Focal Arche: Anyone compared to other options in its price range?

[rickydenim]

Not sure if it's always been this way but I was just turning my volume knob and I noticed it makes a kind of harsh rubbing sound as it turns. A bit like a scrape. I normally just do 1 or 2 clicks but I went to turn it down quickly and noticed how loud the sound was. Is this normal for you also?

 

[EarFatigue]

Not at all. When did you get your Arche? I’ve had mine since Dec 2020.

 

[rickydenim]

I think it was March 21 I got mine. It's just been sat on my office desk and never moved. I'll get in touch with the dealer but not sure if anything can be done now over 12 months.

 

[Evangelist]

I’m waiting for a Fiio k9 pro ess that is taking too long to arrive . They are out of stock… saw now in the used market a Focal Arche 1200€ it’s 400€ more , but I’m tried of waiting, it’s almost 3 months now…

What do you think Fiio k9 pro ess VS de Focal Arche ?

Headphones in the house are Focal radiance, Meze liric, Audeze Lcd-2c and harmonicdyne zeus. Also Audeze MM500 coming soon.

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Ordz]

Hey everyone,

Hopefully I could grab some last minute advice, im trying out the Vocal OG clears and Arche tomorrow. They’re selling the bundle for $2400AUD.

Given everyone’s experiences and issues, do you believe the combo is good value at $2400AUD or would I get value from another combo/set up.

I’ve also seen a HDVD800 for $1300, which id pair with the HD800s which are still $2100.

Any tips or info would be greatly appreciated!

 

[rickydenim]

Hey everyone,

Hopefully I could grab some last minute advice, im trying out the Vocal OG clears and Arche tomorrow. They’re selling the bundle for $2400AUD.

Given everyone’s experiences and issues, do you believe the combo is good value at $2400AUD or would I get value from another combo/set up.

I’ve also seen a HDVD800 for $1300, which id pair with the HD800s which are still $2100.

Any tips or info would be greatly appreciated!

I haven't been here for a while so just saw your post. Did you end up getting the Clear/Arche bundle? I got this bundle last year and they are my daily driver at my office. All I can say it's a damn good pairing and for the money I think great value. Lots of options for sure at that price point though!

 

[iamoneagain]

I can report the Focal Arche does well with the new DCA Expanse. Very clean and balanced. I prefer the Naim HE over it but the Focal Arche is less than half its price on used market. It pairs better with the Expanse than the $10k DCS Lina amp.

 

[supermj]

Come to use the Arche last night and had to do the usual switch on off about three times to get it to connect to the source. Five minutes later the sound went off all of a sudden and did the switching on and off again, but this time it won’t give sound. On the display it shows 48 Khz so it has seen the device. I have just sent my Focal Utopia headphones in for repair for replacement drivers for the second time in 2.5 years (Arche is same age) and now this has happened. Would i buy anything Focal again ?..NO !! As far as i’m concerned it’s just a load of junk. Why Naim Audio ever went into partnership with them i’ll never know, i'm not a happy man. Rant over.

 

[Vitalstatistix]

Come to use the Arche last night and had to do the usual switch on off about three times to get it to connect to the source. Five minutes later the sound went off all of a sudden and did the switching on and off again, but this time it won’t give sound. On the display it shows 48 Khz so it has seen the device. I have just sent my Focal Utopia headphones in for repair for replacement drivers for the second time in 2.5 years (Arche is same age) and now this has happened. Would i buy anything Focal again ?..NO !! As far as i’m concerned it’s just a load of junk. Why Naim Audio ever went into partnership with them i’ll never know, i'm not a happy man. Rant over.

I think many people have this problem, myself included. Focal has already discontinued the Arche, and now focuses on their relationship with Naim.

 

[iamoneagain]

I had an old usb to coaxial converter and decided to give it a try and since then have never had an issue. I can have the source start even before waking from sleep and the connection is already there. This still works great as a 2nd headphone setup. I have since moved on to Naim HE with no issues. Also moved on from the Utopia to the ZMF Caldera. Never had issues with Utopia but it’s nice to know ZMF has lifetime warranty on the drivers.

 

[supermj]

The Arche has managed to come back to life (still have to turn on and off a few times to get it to go), but it has a intermittent fault in that it looses the right channel audio (there is a gas leak like interference noise). Don't know if this has to do with the bug or it could be a dry joint on the circuit board. Have you ever had regrets in buying things and wish you never did ?

 

[EarFatigue]

The Arche has managed to come back to life (still have to turn on and off a few times to get it to go), but it has a intermittent fault in that it looses the right channel audio (there is a gas leak like interference noise). Don't know if this has to do with the bug or it could be a dry joint on the circuit board. Have you ever had regrets in buying things and wish you never did ?

Are you using via USB or one of the other inputs?

 

[supermj]

It doesn’t matter what input it is on, it’s the same on all inputs.

 

[allinhead]

Hi Guys !
Do you know if usb is better than coaxial with the arche ?
I have to make a décision to buy a streamer ( maybe a digione) and i wish to know what solution is better to use ?
Some streamer are better use coaxial than USB and vice-versa...

Thanks you

 

[allinhead]

The Arche has managed to come back to life (still have to turn on and off a few times to get it to go), but it has a intermittent fault in that it looses the right channel audio (there is a gas leak like interference noise). Don't know if this has to do with the bug or it could be a dry joint on the circuit board. Have you ever had regrets in buying things and wish you never did ?

Some times i turn on the unit in analog input to swich to coaxial (using my DAP) that work better than turn on in coaxial seconde time.
If you get what i mean...