Verdict
The Aria X No3 is n’t meretricious and it is very large but it delivers a level of performance that will have many hoi polloi reaching for their credit card . It balances realism scale leaf and presence with a level of plain good playfulness that gain them a star turn at the Leontyne Price .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
From the exterior looking in , the Focal range can attend both enormous and faintly intimidate . The company has more model tier than most key rival and there is more overlap in pricing term as well .
What you ’re looking at is a policy of take turns changing between drivers and tweeters ( as well as beefing locker up at the same time ) . The Aria X range take the same tweeter from theVestia line upbelow and partners it with a raw curing of midrange and bass part drivers . These same drivers will go on to be used in the range above but with a different tweeter . See – it ’s easy when you know how .
The original Arias did a decade of serve and now Focal has take it upon themselves to give the range a refresh . The new range does n’t change the basic formula that the original contrast up establish but it brings a selection of newfangled Focal technology to the tabular array and does so while observe the cost within sight of the outgoing range .
This means that , in the sporadically expensive world of 2024 , the No3 floorstander looks like rather a mickle of speaker for the money . Is that the subject once I get listening ?
Availability
The Aria X No3 is available in the UK for £ 3,499 the brace and is available from a wide selection of specialist retailers , some of whom seem to be allowed to transport the Focal online .
It is less wide trade in the USA but can be incur for $ 5,200 the pair ( a more important distinction as it is frequently priced per speaker ) . It is useable in Australia for $ 7,100 AUD the pair . All finish are price identically which is something to take into account when looking at the Focal against some rivals which can often inquire for a exchange premium for some finishes .
Design
The Aria X No3 is the secondly big member of the Aria X range which constitute a standmount , three floorstanders , centre speaker with a consecrated environment speaker and subwoofer as well . There are some caveat to ‘ second big ’ though .
The first is that the range top Aria X No4 is no taller than the No3 , plainly wider and this is probably just as well because the No3 is pretty tall . The 1150 mm height is significant and accentuated by the Focal being relatively thin and having that dustup of driver up the front . This is not a verbaliser that is depart to vanish into most rooms you put it in .
Perhaps with this in mind , Focal offer three finishes for the Aria models and all of them are rather well judged . comment black and Prime Walnut are reasonably formal but flatter the styling rather well . The reappraisal samples show up in the ‘ Moss Green gamy rubric ’ and this really works well to complement the Focal ’s appearance . The absence seizure of lily-white will be an annoyance to some likely customers but the selection available are very effective ones .
There are some other neat features too . The leather effect baffle is effective at adding a bit of contrast to the drivers and the plinth aim is really very good indeed . The ear total pre - fitted to the plinth but they are retracted on a nooky thread so they wo n’t spear thing during induction . Once the pedestal is establish , you may omit and level the spike and you are dear to go .
It complements the respite of the verbaliser which is well built and finish to a very high standard . Almost nobody who visited me while the Focals were here think the price correctly and one ( quite experienced ) visitant was out by nearly a factor of three . I ’m not going to pretend that £ 3,500 is n’t quite a luck of money but you may see where Focal has spent it .
Specification
The Aria X mountain range makes use of the same tweeter that first puts in an appearance in the Vestia orbit that is direct below it . Focal calls it TAM ( a take on Tweeter Aluminium and Magnesium ) and it is an alloy made of the two metal which is then work into an thousand shaped dome ( M shape in profile I should say , it ’s alone round when viewed from the front ) .
Focal prioritize lightness as a value in their tweeters ( function to the effort of using Beryllium ; the lightest solid element there is in in high spirits end model ) and this pattern achieve the lightest potential domed stadium they can make .
This hands over to a quartet of driver that make function of flax as part of their construction . Focal is a keen counselor-at-law of driver made from composite cloth that vary in materials and heaviness depending on the frequencies they are being ask to reproduce .
A flax weave acting as the main layer has been used as Focal feels the properties are idealistic for the task . There are four of these F Sandwich drivers ( and F Sandwich is actually written on the surroundings which is likely to have some of your friends asking searching interrogation ) . Three of them are 165 mm bass driver tied together to work in unison while the top one is also 165 millimetre across but it ’s congeal up to operate as a midrange driver . The five drivers give the Aria X No3 a claim frequency response of 39Hz – 30kHz at + /- 3dB , which is pretty convincing .
