Focal Alpha studio monitors

The idea of using active monitors in a home system comes to the minds of many music lovers. However, most often it breaks down against the well-known stereotype, according to which studio acoustics supposedly lack musicality. Well, there is a technical basis for this prejudice: professional monitors are designed for acoustically treated recording studio environments. Placed in an ordinary apartment, they are not always able to realize their quality potential and lose their main advantage - accuracy.

From this point of view, Focal Alpha control monitors are unique - their developers managed to minimize the influence of room acoustics, they do not have pronounced genre preferences and at the same time are relatively inexpensive, which makes them extremely attractive for budget studios, including home ones, as well as conventional stereo systems.

The Alpha series was made possible thanks to Focal's enormous technological capabilities, in particular many of the solutions previously implemented in the SM9 reference monitors, as well as extensive experience in developing its own drivers. For the tweeter role, we chose a proprietary tweeter with an inverted aluminum dome - it is characterized by excellent linearity in the upper part of the range, high resolution and, moreover, does not cause fatigue during long-term listening. The bass driver with a diaphragm made of patented Polyglass material provides neutral and transparent sound, without coloration throughout the entire operating range from the upper mids to the lowest frequencies. Two bass reflex ports of increased diameter, located on the front panel, allow you to install acoustics in small rooms and in close proximity to walls. The amplifiers are class AB with increased output current, which minimizes distortion over a wide volume range. The HF and LF/MF drivers are powered by amplifier modules of different powers, which allows optimizing power consumption.

The series includes three two-way models (differing in the caliber of the bass/midrange speaker, amplifier power and frequency range): Alpha 50 (13 cm, 20 + 35 W, 45 - 22000 Hz), Alpha 65 (16.5 cm, 35 + 70 W, 40 - 22000 Hz) and Alpha 80 (20 cm, 40 + 100 W, 35 - 22000 Hz). To adapt the sound to different rooms, smooth adjustment of the bass and treble levels is provided, and for compatibility with different sources, sensitivity adjustment is provided. Inputs are both balanced XLR and regular RCA.

Approximate prices in Russia (per column): Alpha 50 - 18,700 rubles, Alpha 65 - 22,300 rubles, Alpha 80 - 26,100 rubles.

Tags: FocalShowroom

Loyalty to tradition

Headphones Focal Spirit Professional Price – 21,800 rub.
Focal speaker systems of various levels - from Hi-Fi to Top End - regularly end up in the Hi-Fi.ru laboratory. Headphones from the famous French brand come to the attention of our experts much less often, which is explained by the recent appearance of the corresponding line in the company’s catalog. One way or another, it is only natural that Focal decided to apply the vast experience it has accumulated over decades to this relatively new product class.

There are currently three headphone models in Focal's production program: the Spirit One, the Spirit Classic and, finally, the one reviewed in this review, the Spirit Professional. The first to be released in 2012 were Spirit One, which immediately, one might say, right off the bat received the prestigious EISA award as the best portable headphones of 2012-2013. It is known that such awards are not given just like that, “for the name”. The Spirit Professional model was released about a year ago and during this time it has already managed to collect a lot of flattering reviews in the specialized press, mainly Western.

Focal headphones are close to each other both externally and structurally. The latter can be judged based on their specifications. All are 32-ohm, closed-type, and all use a 40mm driver with a composite mylar-titanium diaphragm and a high-efficiency neodymium magnet. They are identical in frequency coverage (5 Hz - 22 kHz) and distortion level (less than 0.3%, 1 kHz / 100 dB); There are minor differences in sensitivity (sound pressure) and weight.

The use of mylar as a material for the diaphragm of an electrodynamic transducer (including as part of a composite) is quite unusual, which cannot be said about titanium. Mylar (developed by DuPont in the early 1950s) is practically indispensable for the manufacture of electrostat membranes, but I have not heard of it being used in audio equipment for other purposes. By the way, in terms of the highest transparency and airiness of the sound, Focal Spirit Professional is reminiscent of electrostatic headphones and speakers. They are positioned by the company as a product for professional use (as indicated by the name), of course, along with home use.

The Focal Spirit Professional sits on the head very comfortably and at the same time tightly. Obviously, the designers worked a lot, selecting the elasticity of the headband and the forces that arise in the joints when turning the bowls. After a few minutes you stop feeling them altogether. The model gives the impression of being compact, thanks, among other things, to the ability to fold the bowls inside for easy carrying in the included case. Round speakers fit into the geometry of oval bowls of a strict shape, covered with a large-mesh metal mesh and acoustically transparent black fabric. The headband consists of three parts: a springy central one and non-springy side arcs moving inside it (moderately freely, with fixation). The cups and the inner central part of the headband are covered with plastic foam, capable of remembering the individual contours of the ears and head, and the softest high-quality synthetic leather (it’s nice to touch these parts of the headphones). The bowls have three degrees of freedom: they deviate at certain angles in two planes, and the extension of the arcs is regulated.

