As their name suggests, the Focal Sib Evo are an evolution of the compact Sib home-cinema speakers, best-sellers from the French manufacturer for many years. Their main novelty is compatibility with 3D sound formats, thanks to the height channels with which the two front satellites are equipped, and retain the elaborate design and competitive price that made the success of their elders. A winning cocktail?
With this Sib Evo kit, Focal offers a successful evolution of its most popular home-cinema kit, and a very nice gateway to the world of “real” 3D sound at a reasonable price. Even if sound projection sound bars are making ever more impressive progress in offering convincing spatialization and a pleasant rendering, they are still far from the naturalness and sound authenticity that such a set can achieve. Too bad the somewhat disappointing subwoofer slightly tarnishes the picture.
Strong points
- Accurate and dynamic satellite sound.
- Satellite ramp-up capability.
- Very convincing height effects.
- Construction, design.
Weak points
- Slight lack of neutrality.
- Too much directivity, lack of precision of surround ghost images.
- Subwoofer not at satellite level.
NB: The reported price drop is calculated by comparing the lowest price of the day with the average of the lowest prices charged by all merchants for the product last month, with security rules to exclude prices from shops whose the VAT policy is not clear (known as “grey” shops, typically in the case of imports from China).