Review: Focal 'Shape' 65 Reference Monitors 

Still great ?? :)

@@trixniisama best studio money I've spent. when you hear new things in albums you've listened to for 20 years you know you have some pretty good speakers.

​@@negativesaucer Nice! Would you suggest the smaller Shape 50 for a desktop PC/table setup? Listening distance of 0.8m - 1m. I like that I don't have to worry about the distance to the wall with these. Thanks :-)

Truth not so crappy. Genelec sound at Chinese prices.

@@Thoracius I mean, you have a point. I've been working on them (and making a decent amount of $$$ working on them!) over the years! As I get more wise and experienced however, I'm starting to really HEAR what they're often missing. Also, as a professional bassist, it's striking sometimes how masked and hazy the low end can sound on the Truths. Like I'll be in the car and hear tons more detail on the bass part of a song than I do on the Truths. They definitely are fantastic for their asking price, but they absolutely have glaring weaknesses, and they could be quickly outgrown by a more discerning user.

How are they treating you 1 year on?

Whats the word, do u still like them?! Lol. Deciding between these or a7x. I already have the a5x so kinda want a diff brand to switch between

cun7us I said it looks like bamboo. I didn’t say it was made out of bamboo.

@@ManchesterMusic I know, but you didn't mention flax seed either so thought I would clarify. With regards to aesthetics, in my opinion they look nice especially compared with say, Adam speakers, but this is negligible compared to how they sound. Overall it was a decent and honest review, and I agree with the top end sounding "smooth" which takes some getting used to.

I can sum them up here: they’re very reliable and offer great low end resolution without needing a sub (necessarily). My only complaints are these: I wish they’d offered built it protection tweeter protection. A metal grill or something. They’re made of beryllium and quite exposed. One cracked during a move. The other thing, and I have no empirical proof, is that they seem to be slightly lower output than when I first bought them. Little quieter. Otherwise, they’re great

@@ManchesterMusic Thanks for your quick response. Need to hear them myself. By the way: Their latest update of this model offer the protection for the tweeter. They say that they even compensated for the expected slight tonal change. Grettings

What? Shape 65 are one of the fastest and most articulated monitors in their price range. Maybe something was wrong with your pair

disagree, had the solo 6 and now shape 65 and the shape really better, particularly they have a very usable bottom end

I share some of your thoughts, I have right now the cms65 and shape 65 in my room, I think the tweeter sounds more open and detailed, and the bass is deep and rounded, great punch at low-mid without muddiness, the stereo image is some diffuse and cloudy, it's like a phase weird sound... at other side the shapes 65 has better transient response and incredible precise stereo image and sweet spot (really awesome), but sounds a little muddy at the low-mid, the twitter has a warmer sound that soften the details. Definitely its funniest to listen at focals cms 65, the shapes sound dull for me, maybe I need more time to learn them, its curious I have too a pair of Yamahas HS5 that cost the fifth part of focals, and they are better to show the balance at mid frequencies to set the volume of voice and instruments. Good complement.

@@leosoundtrack facts

Hey Bart. This is definitely a bug, not a feature of those monitors. This could be a few things; dirty power/ground loop/cellphone interference/wifi interference. Try using a different power source if you can, going straight into another outlet. I used to have wifi Router interference in my Focal Solo Bes so I called my ISP and got them to switch channels I was using for transmitting wifi and this actually worked. So try that too. Also, sometimes if I keep my iPhone close to my monitors I get all kinds of unwanted interference. The first thing I’d do is contact Adam and see if they have any additional steps. I’m doubtful this is something to do with the construction of your monitors.

@@ManchesterMusic Thank you so much for taking the time trying to help! I tried different power outlets in different places. I tried the monitors in the garden out of WiFi-reach. But the sound (a hiss, not a hum) is there from the moment I power them on. So I suspect it is inherent to them. I have no other experience with active monitors to be honest. But could it be that all active monitors have some kind of quiet hiss? My passive Elac-speakers coupled to a Yamaha-amp don't have this (only when you put your ear right to the speaker). I was planning to use the T5V’s not only for mixing (where some hiss is not very bothering), but also for enjoying music late at night at low volume levels in a quiet house. So maybe I’m looking for something that doesn’t exist, a hardwood floor with the comfort of a carpet, to use your wonderful analogy :-) I contacted Adam in the meantime, waiting to hear from them.

The helpful people at Adam Audio already sent a reply: "This is normal behaviour for the T5V. Due to the high-performance amplifier, the T5V produces a low self-noise, which should not be perceived as disturbing from a distance of 1.3 meters. It can be reduced a little by turning down the level at the back of the T5V and increasing the level of the source accordingly."

A interesting addition from Adam Audio: "Dear Bart, all of our monitors emit a certain hiss from the tweeter. The models of the AX-Series and the S-Series do this to a lower degree compared to the T-Series." So I might try a different model. Anyways, have a great day Geoff! Looking forward to your next videos, they're always great!

@@bartloomanmusic Hey Bart, did you end up returning them? I just bought a pair and noticed the hiss too. I'm trying to figure out if other brands in that price range have the same issue.

I’ve tried neither unfortunately :(

@@ManchesterMusic Thanks for replying! :)

Did you get a hold of these? I'm wondering if they go to "sleep" at very low volume

​@@WhateverNullPointer I never had that series go sleep even on very quiet listening volume but the definition for very quiet can be different :D Anyway you can disable the sleep function. I did on mine at some point as I use em with a sub, which is an older model and has no sleep function.

