demo.
My Roon is 23 square meters and with a pair of focal sopra n1 I have a full strong bass, the 948 are a lot bigger even on 26 square meters will produce lots of bass and may be difficult to control that bass, but I Am not familiar with the 948, those are big speakers.