Dali Opticon 6 mk1 and Focal Aria 926 disappointment

NikosV

Standard Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2020
Messages
30
Reaction score
14
Points
7
Age
52
Location
Greece
Hi, I have enjoyed my Dali Opticons 6 for the last three years, however the urge of upgraditis hit me and chose to swap them -under a relatively good bargain- with a set of new Focal Aria 926's.

In principle I had high anticipations on the Focal's (after reading several professional and public reviews) since they are reputable for being very analytical, balanced and with an excellent soundstage.

The demo in the shop was quite good, however when I set them up at home, the sound seemed extremely hard in comparison to the Opticons, even though the bass had more presence.

I could not keep up with the Aria's more than four days, and swapped back to my Opticons with relief.... (albeit at a minor cost loss...)

So for the time being my small adventure of upgrading is over....and shall be certainly more careful next time before parting with my Opticons :)
 
Not sure why they would sound hard, for me the Aria more bass and the Opticons sound more mellow , but they pretty much like for like speakers in terms of price, so I wouldn't expect either to blow the other away. Simply taste wise the you may find the Opticons to your liking, component match/speaker location.
 
Thanks for your reply.

Please don’t misunderstand me. The Aria 926 is a well reviewed speaker from a reputable company, but probably diid not have the qualities I was looking for.

Perhaps I should wait for letting the speakers run-in properly and I have been unfair, but I did not feel I wanted to go through this process given the hardness I felt in the sound.
 
The original Opticon 6 or the MKII?
 
The original one, didn’t have the chance to hear the mk2
 
The Focals are twice the price then and should be an improvement however last time I heard Aria's they dissappointed me so much they put me right off Focal (till I heard the Sopra N°1, Kanta N°1 ok as well but not worth the price). For me the bass is muddy and the lower/mid mids are a muddle any half decent tweeter with them would make them sound hard/harsh even shrill imo.
I reckon they were originally intended as an AV option yet even there they fail imo.
The MKII should be a marked improvement on the originals said to have a great sound stage so need to be detailed yet should keep a similat signature to your originals.
Anyway wait and learn, it can be a roller coaster like many 'hobbies and pastimes'.
 
however the urge of upgraditis hit me and chose to swap them
A couple of things here: you say the "urge of upgraditis" so this already is not the best place to start from if you're looking for a better performing speaker. What is it about the Opticon 6 that you are not happy with and what are you hoping to achieve with an upgrade?

My advice would be to give these new Focals a chance as when I've tried new speakers sometimes their performance has veered wildly from pretty dreadful to pretty impressive in the first few days of trialing a new speaker. Not all of them, however, and maybe you have a speaker here that you will not enjoy no matter how many hours you put on them. Here in the UK (not sure where you're from) we have quite a lot of dealers who offer 30 day return policies, so if this applies to you, just relax and let the speakers bed in by simply playing them quietly when you're out or at night and see if they live up to their billing. My guess is that in fact these are very capable speakers and they should sound great. That is not to say that they won't sound different to what you expect, but this does not mean they are not "good". My favourite speakers taught me to love a different sound and I would never go back now.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for your message sincerely.

There are two things that I would like the Opticons to be better; they are not so analytical and the bass lacks resolution. Also they probably need a subwoofer for more impact. In general I do not consider them very good for dance and electronic music.

However they have two big advantages (in my opinion): they have silky and ethereal miss and highs with a lot of “air”, making voices and acoustic instruments sound wonderful. The second one is that you don’t need to feed them with high resolution material to make them sound good, you may get (sometimes) impressive sound even with 128k radio.

I truly understand your point, which is actually the point of the salesman, but honestly I expected from such expensive speakers as the Focals to like them from the beginning rather than having to get used in them.

By the way I live in Greece and unfortunately no 30 day return policy..,
 
It sounds like you enjoy a broad range of music from acoustic to electronic. That's another big ask, of course, wanting a speaker to sound good with all genres. The way you describe the Opticons I can understand why you like them: for me voices and acoustic instruments are the most important things in the music I enjoy, but my speakers sound good with 90% of the music I like (I'm not into Metal and I don't listen to much hiphop or rap). What amp are you using?
 
Focal vs Dali. Wow. Dali usually has more forward sound. I assume Focal even more.
 
Well he describes the sound as hard so I guess this also means forward. It sounds to me like the tweeter needs running in or maybe a more powerful amp to tame the sound. I think this is the case with the Sonus Faber Lumina 2 I am trying.
 
My amp is an Atoll IN100 Signature (100W@8ohm) and should not be weak. I would characterize the sound of the amp as neutral to warm.

However the demo in the shop was with a Naim Uniti Atom which is admittedly a much higher class equipment.

By the way, I thought that the run-in process would improve the performance of the woofers not the tweeters

Thanks
 
SF can be harsh.
 
My amp is an Atoll IN100 Signature (100W@8ohm) and should not be weak. I would characterize the sound of the amp as neutral to warm.

However the demo in the shop was with a Naim Uniti Atom which is admittedly a much higher class equipment.

By the way, I thought that the run-in process would improve the performance of the woofers not the tweeters

Thanks
I think it can be both. These Luminas had a sound which was painful on about day 2, yes that's right it actually got worse, and then they seemed to calm down after that. At one point I really thought they had a damaged tweeter in one channel. I've never experienced anything so bizarre.

That Atoll looks like a nice amp and doesn't sound lacking in the power department.
 
the demo in the shop was with a Naim Uniti Atom which is admittedly a much higher class equipment.

Doesn't necessarily mean it's any better than your Atoll amp. Never assume higher priced gear is better than cheaper gear. I've come across many instances where cheaper gear sounds better to me.

I thought that the run-in process would improve the performance of the woofers not the tweeters

That's probably true in most cases but depending on tweeter design, run-in could improve some tweeters' performance too, as robdmarsh found.

Greece - I'm thinking painted hard walls and tiled floors? Is your listening room very reflective? Could account for the Focal's harshness, though I note what you said in post#1:

The demo in the shop was quite good

Not a basis for buying new speakers, I'd suggest - you need to be "blown away".
 
Thanks for your reply.

My home is quite reflective indeed, but the Opticons were not harsh to me, so this was a critical factor to make me change my mind.

I think you have nailed it in your last sentence- my mistake was to change speakers just by liking them, but not being blown away….good advice for the next time!
 
My home is quite reflective indeed, but the Opticons were not harsh to me, so this was a critical factor to make me change my mind.

I'm not familiar with either of these speakers but it's quite possible that the Focal has wider dispersion of treble into the listening space than the Dali. If that's the case (and it may not be), the Focal will likely be more affected by room reflections (in the treble) than the Dali. Upshot may be that the Focal sounds more different (in terms of treble level) in reflective and absorbing rooms whereas the Dali will sound more consistent (in terms of treble level) in reflective and absorbing rooms.

This is one of the reasons why home demos are preferable - although I appreciate that's not always possible. Glad you didn't lose too much money in the process.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom