Displaying items by tag: france - StereoLife Magazine

Less than three years after the launch of the Utopia open-back headphones, Focal returns to center stage with its closed-back headphones of outstanding quality - Stellia. Equipped with the brand's very best technology, incorporating numerous innovations and providing excellent soundproofing, Stellia delivers exceptional sound quality everywhere you go, without compromising on style or sophistication. Because, at Focal, innovation goes beyond technology, it influences product use and aesthetics.

After Elear, Utopia and Clear - its three leading open-back headphones - Focal set itself a new challenge - to integrate the best of its technologies into an unprecedented closed-back solution, to experience absolute sound everywhere and anywhere. Integrating speaker drivers into closed-back headphones, without making any concessions on the reproduction of the lowest frequencies - that is the new chapter in the Focal story that the engineers have just finished writing by pushing the limits of acoustic research and development. By creating Elegia.

Triangle introduced two new subwoofers benefiting from the experience of its previous models and expanding its Thetis and Tales ranges. The manufacturer took the opportunity to optimize the amplifiers on all models by focusing on the power handling of the driver at high volume as well as the dynamic range.

Focal is confirming its position as an innovative manufacturer of hi-end headphones with the launch of Clear. Benefiting from the research and development that went into developing the Elear and Utopia headphones, the Clear sets the benchmark for open-back headphones.

Following the recent launch of their new passive hi-fi loudspeakers, Elipson has teamed up with Google to announce two new powered wireless versions featuring Google's Chromecast Audio supplied for full multiroom streaming capability. Elipson's new bookshelf Prestige Facet 6BT and floor-standing Facet 14BT speakers are the company's new generation of connected speakers.

Cabasse introduced their brand new column speaker. Assembled in Cabasse studios located in Plouzané, France, the Murano Alto is a compact column speaker offering big sound. The vitality and the generosity of the association of the medium-tweeter coaxial driver from our masterpiece system l'Océan, to the two woofers with honeycomb membranes, make it possible to peruse through all genres of music procuring intense delight to listeners everywhere.

Cabasse is recognized as one of the best known loudspeaker manufacturers, and one which gives us very interesting products, especially in the high end segment. Founded in 1950 by Georges Cabasse, the firm inherited not only its creator's name, but also his genius as his special gift, a memory for sounds led him to design one of the most original and striking loudspeakers on the market. On the company's website we also found that Cabasse's roots go back to 1740 and a luthier who crafted the first violin signed Cabasse. Interesting, isn't it? And what about the present day? To learn more about that we conducted an interview with Delphine Dall.

France is known not only for automobiles, excellent cuisine, high fashion and jammed streets of Paris. It is also one of the most important countries on the audiophile map of the world. It's the birthplace of brands such as Triangle, Lavardin, Lecontoure, Atoll, Devialet, Cabasse, Micromega, YBA, Fadel Art or Jadis. However, one of the most meaningful companies in the area of the speakers and accessories is Focal. And we are not talking only about the French, but worldwide market. Now this company, which a few years ago was known as JMLab, has several production centres. Collectively they occupy an area comparable to small refinery.

Focal is one of the most powerful companies in the loudspeaker market, making mainly domestic hi-fi speakers and car audio components. Everything is produced in France under one roof, or rather several to be more precise. The scale of production has forced the company to build a large complex of factories and laboratories and take over the cabinet factory where most expensive enclosures are manufactured. After the launch of Aria and Easya models, Focal decided to expand its line of headphones. The first Spirit One model was very successful, so engineers decided to continue this winning streak and create a whole series of headphones based on the same design. New models had to be targeted at different customer groups. Because the basic construction remained the same, functions and applications of new headphones had to be different.

The French are very progressive. Not only do they want to be first in everything, but they often are. It seems that the concept of usual economy is sometimes limited in this country. If it wasn't true, they probably wouldn't build the famous TGV train or the Millau Viaduct. Travel with ordinary train or a bus would be much cheaper after all, and instead of a giant overpass you could easily build a road leading down and then up the valley. The French definitely can go crazy. From time to time they put aside the standard thinking and do something that others see later in admiration. No wonder that many companies producing hi-fi equipment have built their power in France. Especially speakers manufacturers. Triangle is one of three largest producers of speakers in France. Founded in the early 80's, it first came up with some unusually shaped speakers, but many people criticized the company for a lack of technical innovation in the drivers.