Archive - Nuts About Hi-Fi Blog


Focal Aria CC 900

Focal-CC 900

What is most important about your Home Movie system? I think if you were to ask most people they would tell you it is being able to understand what the actors on the screen
are saying.

Focal recently introduced their new Aria line of loudspeakers with their Innovative flax midrange and woofer technology. We were immediately impressed with their ability to articulate the smallest details in music reproduction. What we have found equally amazing with their new CC900 center channel speaker, is it’s ability to allow even the quietest whisper to easily be heard. So if you are experiencing the common problem of having to crank up the volume to hear the dialog only to be blasted out during an action sequence, stop in and allow us to audition this wonderful accomplishment.

Just In Time for the Olympics

Winter Olympics - TV

Yesterday we finished this installation of a new 65 inch Samsung 4K Flat screen.

This one was particularly fun as we replaced a old CRT style, 2 foot deep big screen we had originally installed 17 years ago. We solicited the help of our good friends from Four Aces Dry Wall located in Seabeck.

Matthew and Adam removed the old set, reframed the wall and the folks from Four Aces were out the next day rocking and texturing to perfectly match the existing wall finish. It turned out beautifully. The home owner commented “the image is so crisp it feels as if she could walk into the screen.”

Big Screen for a Big Game

We have been pretty darn busy these past couple of weeks.

The projects have been fun and also a little out of our ordinary realm of everyday installations. Below is a photo of a good clients shop/ garage in which we installed a new Screen Innovations “Slate” 150″ diagonal screen for SUPER BOWL , an Epson professional video projector, along with a complete array of Focal loudspeakers.

big screen

For realistic big game impact we also installed a pair of JL Audio’s E112 series subwoofers. Quite the party they ended up having with over 40 of their friends and family. During the game I received several texts from our client telling me what an exceptionally cool system it is and how much fun they were all having.

Next we have a local house of worship, St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Bremerton, where we installed 2 very large flat screen monitors and Several focal speakers for their services.

church

New – Cambridge Audio Aero 6

Cambridge Audio Aero 6

We are very pleased to add to our family of products what may be the best sounding affordable loud speakers we have yet to offer, the new Cambridge Audio Aero 6.

This speaker along with others in this series were designed by an old friend of ours, Dominic Baker,  formally of Focal.  After helping to design what are now considered by many to be the best overall loudspeakers in the world, Dominic left Focal to return home to his native England. For the the past few years he has been engaged by Cambridge Audio to create a line of speakers that truly sing yet fall well within almost any serious music lover’s budget.

Cambridge Audio is also offering a bookshelf version of these along with companion center and rear channel speakers for movie sound track enthusiasts.

We invite you to audition these in our showroom and hear what a wonderful accomplishment in value and presentation they are.

Just the Flax – Update

As promised, here is an update on the new Focal Aria 900 series speakers I talked about in an earlier post. We have had them in our showroom for just over two weeks now. We already have had several pair go out the door to our music loving customers.

I asked one of our good clients, Jim A., from Port Angeles to write us a a short blurb about his listening experience so far. Jim is clearly an excellent audiophile and cares deeply about his sound system. Here is what he had to say:

Letter-FocalAria948

Transcription:

I have had the Focal Diablo. Was going to upgrade to the 1038 speakers.Then Focal came out with the new Aria 948. Glad I went to the 948. This speaker makes it sound (like) the veil of the speaker is no longer there, and makes you think the music is not coming from the speaker, so you can hear deeper into the music. It doesn’t force the music on you, it is just there. The clarity and image is impressive. The organ from Wilson Audio Magnum Opus is authentic sound, with the low bass and the details of the organ playing. On “Telegraph” from Dire Straits, Mark clears his voice at 3:31 and it sounds like a true clearing. Listening to Jane Monheit on the XRCD2 CD singing “Over the Rainbow” gets you to listen from the first note to the last note. “Deacon Blues” from Steely Dan makes you listen to the cymbals that come and go in the background, detail. Had to lower my bass on the subwoofer, otherwise I had too much bass from the 948. It is a very enjoyable speaker for its price, it out does itself.