Focal Electra 915 Floorstanding Speakers

Focal Electra 915 Floorstanding Speakers 

DESCRIPTION

multi-driver (4-way) ported

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-10 of 22  
[Apr 22, 2017]
Pascal
AudioPhile

I bought these superb 915.1 after many positive experiences with Focal/JM Lab speakers.
And what a surprise!
The very first thing that I noticed was the soundstage: deep and wide such as the one you can have listening to headphones (very rare).
Then there's a quality you also have difficulties to find is the voice size: each voice has a real dimension, not too big as often. There's a density and faithfulness in the medium range that is really striking!
The treble is one of the best I've ever heard: present when it's required and discrete when...this is not useful.
I was quite afraid about dynamics (90 dB is not that high) but this was quickly wiped out, they move and thrill you like hell!
The bass range is very good but as the upper frequencies are diamond shaped, we cannot expect everything at this price...
As a conclusion, I got these speakers at 750 € (real bargain), and I recommend them as each track played is always an amazing pleasure, this is clearly High-end audio and music I know now what my next ones will be...920.1 only for bass extension and to get to Nirvana, but not in a hurry, these 915.1 are so good that I could write tons of comments about them!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 28, 2010]
alan1572
Audio Enthusiast

We bought these speakers to go with our Naim hi-fi, we wanted a big sound and that's exactly what we got, the sound stage is huge and works best with driving rock music but is equally at home with casual soft listening.
they look good with or without the grills, thar require a bit of space between them and the walls and take a few weeks of listening to break them in, a good size room is a must to get the best out of them, buy them, plug them in and enjoy.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Feb 28, 2010]
alan
Audio Enthusiast

We bought these speakers to go with our Naim hi-fi, we wanted a big sound and that's exactly what we got, the sound stage is huge and works best with driving rock music but is equally at home with casual soft listening.
they look good with or without the grills, thar require a bit of space between them and the walls and take a few weeks of listening to break them in, a good size room is a must to get the best out of them, buy them, plug them in and enjoy.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Apr 06, 2004]
harryjmic
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Good Bass, not bloated. Great high end detail without wearing you out. Greater depth to the soundstage. More efficient, good when I plan to upgrade my amp.

Weakness:

The only thing would be the weight, they are a heartattack waiting to happen.

I wanted a speaker that would be an improvement over the Magnapan 1.6qr without the large size (wife factor). The first speakers I auditioned were the Vienna Acoustic Beethovens, Strausses and Mozarts which were being discontinued at Tweeter. When I listened to the Beethovens at $2700 down from $4300, I really couldn't tell if they would be better than the 1.6qr's, it seemed like, "well they might be but I don't know". The strauss speakers blew the Beethovens away but they were $4300, down from $6400. So I figured how could I swing the Strauss's, a lot of dough. Then I decided to check Audio Consultants web page(the place I bought my Magnepans just to see if they had anything interesting). In the used equipment they had the jm lab 915 electras. I visited the store and had them hook up the speakers along with the 1.6qr and a pair of Revel M20. I first listened to the 1.6qr to establish a reference, then went to the jm lab's. The difference was immediate, I didn't have to second guess whether it was better or not, they were clearly better than the maggies. I know I was comparing a $3800 speaker to a $1700 speaker and it should sound better. When I auditioned the Vienna Beethovens' I had a hard time telling if it was better, considering it sells for new at $4300. I figure if you have to get yourself to like it or make something up to justify it, then it's a bad purchase. After, I listened to the Revels', nice but a little compressed and not as dynamic as the jm lab's. I took the speakers home and hooked them up, the difference was amazing, much better bass response, greater depth, more separation of the individual instruments. Where the maganpan grouped closely pitched instruments as one, the jm lab separates each instrument adding layer upon layer of depth. This speaker sounds better with more complex orchestral music and really makes classical recordings stand out. Not that it doesn't rock but it seems as if it was made to define recordings and extract all the details from the source. I noticed greater details in the highs. Now I can here clearly when the drummer plays on different parts of the cymbol very, very, nice. Overall, I would have spent more and was willing to do so. I am glad that I found these speakers used because I don't think I would have been happy with the Vienna Acoustics.

