April 2004 Reviewed by Vince Hanada	Focus Audio FC-70 / FC-Center / FC-10 Home-Theater Speaker System

Description Model: FC-70 speakers Price: $1900 USD per pair Dimensions: 38"H x 7"W x 10"D Weight: 42 pounds each Model: FC-Center center-channel, back surround Price: $630 USD each Dimensions: 19"W x 7"H x 9"D Weight: 22 pounds each Model: FC-10 surrounds Price: $920 USD per pair Dimensions: 13"H x 7"W x 10"D Weight: 16 pounds each System Price: $4080 USD Warranty: Five years parts and labor	Features Coated fiber-cone woofers Fabric-dome tweeters Ferrofluid-cooled tweeters Gold-plated binding posts Biwire or biamp capable MDF cabinets (1" thick) Magnetically shielded (FC-Center) Real-wood veneers in rosewood, black ash, bird’s-eye maple

While some speaker companies start off with affordable products and then expand upward to higher price points, others start off selling products at relatively high prices and move downmarket. Canadian loudspeaker manufacturer Focus Audio was established in 1993, and the company made quite a splash with one of its first products -- the floorstanding flagship FS-88, which was produced through most of the '90s. Paradigm, on the other hand, has just released its costliest products ever -- after years producing far less pricey designs. The success of both companies makes it clear that either approach can produce superb-sounding speakers.

I sampled a six-channel Focus Audio home-theater system comprising speakers from their Classic series and retailing for $4080.

Design

The Focus Audio system reviewed consisted of two FC-70 tower speakers, two FC-Centers for center-channel and back surround duties, and two FC-10 bookshelf speakers to use as the left and right surrounds. The drivers used in all three speakers -- fabric-dome tweeters and 5" fiber-cone woofers "coated" for additional stiffness -- are similar, and are made in Europe to Focus Audio’s specifications. The crossover point for the three models, all two-ways, is specified at 3kHz, and each speaker has a flared port 2" in diameter. In keeping with Focus Audio’s high-end roots, all speakers in the Classic series are equipped with dual sets of gold-plated five-way binding posts for biwiring or biamping.

The FC-70 is an elegant-looking floorstander whose narrow width of only 7" and compact depth of 10" gives it a tall, slender appearance. A base that screws to the bottom of the cabinet makes the speaker more stable, and can be fitted with spikes for even surer footing. The FC-70 has a 1" tweeter and two 5" woofers; the flared port opens just over a foot from the speaker’s base. Most binding posts on tower speakers are usually near the bottom of the cabinet, but the FC-70’s posts are situated high on the speaker’s rear. This is done to shorten the wiring from the crossover to the drivers, which, according to Focus Audio, keeps the signal to the drivers more pure.

The FC-Center speaker has the typical center-channel driver array of midrange-tweeter-midrange, the tweeter being a 1" dome. The speaker has the same narrow 7" width as the FC-70 but is half the height/length. A basic rectangular box, the FC-Center can be positioned horizontally or vertically (I stood on end the FC-Center I used as my back surround). Six of these speakers would make an intriguing home theater with identical speakers in all positions.

The baby of the Classic series is the FC-10, used in this system as surround speakers. The FC-10 has a 1" tweeter, a 5" woofer, and typical "bookshelf" proportions: 13" high by 7" wide by 10" deep.

The Classics are handsome speakers. My samples’ smooth, matte veneer of real rosewood virtually screamed quality. Other available finishes are black ash and bird’s-eye maple. The veneers are glued to heavily braced cabinets of 1"-thick MDF (medium density fiberboard) that felt and sounded solid when I rapped my knuckles on them. The removable fabric grilles fit especially well, but I left them off -- these speakers were so understatedly good-looking without them.

The speakers’ rated sensitivity is 89dB/W/m for the FC-70 and FC-Center, and 85dB/W/m for the FC-10. Although the FC-10’s 85dB rating would seem to indicate a need for lots of watts, my 60Wpc Outlaw Model 1050 receiver drove all of these speakers to loud and satisfying levels. This may be due to the fact that Focus Audio spent a lot of time ensuring that these speakers present an even impedance load to the amplifiers, thus making them suitable for use with most receivers.

Setup

I set up the Focus Audio Classics in my upstairs home-theater room: the FC-Center at the front of the room, 9’ from my listening seat; the left and right FC-70s 9’ from my listening seat, toed-in and about 6’ apart; the left and right FC-10 surrounds about 5’ from my listening seat and slightly to the rear; and the second FC-Center positioned vertically 5’ behind my listening seat. The Classic system doesn’t include a subwoofer; I used my Mirage OM-200 for the LFE tracks of DVDs.

Performance

After fine-tuning the setup and levels, the first thing that struck me when I settled down and began watching Austin Powers in Goldmember was that the sound was "smooth, baby!" In the opening dance sequence, the FC-70 reproduced the brass instruments and strings beautifully, with no harshness in the high frequencies. Another test of the speakers’ smooth nature was provided by the DVD of S.W.A.T. In the opening chapter, there is a shootout with bullets flying everywhere. Some speakers make this cacophony sound fatiguing because of the brightness of their highs, but this wasn’t the case through the FC-70 -- high-frequency sounds did not sound grating at all, but realistic.

