Adam A7 or Focal CMS50- Help me decide please!

[zaster]

This is MKI, not II. If I understand you correctly, MKI is preferable?

[mhschmieder]

Tonio, that's very helpful, as I've never heard Mk I and Mk II side-by-side, and individually either version to me blows away the readily-available competition (Focal is hard to find around here, if not possible, and word of mouth is a bit risky due to how many things factor into monitor selection and room matching).

And on that room-matching note, BM5 vs. BM6 (whether active or passive, Mk I or Mk II) is partly about room-matching as well. There are characteristics that I prefer with each model, but I would probably take the BM6A mk I as my home studio is roughly 12 x 24 feet (well, it runs into living space, but the overall acoustical space is what I am referring to), so they aren't too big for the space (whereas an 8" monitor, in my experience, is too large for such a room). My monitors fire across the 12' dimension.

I'm getting more curious about the Focal CMS50 vs. Solo6Be comparison as well, even though it's all hypothetical here in the SF Bay Area being that no store carries Focal around here yet. And it's strange how I hear such contrary stuff about Focal being neutral vs. Focal being hyped (bearing in mind that some people specifically WANT a hyped speaker).

So, given the two extremes of ADAM A7 and Dynaudio BM5A (sincce that's the model the OP was interested in), where does the Focal CMS50 fall into things in terms of sound characteristics? Which would be the most neutral for orchestral? Jazz? World/Folk/Ethnic? And then the for majority, which would seem to give the best balance for pop/rock without fatigue?

[zaster]

I understand the bigger speaker/bigger room concept, but the BM5A and BM6A specs list the same exact size woofers/tweeters and very nearly the same size enclosures. What am I missing? Is it the Wattage going to the woofers? (50 for the 5As and 100 for the 6As) Does that make the 6As unsuitable for smaller spaces?

[mhschmieder]

Oh, sorry, the BM5A has at least two variants, with different sizes. Otherwise, the difference is one of power, as I recall, and the implications for crossover design as well as low frequency handling (amongst other things).

The other two small-to-mid-sized near-fields that are of strong interest to me are the K+H 0110, and the PMC Audio series (I don't have the model number at hand, but it is discussed frequently on Gearslutz). Neither are available at any local stores, and apparently only in NYC for the USA.

[BradLyons]

Well that's the thing---gear like this you won't find just anywhere for a few reasons---the biggest being the manufacturer wants their product represented properly. The worst possible thing is to have someone selling a product who not only has no clue about the product, but makes it look bad because they don't know the right information and seem to want to believe the wrong information. In other words, mis-information can be very mis-leading and cause further mis-information to others.

[mhschmieder]

Well, Brad, it's good that you guys have started carrying Focal recently. I've let my rep know of my interest, even though it's mid-term to long-term at this point. I trust that he will have good advice once I am ready to plunge for either Focal or Dynaudio.

I just wish I could try K+H 0110 or PMC, which get the top reviews at Sound-On-Sound consistently and are generally the most respected (along with Dynaudio and sometimes ADAM) in the U.K. and Europe (Focal is also gaining some respect there as well, and of course is a French company).

I think K+H may have lost out over here as it has been affected so much by the exchange rate, and also their stuff is a bit heavier which also affects shipping costs. PMC is probably just not well-known yet and may have limited distribution channels.

One thing is for sure though: you can't go wrong with any of these brands, over the alternatives (though some still swear by Genelec as transparent and neutral, it's been awhile since I've heard their gear and I'm not keen on their new plastic cabinets).

[Tonio]

I understand the bigger speaker/bigger room concept, but the BM5A and BM6A specs list the same exact size woofers/tweeters and very nearly the same size enclosures. What am I missing? Is it the Wattage going to the woofers? (50 for the 5As and 100 for the 6As) Does that make the 6As unsuitable for smaller spaces?

Just like any other gear , the design and components are what makes the difference.

BM6A- mk1 & mkii The orignal Mk1 has a MOSFET amp set and are 100watts per driver. You'll have to double check on Dynaudios site about the mkii, but I believe the amps are 50/80 watts tweeter/woofer respectivley. I think the crossover frequency is different also.

BM5A- orignal and " compact" They have different specs also.

The great thing about the BM6A's mki- and I think both 5, 6's have a forward mounted woofer & flush mounted tweeters. The time alignment aids in phase issues from what I understand.
Also the reflex port( rectangular) is in the rear. So YMMV with setting up your mixing position. I have about a 21" distance from the front wall, and I had apprehensions about the rear port. My studio is a 17x11x9' acoustically treated (not perfect)room, and the bass on the 5.8" woofers are plenty enough. Prior to my BM6A's I had been using Event PS-8's and the front reflex port was really messing with the low frequencies in the room even at low amplitude levels. It may have been the room resonance, but I think it was more of an issue with the port itself.