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan 1.6qr, Revel M20, Vienna Acoustic,Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss, Thiel 1.5. Just a list some speakers I have listened to, so it's not a slight on the less expensive stuff.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 06, 2003]
zoran
Casual Listener

Strength:

sound stage.dinamics base

Weakness:

to big not light

great sounding and looking

Similar Products Used:

b&w nautilius 804.paradigm studio 100.revel f30

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 15, 2002]
Ertugrul Dalkiran
AudioPhile

Strength:

EVRYTHING!!!

Weakness:

EXPENSIEF!!!

Its a very briliant musical interconect.The best one i used till now.Needs 250 hours to run in.After its geting more and more beautiful.

Similar Products Used:

Nordost bluehaven,monstercabel,siltech.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
4
[Jul 15, 2002]
Nils Fredrik Torp
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

The bass is deep textured, stagedept, the mids are just great with female vokals and the new tweeter is more detailed and easylistening than 915.1

Weakness:

None

This goes for the electra 926 which is a mindblowing speaker. I can say I am dragged to my system these days after shifting 915.1 with 926. 926 is so much better. You can listen for houers without fatigouing. At the same time you have the greatest dynamics, details, air, and a big body whithout fat at all. My system: CD player: Meridian 588 Preamplifire: Meridian 502 Amplifire: Meridian 557 Speakers: Jmlab electra 926 Cables: Philosophy cables from Chapter audio.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 28, 2000]
Tim
Audiophile

Strength:

See my review below.

Weakness:

Weight

In the review below I bemoaned the sound of these speakers not sounding as good as in the store I auditioned them in.

Well I got a single disc CD player, Parasound CD/P Ultra 2000 and upgraded my interconnects to Kimber Kable silver streak .5mm and that did the trick. I was using a Marantz CD65SE 5-disc changer with Monster Z series digital coaxial 1.0mm cable through my Marantz SR-18. Now the speakers sound the way they're supposed to!

Similar Products Used:

KEF C30's, and also tried JM Labs Tantal 515 & 520 and Cobalts 815 & 820, Pro AC 4's, Paarasound speakers/

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 09, 2000]
Lloyd
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Fast transients, lots of detail.

Weakness:

Cold, hard, and clinical; lacks tone-colour differentiation; sounds a lot smaller than you'd expect from size.

I was extremely disappointed with these speakers after a recent home demo. Admittedly, they weren't burnt in but unless they undergo a massive transformation with burn-in, they're impossible to recommend.
They're undoubtedly detailed and fast but in an extremely cold and clinical way. Acoustic guitars sound like they're strung with steel wire; strings sound peaky and lacking in bloom; trumpets blare without sounding really brassy; and everything sounds razor-sharp and completely without charm. Tone-colours were virtually non-existent with everything sounding as though it was all leading-edge transient dying away into blackness.
They also sounded small. I expected a large voluminous sound but got a mini-monitor size image with slightly truncated depth. Bass was also lacking (the specified 35 Hz at -3 DB I don't believe).
I'm sure they improve with subsequent use and tinkering with ancillaries but find it hard to imagine they could ever sound as good as some of the other reviews suggest.

Similar Products Used:

Electrocompaniet Qube; ProAc Response 2; Apogee Stage.

OVERALL
RATING
2
VALUE
RATING
2
[Feb 28, 2000]
Adam Malak
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Full range, uncompressed and detailed sound with very good stereo scene, depth and focus.

Weakness:

Difficult to control bass. Impedance goes down to 3.3 Ohm.

These speakers requires a kind of "power plant" instead of an amp. They sound quite nice with Audio Refinement Complete but horribly (bass emphasis) with more expensive Audiomeca Hybrid One.
The best results I achived placing them approx. 2m from the "sweet point" with 80 deg angle between them. Speakers are about 0,7m from the side walls and 3m from the back wall in 4m x 5,25m room. JMLab's recommended placement simply didn' t work.
They are very transparent. You can hear any change in the electronics. They also can tell the "naked truth" about the CD-s quality.
Wonderful for classics due to lack of sound compression. They really produce a "big sound" from good recordings.

Concluding: well placed and with good amp they can create a magic of live band in your room.

Similar Products Used:

ProAc Studio 150, Vienna Accoustics Mozart

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-10 of 22  

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