Intro
Contents
The Focal Aria has been on the market for a particularly long time. This speaker with both the signature inverted dome tweeter and the Focal ‘flax’ units for mid and low has won many a heart. Now it is time for the ‘Evo X’ version. We test the Focal Aria Evo X No4: the ‘big one’!
Big floorstanders are not always popular. And frankly, we don’t test them very often either: they are big, heavy and … often quite pricey when it comes to a serious model. This Focal goes for 2299 each over the counter … or better: out of the warehouse. Because at 1.15 meters high and 35 Kg each, you don’t just grab them over a counter.
Chic
Despite its hefty size, the Focal Aria Evo X No4 is a nice speaker to look at. Our version is finished with green lacquer and it just looks very sleek. Yes: it’s still a big speaker, but it looks nice and also kind of chic in that green. Should you prefer not to see ‘Flax’ units, Focal also supplies neat, sleek, black fronts. We leave them off: it looks and sounds better.
Placing the speakers, after screwing the base underneath, is quite easy. Of course spikes go under the base, but with the cups underneath them you don’t have to worry about dents in the floor. Placement was easy in our case: the bass is round, but not abundant, as long as you allow for some distance from the wall.
Traditional construction
The Focal Aria Evo X is a 3-way, bass-reflex floorstander. As already mentioned, Focal uses the well-known inverted dome tweeter. We are talking about an aluminum / magnesium model. Below the tweeter is a 6.5-inch ‘flax’ TMD midrange and below it two 8-inch ‘flax’ woofers.
Together, these three units should give a range of 37 Hz to 30,000 Hz. Sensitivity is 92.5 dB, which is quite high. Nominal impedance is 8 ohms, but know that this speaker dips to 2.5 ohms. We saw that in the measurement as well. So grab a stable amplifier with some balls.