Focal Spirit Professional is equipped with two cables (connected on the left): a 4-meter, with a spiral wire (OFC) and a combined (3.5 / 6.3 mm) jack (main for listening to music), and a cable for mobile devices, with 3. 5mm jack and integrated tiny one-button remote control to control playback and phone functions (for example, while listening to music, you can press a button to stop and resume playback). The advantage of a coiled cable is that when you walk away from the equipment with headphones on your head, it stretches, but does not tangle under your feet in the form of snake-like excess while you are nearby. The set also includes a stylish black pouch for carrying the product. The strict black packaging box with a foam tray for headphones and related accessories makes a pleasant impression.

The appearance of Focal Spirit Professional is discreet, even strict. The shades and textures of black are exquisitely combined here: gloss, semi-gloss and matte surface. A slight contrast is introduced by thin (about 2 mm) white shiny stripes running in the middle of the bowls, along their outer perimeter. It is important to mention the wet surface effect attracted by French designers: shiny drops of different sizes are randomly scattered on a matte background - the headphones look like they have been caught in the rain. The workmanship overall and in detail is of the highest quality, which is generally typical for a product bearing the Focal name.

It didn't take long listening to Spirit Professional on different recordings to realize that their sound is eminently neutral. First of all, this concerns a perfectly even tonal balance. Here the headphones are able to confidently compete with products from a number of manufacturers that are well-known to everyone (both brands and models). I already noted above that in terms of the ease of flow of music, the transparency and airiness of the sound, the Focal device is reminiscent of electrostats. It forms musical images at the same time very freely and very strictly. Quite quickly, trust arises in their transmission of dynamic relief, musical volume and timbre palette.

Here it is necessary to say a few words about existing ideas - to a certain extent stereotypical and not always related to reality - about the sound of home and professional audio equipment. It happens that some examples of professional equipment offer such an ultra-high level of sound analytics that when listening, you are not so much listening to the music as doing some kind of work - it’s as if the equipment is putting note by note into your ears with tweezers, and even in a kind of sterilized form... Focal sound Spirit Professional does not go to such extremes, although it certainly has to be certified as being quite rigorous and precise. The headphones will allow you to carry out professional control of phonograms at the highest level (Professional), but at the same time, in their sound you can always feel the living breath, the spirit of music (Spirit). In other words, they found a close to optimal balance in the presentation of structural-architectonic and sensory-emotional - artistic components of music. These two aspects are balanced so convincingly that the combination of the mentioned two words in the name of the model seems quite appropriate, indirectly, but quite faithfully reflecting sound reality.

The advantages of a carefully implemented closed design also showed up: thanks to good sound insulation, I was not disturbed by colleagues entering and leaving our laboratory. At the same time, the closed design did not clearly negatively affect the quality of lower case translation. The latter could be judged by the way Focal Spirit Professional transmitted recordings of symphonic music with low strings (double basses) and percussion (timpani) and organ. The headphones did not at all contain the high energy of the impact at the beginning of the “Glorification of the Chosen” movement from Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.” In general, this entire complex score was broadcast without any clouding of orchestral textures, distortion of timbres, leveling of dynamic gradations and deformation of musical volume.

With a generally spectacular delivery of the deep pedal of a large cathedral organ (“Midnight at Notre-Dame”), only a slight lack of profunda low-frequency energy was audible. The latter was also noticeable in J. Rutter's Requiem, in which extremely deep bass is encountered (part of “Pie Jesu”).

The headphones will allow you to carry out professional control of phonograms at the highest level (Professional), but at the same time, in their sound you can always feel the living breath, the spirit of music (Spirit). In other words, they found a close to optimal balance in the presentation of structural-architectonic and sensory-emotional - artistic components of music.

This unusually musical component really reveals a lot of new things in familiar recordings, something that can delight and inspire and, as it were, makes it possible to hear the music again, as if for the first time. Similar sensations arose when listening, for example, to the phenomenal recording of F. Zhevsky’s piano variations on the theme of the Chilean revolutionary song “When we are united, we are invincible.” Everything - the music itself, the luxurious, deep timbre of the large concert grand piano, and the phenomenal pianism of Marc-Andre Hamelin - appeared with amazing clarity and emotional freshness.

Focal Spirit Professional's ability to achieve subtle timbral, spatial and dynamic detail could be judged based on the sound of guitar ensembles (duets and quartets on the Dynaudio disc). One could clearly hear in the musical fabric the presence of different performers with different instruments and style of sound production, all the successes and imperfections of the ensembles... It is obvious that even in relatively new products, Focal carefully cultivates loyalty to the long-term tradition that brought the company worldwide fame and consists in the pursuit of the most advanced constructive, quality and sound level, tradition reflected in.