Dome Series - compact, light, and versatile in placement, with exquisite design and sound fully in line with Focal traditions.
This is true elite, devoid of common drawbacks of small speakers and intended for an experienced audience unwilling to compromise on sound quality. Dome speakers closely resonate with Chorus series in many key technologies. Since all five satellites are exactly the same, we will describe only one unit in detail.
Features:
- Acoustic design: closed cabinet
- Frequency range: 80 - 28,000 Hz
- Crossover frequency: 2500 Hz
- Impedance: 8 Ohms (min. 4 Ohms)
- Sensitivity: 88 dB
- 25 mm tweeter
- 100 mm woofer
- Recommended power: 25 - 100 W.
This attractive speaker, which is a half sphere with a round base on a sturdy, yet short, swivel mount. This design solution is based on serious factors - avoiding internal standing waves, as well as diffraction of sound waves on external panels.
Moreover, the speakers are characterized by a very high permissible power, unexpected for such small sizes. The speakers are made of aluminum and coated with lacquer. The cabinet rotates vertically by 90 degrees, allowing the speaker to be installed in any place in any position.
The metal mesh grille is additionally covered with a special sound-conducting and water-repellent fabric. Below it, two transducers are mounted in an embossed plastic cover. The special 25mm TNV tweeter with an inverted dome is made of an aluminum-magnesium alloy. This helps to expand the directivity pattern and thus contributes to building a very accurate sound stage.
When placing a home theater in a living space, we pay attention to the size and appearance of the speakers - it usually becomes the most cumbersome element of the system, capable of disrupting the harmony of a cozy room. And manufacturers seem to take advantage of the fact that sound quality becomes a secondary factor. The rarer exceptions are, the more interesting they are.
The tweeter - a classic for Focal, with a one-inch concave aluminum-magnesium dome. It is slightly recessed in a thick front panel made of vibration-absorbing polymer in such a way that the smoothed walls of the recess form a horn. Inside the cabinet, a large-sized filter made of high-quality hi-fi components was discovered.
The connection is single-wired, the cable is connected to screw installation terminals hidden under an elastic lining of the circular base. The sliding dome mount allows you to change the tilt of the front panel. The fabric grille with elegant spherical recesses opposite the transducers is attached with bayonet locks. Be careful - excessive force can break their thin plastic elements.
The Dome speakers work perfectly in a 2.1 setup when paired with a subwoofer at around 90 Hz. The satellites create a well-structured space with precise fixation of virtual sources. They feature accurate tonal balance and decent resolution in the upper range. To feel more air, I recommend removing the grilles.
In a multi-channel system, the set fully reveals its capabilities. After a fairly quick setup, it forms a stable sound field with a wide front stage and dense, yet detailed rear sound. Impact and shots are slightly relaxed, but for such a compact system, the energy can be considered quite convincing. It's impossible to separate the work of any individual channel from the overall picture - the sound space becomes so homogeneous. The contribution of the subwoofer also seems unnoticed, but when turned off, the scale and solidity immediately disappear. The tint noted in the 2.1 system almost completely disappears, and the overall tonal balance noticeably evens out.
Package includes:
- Speaker - 1 piece
- Power cable
- Documentation
