Matt Kreager recommended the Focal Shape 65 6.5 inch Powered Studio Monitor and it is tremendous. My Fender Stratocaster Ultra II is played through a Fractal FM 3 into the house sound system and I wanted the same sound at home. It is perfect for this application.

I've been mixing on intermediate monitors for many years and these are the first monitors on the professional side that I've ever owned and I immediately was mad at myself for not having invested in them sooner. I immediately cut my mixing time down by about 70% on the very first project and have tested the translation in the usual alternatives just to understand what I'm hearing better. Warning: if you're not accustomed to higher quality monitors you may not like what you hear out of the gates [and that's a good thing]. It made weeding out sonic culprits so much easy and they do actually sound amazing once you get it right. Cannot be happier with my purchase. Sweetwater, as always, was very timely and I didn't have to wait too long for them.

I had to send them for repair to Los Angeles. Both speakers died, (as in pair) the warrenty at sweetwater was up. Focal told the repair shop their warrenty was up after two years. I found they claim a 5 year warrenty for pro speakers, so once they saw that, they said they'd cover them. Now they tell the repair shop the speakers will take months for them to replace. So I had to break the bank and buy replacement monitors while those months tic by. This is NOT SWEETWATERS FAULT! Fact sweetwater has been a big help dealing with this, in fact Colin has gone above and beyond. It's been a couple of months already, i only have a few more months to wait according to focal. Bottom line I will never buy focal again, fact my Dynaudio are way better monitors. So when the focals work, they're great, when they stop working it will shut you down for months.

I was upgrading from a budget pair of monitors where I could hear the built-in amps hiss from my listening position. And I was deeply moved by what I heard after getting the Focal Shapes. Still day 2 and running them in, but such detail, stereo imaging and balanced sound makes everything I listen to alive. And, though hiss is still there when I park my ears close to one of the monitors as the music's stopped, I can't hear any hiss in the nearfield listening position. I think the bass is also quite natural, and digs down deep into the sub regions. With piano, orchestral music and jazz vocals, there's plenty of fun listening sessions in store for me. Though they are still running in, what sounds out of the box is so refreshing to me and I love this so much!!!

Thanks my sales engineer, Tony, for this great recommendation!!!

First off: I can't say anything about these monitors without first giving props to my Sweetwater advisor, Stuart Niven. I wanted to change/upgrade my overachieving-but-limited Equator D5 near-nearfield monitors + sub configuration because it wasn't working in my small home studio (particularly how they translated the bottom end) and I asked Stuart to recommend monitors that I could track and mix without a sub, that could be positioned near a wall and that would work in a smaller space.

I mentioned to him some monitors I had been looking at (top of the list was the more affordable Focal Alpha 65s) and while he said they were very good for the money, the Shape 65s were the ones he recommended and his recommendation was spot on.

The Shapes instantly made everything easier and enabled me to work much quicker. They are honest, they sound fantastic, I can use them for hours on end without fatigue, and the sound I get from them translates very well when I listen to my mixes using other playback devices. Most importantly: I can TRUST them. I ended up spending roughly twice the amount of money I had initially budgeted for, but I have absolutely no regrets. I LOVE these monitors.

Excellent sound quality. I am so glad after months of research and speaking with SW personal I was able to pin point what I truly needed in studio monitors.
Focal Shape65 had one of the best detail both in higher and lower range frequencies. Detail is amazing in these speakers. Music that I did not expect to has such details. Yes they are quiet pricy, but they are great investment. Don't think twice just buy these and I'll promise there won't be any regrets.
I play jazz & Classical keyboard and I used to have hard time on my old JBL LSR series to hear the sound and quality of music as I hear on these speakers.
One thing though I just wish the on & off switch was in front and there could have been a volume control on these units rather than mixer or sound card.
Overall I am very pleased with my decision and thank you SW for the time and patience for helping me.

These are hard to find a review less than 4 star anywhere
On the web.
Unless you put sound thru them, you can't hear anything
Out them, no hum, no hiss, no static.
The hate part, if you have one mistake, pop, anything wrong
On your recording or live play, you will hear it load and clear.
The love part, you can now deal with any issues before release.

