Meet Focal, a highly renowned hi-fi brand from France that has been making high-end sound speakers of unparalleled quality for 40 years. Recently, Focal has introduced a new series of design loudspeakers to the market, the Focal Edging series and Caroline van Hippeshops set out for us to learn more about this exclusive brand.
These design speakers with a distinctive retro look are so beautiful to see that you would almost forget that there is also sound. And what a sound! Read on and discover how these exclusive sound boxes are made entirely by hand and how you can perfectly match these speakers as a stylish design object in your interior. Because yes, the female eye also wants something!
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If you want to optimally enjoy your favorite music at home, good sound speakers are indispensable. Surprise your friends with the reproduction of music from the Focal Kanta with a home concert of your favorite artists and enjoy creating a unique combination of experience and atmosphere together. And if you enjoy binge-watching with the latest Netflix or Videoland series, you naturally prefer to do so with a home cinema set. This way you can optimally enjoy image and sound.
Today, we women are always busy-busy-busy with our careers combined with taking care of our families. At the end of an intensive working day full of meetings and appointments, you long to go home. After dinner - when the kids are in bed - it's time for mommy me-time. Do you like to curl up on the couch with a pot of tea and a warm plaid? With the speakers from Focal Kanta you can create your own home cinema set and (re)discover how listening to music is a true experience.
Every Focal sound speaker carries the slogan:Handmade in France † And I can tell you, that's 100% true. At the invitation of Mamsatwork, I immersed myself for two days in the world of high fidelity and high-end loudspeakers during a press trip in the company of hi-fi journalists and male influencers. There are still far too few women in the high fidelity world and it is high time that that changed 😉 .
After the direct KLM flight Amsterdam-Lyon, we are met by the Marketing Director of Focal, who gives us a tour of this third city in France. You can read more about that in another blog later. At the end of the day we are transferred to our hotel. An hour's drive from Lyon, near Saint Etienne, where the headquarters and factory of Focal are also located.
The two days that follow are completely devoted to Focal. In this article I take you on a tour through the two Focal factories, where I mainly explain the how it is made aspect to be addressed. Don't expect a technical story about the Kanta, that will undoubtedly be widely discussed by the male publishers of this press tour. I share with you the experience of listening and the beauty of the stunningly beautiful Focal Kanta speakers.
Focal - you pronounce it as Focál, with the emphasis on the a- is as I was told the Ferrari under the speakers. With 40 years of craftsmanship, Focal has acquired a unique position in the world of hi-fi. To give you an idea, half of the Focal business focuses on what they call home hi-fi and then there is about 40% of car hi-fi products, think of speakers in your car. The last 10% consists of pro hi-fi; hi-fi equipment used by professionals in the sound and music industry. Since 2010, Focal has also been marketing headphones. For individual listening pleasure at the highest level.
Focal has a different range of sound boxes, from small to large. The Focal Kanta series occupies a special place in the impressive list of hi-fi speakers. They initially stand out because of their playful design. With a nod to the retro era, they pamper your eyes with their beauty and timeless elegance. Even if no sound would come out, you would still want to place these design speakers in your living room as a stylish eye-catcher in your interior.
The Kanta is more than a loudspeaker. It is a 'piece of art' in technique, execution and rendering. Focal Kanta makes the dream come true in which loudspeakers can finally be part of your living space and then take you into the ultimate music experience.
During the tours of the two Focal factories, I noticed that high-end sound speakers are made entirely by hand from start to finish. The entire production process is therefore 100% in-house and from French soil. With knowledge, craftsmanship and, last but not least, the passion of the dedicated staff of Focal, the renowned loudspeaker manufacturer is able to put a unique product on the market that excels in quality and distinguishes itself in the experience listening to music, i.e. ListenBeyond !
The Focal Kanta loudspeakers are made up of many parts, with the cabinets being produced at the Focal site in the picturesque town of Bourbon Lancy and the technology and assembly being accomplished at Focal's headquarters in Saint Etienne. The distance between the two Focal locations in the rolling landscape of the French interior west of Lyon is 170 kilometers with more than two hours travel time over the Route National, among others.
After a nice trip we arrive at the Focal cabinet factory in the village of Bourbon Lancy. About 40 people work here every day to produce Focal Kanta sound boxes, the housing of the sound speakers. Together with the press invitees I get a tour of the wood processing factory where the location director passionately tells us how the luxury sound boxes are made.
We start at the starting point of the production line, where the materials come in. Made especially and exclusively for Focal, we work with a unique MDF (Medium-Density Fibreboard) type. This has a comparable quality to HDF (High-Density Fibreboard) and ensures optimal sound quality for the speaker cabinets of the Focal Kanta.
The sustainable aspect of this unique MDF, from Ollier Bois, is worth mentioning, because this product is manufactured in a very eco-friendly manner † This means that it is made as environmentally friendly as possible and that it is very durable and strong in use. The sustainability aspect of the Focal sound speakers therefore plays a major role in the quality.
