The Aria K2 926 is a limited edition of the Aria 926, with the main difference being that the former uses Focal's well-known K2 sandwich structure mid-woofer and has a special and exclusive Ash Grey colorway, which was previously only available in the flagship Utopia III EVO series, and uses a leather-like material effect on the front, in fact, the Aria K2 926 was released alongside the group's Naim Uniti Star Ash The Grey color palette is a special edition that combines the two into a particularly simple, feature-rich sound system with a certain sound level, but we didn't use the Uniti Star in our review, but listened to it on the speakers alone.
Focal is one of the few audio brands with a very large factory, and its product line includes multi-channel theaters, headphones, car audio, professional audio, in addition to High End audio... The combination with Naim, a well-known British amplifier manufacturer, has opened up more development possibilities, and the Aria K2 926 is developed and produced in Focal's own factory in France. The Aria series ranks 4th, behind Utopia, Sopra and Kanta, and above Vestia and Theva. The 926 is the smallest floor-standing speaker in the Aria range, after the 948 and 936. The Aria K2 926 features a three-way bass-reflex design, with one concave dome 1" aluminum-magnesium alloy tweeter, one 6.5" K2 midrange driver, and two 6.5" K2 woofers. Although the K2 unit of the midrange and bass is 6.5", there is a difference in the structure between the two, the K2 midrange unit uses a single-layer diaphragm, which focuses on dynamics and precision, while the K2 woofer uses a double-layer diaphragm, focusing on withstanding greater sound pressure processing. The original factory recommends using it in a space of more than 6 pings, and the listening distance can be 3M.
In addition to the reflective hole at the front, the Aria K2 926 also has one on the bottom, which mainly increases the depth of the sound.
The exclusive base is made of aluminium alloy and has a metal foot cone that can be adjusted high and low for horizontal adjustment.
If you have children or pets at home, or if you think the yellow K2 yellow unit is too eye-catching, you can cover the grille, which is a magnetic design.
The main features of the factory-supplied Aria K2 926 are that the cabinet is made of extremely hard MDF plates with non-parallel surfaces on both sides to minimize cabinet resonance.
Focal's own 1" Inverted dome TNF aluminum-magnesium alloy diaphragm tweeter has a very good diffusion with concave inward, and the use of cushioning and damping materials between the tweeter and its frame effectively reduces the distortion of 2-3kHz, which is the most sensitive frequency band for the human ear.
At first glance, it seems that the three K2 units are the same, but they can still be distinguished from the size and shape of the dust cover in the middle of the unit, the top one is the midrange, the lower two are bass, the K2 uses Aramid Fibre synthetic fiber, which is heat-resistant and tough, and is often used in aerospace and military applications, ballistic-grade bulletproof vest fabrics, etc., and more importantly, its sound characteristics are extremely neutral without sound coloration.
The Aria K2 926 features a single-wiring design with a label on the back that clearly reads "Made in France".
Experienced experience in resource building
Focal is one of the most well-known and wide-ranging manufacturers of speaker brands, in Taiwan by the company for more than 30 years, in Taiwan market share is very high, in recent years after the integration of a lot of resources, and in the development of new technology and new products research and development is quite trying, not only home high-end speakers, theater products, headphones, cars and even including outdoor use of audio equipment are available, music lovers want to use Focal products in a variety of different environments or situations have no problem. Although Focal has a wide range of businesses, home speakers are still the focus of attention, and the Aria K2 series is a mid-priced product in the high-end home speakers, which is suitable as an advanced choice for beginners, such as those who may have used high-quality bookshelf speakers and want to try floor speakers, then the Aria K2 926 or 936 is a good fit. It is also suitable for headphone users who want to add an open listening method, you can also choose the Aria K2 926 or the bookshelf type 906.
Ideal for home theater users who want to build a high-level home theater that can listen to music at the same time, the Aria K2 series also includes a center speaker and Focal also has a subwoofer, making it a good choice for both entertainment and quality.
Made locally in France, it fits most spaces
The Focal Aria K2 926 is a pair of floor-standing speakers suitable for small and medium-sized spaces, with an officially recommended listening space of 20 square meters and an optimal listening distance of 3 meters, which is roughly the size of the living room of an average family. The Focal design team gave Aria K2 926 is the use of kinetic energy, dynamic is undoubtedly the sound characteristics that need to be met, the sensitivity is not high or low91.5dB, as long as the crystal machine design can basically give enough power very safely, in the use of both theater systems, the speed and energy of low-frequency rebirth are usually not lacking, Aria K2 926 even gives two bass reflex holes in different directions, providing a sense of volume forward and providing depth downward. We didn't have too much low frequency under actual listening, and it is conceivable that although the design team used a rare dual bass reflex hole design, they still accurately grasped the rebirth of low frequency volume and avoided the situation of being too much. Except for the top of the range of speakers, most of the other cabinets are designed with a narrow surface and a long design with depth and height, plus non-parallel box surfaces and tilt angles, which take into account acoustic considerations and even flexibility of placement and use.