THESE are the cleanest monitors I have heard or used . great job and thanks to Brian Kerns and Zacks help shipping them fast.

First off, thanks to Mike Arango and the entire Sweetwater team--from the folks who maintain their inventory, to the shipping department, the video team, on-air talent, leadership, etc. You all make the life of a musician/engineeer/producer better, and I'm grateful for that!

I had never heard of Focal until 11 or 12 years ago when I decided to have a nice sound system installed in my car. Now, the brand is ubiquitous and their success is no surprise. It's all about high quality sound. I was very reluctant to give up my Focal Alpha series studio monitors, but I thought an upgrade might be in order, so I purchased the Shape 65's. I run them with a Tannoy studio sub that I've had for many years. Its contribution is minimal but important for some projects, and while the 65's would work fine without a sub, personally, I would be itching to add one by now. Subs allow small, well-designed speakers to really strut their stuff, even if they are set up to be audibly inconspicuous.

In the case of the Shape 65's, that "stuff" is the elusive midrange that speakers in this price range often lack. While the overall sonic signature is similar to the Alpha's, it ups the ante in every frequency range and the result is more--more midrange detail, more extended top end, more woofer speed and more natural sounding bass (note: I have not heard the updated Alpha series). I use Izotope's Tonal Balance Control as a mixing tool, and while I don't trust it nearly as much as my ears, it provides some insight. I will often see a dip in my mixes between 800Hz and 1.5kHz. With the Focal Alphas, after adjusting the EQ, I'd think, "Hmmm. Doesn't sound much different..." With the Shape 65's, there's absolutely no doubt about what's happening with the EQ's and compressors in the mix.

The other thing that is important to me is the fact that they sound very sweet, so it's not a chore to listen to them for many hours on end. It's even fun to route my turntable through the Focal's from time to time. The imaging sweet spot is wider than the Alphas--I don't have to hunt for it--and it's very revealing. You will hear exactly what UA's Capitol Chambers, for example, is doing in terms of vocal placement or how it moves the piano behind the guitars in the sound field. Fairly impressive for the price. There are lots of online reviews (some right here) that will give you a good description of their sound if you're not familiar with Focal. I'm not very good at coming up with adjectives to describe tonal characteristics, but I do love the sound of these monitors.

One last comment--I got used to the auto off/on feature with the Alphas. These are actually less finicky about waking up than the Alpha's. I am using a UA Thunderbolt 8x as my main interface. They wake up easier once they are broken in, so be patient and you will develop a feel for firing them up after they've gone to sleep. But be aware that the woofers are fast and agile, so expect a jolt now and then if you let them snooze. My advice is to fire them up when you start working and then just keep them occupied all day long! If you love their sound as much as I do, you won't find it very hard to do.

I just replaced my 22-year old pair of Yamaha
MSP-10's (discontinued a long time ago) with
a pair of Focal Shape 65's. Having worked with
Focal SM9's, I was hoping the Shape 65's would exhibit at least some of the SM9's spectacular
midrange clarity, clear and present highs, and
solid punchy lows.

I am happy to report that the Shape 65's not only
met my expectations, they exceeded them! I can
work on them for hours without fatigue, they
sound completely natural, and pump out far more
bass than you would expect from a smaller
monitor. Stereo imaging is fantastic, I can hear
mix elements placement far easier than I could
with the Yamahas, there is more depth to
reverbs and delays, and I can get a great working
mix going in 15 to 20 minutes.

I also bought a Presonus Temblor Sub to go
with these Focals, and when the sub is on and
rolloff switches are properly set, I have a
monster of a monitoring system that can shake
my entire house, and yet does not distort or
fall apart sonically at high listening levels.
That said, I can get awesome results using the
Shape 65's in full range mode with the sub
bypassed.

I cannot say enough great things about these
monitors. They are stunning, world-class, and
a delight to work with.

These speakers sound great, especially in smaller spaces, but the amp in one of mine has mysteriously shorted less than 6 months out of warranty, which is just a massive bummer. After taking it in for a rush repair (at a warranty approved tech), I can either pay $ for a replacement amp or wait for them to find the short at the component level. For a $ speaker, treated properly a fault of this kind is just ridiculous. My little Tannoys from college went 10 years without a hitch. Shout out to Joel and Travis for doing their best to get me taken care of.

