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Good things from France<br />
Relentless R&D, high manufacturing penetration and a clear commitment to local<br />
manufacturing: Focal is an exemplary company in many aspects.<br />
Author: Bernhard Rietschel<br />
Fo<strong>und</strong>ed in the beginning of the eighties<br />
by Jacques Mahul, Focal quickly<br />
gained an excellent reputation for its<br />
innovative loudspeaker drive units. Until<br />
today the drivers, for example the inverted<br />
dome tweeter, are fo<strong>und</strong> in some of<br />
the most acclaimed loudspeakers such<br />
as the Wilson Audio range.<br />
In the beginning, the Focal moniker<br />
was only used for the french company‘s<br />
separate drive units. During the DIY<br />
boom of the eighties and early nineties,<br />
these were used as a basis for the now<br />
legendary lodspeaker kits that were sold<br />
in Germany <strong>und</strong>er names like Expression<br />
oder Solution, and which were impossible<br />
to beat by the ready-made competition.<br />
At that time, the author also<br />
dreamed of building a pair of Focal kits<br />
– with the emphasis lying on “dreamed“,<br />
as the beautiful high-tech drivers were<br />
never really cheap. Successful from day<br />
one in their french home market s, the<br />
finished loudspeakers <strong>und</strong>er the JMlab<br />
brand took some time to establish themselves<br />
in the German and othe european<br />
markets. The breakthrough came with<br />
the high-end Utopia series and the high<br />
performance affordable speakers that<br />
followed in the nineties. In the 2000s a<br />
gradual consolidation of brand names<br />
was performed, leaving Focal as the single<br />
and thus strengthened brand and<br />
reducing the sale of individual drive units<br />
to only very few select customers. The<br />
drive units are still hand built in Focal´s<br />
Saint-Etienne factory. Also, all Electra<br />
and Utopia woodwork is hand built by<br />
French craftsmen in Focal´s factory in the<br />
Burg<strong>und</strong>y region. This location will be<br />
further expanded, which will allow Focal<br />
to do the woodwork for the more reasonably<br />
priced Chorus and Aria Series.<br />
This is where the Power<br />
Flowers bloom: Driver assembly<br />
in the Focal factory<br />
is a mixture of loving handcraft<br />
and some automated<br />
assembly steps performed<br />
in machines designed inhouse.<br />
Living legend: Company<br />
fo<strong>und</strong>er Jacques Mahul<br />
can explain every Focal<br />
driver to the last detail.
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