Focal Speakers Owners & Discussion Thread

[betty boop]

On the premise of providing a 2nd opinion for a friend plus to satisfy my own curiosity in regards this speaker I headed into E-home at Carngie for a demo I had pre-arranged with Geoff there.

Found Geoff had already setup the Focal 1027be’s

with the MF A5 CD & MF A5 integrated

all hooked with Chord interconnect & speaker cables. The back demo room is really ideal for 2channel listening.

Speakers setup in an equilateral toed in back to the sweet spot where there was a nice comfy recliner. In distance between speakers and back ot the listening spot it didn’t look far off to the way I have my own speakers setup.

The 1027be's looked gorgeous

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=Att...ost&id=2788

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=Att...ost&id=2789

in their classic timber finish which set off well in contrast with the graphite/gun metal black front and. The black glass on the top of the speakers and down the back look very classy and overall the looks of this speaker are tops. Impeccably finished, top class really.

Anyways after drooling around the speakers for a while it was time for a listen and Geoff was really nice to leave me to my own devices especially since I was completely at home with the MF electronics,

I had a few select discs for listening including

Nitin Sawhney - Beyond skin

Dr John - Duke elegant

Linn SACD compilation

Test Disk compilation

I spent a bit of time listning to some of my favs on the test disc. What was very apparent was the lovely imaging & soundstage of this speaker. The voice of vocals was solid in the centre, soundstage both deep and wide and coming right out into the room. They really gave a full room experience that really brought a smile to my face as it’s a characteristic of my missions I really like.

One aspect that was not totally comfortable with initially was the bass that tended to sound a bit muddled/muffled. I noticed then that the right speaker was about 5 deg off from pointing to the listening positioned - I straightened that up which seemed to bring further into focus the top end and midrange and helped even up the balance with the bass.

I continued listening to my music collection at all times the one thing that really stood out was just how clean and clear the top end and mid range was. Liked the character of the mid range and the top end smooth and yet detailed and defined. At no time did I find the speakers hard or harsh sounding which was a real relief to me.

My overall conclusions, still a bit suspect about the bass, maybe my mf power amp might tighten that up further, noticed the speakers weren’t on spikes which might have solidified the bass further. Also with the bass the speakers were still reasonably close to the walls perhaps a room, placement induced issue. Styling think they really look fantastic only thing perhaps theyre not the most conventional looking speaker with their round speaker grill, perhaps for some the looks might take some getting used too ? Apart from that really quite happy with the way the speakers sounded, liked their character and that they seemed a good notch up in what I’m used to in detail, soundstage & imaging from my missions.

So where to from here, I hope there will be a part two to this review. Geoff was amenable to a home demo of this speaker at my place, maybe I can do that in the next month or so. Really the only way to go to find out how they sound in my system(MF A5CD, A5 Pre+Pwr & Velo DD15) and in my room, plus will give some quality time with them to get a better feel for their sound. Anyways that will be in a month or two hopefully..in the mean time might have to start doing some fundraising …..just in case hehe

I remember nobby once saying he dreamed off speakers hehe think there'll be some berylliums I'll now be dreaming about

some more pics..

e-home demo

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=Att...ost&id=2786

MF A5CD & A5 Integrated

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?act=Att...ost&id=2787

[Guest alebonau]

On the premise of providing a 2nd opinion for a friend plus to satisfy my own curiosity in regards this speaker I headed into E-home at Carngie for a demo I had pre-arranged with Geoff there.

Found Geoff had already setup the Focal 1027be’s with the MF A5 CD & MF A5 integrated

all hooked with Chord interconnect & speaker cables. The back demo room

is really ideal for 2channel listening.

Speakers setup in an equilateral toed in back to the sweet spot where there was a nice comfy recliner. In distance between speakers and back ot the listening spot it didn’t look far off to the way I have my own speakers setup.

The 1027be's looked gorgeous

in their classic timber finish which set off well in contrast with the graphite/gun metal black front and. The black glass on the top of the speakers and down the back look very classy and overall the looks of this speaker are tops. Impeccably finished, top class really.

Anyways after drooling around the speakers for a while it was time for a listen and Geoff was really nice to leave me to my own devices especially since I was completely at home with the MF electronics,

I had a few select discs for listening including

Nitin Sawhney - Beyond skin

Dr John - Duke elegant

Linn SACD compilation

Test Disk compilation

I spent a bit of time listning to some of my favs on the test disc. What was very apparent was the lovely imaging & soundstage of this speaker. The voice of vocals was solid in the centre, soundstage both deep and wide and coming right out into the room. They really gave a full room experience that really brought a smile to my face as it’s a characteristic of my missions I really like.