With the help of special machines and equipment, the MDF panels are shaped, in which the craftsmanship of the staff plays a major role. They treat the material with extreme precision, which is cut and sanded into smaller and larger parts. The different parts of the sound boxes are visibly unfolding before our eyes. These parts are then assembled into cabinets with different chambers using special techniques. The electronics parts will soon be placed in this at the other location. But we're not there yet.
When the Focal speaker cabinets have received their final design, they are provided with various layers of lacquer, including the Kanta. This is a very extensive and precise process. Thirteen layers of lacquer are applied! The lacquer is applied manually to the sound boxes. Depending on the design, the cabinets are painted in a high-gloss or matte color. We also work with wood veneer that comes from a Brazilian tree. This veneer is glued to the MDF material and also provided with various layers of lacquer in matt or gloss versions.
The end result is stunningly beautiful. Now I understand how many hours of the many men and women in the wood factory are needed to arrive at such a beautiful design sound furniture. Finally, everything is polished and polished to perfection and the people at the end of the production line put the finishing touches on the cabinets before they are subjected to a very careful quality control. Only when the cabinets have been individually checked and approved by hand and through very critical eyes (with high quality standards being pursued) are the cabinets packed very carefully and made ready for transport.
Twice a week, a fully loaded truck full of beautiful design sound boxes from Bourbon Lancy leaves for the Focal headquarters in Saint Etienne.
Arriving at the main Focal site in Sint Etienne -170 kilometers south of the box factory in Bourbon Lancy- we see how the ready-made sound boxes of the Focal Kanta are unpacked again. Assembling with all the necessary electronics can begin so that the speakers can produce the unique quality sound of Focal. A total of 200 employees work at both the factory and the Focal offices in Sint Etienne. From purchasing to sales, from goods receipt to export and from product design to marketing branding. It all happens there in Sint Etienne.
Also on this factory tour we start with the first step of the production process of the Focal Kanta. Where does that beautiful sound come from? For example, on the ground floor I get to see how the units that are mounted in the sound boxes are made by hand. An important part is the production of the cones which are formed in a sandwich and made from a patented flax material that is light and strong with long hollow fibres.
Production of the tweeters is underway on the top floor of the factory complex. These provide the high tones in the sound boxes. Beryllium is used for this, a raw material that is 15 times more expensive than gold. I had honestly never heard of it. It is a very light but very stiff metal with a better mass-stiffness ratio than diamond and makes the high tones in the tweeter sound perfect and clean.
All speaker parts of the Kanta are then mounted in the Focal housing. After the sound boxes have been assembled, they are thoroughly tested in a soundproof room and inspected for performance and power. The Focal sound speakers are now ready for use. The real enjoyment of the most beautiful sound ever can begin.
In the auditorium we get a sound demo and I can tell you that I was really moved by the quality of the sound. It gave me goosebumps and I realized and rediscovered that listening to music can be experienced as a true experience. Our hearing is one of our five senses. I come to the conclusion that listening to a Focal Kanta speaker set is a real pleasure for your ears and your eyes are also caressed by the beautiful design.
Frankly, when I saw the Focal Kanta series, I was immediately sold, it is of a completely different caliber than this digital radio. And then I hadn't even heard how beautiful these floorstanding speakers sound. No, the sophisticated design alone made my heart beat faster. Elegant due to the placement on the feet and the slight curvature of the cabinet. In combination with the beautiful and striking use of color that you can order in a matt or gloss finish, you really have a few master pieces at home.
You can choose from various sizes and colors with the design speakers of the Kanta series. Place the cabinets solitary at such a distance from each other and turned towards each other in such a way that you have optimal range on the armchair or sofa and the sound sounds at its best. The collection of Focal Kanta loudspeakers consists of the following five products:
From the Kanta series I am most charmed by the Kanta No.3 myself. This is a four-compartment model with a 16.5cm midrange unit at the top, a 27mm beryllium tweeter below and two 21cm woofers below that work in parallel.
I myself absolutely love the Gauloise Bleu color in matte finish with wooden veneer sides. This one would do very well in my home in the Scandinavian style living room with light blue and white tones. Secretly I am also a bit in love with the Solar Yellow, but I think this color comes into its own in a more retro or industrial interior.
You can go in many directions with the color combinations of the Focal Kanta series. The sides of the speakers of the Kanta No. 3 are available in Black High Gloss or Wood Veneer. The fronts are available in High Gloss Finishes in Gauloise Bleu, Carrara White, Black Lacquer and Solar Yellow. With the matte front panels you can choose from the trend colors Gauloise Blue, Warm Taupe, Dark Gray and Ivory.
If you like to listen to music and after reading this review have also become very curious about the high-end sound of the Focal Kanta speakers, book a no-obligation listening session!
If you want to experience and rediscover how beautiful music can touch you, just like me, you can go to a selected Kanta dealer in your area. Discover and experience the ultimate listening pleasure with Focal, Listen Beyond!