T

[mhschmieder]

Yeah, two concerns I've had with the BM's are the rear port and the single connectivity vs. parallel connectivity.

The latter is fixable via an intermediary switcher or line leveller device to integrate RCA and balanced inputs.

The former is more room-sensitive, and it's hard to know if it's a problem without trying in your own space.

The KRK's are front-ported and are a huge problem in my current space -- but the Auralex pads helped 400%.

Tonio, thanks for taking time to publish specifics about BM6's and BM5 + compact -- I was too lazy/disinterested.

For me, it has come down to the BM6A mk I, or something from Focal, PMC, or K+H (Barefoot is too expensive).

[Tonio]

BM6A mki's are hard to find, or least they are not in stock and need to be ordered from TC Elect., I think the warehouse was in NJ, which they drop shipped to me. Nice packing too !! Dynaudio is opushing the mkii and AIR models , but keep some originals around since they always have requests for them. I am sure at some point they will need to dump the models for lack of components or demand.

I wish they had more than one connection too, but I just use a switcher and is doable.

I think you should be OK with the rear ports unless you plan to jam it up against the wall. Some acoustic treatment should be behind the monitors anyway and should help in that regard, if they are planned to be rather close to the wall. You should be more concerned with the performance / value than those issues you noted. Also important is the room's acoustical issues if any. The better the monitors, it could exasperate any existing acoustical issues-namley the low end. If the room dimensions have a resonance based on size close to monitor's spec's it could cause a null or peak. When the monitors low response starts at say 40hz, it will have a peak, then settle down. If your room has a resonance close to that frequency it could cause a anomaly by interacting with the room resonance. Of course acoustical treatment should be in place to avoid extraneous interaction to begin with.
My room size has a resonance (mode)of 30hz (and its harmonics) so it is not too much of an issue, but its 2 harmonic does emit some issues. With the acoustic treatment installed the null that had a effect is toned down, unless I crank it above 90db'spl-which is seldom for mixing.

T

[zaster]

I just bit the bullet and bought a pair or the CMS 50s. Part of my reasoning was the way smaller footprint. After 1 day of listening I can say, quite unscientifically, that they sound like they're not even there. Although I have only listened to A7s and BM6As in Guitar Center, I would wager that these sound more like nothing than either of those. The BM6As (mkii) compared to the A7s seemed very flavorful. A kind of muddy flavor. Every time I switched to them from the A7s, I felt confused. Going back the other way felt like a definite improvement, clearing up. I listened to a variety of genres and in every case it was like this. The A7s seemed more transparent. However, there was no denying they had a brightness to them. Something to like or not to like. These have none of that. It's like they don't exist at all. Super-neutral. I'd like to know if anyone else's impressions are along these lines. Hopefully more people will listen to them and comment soon.

[kgdrum]

Hi Zaster ,welcome to the Focal family ,I have been using them for 2.5 years,Focal knows how to build great monitors.
I had the Solo6's and now I have the Twin 6's,they are amazing!(disclosure:I have a professional relationship with Focal)
I haven't heard the newer models yet but they are causing enough of a buzz in the industry that i think they will be a Home Run in the Personal Studio market.
A friend of mine who works in the Focal's Pro division explained,that when they started to make the CMS50 and CMS65 speakers, they originally wanted to use speaker drivers from their entry level consumer line(chorus700v series very good in their HiFi intended application)but they could not get them to sound like they wanted,so they went back to the drawing board and developed new speaker drivers specifically for the new CMS line.I quote: The results exceeded their expectations.Focal has a budget for R&D as well as product development that exceeds most companies entire budget.

Typically the Focals will need about 200 or 300 hours to break in,If you think they sound good now,wait a week or 2.


Enjoy
KG

[zaster]

This tape op review does a good job of explaining how versatile these speakers are for non-ideal listening environments. I think if you placed these close enough to your head you could mix out on the street. I'm exaggerating. But they have made me pretty optimistic about what I can get done in my unideal, untreated workspace. After a little fiddling with the onboard adjustments, I'm pretty sure I can trust what I'm hearing to translate to other systems. I'm basically comparing to what I already know I'm hearing in my Sony MDR-7506s, mixes I've heard a lot of times in different rooms. Unscientific, like I said...
http://www.focal-fr.com/catalogue-docs/ ... s/2368.pdf