One aspect that was not totally comfortable with initially was the bass that tended to sound a bit muddled/muffled. I noticed then that the right speaker was about 5 deg off from pointing to the listening positioned - I straightened that up which seemed to bring further into focus the top end and midrange and helped even up the balance with the bass.

I continued listening to my music collection at all times the one thing that really stood out was just how clean and clear the top end and mid range was. Liked the character of the mid range and the top end smooth and yet detailed and defined. At no time did I find the speakers hard or harsh sounding which was a real relief to me.

My overall conclusions, still a bit suspect about the bass, maybe my mf power amp might tighten that up further, noticed the speakers weren’t on spikes which might have solidified the bass further. Also with the bass the speakers were still reasonably close to the walls perhaps a room, placement induced issue. Styling think they really look fantastic only thing perhaps theyre not the most conventional looking speaker with their round speaker grill, perhaps for some the looks might take some getting used too ? Apart from that really quite happy with the way the speakers sounded, liked their character and that they seemed a good notch up in what I’m used to in detail, soundstage & imaging from my missions.

So where to from here, I hope there will be a part two to this review. Geoff was amenable to a home demo of this speaker at my place, maybe I can do that in the next month or so. Really the only way to go to find out how they sound in my system(MF A5CD, A5 Pre+Pwr & Velo DD15) and in my room, plus will give some quality time with them to get a better feel for their sound. Anyways that will be in a month or two hopefully..in the mean time might have to start doing some fundraising …..just in case hehe

I remember RodN once saying he dreamed off speakers hehe think there'll be some berylliums I'll now be dreaming about :blush:

[50mxe20]

Nice. Did you get a mid-year bonus or something. Is the upgradus bug around again.

[zorg1503559539]

very nice ab e home certainly do have a good setup there and always helpful.. time to get a better paying job?

[Chui2]

Al,

Had these speakers been used by Geoff as demo units for a period of time, or were they 'hot off the press'. I only ask because I noticed a difference in the bass with my profiles after a period of time (seemed like a long time).

Interesting that you were able to gain some immediate improvement adjusting the toe-in slightly. There is a guy over at AVS that has 1027's, and one of his comments is how susceptible the sound is to speaker placement.

The MF/Focal combo you listened to is identical to the set-up I heard at LWA. I was floored by the sound. It was the worst thing I could have done

Some guys on AVS are reporting their findings about the 1037's. Seems to all positive. Better suited to large rooms apparently.

[Spearmint]

Great review Alebonau. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

I’ll be most interested in how the in house demo goes, since the issue with the bass could be a placement or room induced problem, then again it may be a trait of these speakers.

Some guys on AVS are reporting their findings about the 1037's. Seems to all positive. Better suited to large rooms apparently.

From things I’ve read also the 1037 is supposed to be a nice speaker, the midrange crossover is also lower than the 1027, and about the only problem seems to be the $10k USD price.

[RodN]

Very interesting review Alebonau. They do look a tad close to the walls which causes bass bloom but then again as Spearmint says it could be a characteristic of the speakers.

Geoff at e-home is good value is he not... very accommodating (except when he forgets your coming!)

[Drizt]

Thanks for the review Al

really love the look of all the focal speakers... just oooze class.

[Phil G]

Good stuff Al,

I've only been in that shop a couple of times and going on memory and your photo's, their rooms I think are quite small. Maybe that could've been a factor with the muddied bass you speak of. Muddied bass would normally be more associated with larger/poor quality bass driver and maybe poor amplification.

I've not heard these speakers, but I've heard the Mini Utopias (stand mount jobbie, $10K RRP) and the Utopia Diva's ($20K), these ones had super tight bass each model has the same BE tweeter. I loved the sweet, sweet mid range and these did not sound hard in the high frequencies either. Made me really like JM Labs as a brand.

I think it is a nice bonus to have the one company design all the components which go into their speakers. I would also think that their design principals would be optimised because of this to result in a great sounding speaker.

Personally, I think they look fantastic.

[Guest alebonau]

Thanks for the review Al

really love the look of all the focal speakers... just oooze class.

[/b]

thanks drizt I thought I'd post here as well might be of interest for the guys that frequent here and would love to hear their thoughts as well

Good stuff Al,

I've only been in that shop a couple of times and going on memory and your photo's, their rooms I think are quite small. Maybe that could've been a factor with the muddied bass you speak of. Muddied bass would normally be more associated with larger/poor quality bass driver and maybe poor amplification.

I've not heard these speakers, but I've heard the Mini Utopias (stand mount jobbie, $10K RRP) and the Utopia Diva's ($20K), these ones had super tight bass each model has the same BE tweeter. I loved the sweet, sweet mid range and these did not sound hard in the high frequencies either. Made me really like JM Labs as a brand.