That low end is helped by two front fuel bass ports and a downward dismission port which act against the plinth . Crucially , both place of ports fire away from the back of the speaker and mean that the Focal is not too seriously affected by boundaries but still wo n’t really give thanks you for ramming it into a recess .
It ’s also extremely raw at 92dB / atomic number 74 but it dip to a minimum impedance of 2.8 ohms . pair off this with the moderately telltale nature of the Aria X No3 and you will find that you do n’t need hundreds of watts to drive them but neither are they going to flatter all electronics you might suppose to put with them .
Sound Quality
The original Aria ambit did something quite important in the phylogenesis of the Focal speech sound . It was the first time I listen to one of their speakers and , as well as admire all the proficient thing that they did well , actually found the result genuinely good playfulness at the same clip . ‘ Fun ’ is n’t something easily measured but you know it when you pick up it and the Arias were very good at it .
The Aria X No3 has not bury all the things that make Focal speakers what they are though . This is an exceptionally tonally exact and detailed performing artist that will pry open things you play on it like a metre long crowbar . The dense orchestral and electronic passages of To Dream is to Forget by Hidden Orchestra is opened out and bring out for all their complexity and elegance . Everything you play on the Focal sounds convincing in a way that has you block what you are listening on and just condense on what you are listening to .
This is helped by the integration of the gadget driver and the overall balance of the speaker being extremely even from top to bottom and it presenting a frequency response that does n’t over emphasise any part of what the Focal is doing . Some speakers that have a dedicated midrange number one wood can tweak things so you appreciate its presence . On the Aria X No3 , it ’s simply part of a seamless delivery of phone . As you might bear from that hefty cabinet , there is no famine of exfoliation either .
There are some key improvements over the senior models that reflect what Focal has been up to over the last few days too . Positioning Focal speakers used to be scrupulous piece of work that needed time and a willingness to move things around them . The Aria X No3 still needs a little tending to return their sound but they are much less demanding than their ascendent .
They are also rather more forgiving . Focal has a foresightful account of making pro audio speakers so they have n’t become super cushy overnight but the Aria X No3 will gayly play Language , Sex , Violence , Other ? by the Sterephonics and nor ram home that ’s it ’s a genuinely terrible transcription while it does so .
Really lean on the Focal with eminent tempo stuff and you’re able to sense a very svelte deficiency of smoothness in the mode it handles high tempo bass lines . you could delay this by ensuring that there is plenty of current uncommitted to tug them ; I used a HiFi Rose RA280 to good effect in testing but there are more out and out ballistic speaker unit available for the money if that is what you want .
This does n’t break the Focal being every flake as fun as the original Aria was though . The effortlessly groovy Love Dance by My Baby is something that perfectly flows on the Focal which dumbfound the timing spot on while assure that the endearing outspoken harmony and astonishingly complex arrangements that go with them are effortlessly stitch together .
The highest praise I can give the Focal is that it directly followed the Acoustic Energy Corinium ( £ 6,000 ) andBowers & Wilkins 702 S3 Signature(£7,000 ) through the run blank space and there have been more than a few points where I really ca n’t see how the Focal costs several thousand pounds less . It delivers a level of performance that I really shin to find many break with and asks impressively little of you while it does it .
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Should you buy it?
The Focal delivers a level of public presentation that can really only be secure from a giving , well - engineered speaker unit and it does it at a price that feel extremely competitory given how well made and capable it is .
You do n’t postulate to spend an absolute lot partnering the Focal but it wo n’t make every system of rules better and it needs blank space to do what it does . This is not a quick fix for a disordered organization .
Final Thoughts
Some of Focal ’s recent release have been deep up to speakers but the Aria X is well the most telling . If you have the blank for them , it ’s very toilsome to think of another speaker that does more for the same kind of spending or look as good doing it .
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How we test
We quiz every hello - fi utterer we retrospect thoroughly over an extensive period of time . We use industry - stock trial run to liken features right . We ’ll always severalise you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to survey a product .
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FAQs
Yes , the Aria X No3 are n’t just speakers for a hi - fi hardening - up , you may use these pillar in a home cinema set - up too
