Focal Shape 50 5" Powered Studio Monitor (Single)

Being a previous owner of Focal Alpha series, I can say that I was totally blown away by the sound of Shapes, even before burning them in completely.Handmade entirely in France, speaker cabinets are very classy looking, and can be mistaken for a high-end Hi-Fi speaker, made of real walnut veneer. All the drivers are made in-house by Focal. Speakers are much smaller than Alpha 65.Soundwise they are very revealing, I could pick up every frequency quite easily. They sound very balanced and comfortable, low end is there, and highs are pristine. 65-s can go pretty loud, filling medium sized room with distortion free sound.I believe that at the end of the day if you cannot find something to like about these studio monitors, then you are not trying very hard.

Focal Shape 40 Summary

Perfect size for the small project studio. Can be used close to walls as long as you adjust the rear EQ setting controls. No DSP, so no latency and no bass ports, the bass radiators supply the low end frequencies instead - down to about 60 Hz. European made speakers, made in France. Really pleased with these.

Like a fine wine.

Pros:- Compact size for a 6.5- Passive radiators make room and placement issues more forgiving- Flat response and neutral presentation- Construction is very high quality- Easily exposes bad mixes- Excellent soundstage with wide sweetspotCons:- Standby mode can be annoying- No gain adjustment- EQ adjustment pots are not steppedNeutral:- Beautiful aesthetics- No hype to the sound character- Bass is there, but doesnt move much airWhen I first setup my Focal Shape 65s, I was both impressed and disappointed. The construction quality of the speakers and the general appearance is fantastic, however the sound out of the box was tight and generally unimpressive. I told myself if there was no improvement in some time, I would be returning them. Obeying the ... MorePros:- Compact size for a 6.5- Passive radiators make room and placement issues more forgiving- Flat response and neutral presentation- Construction is very high quality- Easily exposes bad mixes- Excellent soundstage with wide sweetspotCons:- Standby mode can be annoying- No gain adjustment- EQ adjustment pots are not steppedNeutral:- Beautiful aesthetics- No hype to the sound character- Bass is there, but doesnt move much airWhen I first setup my Focal Shape 65s, I was both impressed and disappointed. The construction quality of the speakers and the general appearance is fantastic, however the sound out of the box was tight and generally unimpressive. I told myself if there was no improvement in some time, I would be returning them. Obeying the crucial 10 hour run-in time sticker that is in the box is essential. The bass continued to fill out and improve with more hours and my ears eventually adjusted to their sound character to where I felt confident mixing on them. Properly setup, its as if the speakers have disappeared and all thats left is the sound in front of you. The transparency on a quality mix is almost uncanny at first!The compact size and the somewhat forgiving nature of the passive radiators made placement and room mode issues less prevalent in my home bedroom/studio. The measured response is much flatter than the monitors they replaced in the same position in my room. I get an authoritative response all the way down to ~42hz in my room; the stated specs from Focal do not lie. From a mixing standpoint, these monitors impress. Everything you need to hear is there and you can trust that if your mix sounds good here, it will translate well. Since I use these monitors for both mixing and listening enjoyment, I can say you will immediately hear things youve never heard before in the music you enjoy. Poor mixes are easily exposed and can make for a less enjoyable experience when listening to some of my favorite artists works. There is no hype and they do not bump. The sound characteristic is sophisticated and mature - depending on your use this could be good or bad. Bass junkies may be disappointed here.My downsides have nothing to do with the sound of the monitors, but rather the design choices. For example, the standby mode can get annoying since you will need to feed a strong signal to them to get them to kick back on, then you can reduce the volume to where you want it. For very quiet listening (think night-time use) they will often go into standby even while a signal is being sent to them. Another issue that I did not expect was the connection to my RME Babyface Pro interface. Since the monitors have no gain adjustment (nor could I adjust the output sensitivity of my interface), I had a massive level mismatch requiring the use of a pair of xlr in-line attenuators (as recommended by RME support) to tame the hot signal coming from the Babyface Pro. This issue may not affect you, depending on your interface, however a simple gain pot would have made this a non-issue for everyone. Finally, the EQ pots are as smooth as butter which can make it difficult to match adjustments across each monitor, but in reality the adjustment range isnt that wide enough for minor inconsistencies to really matter. Im nitpicking at this point.All in all, the Focal Shape 65s are absolutely fantastic monitors. They continue to wow me every time I pump some dBs out of them and I can safely say I will definitely be keeping them for a long time. If these are in your budget, I dont think you can do better at this price point. I highly recommend them, even more so to those in a less than perfect room. Give them an honest trial and I bet youll keep these around.

