Focal Solo6 or Twin6?

J

jakel

Power User
I'm selling off some gear to upgrade my monitors from HS8 (with HS8S) to either Focal6 or Twin6, and I'm asking for opinions from those who have heard both. I'm looking at the 2022 updated versions of these, not the previous generation, which are not really available anymore.

I recently visited Sweetwater and listened to a bunch of monitors, and the Focal6 Be (they didn't have the updated version on the floor yet) blew me away. The depth of the soundstage is stunning, and they sounded fairly honest and un-hyped, while still provoking a real sense of enjoyment. They didn't have the Twin6 on display so I couldn't compare (or maybe it was and I didn't due to the price, idk). But, now I'm thinking if I'm spending "stupid" money (for me) on a once-and-done monitor upgrade, I am a fool to not consider the Twin6.

My room is (I'm guessing) something like 16' x 14' and is well treated with homemade bass traps, acoustic foam panels and (5) 3-1/2" thick 16" x 48" rock wool absorbers. My primary use is listening for enjoyment, crafting guitar tones for playing out, and hopefully in retirement (a few years out) some recording and mixing.

The Solo6 are $3200/pr and the Twin6 are $4600/pr, so a $1400 price difference. Is it worth it???
 
There will always other (potentially better) options. If one set of speakers blows me away in person, and another set of speakers I’m aware of might be better and some people say they are, I’m picking the ones I’ve heard and loved every time.
 
getlostinsound said:
There will always other (potentially better) options. If one set of speakers blows me away in person, and another set of speakers I’m aware of might be better and some people say they are, I’m picking the ones I’ve heard and loved every time.
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Makes sense. I'll talk to my Sweetwater guy about a Twin demo.
 
jakel said:
I'm selling off some gear to upgrade my monitors from HS8 (with HS8S) to either Focal6 or Twin6, and I'm asking for opinions from those who have heard both. I'm looking at the 2022 updated versions of these, not the previous generation, which are not really available anymore.

I recently visited Sweetwater and listened to a bunch of monitors, and the Focal6 Be (they didn't have the updated version on the floor yet) blew me away. The depth of the soundstage is stunning, and they sounded fairly honest and un-hyped, while still provoking a real sense of enjoyment. They didn't have the Twin6 on display so I couldn't compare (or maybe it was and I didn't due to the price, idk). But, now I'm thinking if I'm spending "stupid" money (for me) on a once-and-done monitor upgrade, I am a fool to not consider the Twin6.

My room is (I'm guessing) something like 16' x 14' and is well treated with homemade bass traps, acoustic foam panels and (5) 3-1/2" thick 16" x 48" rock wool absorbers. My primary use is listening for enjoyment, crafting guitar tones for playing out, and hopefully in retirement (a few years out) some recording and mixing.

The Solo6 are $3200/pr and the Twin6 are $4600/pr, so a $1400 price difference. Is it worth it???
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You should listen to some ATC SCM monitors. Miles above the focal - and the Focals are stellar.

I went from Adam A7 -> Focal Trio Be -> ATC SCM 25A in my small room. ATC SCM 100 in the big room. Each was a significant upgrade.

ATC now has an SCM20 with their renound midrange driver. If you thought the Focal were revealing, you should listen to the ATC for another level of clarity.
 
fractalz said:
You should listen to some ATC SCM monitors. Miles above the focal - and the Focals are stellar.

I went from Adam A7 -> Focal Trio Be -> ATC SCM 25A in my small room. ATC SCM 100 in the big room. Each was a significant upgrade.

ATC now has an SCM20 with their renound midrange driver. If you thought the Focal were revealing, you should listen to the ATC for another level of clarity.
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I would love to check them out, but they are beyond my budget by a good amount.
 
NMD! Came home with a couple Twin 6. Tried Neumann, PMC, Solo6 (big disappointment) and others. The Focal are a bit bright but the sound field depth is amazing, the sweet spot is wide and you want to just keep listening. It was like all the others were 2-d and the twins 3-d.

Anyway, I traded in enough unused gear to all but pay for a set, so the wife is happy, too.

Edit: changed ATC to PMC.
 
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Happy NMD! I'm curious what you didn't like about the Solo6 monitors? Were these the 2022 revamped version or the previous Solo6 Be model?
 
The solo6 were the 2022 version. I was there six weeks ago and listened to the Be version. The sales guy, Josiah (highly recommend you ask for him if you ever visit) and I both thought the new solo was quite a bit brighter without the mids to support it. Maybe the tweeters mellow with break-in.

I kind of hope so because even with the twin6 at home I’ve had to drop 10kHz Q1.0 -4db for my tastes. And that’s after adjusting the highs control on the speaker -2db. They are Bright. Frankly I’ve toyed with the idea of returning them, but there was no other speaker there with the same depth and sweet spot.

The other thing I’ll say is, they sounded better in the larger Sweetwater room. I think I need to work on my room some more, or get a bigger room (sorry, honey, I’m taking over the basement…).
 
I bought a set of the Solo6 Be when they were on clearance earlier this year and I have been really enjoying them. They sound really full and cohesive across the whole audio spectrum. The only issue that they have is that they have a surprisingly high noise floor. In a quiet room you can hear the white noise static that the tweeters produce.
 
OrganicZed said:
I bought a set of the Solo6 Be when they were on clearance earlier this year and I have been really enjoying them. They sound really full and cohesive across the whole audio spectrum. The only issue that they have is that they have a surprisingly high noise floor. In a quiet room you can hear the white noise static that the tweeters produce.
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I thought the exact same thing about the Be I heard, full and cohesive sound; very 3-D. I’ll be back at Sweetwater in October and will check the new ones out again to see if they’ve mellowed and become more cohesive.
 
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