U TOPI A B ERY L L I UM L I NE User manual Français page 12 BP 374 - 108, rue de l'Avenir - 42353 La Talaudière cedex - France - Tel.: 00 33 4 77 43 57 00 - Fax: 00 33 4 77 37 65 87 - www.focal-fr.com JMlab ® , Utopia ® , W® , Focus Time ® , OPC ® , Focus Ring ® , Power Flower ® and Structure " "® are trademarks of Focal-JMlab ® - ©Focal-JMlab-SCOS- 030722/6 , 2 User precautions User manual Utopia Be line Thank you for choosing the Utopia Be loudspeakers. We are pleased to share with you our philosophy : "the Spirit of Sound". These high-performance speakers feature the latest technical developments from Focal-JMlab in terms of speaker design, whether it is for high fidelity or home theater systems. In order to make the most of these speakers and enjoy the maximum of their performance, we advise you to read this user manual. Special precautions regarding the Beryllium dome tweeter In its solid form, Beryllium is harmless. However, due to its nature, certain special precautions should be observed to avoid exposure to unnecessary risk. - Under no circumstances should the Beryllium dome be subjected to any form of abrasive action. To ensure no accidental damage to the tweeter dome it is advised to carefully replace the protection covers while not in use. - In the unlikely case of damage to the dome, of any form, the supplied piece of adhesive tape should be immediately used to seal the whole front surface of the tweeter. The protective cover should then be replaced and also taped securely in place. You should then inform the dealer from whom you purchased the product so that the tweeter can be removed by a professional and returned to the product distributor for replacement. - If the dome is broken in any way giving rise to loose particles of Beryllium, these should be carefully collected with the use of an adhesive tape and sealed in a zip-top bag to be returned with the tweeter. For further information, please contact Focal-JMlab directly: beryllium@focal-fr.com Breaking-in period The drivers used in the Utopia Be line are made up of complex mechanical elements and require an adaptation period before they deliver their full potential. They must get adapted to the temperature and humidity conditions of their environment. This breaking-in period depends upon the encountered conditions and can last several weeks. In order to shorten this period, we advise you to let your speaker operate for about twenty hours at medium level, playing stand music programs, but with a large amount of bass. Once the components of the loudspeaker are completely stabilized, it is possible to enjoy the real performance of your speakers. Magnetic disturbance The Utopia Be line speakers generate a magnetic leakage that may interfere with other sensitive household appliances. It is strongly advised not to place the speakers closer than 50cm to your TV screen. Frame geometry as well as colours can be severely distorted by a magnetic field if the loudspeaker is placed too close to the cathode ray tube. Generally, every sensitive element (audio tapes, video tapes, magnetic data storages, projector and CRTS overhead-projector) should not be placed too close to non-shielded loudspeakers. User precautions All the products in the Utopia Be range are lacquered in order to offer a resistant cabinet surface and to make the upkeep easy. We recommend the use of a dry cloth to dust your pair of loudspeakers. If the loudspeaker is stained, then use a damp cloth. Never use any solvents, detergents, alcohol or corrosive products, scrappers or scouring powder to clean the surface of the loudspeaker. Avoid placing the loudspeakers near a heat source. 3 Utopia Beryllium line User manual Utopia Be line · Beryllium tweeter · "Focus RingTM" and "Power FlowerTM" · The "W®" cone · Focus Time · The " " (gamma) front structure · OPC crossover · Technical specifications · International guarantee p. 4 p. 5 p. 6 p. 7 p. 8 p. 9 p. 10 p. 24 Early in 1993, 13 years after its creation, Focal-JMlab realized the need to launch a one-off, no compromise, reference loudspeaker. After two years the Grande Utopia was born initiating major technological innovations such as the "W " sandwich cone, the Tioxid inverted dome tweeter and the Focus Time system and Gamma. It represented to us a high precision laboratory, which would serve as the absolute reference for each Focal-JMlab loudspeaker thereafter. The first public demonstration of the Grande Utopia took place in the spring of '95. But what started as a laboratory project quickly became the object of interest for audiophiles the world over. The impact was so big that the Grande Utopia gave birth to a full range of products comprising all these technologies. Innovation is the base value of Focal-JMlab. The new Utopia Be range proves it. Building on the principles of the original research started in 1993, we have introduced the first dome made of pure Beryllium and the Focus ring and Power Flower new magnet structures. This manual contains a detailed presentation of the patented technologies applied in the Utopia Beryllium range. We are proud to present you with these technologies that form the base value of our dedication to sound perfection and our philosophy: "the Spirit of Sound". The extreme precision offered by Utopia Beryllium loudspeakers requires installation by a specialist; your dealer has been selected for his skills in this field. The weight of these loudspeakers also requires specialist unpacking. "W" Woofer "W" Medium "Power Flower" magnet Beryllium Tweeter "Focus Ring" magnet "W" Medium "Power Flower" magnet "W" Woofer The Focal-JMlab guarantee only applies if the enclosed guarantee card is returned to us within 10 days of purchase. " " structure cabinet Focus Time 4 Beryllium tweeter TM User manual Utopia Be line The reversed dome tweeter is a hallmak of Focal-JMlab. As a result of more than twenty years of development into a tweeter that could produce a high output, but without requiring high energy input and without increasing directivity. And now the company is ready to make a major leap forward with the introduction of the pure Beryllium version. The main advantage of the inverted dome tweeter or the "full" range tweeter... The experience acquired over the last twenty years has allowed Focal-JMlab to push back the limits of reversed dome technology and the work on the suspension, driver shape, adhesives and materials have at each stage produced an