Giving 5* due to the absolutely amazing transparency and soundstage of these speakers. Highly recommend for anyone that mixes music, especially nearfield (on-desk, iso) and/or in a home studio with some treatment. I do voiceover work (audiobooks) and I use the same computer for conference calls, TV, you name it. I upgraded from Yamaha HS7, and the sound quality difference (and lack of electrical circuitboard noise) was a night-and-day improvement. My only gripe, and it did ultimately drive me to return the speakers, was that the "auto shut-off" feature was a bit too aggressive for me. With a Focusrite Clarett 2USBC (which granted could be an equipment mismatch outlier, but I doubt it), if I had the console at 3-3.5 which is at or above conversation level, they would go to sleep after 30 minutes. Only way to wake them up is to crank it to 5-5.5 which is reference level loud probably over 100db. This would be ok if they both woke up simultaneously and quickly, but sadly, each has a mind of its own. The wake-up process often required one to be blaring while the other one sat idle. Flipping the power switch on the back doesn't work either - it simply won't cut on without enough signal. If your use case calls for higher volumes most of the time, I don't think you'll find a better speaker under $3K a pair. But if you do conversation level mixing and/or casual computer use, these will likely frustrate you. I did take the time to do some of my favorite music reference observations, so hopefully those wondering what the "personality" of the speaker is can benefit from that below.

I'll also point out that after fiddling with the eq for a couple of days, I ended up flattening it out. My room is pretty well treated, and while I thought the bass was a little behind the mid and treb, bringing the low shelf up added just a bit too much mid-bass and muddied it up. Flat was my preference.

1. Steely Dan "Godwhacker" -Tidal 24b Master
Tracking separation:
One of the cleanest recordings out there. The bass slams right away and the instruments are clearly separated on the soundstage. This track isn't much of a challenge for music speakers, unless some of the instruments smear together on the chorus, but these were clear as a bell. A+

2. Lou Reed "Walk on the Wild Side" -Tidal 16b
Width of soundstage:
Normally Lou's voice is pretty centered here, but what I listen for is how wide the speakers will send the backup singers out to the side "doot-do-do-do-do-do-doot" and these were among the best I've ever heard. Wow.
A+.

3a,3b. Philip Bailey "Dear Ruby" and "Compared to What" -SACD Soul on Jazz album
Bass clarity, punch:
On Ruby, you've got a really warm mix of acoustics that melt into the intro verse. Remarkably well recorded. Philip's voice should stand in a laser-focused upper center, while all the instruments locate below and outward (the piano is stereo though). The backup vocals should fan outward while the lead stays focused. Focal Shape 65 might have handled this balance better than any studio monitor I've ever heard; in fact it sounded better than some boutique loudspeaker setups I've heard. A+
On Compared to What, you have a really punchy drum and upright combo. At super high volumes you might get some port noise, or some larger/heavier woofers (especially subs) will have a tough time keeping up with the speed and combination of the beat. Here, the Focals were a noticeably lacking in bass (could have used a sub for sure) but the accuracy and speed of transition were perfect to my ears. However the passive radiators prevent port noise at super high volumes, so while they didn't punch me in the chest, they absolutely never got flabby or muddy. Needs a sub for jazz/acoustic, but what they do is great.
B

4. Depeche Mode "Breathing in Fumes" -Tidal 24b Master (also found in the singles box 3 "stripped" )
3D soundstage:
3:31-3:37 there are 3 horns. Is the last one ONLY behind you? Focal Shape 65 - yes, yes it is. A+
FYI, Elsewhere in this cut there are voices and chimes that float around the room in one of the best experimental phase mixes I've ever heard. But most speakers smear the 3rd horn across the sides. GREAT speakers put it all the way to the back and make your head snap around. Try it sometime.
A+