The exterior is even more modern and aesthetically pleasing, according to official sources, the Aria K2 926 is only available in one finish, with the same grey glossy lacquered cabinets, leather-covered front and rear baffles, and a black piano mirror lacquered top. Focal's cabinet production and paint are completely made in our own factory, and the Aria K2 series is all assembled and manufactured in France, with Made in France on the back, which has a certain level of confidence and level in quality control, so users can rest assured.
Natural, durable and faithful musical expression
Referring to Flora Purim's "If You Will" album, Flora's singing style is sincere and unpretentious, the female voice is expressed naturally, not emphasizing skill and perfection but simply using the body to sing the voice with the music arrangement, and the musical accompaniment and arrangement in the album are quite rich, bringing out a lively and diverse jazz style in a smooth rhythm. Under the replay of Focal Aria K2 926,First of all, the sound field positioning and sound diffusion are quite good,You don't have to sit in the center of the emperor to easily hear rich music information,The sound is loose and surging,There is no tension or shrinkage of the listening sense,For playing all kinds of music, it can bring the listener a relaxed and enjoyable listening feeling。
In the high-frequency extension is not a gorgeous style that goes straight to the sky, but in the wide frequency width with nature, like a soprano who does not show off her skills singing makes people feel comfortable and durable, the mid-frequency connection to the high frequency is very smooth, basically difficult to perceive the joint, and the timbre of the high, medium and low frequencies is very consistent, which may be a big advantage of using the same self-made monomer, in the low-frequency energy does achieve the original claim that there is both air impact and low-frequency depth performance, every time the drum is beaten, people can hear the air from the box beating the feeling, Even if you just listen to the low volume, you can have the same feeling, and there is no excessive performance, it is not a low volume feeling that is pushed out cheaply, I believe that the original factory has worked hard in the balance control.
Meticulous sound with rich detail
This evaluation is the Focal Aria K2 926 floor speaker,When you first see Aria K2 926, you will be attracted by its appearance,Gray column with yellow monomer,Not a huge sizeThe overall vision gives people a beautiful and elegant feeling,The sound presented is in addition to the sound quality in line with the appearance of the exquisite,The sound field given is inversely spacious in proportion to its volume。 Play "This I Promise You" sung by Boyce Avenue first, the sound is quite soft, whether it is the soulfulness of the song, or the silky smoothness of the voice, there is a more intense experience when listening to such a lyrical tune, the sound is full of full feeling, and the guitar sound at the beginning of the song is very beautiful, you can hear a very vivid feeling.
Whether it is a clear texture, a full sound, or a condensed note, under such sufficient sound energy, Aria K2 926 still presents a very tender and delicate sound, and the sound contains many intriguing details, such as the voice is a little hoarse when singing softly, the real sound shows that the voice is clean and smooth around the voice, and the excited falsetto sound is slightly powerful and sinuous curves, etc., on the one hand, the sound is fully lifelike, and on the other hand, it makes the song tender but not greasy, gentle and not tired, The emotions are presented in a comfortable but full appearance, which is quite rich.
The sound is naturally balanced, silky and soft
Then play the "exile" song sung by Bon Iver and Taylor Swift, when you listen to it, you will feel that the performance of the low voice is just right, the thick and calm mulberry voice of the male voice is very solid and full, you can feel a strong contrast through the song played by Aria K2 926, the first part of the song is relatively stable, the voice is drawn by the low male voice as a whole, so that the song presents a quiet and deep atmosphere, and in this passage I also feel the resonance of the voice is very comfortable, You can hear the magnetic attraction around the male voice, and you can also hear the details of the music, such as the small and trivial birdsong in the background.
Then when Taylor Swift's voice is added, the feeling of the whole song from the steady, adding a bit of soft and beautiful elements, the same is quite a silky sound, and you can also hear the clean and clean sound, and the male and female voices alternate with each other in the middle of the song, and you can also feel that the voices maintain a delicate balance with each other, the calm piano sound, the thick male voice, the female voice with a little ethereal inspiration, to the high-pitched and translucent piano sound, etc., are all presented in a natural and average way, There is no one sound that is repeated or co-occurring and makes it feel any fatigue or burden when listening, making it easy to enjoy the song.
An excellent work that combines both appearance and sound
The first two songs are more lyrical, and finally choose a song with a slightly more dynamic sense to listen to, play Sam Smith's song "Nirvana" as a reference, when you listen to it, you will feel that although the drum sound is not majestic and brave, but at the moment when the drum sound begins, you immediately feel that the sound is very three-dimensional, the appropriate drum sound has a realistic feel in front of you, compact or slightly slow different presentations, all of which also have detailed dynamic details, and the sound is also full of abundant energy, The drums have a slightly restrained and controlled cohesive feel, and the sound is presented in an ingenious way, both in terms of the weight of the sound and the richness of the details in the background of the song.
The vocals above the drum sound will not sound particularly powerful or strong, without dramatic hoarseness, but despite this, the sound will not feel any shortcomings, but will feel that the sound is still clear and full, and will not be covered up because of the full condensation of the drum, the two are equally dazzling and obvious, and at the same time I can hear that the sound connection is very coherent, and the picture is not divided because the drum sound is low and sufficient, and the human voice and the drum sound in front of you cooperate seamlessly to lay out a fairly complete picture. It's enough to show that the Focal Aria K2 926 floorstanding speaker isn't just about looking good, it's about having a good sound.