Nice Powered Monitors, excellent value.

Finally had time to set up & break-in. Listened to an old David Bowie CD, heard things I never heard before. Nice hi-end. On the low end, the Passive Radiators are finally back in style. (Bass Ports always were a compromise) Bought on recommendation from others, They sound so good I could cry, knowing what I missed all these years. In my opinion, cant be beat for the price, by a long shot. The Auto-Off can come into play at low listening levels, not really any big deal, just turn it up for a few seconds & your back in business. Thank You Focal!

Night and Day

Upgraded from old event monitors to these and the difference is like night and day. I can hear layers with these things that I never knew were in the mix.Awesome seperation, beautiful design and practical ultimately a great product the quality of which exceeds the price.Only thing I've noticed is the energy saving feature which takes some getting used to. You have to turn the volume up a way before they kick back in. But no big deal.

Pass me a tissue

I've bought these for DJing and production at home, and I'm totally blown away by them! The sound quality is outstanding! The highs are crisp, the mids are detailed and the bass is lush, warm and tactile. I'm hearing so much in my records I couldn't hear on my old system.If you love your music and want to enjoy it as much as possible, these speakers are worth every single penny and highly recommended.

Review of Focal Shape 50 Active Nearfield Monitor (Each)

Attractive and most importantly great sounding units. The top end isn't quite as lively as I am used to but high frequencies are smooth and I don't get fatigued using these for critical listening. The low, low mid and mids are nicely balanced with each other with plenty of control, detail and clarity when compared with my Beyer Dynamic mixing headphones. The sound signature is less 'forward' than those cans and different genres of music all work well with them. For the cost, happy with these monitors with one small gripe. As you will find commented by many others on the web, the EQ knobs (LF and HF shelfs, mid adjustment) are not notched - they are really low friction and move easily if you look at them too hard. The low end roll off setting dial is notched for the ... MoreAttractive and most importantly great sounding units. The top end isn't quite as lively as I am used to but high frequencies are smooth and I don't get fatigued using these for critical listening. The low, low mid and mids are nicely balanced with each other with plenty of control, detail and clarity when compared with my Beyer Dynamic mixing headphones. The sound signature is less 'forward' than those cans and different genres of music all work well with them. For the cost, happy with these monitors with one small gripe. As you will find commented by many others on the web, the EQ knobs (LF and HF shelfs, mid adjustment) are not notched - they are really low friction and move easily if you look at them too hard. The low end roll off setting dial is notched for the values you can adjust the crossover to but not the 3 EQ pots? It is easy to touch them if reaching over the monitor to switch on or off so I sometimes feel compelled to turn them around and check their settings. With the exception of that particular paranoia inducing usage issue, I am enjoying having a neutral sound in the room for mixing and music production. I have a sub-woofer too and with that on, these monitors do a great job with music and movies/sound effects.

Review of Focal Shape 65 Active Nearfield Monitor (Each)

These Focal Shape 65 are wonderful monitors for in a pretty small space. I found them easy to set up, tweak and place. I rose them up above my desk on 20cms high isoAcoutic stands. The way it works the bass is really nice. The mids and highs are very clear, the best I've heard in this price class. I was using Adams and old Tannoys before. I love the Adams A7x, but I feel the Shapes are better for the room I am using them in.One more point: I bought one monitor on B-stock and was worried if it would be OK. Fortunately it is so I saved myself a little cash. The monitors match up nicely and perform well. Andertons is cheaper for these than Thomann in Germany (a good development).

They truly are amazing...

Very flat and useful to gauge every single part of a mix. Had a listen to them in a show room, and are comparable in quality to the Solo6. They are different than the solo6 in the low end, they have tighter bass but not as extended. However, the low end is much more accurate than on the solo6. The tweeter is great, not as amazing as the beryllium of the solo series, but for the price, you have to make a concession. They are the most workable small factor speakers I've listen to aside from the Solo6. Great bang for the buck!