5. Airborne Toxic Event "Hollywood Park" - Tidal 24b Master
Dynamics:
Quickly becoming one of my reference tracks. The song is about a racetrack that closed, and the drums somehow make me imagine horses racing around the track, getting closer and further. The lead singer is HUGE on this cut, clearly in command of the verses, and the speakers should elevate him in the center stage above the ambient and grungy guitars and drums throughout. The challenge here for speakers is how flat or lifelike those drums are throughout. The best I've heard, with a rather spectacular subwoofer and tower speakers in a big open room, is that the drums stay punchy and very lively throughout but go through distinct dynamic shifts. The whole mix is very "live" sounding. Some speakers will just have a drumbeat that plods along, but great ones will make you feel as though the horses are approaching and running away from where you're sitting at the racetrack. The Focal Shape 65 positively nailed the depth and dynamics here, but to fully experience the punch and liveliness I'd have to add a sub. The low end just wasn't there.
A-

I've been using the Focal Shape 65 monitors for 3 years now, having upgraded from entry-level JBL monitors. They really are an excellent upgrade. I have found them to be extremely revealing while mixing, providing great accurate response particularly across the lows, mids, and highs. I'm using them in a fairly treated space and haven't had to use the EQ on the rear. The lows and mid-lows are also very accurate, but obviously for sub range you'll need to utilize additional tools for controlling that area. No regrets on purchasing these whatsoever, and I don't see a need to upgrade anytime soon.

We always took my FOH mix for our streaming audio as well as for our TV program. (ALFCRancho) Which there was always the compensation of the house ambient sound, live stage monitors as well as guitar amps and drums. Plus FOH is 108' for my main speakers. So with Covid we went to on-line only, so I switch to near filled monitors for our streaming mix was so much better. We went back to in-person service May 31 and I stayed with the near fields and just turn them done once in a while to make sure my live level are not to loud. I tried various near field monitor and decided on the Focal Shape 65's they are the best. I even bought a pair for my home studio, we were produce and write music for clients. These Focal's are well worth the investment. I highly recommend them. Some shoots during rehearsal.

I have never purchased speakers online before without hearing them first. Just by doing my research (I strongly recommend it!!) I kept coming back to these, and I am not disappointed in any way!! When I first plugged them in they were much brighter than I was expecting so I knew I had to break them in (pink noise for about 24 hours at med volume). Once they were broken in I was blown away!! The lows are accurate and present, the mids are extremely detailed and the highs are crisp and detailed. I had a chance to compare these to the Adams A7x's and found that the Adams seemed to color some of the sound (slightly). Don't get me wrong, I liked the A7x's, but I like these speakers much better. Go to Focal's website and read through what goes in to these speakers. Overall, I found that these monitors are truly ACCURATE across their frequency range. Worth every penny!!!!!

These babies bring anything thrown at them to light. High End is detailed. Mid Range is clear, Low End is gloriously present. If your recording has noise, that too shall be brought to light. I am using these primarily for mixing but also for ABing Masters.

Great monitors - for sure top of the line in the price range. Accurate and 3D sound. Does not flatter. You need to have these in a nicely treated room with a subwoofer. These are not consumer level.

The built in standby system seems like a nice feature on paper but has been nothing short of a headache for me. These things automatically switch over to standby if you are inactive - what if your client is writing lyrics or if you step out for a few mins? Come back and it's on standby. A click, guitar or vocal track is not enough to cut the monitors on again. You need to open a full on mix or open Spotify. Complete waste of my time. I just want an on and off switch. Not to mention the speakers switch on and off of standby mode at different times. Sometimes one side is on standby and the other is not.

Some other notes about these speakers: would have really loved a volume knob. Not sure why there is not one. Have to control headroom using your interface software or monitor control.

Lastly, these give me pretty bad ear fatigue.

I think this could be a really good set of near-fields for mixing studios or really nice project studios, but if you do a good amount of tracking and producing, I probably would not recommend them. I would also look at the step up bigger ones if you are mixing and have a large room. Really beautiful sounding speakers though!

I received these today, plugged them in and A/B"d them against Adam A77X"s. Yes the 3 way Adam"s, not the 2 way version. Absolutely no burn in time on the Focals and they smoked the A77X"s. Sure, the Adams had more sub information (dedicated low end speaker). With that said, even tho no subs, the low end down to the 40hz on the Focals was clearer and more defined. Every other frequency across the spectrum destroyed the Adams.

