So I just wanted to follow-up like I said I would on my new Focal Twin6 Be monitors now that I had a chance to use them for about 10 days, and also now that I've completed the initial break-in process, as recommended.
I probably spent at least 30 hours breaking them in...they recommend at least 10, most people say about 20, though a lot depends on how loud you monitor.
The break-in started with about 10 hours of wide dynamic range music at moderate listening levels...so I ran through most of my Classical music CDs...then maybe about 10 hours of more punchier Rock stuff at higher moderate levels...and finally lots of low-end Dance/Trance at loud levels (I wasn't in the room)...about 3/4 up of the monitors' capability, or to the point where the speaker movement was visible.
I was pleasantly surprised how much the low end opened up at the end. Initially, out of the box, it was super tight...and after the break-in, it loosened up, but not in a bad/sloppy way...instead it just became thicker/heavier sounding, but still very defined.
All the doubt I had, that the smaller 6.5 speakers might not give me that thick low end...were wiped away. These babies have as much low-end as my Mackie HR824 monitors when they are turned up. At low levels, maybe a pinch less depth than the Mackies, which have the passive radiator in the back that gives them the extra bit of depth, considering I have them close to the front wall...but once the Focals are turned up a bit, their low end depth blooms out, and it does so without muddying up the sound and loading up the room...where the Mackies at louder levels would get too bassy in my space.
I know the Focal Twin6 are not going to fit everyone's budget...and I never planned on buying them, but after using the Mackies for almost 15 years now, I really wanted to take it up a notch, and I was originally looking at the Adam A7X or the Focal Solo6 monitors as my step up from the Mackies...but the 0% financing for 36 months made the Twins too tempting to resist, and I'm so glad I bit the bullet and got them instead. I've gone through a few monitors over the years, and figured I owed myself at least one set of high-end monitors during my years of recording.
I think there are a lot of monitors that can be used to mix on with good results if you learn them...it's just that the better ones maybe get you there a bit easier...but still, there's no magic in the monitors...you can mess up a mix regardless of them...though these Focals are more revealing in the low-mid trouble zone, which I always had to fight with on the Mackies, so I'm expecting them to be a big help with the mixing.
For now, I'm going to keep the Mackies...just 'cuz my setup looks real good with both the Mackies and the Focals side-by-side...but I may sell them at some point, as I doubt I will be even turning them on that much any more.
Oh...almost forgot...so the cool thing about the Twin6 monitors is that you can place them in several positions, and you can also change which of the two 6.5" speakers acts as your mids-lows and your lows.
I started with them horizontal...lows in, mid-lows out...tweeter on top. I didn't try them with the tweeter on bottom, no point to that, IMO. I then tried with the lows out...and that wasn't as good.
Then I went vertical with them...lows on top, mid-lows on bottom...tweeter in...and then same thing, tweeter out. Then I switched the lows to the bottom, and mid-low to the top...again tweeter in and then tweeter out.
I finally settled on the vertical position, lows on top, mid-low on bottom and tweeter outside....and then I ran across some comments on another site where someone said that Bob Hodas, who does acoustic analysis and room tuning, set them up that same way. Granted, it was for different room...but that's also how they sounded best to me in my studio.
The horizontal position, low in, mid-low out, tweeter on top would be my other choice. In that position the stereo image almost embraces you, but in the vertical position there is much better left/right definition, since you have both speaker and tweeter in line on the same L/R plane...where horizontally, those elements are spread out L/R.
Plus in the vertical position, the sound is more 3D...with the added height of the monitors. Also, vertically, the mid-point between the mid-low speaker and tweeter is exactly at my ear level...where horizontally, it's an inch or so lower, which I could have compensated for with another layer of decoupling under the monitors...but the vertical position was such a clear winner, so it all fell into place just right.
Anyway...if you have the desire to go for something much higher-end in monitors...highly recommend the Focal Twin6...though of course, you can go even much higher than them, but that's for some other time...after the lottery.
I said I would post once I decided on the position...so here you go.