I think it is a nice bonus to have the one company design all the components which go into their speakers. I would also think that their design principals would be optimised because of this to result in a great sounding speaker.

Personally, I think they look fantastic.

[/b]

yes not a huge room LD but not far off typically what people might have. my room is similar in as far as speaker positioning but opens up a lot further to one side and behind so will be interesting what difference that makes.

I do wonder too the muddied bass is a factor of the speakers themselves. I know the bass coudl be tidied up with the use of a sub but think at this price you'd want the speaker to be good sounding on their own to start with. Anyways if get them home for a demo can check what theyre doing and their in room response using the DD. And as you say with amplification, the addiitonal grunt of my a5 power over the A5 integrated used in this demo might help things along as well.

[betty boop]

Nice. Did you get a mid-year bonus or something. Is the upgradus bug around again.

hehe no bonuses and trying to fight off the bug !

very nice ab e home certainly do have a good setup there and always helpful.. time to get a better paying job?

yes very helpfull the gusy there at e-home, apparently they have a new scottish hifi specialist instore now. gordon your not moon lighting over there now are you ?

hehe better payign job ? you reckon I shoudl try asking for a payrise ?

Al,

Had these speakers been used by Geoff as demo units for a period of time, or were they 'hot off the press'. I only ask because I noticed a difference in the bass with my profiles after a period of time (seemed like a long time).

Interesting that you were able to gain some immediate improvement adjusting the toe-in slightly. There is a guy over at AVS that has 1027's, and one of his comments is how susceptible the sound is to speaker placement.

The MF/Focal combo you listened to is identical to the set-up I heard at LWA. I was floored by the sound. It was the worst thing I could have done

Some guys on AVS are reporting their findings about the 1037's. Seems to all positive. Better suited to large rooms apparently.

interesting comments chui. havent read all on avs. (I might post this in avs to hear further the guys thoughts there) the focal 1027be at e-home I dont think have been there all that long. Also not sure how fresh out the box the mf a5 gear is as know the bass can bloom a bit out of the box with those too and tightens up considerably with run in.

great to hear you heard these at lwa with the mf combo and liked their sound. Geoff too said its a combination he thinks works very well. At LWA do you remember any bass issues or how they might have had them setup ? room ?

the 1037 sure looks a serious speaker a tad on the big side though yes, probably more for larger room as you say with their size.

Great review Alebonau. Thanks for sharing your experiences with us.

I’ll be most interested in how the in house demo goes, since the issue with the bass could be a placement or room induced problem, then again it may be a trait of these speakers.

From things I’ve read also the 1037 is supposed to be a nice speaker, the midrange crossover is also lower than the 1027, and about the only problem seems to be the $10k USD price.

thanks spearmint, hope the bass is not a trait in regards this speaker design and dont have too many options re positioning with my setup. Yes lookign forward to a hoem demo for sure, might help answere soem of these questions, but just need to get some fundraising done in the mean time otherwise probably not a good idea. will post back for sure on this one. wow that 1037be is a huge hike up in price from the 1027be's !

Very interesting review Alebonau. They do look a tad close to the walls which causes bass bloom but then again as Spearmint says it could be a characteristic of the speakers.

Geoff at e-home is good value is he not... very accommodating (except when he forgets your coming!)

perhaps wall proximity could be it nobby.

yes geoff was great really, just rung him in the morning and he had it all setup with all the gear ready to go for the demo in the afternoon. really nice room he has there for ht demos that serves well I think for 2ch demoing as well.

[norpus]

That was a sly one Al - you should have let me know as its a short step out the door for me. I loved these when I listened to them in two stores in HK last May. And yes they are gorgeous looking to me.

I do think a home demo might mean they aint going back so care needed obviously - of courseyou know what you are doing. If they are still setup today, I might drop in to see

[Drizt]

Al, if you do a home demo at some stage would you mind if it tagged along ? really interested in what they would sound like in your room

[Guest alebonau]

That was a sly one Al - you should have let me know as its a short step out the door for me. I loved these when I listened to them in two stores in HK last May. And yes they are gorgeous looking to me.

I do think a home demo might mean they aint going back so care needed obviously - of courseyou know what you are doing. If they are still setup today, I might drop in to see

[/b]

hi norpus, yes your not far away from ehome. didnt for a second realise you were home yesterday. they shoudl still be setup today, though might be worth checking with geoff. If dropping to "see" why not have a listen, let us know your thoughts.

yes re home demo one of hte reasons why I'm putting it out there a month or two down the track as know what the ramifications could be. so best be prepared

Al, if you do a home demo at some stage would you mind if it tagged along ? really interested in what they would sound like in your room

[/b]

I'll let you know drizt, a home demo still a way out there and a few other things to get sorted first.