@@ognyankoynashki Thank you for your response. I have purchased these speakers a while ago and I love them. To disable the sleep function you'll have to open them apperantly as there is no switch for the sleep function on the backside

I find the Solo6s are noticeably better at reproducing great low end with very little distortion at high SPLs. Just my 2cents.

I was curious about that as well

In my opinion, if you want to just listen to music, you should take a look to the phantom by Devialet... you will put the same price, and these a really really impressive for just listening to music.

I no longer have these monitors on loan so I can say for sure. A quick search online seems to indicate that this feature cannot be disabled. I might be wrong, but good luck.

@@ManchesterMusic I have a pair and I disabled it because the auto-off feature was driving me NUTS 😵‍💫I got in touch with someone at Focal who sent instructions on how to shut it off - great review! what are your monitors these days?

I don’t! Not that I don’t recommend subs, I’ve just never owned one and can’t really recommend as such.

It's a Shure SM7B.

Hi, I'm about to buy Focal Shapes, also having doubts about this feature, but multiple sources say that there is an internal switch to turn the Auto Standby feature off.

@@vitnemec8365 Well, yes. I showed a photo of this to someone, as I'm blind, and they helped me open up the speaker and turned the switch off. With care, they put the speakers back together. Once the auto-standby was turned off, the startup of the speakers were faster. I've had the Focal Shape 65s for almost a year now and loving them!!! I think you should go for it.

What did you buy?

@@jontshyza I ended up with the Tannoy's in the end. They sound absolutely beautiful and clear especially in the mid-range, my only complaint is that for an active set of speakers their volume adjustment doesn't go low enough, so you have to rely on turning down the input signal (which isn't ideal with respect to signal-to-noise ratios.) I still haven't had the chance to hear the Focals in person so it's really difficult to say whether I made the right decision, but overall I'm certainly happy with the Gold 8's.

I prefer them compared to solo6

I feel that you would get impressive quality from a decent “bookshelf” monitor such that you wouldn’t need to fork out a ton of cash on Focals. Don’t get me wrong, they sound great but their application is mostly designed for critical listening.

@@ManchesterMusic makes sense. Thanks for the reply!

I have not compared them to the evos. I did have a pair of Adam A7Xs but I didn’t have them in the studio at the same time as the focals so I can’t really compare them.

I own those and man they're good at low volumes and should be enough for that size room.

@@QuickQuips Great thanks. Would a distance of 3 feet to my ears be sufficient.

I own the Alpha 65. I love them!!!!

@@AH23794What’s the distance of the speaker from your ears. Is your room treated.

@@accentontheoff my room is somewhat treated. I'm usually 3 feet away at a moderate volume. I love the Focals and my sonics have dramatically improved since getting them.

Well, you should take a look at my review of the A7Xs I just did!

Manchester Music thanks!

@@Avedis-G wow , eaxctly the same here , i have KRK ROKIT 8 first generation and i`m looking for an upgrade too , what did you buy and how do you compare it to the KRK`s ?

DJ_URBAN_BG I ended up going with the Adams A7X’s. The KRK’s were great for learning on and served me well for 13 years but there is absolutely no comparison at all. The Adams have that ribbon tweeter and the cleanest, flattest response I could find.

@@Avedis-G i am happy for you , i still wonder which monitors to choose , i heard that in this price range GENELEC M040 is the best , and Neumann KH 120 a little after them , but i guess they are all good and its just a matter off taste

Lol

Lolll “pricey”

@@kazmir_ im sorry mr. Professional, I just do things at home for fun and and certanly for no money. I have another career completely unrelated to music mixing and gives me joy and money but i like good experience of detailed sound and mix things i do. Ive owned most of the entry level studio monitors. Now i own the focal alpha 80s and evo 50s and I like the performance them so perhaps the shapes are good improvement to what i have. So im asking again...are these any good?

As I do not currently own one, I don’t feel comfortable recommending any.

For the price, keep what you have and maybe buy a better DAC or preamp. I don't think the upgrade is worth...

Focal

@@ManchesterMusic Thank you

They are

@@ManchesterMusic No I agree but in this video you state that bright can be a good thing, yet you called out the Adams A7X for being too bright! Anyways your videos are amazing! so much detailed information! I love how you cover every specification while applying it to the behavior of the room.

Gotcha. It’s tough, but it’s one of those “I know it when I see/hear it” kind of things. The Adam’s are blindingly bright, to me. Funny enough, folks will often admit that they’re very bright and weave the brightness into a competitive advantage story which..I dunno, just doesn’t work for me based on my experience with the product. But anyone reading this please: TRY THEM FOR YOURSELVES AND MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND.

Hey there. So 1100 for a pair?

@@ManchesterMusic yep.. the 2 for 1100 was thinking .. focal 65s or a7X from adam i'm producting rap music most of the time... and i planned to treat my room acousticly. :)

Romain st ok. If I were you I spend as much as you can get away with treating your room. It’s crucial. I’ve generally had better luck and been more impressed with Focals entry monitors than Adams (see my review of the A7Xs).

@@ManchesterMusicI went with the focal 65... i heard both... with my music .. for 30 to 40 min inside a treated room at the store in Paris. We'll see how it sound in my room after burn :) Thanks for your both videos.

Romain je taime

Breathe lol

Isn't that a great, useful and supportive, grateful-for-the-in-depth review, thank you comment?