There are some negative reviews at the bottom of this page talking about poor quality. My guess is those reviewers weren"t smart enough to allow the burn in time. If you want quality and an amazing time listening, mixing and creating music. Don"t even think twice about these. Get them!!

was shocked at the improvement in sound I got when I upgraded to these from my HS8's. Not to knock my Yamahas that served me well for 8 years, but the detailed imaging, depth of tone from the bottom to the top was well worth the investment. Break in period was very short, they sounded stellar right out of the box.

I've had my Shape 65 6.5 monitors for about a month now. They replace a very good set of Roland Digital monitors. Right off the bat, the bass was tighter, cleaner and way easier to set in the mix. I work/compose in a very competitive environment and without a doubt my new Focals will help my mixes translate better. Heck, once I get my new hearing aids, I might take a run at mastering ;-

didn't and wouldn't buy anything from Focal for the rest of my life -

$900 headphones right channel failed within 8 months - they bs'd me that they never reviewed my warranty card and they were purchased from AMAZON who has 'shut down' user reviews as of late -

you have been warned.......

Judging by the reviews, you would think these are amazing speakers, but they're really not that great! They're ok for the price, but don't expect to be WOW!

What i really disliked about them is the tweeter, which is super saturated and weird, can't really tell if you're deesing too much or not enough. Sounds like you are using tube saturator on the 5k to 8k band. The tonal balance is OK-ish, but definitely the tweeter makes it hard to really know what's happening on the mid high end of your mix. It's not as bad as the ADAM A7x or other ribbon tweeter speakers (which overexcites the 10k air band and lack in lower high end spectrum), but still it has a sound to it. The same issue i heard on the Focal Twin6be, on which the high end is really bad.

The sound overall is squashy and sound separation is pretty bad, sounds more like a hi-fi speaker than a studio speaker. So don't expect to do fine eq-ing and instruments separation on these. The frequency response is not really 40 HZ, they start to cut off at about 45.

If you're making beats and producing and you don't need super separation and clarity for mixing, these are good speakers, as they give you enough low end and they can go decently loud.

That being said, nobody that listens to music really cares about how your hihat sounds so... forget about excuses and just get some monitors that you like and make great music that you love! I don't love the Shapes, but you might and you might make your greatest tracks on them. So just listen to them and get them if you like them. If not, there's a bunch of other options out there.

It takes a very long time to be able to know how to truly listen and hear studio monitors. You start out with something inexpensive, then you step up a bit, and a little bit more. And all along the way you (think) you have great monitors. Pros tell you to buy the very best monitors you can possibly afford; but you don't think it's really that necessary because you think your mixes sound just fine.

And then...you get to a point where you finally get it. That's exactly what happened when I got a pair of the Shape 65 monitors. When you sit between a pair of monitors of this caliber, with this level of stereo field and hear every single detail across the entire frequency spectrum, top to bottom, front to back, the lightbulb goes off. And you say..."Oh! THIS is what they were talking about!" These will be my monitors for life.

My goal was to find a pair of reference monitors that would help me translate my mixes better to other devices. I had some decent monitors (so I though) but I just couldn't hear where my mix problems were. With the older monitors I had to mix it to the best of my ability then listen to it on different playback devices and in different environments to see how things sounded: A very tiring process. Don't get me wrong, I think my final mixes ended up sounding good but, as they say, time is money, and this old, laborious process was taking up way to much of my time...not to mention the frustration.

So, I did some extensive research into a myriad of quality reference monitors that might help resolve my dilemma and finally decided on the Focal Shape 65s. Wow! The clarity of these monitors was just what I needed. I'm so amazed. Now I can better hear what's going on throughout the frequency spectrum, making the mixing process much faster and so much more accurate. Truly, my mixes are much better and clearer.

If you want to hear what's going on with your recordings and what your reverbs and eq'ing are really doing, I strongly recommend these Focal's.

As info, these have replaced my Alpha 50s.

When I first set them up, they sounded good albeit stiff. I proceeded to burn them in by running Itunes in the studio for 24 hours straight. Yep, I sure did. :-)

The result was a more open sounding, less stiff listening experience. The bottom end is tight. To me is is suitable for all genres, but some will still want more bass. If you're one of those people that likes a looser bottom end, I would recommend ported monitors vs. passive radiator like these.

