Audiophilepure

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1937-focal-theva-no2-loudspeaker

I was keen to compare the Theva N°2s against my DIY Amigas. The radiating area of the Amiga’s single 7″ Dayton midwoofer is almost exactly the same as that of the two 5″ Slatefiber woofers in the Theva N°2. The two speakers are also similar in their cabinet dimensions. Yet the Amiga manages to have far deeper bass extension. This may be due to a lower resonant frequency of the larger Amiga’s Dayton cone, which allows for a lower port tuning. Doubling up on the woofers gives the Theva N°2 a clear advantage in low-frequency efficiency, but the Amiga can play deeper. This was clearly audible.

The Theva N°2’s more limited bass extension is amply compensated by its warm, pleasant midbass. On “Gold Dust Woman,” the Amigas reached a bit deeper in their rendering of the lowest bass-guitar notes and had greater leg-shaking power in that register. But the Theva N°2s’ bass was warmer and had a bit more punch and texture.

One of the reasons piano sounded so good with the Krypton3X was how seamlessly the notes transitioned from the middle ranges down through the lower registers. At every point in a well- recorded piano track, the notes had a convincing weight and dimension to their tone. The upper midrange transitioning into the treble region was also very smooth to the ear with plenty of detail and resolution on horns, brass, and strings while not venturing into sounding jarring or overcooked. As relatively big as the Amphions are, they sounded like they played even bigger. While they didn’t have an overly large soundstage, they ran with more of a narrower and more focused presentation, the speakers did have a large dynamic capacity. They loved to be pushed, so when the volume went higher, they scaled really well. For me, these speakers were best enjoyed when sitting in the sweet spot. Sitting well off-axis or listening casually while doing other things in the room didn’t quite grab me as some other speakers might. But sitting in my listening chair, things like massed strings played back at volume over the Krypton3X had a scale and dimension to them that was impressive and memorable.