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There is always a professional enthousiast at a company. That’s no different with Focal. The manager of the wood processing plant is a true lover of some nice, special material…. He can easily talk for hours about patterns, grains, types of wood or thicknesses. Lovely man.
Striking – in our opinion – is how thick the mdf is what a Sopra or Utopia is made of. Also with the Kanta, the plywood and the plastic front – also made by Focal! – is very thick and therefore very solid. Crucial of course to get a speaker sounding neutral. After all, resonances are your enemy. Our measurements also show that Focal has done a great job at minimizing resonances.
Outside the box
French people are a little weird sometimes. Of course, that’s to their credit, but it can also make people a bit hesitant about working together, buying or adopting new things. To give a few examples: the inverted domain tweeter. Why use a regular tweeter if you can turn the unit around? Well… say it! According to Focal, the inverted domain works better… Honestly, the Sopra’s high ground is great. But whether this is purely due to the inverted dome, or to the use of the ultra stiff and light Beryllium, we dare not say.
Another crazy technology is the electromagnet in the Utopia. This woofer is so big and powerful that Focal decided not to drive it with a permanent magnet, but with an electromagnet. This way the layer stays tighter and the amplifier doesn’t have a heavy load. Which improves the overall quality. So in fact this is a kind of hybrid active woofer. Weird… but cool.
Focal and French culture
How does French culture express itself in the products? That’s tricky, because what is French culture? It’s a huge country. But if we look at the thread: a little contrary, good cuisine… an eye for design… but also a little conservative.
Focal is fundamentally different on a few points. Think of the inverted domain. The use of pure Beryllium. And the giant electromagnet in the Utopia. In addition, we have seen with our own eyes how much attention there is to finishing. Each speaker is thoroughly checked and fine-tuned if necessary. And you have to. Because a Focal Kanta, Sopra or Utopia just costs serious money.
Thanks, design. We can be brief about that. A Utopia stands out. A Sopra stands out… and a Kanta stands out. With Aria and Chorus we see that less. The Focal Kanta can also be ordered in any colour… it’s up to you which colour suits you best.