improvement in linearity and bandwidth. The research began by testing fibre domes, as a simple and less sensitive way to validate the advantages of the reversed dome with regards to energy response. Then the company introduced more rigid metal domes to extend the response in high frequencies, and with Titanium producing the most impressive results it has proved to be the most relevant choice. Today to exceed these limits and particularly to extend the response to nearly 40kHz, we need to move towards a material even lighter and more rigid. Already competitors have moved to introduce super tweeters to satisfy the extreme requirements of the new high-bandwidth sources. However, Focal-JMlab does not believe the adoption of the super tweeter is to be a satisfactory solution. First of all, the distance between the tweeters, for frequencies where the wavelength is of the order of cm, poses serious problems of coherence. A filtering is imposed which destroys, by the losses and distortion of phase, the benefits introduced by extending the frequency response. So it is advisable to point out that simply extending the high frequency response is not an end in itself, as the ear is most sensitive to transients. The improvement with regards to the impulse response is only perceptible at a tweeter output far beyond the 20kHz, limit and to far beyond the perception of human hearing. We should not forget that Focal-JMlab's first objective was to design tweeters offering an optimum coupling, being able to integrate with the mid-range at sufficiently low frequencies and before the output of the mid- range begins to tighten or beam. Thus the only successful solution is, therefore, to produce a tweeter with an extended response that covers more than five octaves from 1 000Hz to 40 000Hz. A standard dome tweeter has a poor mechanical coupling with the voice coil attached to the outer diameter of the dome. The result of the mechanical forces shows that considerable energy is lost into the suspension where it is dissipated as heat. Focal-JMlab inverted dome tweeter: The mechanical interface between the voice coil and dome is optimal, the result of the forces tangential to the dome. All of the energy is transmitted into the dome and radiated as sound. Beryllium - The ideal material for a dome. An ideal dome must combine lightness, rigidity and damping. Currently, only one material offers the possibility of a significant improvement. Beryllium's density is 2.5 times lower than Titanium and 1.5 times lower than Aluminium while its' rigidity is 3 times higher than Titanium and 5 times superior to Aluminium. Which means that for a dome of identical mass, a Beryllium version is 7 times more rigid than one made of Titanium or Aluminum - which have similar rigidity for a given mass. Moreover, the velocity of sound in a Beryllium dome is 3 times faster than a Titanium version and 2.5 times faster than Aluminum. However, the manufacturing of Beryllium remains very difficult and its production has been limited to just three countries: the United States, France and Russia. To date, Great Britain, Germany and Japan do not manufacture pure Beryllium, rather using it in the form of an alloy. Beryllium is an excellent high-tech metal - the only metal able to scratch glass - it is only used in strategic applications in the aeronautical and military industries and consequently, its unique characteristics make it extraordinarily expensive, much more than gold and nearly 100 times that of Titanium. The Beryllium tweeter offers a very extended response up to five octave from 1,000Hz to 40,000Hz. The impulse response is ideal. The only solution for Focal-JMlab - Control the manufactruing process. The analysis of the mechanical characteristics inevitably leads to Beryllium's choice as the ideal material for a tweeter dome. However, a major problem exists because no company has been able to manufacture such a dome. To arrive at a solution, required Focal-JMlab to conceive a process for forming a pure Beryllium dome*. And after two years research and investment, the company now posses a machine to carry out what was considered as utopia. Technological it is a world's first and certainly exceeds anything currently found in the audio field. And the result is in line with the company's hopes and expectations of an outstandingly detailed loudspeaker which extends to nearly 40 kHz while maintaining a perfect impulse response. * In the past certain manufacturers have attempted to use Beryllium for the construction of a direct radiating tweeter dome. However, they have actually only used Beryllium as a surface coating on a dome structure leading to different characteristics to anything achieved with pure Beryllium. . Comparaison beetween Beryllium, Titanium and Aluminum. Beryllium is lighter and nearly five time more rigid. 5 Focus Ring TM and Power Flower TM User manual Utopia Be line Being hidden away magnetic circuits are seldom considered. However the energy that they give is essential to the quality of reproduction. Focal-JMlab is always associated with investing in powerful arrays. And with the new Utopia line, the company wanted to apply its latest innovations. "Focus RingTM" - a patent for the magnetic circuit of the tweeter. An intense magnetic field is of the utmost importance for good tweeter performance and the TGU conceived for large Utopia into 95 was a key point in the development of the Utopia line. Selecting a magnet that combines high power with small dimensions narrows the choice of magnet material to Neodymium. However the small dimensions required - and the need for a light coil with a narrow air gap leads to intense heating of the magnet. A problem then occurs due to a characteristic of Neodymium: its low "Curie Point". The magnetisation saturation decreases as the temperature rises and will cancel at a certain temperature, called the "Curie Point" (Tc). For a ferrite, Tc is equal to 450 °C and, for a Neodymium Nd2Fe14B magnet Tc is equal to 319 °C. Which means, should the magnet reach its Tc, the magnetic stru cture will loose its magnetism bringing irreversible damage to its output and an audible loss of dynamics and definition. Since the design of the TGU in 95, the evolution of the home cinema arena has imposed new constraints with regards to power handling. In high fidelity musical performances very little energy is demanded at high frequencies. However, with the special sound effec ...