Review: Focal Alpha 65 Active 2-Way Near Field Monitor — by Carmen Borgia

Focal is a French company that designs and manufactures a wide variety of speakers and other products in the areas of audiophile, home cinema, headphone and car systems. In the world of studio monitoring, they are known for high end systems including the highly regarded and wallet-flattening SM9 and SM6.

The Focal Alpha 65 represents the mid-range of Focal’s new Alpha line.

Focal Alpha speakers are the new line at a street price of about half that of the CMS series, which were previously their least expensive studio monitors. Over the years, Focal has developed a number of technologies and are now applying those to a lower price-point. According to the website, all design and manufacturing is done within their own facilities, so the company brings impressive experience and pedigree to this new line.

I’ve been working with a pair of Alpha speakers for a couple of months now and they are worth a serious listen if you’re in the market for a great speaker for a modest investment.

DESCRIPTION

The Alpha series consists of three models of powered, 2-way, front ported speakers. For this review I was sent a pair of Alpha 65’s with a 6.5” woofer and 1” inverted dome tweeter. The other models are the Alpha 50 with a 5” woofer and the Alpha 80 with an 8” woofer.

The woofers employ a “polyglass” cone, which is said to add rigidity without unwanted resonances. The inverted dome tweeter situates the voice coil up the radius of the dome a bit to add strength and rigidity. Two class AB amplifiers power the drivers, 70 watts for the low frequency and 35 watts for the high. The Alpha 50 and 80 speakers have smaller and larger amplifiers respectively. On the bottom front between two ports is a handsome Focal logo LED that illuminates when the speaker goes from standby to active status.

The rear panel is bedecked with a standard issue IEC power cord socket, a female XLR input for +4 signals and an RCA connector for -10. A sensitivity switch toggles between 0 and +6dB to boost the input signal should it be too low for your liking. Two knobs are provided for shelving adjustment of high and low frequencies. A power switch and accompanying status LED are provided.

Included along with each speaker is an IEC power cable and four little rubber pads to decouple the speaker from the surface on which it sits. The cabinet is made of .6” MDF (medium density fibreboard) and the unit weighs in at a respectable 20.7 pounds.

The sides of each unit are fitted with reinforced plastic panels sporting a Focal logo – these panels add rigidity to the MDF. The speakers overall have a functional and handsome feel.

SETUP

My regular monitor setup is a pair of Genelec 1029s with a 7050a sub. I decided to set up the Alpha 65’s side by side to evaluate. I monitor at calibrated levels for film work, and the Alpha’s came in about 2 dB hot compared to the 1029’s.

Because I could only switch sensitivity between 0 and +6 I had to adjust my existing speaker levels to match the Focals. The ability to run the speakers hotter is a great option in the case of some interfaces out there that begin to distort right at maximum volume, since the interface can then be backed off a bit.

At first glance I suspected that the shelving controls would be inadequate, more like a hatchet than a scalpel. In use these controls were all I needed. The high shelf starts at 4.5 kHz, and it turns out to be great for reducing or emphasizing presence. Before adjusting, playback seemed a bit strident in the high mids, but backing the HF by just a dB smoothed things out remarkably.

Speaker controls on the Alpha 65 include a sensitivity switch of 0 and +6 dB.

I was most concerned about matching up both sets of speakers for A/B tests in terms of bass as I typically use a sub. On top of that, my room isn’t symmetrical — on the left the speaker is in more or less free space on a shelf and on the right the speaker sits close to a wall. The bass shelf of the Focals starts at 300 hz, and though I cranked it by 4dB on one side and 6dB on the other, the transition to the low end was balanced and smooth.

Focal’s implementation of the shelving made for a very useful tool — it was surprisingly easy to get an even response across the audible spectrum. Compared to my sub system, the Focals felt somewhat smoother transitioning through the low mids to bass, but didn’t extend quite as low. However, once I had done the tweaking of level and EQ I was surprised by how well the Focal 65’s compared to the Genelecs.

IN USE

The first thing I tried the Focals on was Foley effects recording and temp mixing of additional scenes for a new feature film by Chilean director Sergio Castilla. Since I was matching new material to an existing mix, it was a good opportunity to see how things compared.

The Alpha 65’s sounded great right from the start. Smooth and easy to listen to, I thought. Sergio asked if I had gotten new speakers and complimented them. Over the next few weeks I mixed some podcasts for Political Wire Conversations consisting of telephone interviews and encountered no surprises. I executed a sound design for the Pilobolus dance company and the Focals were great. Some attention went to the stereo imaging, which was well-defined in the 65’s without being too much. The mix translated wonderfully when I got it into the theater, essential!

I also had the opportunity to try the Focals in a mix for Hudson Valley bluegrass group CB Smith and the Lucky Devils. I would mix on the Genelecs, then listen back on the Focals. I also went the other direction.

Consistently the Focals sounded smoother in the high mids without sacrificing detail. I prefer that sonic problems present themselves clearly while working, and my standard setup makes that the case. But I found myself favoring the Focals some days. I did some very local A/B listens at specific points where I was investigating some distortion on the original tracks. I was concerned that the Focals would flatter the material and I would let some detail slip by. In fact, all the detail was there with the Focals, it was just slightly less in-your-face.

The manual claims that the very low levels of distortion present in the speakers result in lower levels of ear fatigue by the listener. If that’s what is going on, I’m for it.

CONCLUSIONS

Focal has made a very impressive speaker for small studios and other applications where the audio is important but there may not be so much budget for monitors. At $399 street each, I would call these low-mid priced items for the project studio.

There will always be tradeoffs when designing speakers, especially at a lower price point, and the folks at Focal have made wise choices in the Alpha line. My quibbles are minor: It would be nice to have a combo jack to handle ¼” connectors at the input as well as XLR, and a potentiometer for input sensitivity seems like it might be useful without adding to the sticker price. Having said that, I’ll happily trade a few amenities when the speakers sound great to begin with, which seems to be the route Focal has taken here.

These are excellent speakers for the price, accurate and easy on the ear. After some weeks of settling in I find myself switching over to the Alpha 65’s for a nice break from the Finnish puritanism that I usually go for. My previous mixes sound a touch more euphonic than on my regular system. This is not to say that the Focal Alphas are lacking detail, the information is there to make solid mix decisions with.

I already feel comfortable mixing on these and I’ll certainly keep an eye on products coming out of Focal in the future.

Carmen Borgia is a sound designer, mixer and composer. Find him at http://www.carmenborgia.com.

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