At first I thought that the FC-70 was simply attenuating the highs, as some poorly designed speakers do to make them sound more appealing in a short demo. This was not the case with the Focus Audio Classics, however. When I played track 6 from the CD of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, as performed by Il Giardino Armonico [Teldec 4509 97671-2], the high frequencies were extended yet exciting -- I was drawn into the performance. I ended up playing CD after CD for hours, mesmerized by these superb-sounding speakers. Even at high volume levels, the tweeters never sounded harsh.

The Focus Audio FC-70 had adequate bass response for a relatively compact floorstander. When listening to my favorite bass-heavy CD, Holly Cole’s Temptation [Alert Z2-81026], the FC-70 convincingly reproduced the deep notes of the double bass. A subwoofer would no doubt have helped, but there was enough bass response from the FC-70 that I didn’t need one. As well, Cole’s voice sounded rich and full -- a testament to this speaker’s excellent midrange reproduction through its 5" woofers.

The Focus Audio FC-Center did a fine job of reproducing voices. When I watched S.W.A.T., Samuel L. Jackson’s voice had the familiar deep, chesty resonance I’m used to hearing. As with most horizontally configured center speakers with a midrange-tweeter-midrange driver array, however, I noticed a dropping off of highs while sitting to the sides of my usual listening spot. This resulted in a duller sound, which made dialogue more difficult to follow. This wasn’t a problem when I sat directly in front of the center-channel, but only when I sat off-axis.

In terms of surround envelopment, the Focus Audio Classic system performed very well. If you’ve read any of my other reviews, you’ll know that I’m biased toward dipolar or bipolar speakers when watching DVDs. I feel they offer a more convincing sense of space than conventional front-radiating speakers. However, that FC-Center in the back surround position provided very convincing surround envelopment with DTS-ES or Dolby Digital EX soundtracks. When I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition), the combination of the vertically oriented FC-C for back surround and FC-10s for left and right surrounds provided a coherent rear soundstage, and an especially immersive environment for chapter 20, "The Caverns of Isengard."

It became clear to me during my listening sessions that Focus Audio had paid a lot of attention to matching the Classic speakers to each other. The result is a versatile speaker line that can be mixed and matched to create a system that excels in reproducing both music and movie sound. The FC-10 could be easily substituted for the FC-Center, and you could eliminate the shortcomings of a horizontal center speaker. Although I found that the FC-10 direct-radiating speakers in the left and right surround positions provided less surround envelopment than do dipolar or bipolar speakers, this disadvantage was largely eliminated by using an FC-Center as a back surround. And overall, I was drawn in by the smooth highs, which made my extended listening sessions a pleasure.

Comparisons

I had another system on hand that made for an interesting comparison with the Focus Audio Classics: a similarly priced Mirage system consisting of two OM-9 main tower speakers, the OM-C2 center-channel, and two OM-R2 surrounds ($3250 as reviewed with LF-150 subwoofer). There is one fundamental difference between the systems: the Mirages are Omnipolar designs that fire sound to the front and rear to produce a spherical dispersion pattern, whereas the Focus Audios are direct-radiators that fire sound from the front of the speakers only.

Playing back movie soundtracks, the Mirage OM system was inherently more enveloping than the Focus Audio Classics. As good as the Focuses were at providing an immersive environment for chapter 20 of The Fellowship of the Ring, the Mirages managed to fill in the sides of the room to completely engulf me in a 360-degree radiation pattern that made the caves seem even more cavernous. With the Focuses there were distinct front and rear soundstages, with a small gap on either side.

When I compared the center-channel speakers, the Mirage OM-C2 bettered the Focus FC-Center in one important area: off-axis listening. When I sat to the right or left of my ideal listening position while watching S.W.A.T., the sounds of voices through the OM-C2 didn’t change. With the FC-Center, however, some noticeable high-frequency attenuation at times compromised dialogue intelligibility.

But good direct-radiating speakers excel at multichannel music reproduction, and the Focus Audio Classics were particularly adept at this. For instance, this system’s imaging precision shone in Elvis Costello’s North [SACD, Universal B0001580-36]. On my favorite song from this album, "Still," Costello’s voice is in the front L/R and center speakers, which helps to anchor his voice to the center of the soundstage. The piano is layered in the front soundstage, and the strings appear in the left and right surrounds. All of these were distinctly placed with the direct-radiating Focus Audio Classics; they sounded more vague with the Mirage Omnis.

Conclusion

One of the design goals Focus Audio had for the Classic series was that the system be a good match with the affordable electronics with which the speakers would likely be used. Even with my Outlaw Model 1050 receiver, which sold for the bargain-basement price of $499, this system sounded superb: all of the Focus Audio system’s strong attributes -- pinpoint imaging, deep soundstaging, smooth high-frequency response -- shone through. It’s hard to imagine anyone not appreciating what this system can do.

Manufacturer contact information:

Focus Audio
43 Riviera Drive, Unit 10
Markham, Ontario
Canada L3R 5J6
Phone: (905) 415-8773
Fax: (905) 415-0456

E-mail: contact@focusaudio.ca
Website: www.focusaudio.ca

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