The detail is outstanding. When listening to music, even lossy mp3s, I heard things that I didn't know were in the music - ever. Although we can't hear to 35kHz, I sure think there's a smoothness there that can be truly appreciated now. I heard reverb tails, pong effects, separation and everything much more clearly. You can truly appreciate the engineer's efforts in mixing/mastering with these.

My specialist also recommended the new JBL 7 series but they were a bit more $ and IMHO, ugly. They look like PA speakers.

The auto-off feature that you may have heard some griping about, has been a non-issue. I play at low volumes and they haven't shut off on me. Also, they do wake up within a second or two. If your speakers are off for 30 minutes in the studio, it's obvious you are doing other things like writing lyrics or something. I don't understand the negative feedback as far as that is concerned. It can be disabled if you don't like it (inside the box).

All in all, I'm pleased with my Focal purchase and won't be returning them. I suspect they'll be with me for years to come just like my HR824s were back in the day.

You won't be disappointed.

These monitors are really good. If you need more low end, you're doing something wrong. The clarity in the top is stunning and the M Inverted Tweeter does it's thing, I can move around and still have an accurate image. The passive radiators clean up most issues related to overloading the bass in a room, while still allowing for some serious extension. If you don't hear what you want out of these speakers, check your room and other parts of your recording chain. I've now had them up and running for about two months and I trust them completely. They sound great loud or quiet and present details I've never heard on songs I produced and material I've listened to hundreds of times. When comparing indirectly to KRK V8's, JBL LSR305's, Dynaudio BM15 and Lyd 7s, as well as NS10s, all I can say is I wish I had the Focals years ago. I work with all types of music from classical to hip-hop. The Shapes are accurate across the whole spectrum. For the price they cannot be beat. Even you can afford more, do not skip these over. Sure, you can spend two or three times as much and probably find something even better, but don't do that without giving these a try first. And if these are a stretch, they really are worth it if you value accurate monitoring. For what it is worth, I have a lot of gear, but never offer reviews, because why spend my time basically giving free advertising to a company I already gave a bunch of money to...? These monitors are such a good value they changed my attitude on reviewing.

I used to own a pair of KS C88 German monitors before I purchased the Focal Monitors, well let me tell you, these Focal Shape 65 are very very transparent, I am hearing frequencies I couldn't notice with the other monitors, my mixes have been a lot more accurate and the lows are surprisingly deep for a 6.5 monitor, I'm so happy I followed the advice of the sweetwater sales specialist.

Focal monitors like this are simply in that upper echelon of very high quality products, no question. They are clear, full, have workable sound even at 65dB and are supported by arguably the best music retailer on planet Earth; Sweetwater. I, like many, have always taken a little pride in being able to say that something I bought at a lower price, "Sounds like something twice as much." Well, with the Focal Shape 65 you are THERE. I am now proud to own a critically acclaimed product that IS that thing that is higher end; it is spectacular. Focal currently has the price locked down so you won't immediately find "deals" but if you can be patient, save your dollars and run a lemonade stand a few times, these monitors are absolutely worth every single penny.

Just got these a few weeks ago, and I am loving them. I can hear every little detail in my recordings.
I recommend them!

I dont know how the guy with the one star rating had such a bad experience with sweetwater and this monitor because they come with a 2 year free warranty through sweetwater and there is no way he would have had to pay for repairs because sweetwater will send you a new unit immediately if something is wrong with the one they sent.

I once had a Focal Twin6 be that I bought from sweetwater exhibit a small issue which I didnt even have to send it back for, but sweetwater insisted that they send me a new unit just to make sure that I was happy and that all was good. They sent me a brand new Focal Twin6 be to me before even sending back the old one to sweetwater for FREE. The whole process took about 2 days to Alabama. You can trust sweetwater to honor their warranty and Focal is the BEST out there for the money.

BTW I also own a set of Focal Alpha 80's in addition to the Twin6 be's that I also bought from sweetwater. And believe me when I say that their entire line up have that flat transparent "Focal sound" all the way down to the Spirit Pro headphones which I also own and trust WAY more than my old yamaha HS50 monitors. You know when someone trusts a set of cans more than a set of monitors of any kind then they are obviously good and worth the money.

