2. speakers
  3. 1139116356

Focal Drivers

A couple years ago I was in a Phoenix, Arizona audio store called "Celestial AV" which produces their own line of speakers. I was floored by the detail, speed, and liquid midrange on these speakers. All of Celestial's speakers use (or used at that time) Focal drivers.

So my question is, do all focal drivers sound liquid and have the speed and detail I heard, or was this to be attributed solely to an exceptional job by the designers at Celestial?

Also, what speakers companies use focal drivers besides JM Labs? I know RAW speakers have a model "HT1" that uses a ribbon tweeter and Focal midwoofer, but have not heard anything about the performance of the speaker.

Thanks for the input!
Howard
aggielaw
aball
2,018 posts
 
JM Lab and Focal are the same company. Focal keeps their most optimized drivers for their JM Lab speaker line and they used to sell a lot of drivers to other speaker makers but they are now getting out of that business. Soon they will only makes drivers for themselves. Wilson Audio and Legacy are two that I know used Focal drivers.
aggielaw OP
267 posts
 
I knew JM Labs and Focal were the same company, but did not know they were getting out of the driver-supplier business. Too bad - that means now we'll all have to pay the ridiculous markup JM Labs is known for putting on their speakers.

I think I'll go to planars or electrostats before I pay that kind of markup...and especially to a French company (they're french, right?)
twilo
357 posts
 
Check out these custom made Celestial speakers with Focal drivers.
http://rogueimc.org/images/2005/12/5756.jpg
More to discover