[Drizt]

I'll let you know drizt, a home demo still a way out there and a few other things to get sorted first. [/b]

No problems mate, hope I wasn't over stepping the boundries there mate... I can be a little forward at time

I have noted before that some of the focal speakers have wandered a bit in the bass region with some music. I have only ever listened to them at e-home so maybe it has something to do with their room.

[Cody]

note to self - find out where Al works and get a job there, as im clearly living below the poverty line here

they certainly do look good imo, although i know i'd be looking for more than "a good notch up" if i was to spend $10k to replace my missions. interesting that they (the 753's) seem to hold their own fairly well even now (more than 10 years on). really, by now you should be able to spend $2k and get a set of speakers that are "a good notch up".

interesting read, thanks Al. i'll be following your upgrade with interest

[davidsss]

Yep, be careful, home demos seem to lead to damage to the credit card

DS

[betty boop]

note to self - find out where Al works and get a job there, as im clearly living below the poverty line here

they certainly do look good imo, although i know i'd be looking for more than "a good notch up" if i was to spend $10k to replace my missions. interesting that they (the 753's) seem to hold their own fairly well even now (more than 10 years on). really, by now you should be able to spend $2k and get a set of speakers that are "a good notch up".

interesting read, thanks Al. i'll be following your upgrade with interest

hehe whats to say I'm not on the pverty line already DG or soon to be there ! hehe

thats the interesting thing about speakers DG is that there are some quite fine speakers from decade/s back that hold their head high in their own regard. A couple that come to mind straight off are the quad esl or the rogers ls3 5/a. speaker techonology is one thing that hasnt moved on in leaps and bounds and theres still plenty of old speakers that still sound tops.

Now not to say the mission 753s is an all time classic but perhaps its stood the test of time reasonably well. still a beautifully made speaker, still quite modern in its design and still sounds good ot my ears. and that is important too, just my opinion others might dissagree.

other thing to keep in mind this demo was just in isolation didnt directly compare with my 753s just going on my audio memory for any comparisons, plus many other variables in my system eg I have the A5 pre-pwr plus the room and setup as well that could all influence. hence why looking forward to home demoing this speaker at some stage if I can.

[ozcal]

Yep, be careful, home demos seem to lead to damage to the credit card

DS

[/b]

Great review Al.I really wonder what some shops are thinking setting up a demo of high end speakers without attatching the proper spikes.I'd lay a fairly large bet that this would be at least part of the culprit in the muddy bass performance.

Gordon

[Drizt]

Great review Al.I really wonder what some shops are thinking setting up a demo of high end speakers without attatching the proper spikes.I'd lay a fairly large bet that this would be at least part of the culprit in the muddy bass performance.

Gordon [/b]

most likely due to how hard it is to move spiked speakers around... pain in the arse I can tell ya

[joz]

Very nice speakers aren't they Al.I popped in at e-home a few weeks back but didn't have a listen.I found the store very helpful aswell which is a good thing.

Lovely units the 1027s,hope they do themselves proud at your place.

[ozcal]

most likely due to how hard it is to move spiked speakers around... pain in the arse I can tell ya

[/b]

Ye I know D, I have punctured a few pairs of shoes and my foot once moving big speakers around when I was in retail but if the speaker are desingned with spikes then they should be used otherwise you do get sound quality problems.

Gordon

[Guest alebonau]

Great review Al.I really wonder what some shops are thinking setting up a demo of high end speakers without attatching the proper spikes.I'd lay a fairly large bet that this would be at least part of the culprit in the muddy bass performance.

Gordon

[/b]

hehe I had a sneaky suspicion that spikes owuld help as well gordon.

anyways got a call from geoff sayign he had foudn the spikes and they had seemed to help some bass heavy stuff he checked them out with. Was thinking I might pop in there again some time, not sure when but this time take my MF A5 power amp in to see if would help any. Woudl be good to listen with the power amp anyway.

[k371n]

setup a demo at 9am Sat.

the A5 is a contender for me so it would be good to listen to one hooked up to the JM Labs.

thanks for the heads up alebonau

k_

[Guest alebonau]

setup a demo at 9am Sat.

the A5 is a contender for me so it would be good to listen to one hooked up to the JM Labs.

thanks for the heads up alebonau

k_

[/b]

ah good to hear K, will be interesting how you find the MF A5 integrated and yeah do post back any thoughts on the 1027be's as well