Focal Alpha 50 Evo Active 5” Studio Monitor (Single)

I went to the disc to test these along side other brands, these sounded way superior. Sounded even better once I'd get them home. Really impressed.

Amazing!!

I grabbed a pair for my home studio. I am in love with the quality. Totally transformed my space! Not only that, I really enjoyed the ease and convenience of the payment plan and the fact that I could use my own card w/o a credit check. Loyal customer in the works!

Believe your ears! (Finally!)

I’ve been through so many subpar sets of monitors I can’t even tell you. During mixing for my last record I was in the market to try something new. Since I’ve owned Focal headphones for years I figured I’d give these a shot and wow am I happy I did! Crisp and honest mids and highs and just enough low end to feel natural, I used these back to back with my headphones and got exactly what I needed: an honest reference of the sounds I was mixing. They’re bulky and solidly well built. I’ve got them isolated on pads and stands and they are just easily my favorite set of monitors ever. Keep the hits coming Focal! (And thank you American Musical for being such a great, easy partner for years!!)

Excellent choice

Bought to replace failed and unrepairable KRK Rokit, wanted 5" cones from a company with a good reputation, and Focal make good kit. These are just about bedded in now after a few hours of use, and they sound good – focused, clear, defined. The bass is not hyped at all and feels reliable, though it lacks very deep extension, no surprise for a speaker this size. The highs are crisp, and although the mids are quite different to the KRK I've been used to, once you adjust to these the Focal feel like a solid choice and are great for the money. The cabinet is a little chunky but they're stable on the stands. High and low shelf on the back for room EQ. Seem like just about the best choice in the price range.

Great Speakers!

These speakers sound amazing! There was a hissing issue at first but, I solved the issue with TRS/XLR cables. Overall, they have a well balanced tone and a wide focal range.

Hits the sweet spot!

I’d done a LOT of research on monitors including owning a few sets prior to deciding to try something new. I’ve had Focal headphone monitors for years and since the price was right, I went all in. Between the price, the build quality, and ultimately the sound, I couldn’t be happier with this purchase. Of course American Musical makes it fast and so easy. A definite win-win purchase!

They Sound Good, But...

These are cool monitors. Sound great in a smaller room. As good as anything else in the price range. My only issue (which is a pretty big one to me) is that in my room, the left monitor has an odd reaction to C#. When I play a C# on my guitar through the monitor it vibrates a loud buzz on the pitch. I am trying to return my set to go with a different speaker, but the left one would've been sent back regardless. Also, both speakers kind of "pop" when the sleep mode engages. I don't recommend it, as it is optional with a switch on the back (genius design for having that switchable). The Left speaker's pop is pretty stinkin loud too, but nowhere as loud as the buzzing from the cabinet when playing a C#.

[Rewarded Review] Crisp and clear

These sound great for the size and very well balanced. Definitely a much needed upgrade from my previous JBL monitors.

[Rewarded Review] Pro Performance Consumer Price

Although affordable, the fits, finishes, appearance, and workmanship are exceptional for any price. After about a 20-hour break-in the sound transforms into a sound quality that rivals the very high-end professional models. Focal is definitely driving their best technology down into the models obtainable by mere mortals. The near-field tuning is the best I've heard at any price such that the voice or instrument heard from the sweet spot is a living presence that materializes in the middle of your head. A truly wonderful experience. It has a very accurate and detailed sound, including a surprising amount of bass and distortion-free treble. I was initially concerned I may need a woofer, but it is not necessary due to the strong bass profile. In fact, I barely have to ... MoreAlthough affordable, the fits, finishes, appearance, and workmanship are exceptional for any price. After about a 20-hour break-in the sound transforms into a sound quality that rivals the very high-end professional models. Focal is definitely driving their best technology down into the models obtainable by mere mortals. The near-field tuning is the best I've heard at any price such that the voice or instrument heard from the sweet spot is a living presence that materializes in the middle of your head. A truly wonderful experience. It has a very accurate and detailed sound, including a surprising amount of bass and distortion-free treble. I was initially concerned I may need a woofer, but it is not necessary due to the strong bass profile. In fact, I barely have to touch the EQ since the default tuning is truly based on studio experience. I was also concerned that the Alpha 50 has fewer watts of output than the Alpha 60, but the Alpha 50 has more than enough power such that I can't even get the volume of my pre-amp over the 9 o'clock position. One of my best B&H purchases of all time!

[Rewarded Review] Reasonable neutral sound for the $$

It's been a while since I bought powered monitors. I'm familiar with Focal mainly through their hi-fi speakers, and had some familiarity with their monitors from about 10 years ago. These are not for critical use, but to give me some music to jam to in my home studio.As expected, there is a nice change—now at around 50 hours of play in, the sound has opened up quite nicely. I've been waiting until about double that to try them in my big system, where I can feed them a signaI I know very well, to get a better sense of just how good they are.I've only listened to FLACs from my server, and streamed lossless files through them, fed by a cheap 32/384 DAC. Some of the FLACS are 24/192, and I can tell the difference between that and 16/44~ with these speakers, but I ... MoreIt's been a while since I bought powered monitors. I'm familiar with Focal mainly through their hi-fi speakers, and had some familiarity with their monitors from about 10 years ago. These are not for critical use, but to give me some music to jam to in my home studio.As expected, there is a nice change—now at around 50 hours of play in, the sound has opened up quite nicely. I've been waiting until about double that to try them in my big system, where I can feed them a signaI I know very well, to get a better sense of just how good they are.I've only listened to FLACs from my server, and streamed lossless files through them, fed by a cheap 32/384 DAC. Some of the FLACS are 24/192, and I can tell the difference between that and 16/44~ with these speakers, but I would expect to be able to.The bass is very solid for a driver this size. Not a strong sense of stress, and it stays out of the lower midrange's way, which is pretty much the minimum I'd expect from a decent speaker. (I don't think most speakers are decent though.) The midrange is good—not great, but I'd expect to pay more for a great midrange driver (and have) than the entire package here.I've also had a fondness for Focal's inverted dome tweeters; one of my first good speakers, a Wilson WATT, used modified versions of them. (If I recall correctly, David machined out a cavity in the back side to control resonances.) The ones used here are also good, not great—but again, I have to be realistic about what $ buys, and feel that these offer a fairly neutral, and more or less even quality to what is fed them.The amps seem up to the task. The housing is really cheap—it looks very nice, and is nicely designed, but the side caps are hollow, and the box is made from thin MDF, and does sing along with the speakers. However, I did a quick test damping just the top panel, and the midrange lost a bit of its bloom—I do plan on really testing this when I have them hooked up in my larger system—and I can't help but feel that the Focal designers have tailored the response curves to include the cabinet produced sounds. As someone who has built several sets of serious speakers, getting the cabinet truly dead is an expensive proposition, so if my guess is correct, Focal has done something very clever here. In my future tests, I plan on also filling the side panels so that they are dead; I will need to do this with something I can remove. (If I find out anything worthwhile, I will post an addition to this review.)So—too many words. I've been enjoying them. As they are opening up, I am hearing deeper into recording I know well—not as deep as I hear them on either my stereo or with electrostatic cans, but for a $600 set of monitors, they are at least as good as I was hoping for.