So, If you are at all worried about defects then dont worry when buying from Sweetwater, they back up their warranty with quick and decisive replacement service. They replaced a $1900 monitor for me within just a couple of days so it is a no brainer that they will back you up on these if anything ever went wrong.

I am stationed oversees, and I couldn't wait to go back Stateside from Sweetwater, so please forgive me Delvin!
I bought a pair here and Wow! Waow! wow!.
Once tuned properly to the room, those are much above prosumer than the competition at comparable prices. Crisp and precise all over the spectrum, no need to crank the volume knob. Sore for the hear after hours of mixing.
On the other end, they are NOT forgiving anything that is not perfectly mixed, so you'll have to account for extra hours to get to the satisfaction point.

Warning: I ordered a pair of Shape 65's and I ended up returning it after a week and a half due to an issue where one of the speakers lost volume due to phase cancelling from within the speaker. I was shocked especially after spending $ for a decent set of monitors.

I once owned the CMS 65's and had a similar issue, but instead my HF amp went out completely. I had to send it back to Sweetwater for repair and I ended up paying in parts and labor the cost of a brand new speaker. I will not be putting my money into Focal anymore. Especially for this price, you should not have issues like I did.

You might want to put your money into a more established brand who have worked through the kinks in their technology.

I thought I had good monitors before. I've got a well-tuned and treated room, and had all my EQ and crossover settings set just so. Things sounded fine, I thought. These were Good Monitors with a good reputation, and I spent a lot of time with a measurement mic making sure I had my setup optimized to take advantage of it. Unfortunately a component fault on a long-out-of-warranty product meant it was time for a replacement/upgrade.

So after some research and a trial at the Sweetwater demo room, I picked up the Shape 65's - and everything changed.


The sweet spot is huge and the stereo imaging is precise, the midrange is incredibly detailed, the low end is solid and tight - not woofy or overly subby - and overall they're just a delight to mix with. I can pinpoint mix problems quickly, and I can spend (and have spent) hours sitting in front of them without significant fatigue. The low end extension is solid enough that I can barely tell the difference if my subwoofer is disengaged. And most importantly, I'm finding my mixes are translating much more easily to lesser systems (like my car). As usual I've spent time with a measurement mic and an RTA and they're pretty flat - most of the variances from a flat tone I can attribute to known room nodes and nulls.

Okay, okay, I will say that the tweeter doesn't have *quite* the high end sheen that my prior monitors' ribbon tweeters did. I had to boost the high shelf a db or two to get everything tuned. But that's so far been my only con.

They're SO good that they make me occasionally feel like I should quit music, since I can now hear absolutely every mistake I make with crystal clarity.

My best - and probably needlessly-prosaic - summation, is that with the Shapes I feel like I'm listening to the music and not the speakers.

First of all, credibility check: I have heard a wide variety of monitors, from the cheapest to the most expensive in the world. I worked on JBL LSR305's for years before buying these for my home studio, but also worked in studios with a wide range of products, including, and not pulling your leg here, Hans Zimmer's studio, along with the studios of the composers that work on site with him at his offices (Junkie XL, Lorne Balfe, etc.). We're talking approx. $500,000 worth of speakers in one room with him alone. Do these match up? No! Is it a problem? Not even a little bit (hence the 5 star rating). That's not the point of this review, and Hans Zimmer's needs are already a lot different than yours if you're even considering this item.

Here is what I needed:
- Great separation in Stereo image
- Great separation of frequencies across the spectrum
- Accuracy and wide stereo image at low volumes to reduce ear fatigue (I was developing hearing loss from trying to hear certain areas clearly on my 305's)
- Flexibility in placement since I'm limited to a bedroom

This speaker is outstanding at all of those things. You will be re-listening to all your favorite songs in amazement as these things reveal exactly where the engineer panned each part. You will be able to say "I wonder how the high's are doing." or "I wonder how the low-mids are doing" and locate the answer quickly and without turning up the volume to dangerous levels. Thanks to the non-ported design and the wide stereo image, you have a lot of flexibility in placement (there is still a sweet spot though!).

As a side note, these monitors proved to me that the JBL LSR series does have a killer mid-range and decent stereo image (placement and excellent acoustic treatment is critical with them), but the lows and highs lack a lot of transparency.