Focal Electra 1028 Be 2 operation manual

ELECTRA® 1000 BE II

User manual / Manuel d'utilisation

English page 2

Français page 12

ELECTRA® 1000 BE II

User manual

English

3

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Positioning

The loudspeakers have been engineered to deliver the most faithful sound reproduction, whether they are used for
music or home cinema. In order to enhance their performance, to guarantee a high quality of listening, sound image
and tone balance, it is important to note the following basic rules.
The listening area must be located at the summit of an equilateral triangle whose two other points of insertion are
determined by the position of each speaker. Nevertheless it is possible to modify these distances to find an ideal
compromise according to the particular disposition of the room (fig.A).
Each loudspeaker must be placed at the same height and on the same floor plan. The tweeter should be at the
same height as the listener’s ear, when the listener is in their usual listening area (fig.B).
Avoid placing the loudspeakers too close to the room’s corners or walls. This will induce some unwanted room
resonance and artificially increase bass response. On the contrary, if the bass level proves to be insufficient, it is
possible to move the speakers closer to the walls to adjust the bass level (fig.C).

Optimization

For perfectionist people, we will give an optimum positioning rule: If A is the determined distance between the floor
and the middle of the two woofers (X), C is the distance between X and the side or back wall, then the distance B is
found with the
equation B2 = AC.

• Example: The woofer center is at 50cm from the floor (A= 50cm). We decide that the distance between X and the
side wall will be 72cm (C = 72cm), the loudspeaker will then have to be placed at 60cm from the back wall. B2= 50 x
72 = 3600 (fig.D). B = √3600 = 60cm.

Connections

The Electra Be II input sockets ensure reliable multipurpose connections for stripped cables as well as for plugs.
It is imperative to respect the connector polarity of both the loudspeaker and amplifier. The positive terminal
“+” must be connected to the corresponding (matching) amplifier’s terminal and the negative terminal “-“ to the
negative terminal (fig.E). Stereo image, soundstaging and bass perception would be seriously compromised if these
conditions were not respected.

to us within 10 days of purchase.

Running-in period

The drivers used in the loudspeaker are complex mechanical devices and require run-in period before they deliver
their best performance. They must get adapted to the tem-perature and humidity conditions of their environment.
This breaking-in period depends on the encountered conditions and can last several weeks. In order to shorten
this period, we advise you to let your loudspeakers operate for about twenty hours at medium level, playing standard
musical programmes, but with a large amount of bass.
Once the components of the loud-speakers are completely stabilized, it is possible to enjoy the real performance of
your loudspeakers.

ELECTRA® 1000 BE II

User manual

User instructions

The sound rendition of the loudspeaker strongly depends upon the listening room acoustics, the place of the
loudspeakers and the listening area. These factors can be modified in order to correct or enhance a desired effect.

Should the soundstage be imprecise or not centred, try to move the loudspeakers closer to each other.
Harsh or aggressive sound means that your listening room is probably too reflective. Try to use any absorbing

materials (such as tapestries, sofa, wall coverings, curtains…) combined with reflective materials to absorb or diffuse
resonances.
Should the sound be “flat” or muffled, there are too many absorbing materials in the listening room. The sound
appears to be closed-in, with a narrow stereophonic image. Try to find a better compromise between absorbing and
reflective materials within your listening room.

Generally the wall to the rear of the speakers should be made up of reflective materials so that the sound image
exhibits satisfying volume and width. On the contrary the wall on the rear of the listener should be absorbing in order
to avoid reflections damaging the perception of the stereo soundstage. These reflections may limit the impression
of depth of the sound image. Furniture, such as bookshelves should ideally be placed along the side walls in order
to diffuse sound waves and to prevent some frequencies from being amplified, especially in vocal range (it removes
“flutter echo”).

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ELECTRA® 1000 BE II

User manual

A B

5

C

D E

ELECTRA® 1000 BE II

User manual

Loudspeaker choice

Your loudspeakers have been developed to be used under Stereo and Home Theater configurations. If you already
use Electra 1000 Be II on the front and want to move forward to Home Theater, it is paramount to use Electra 1008
Be II center unit and surround loudspeakers. We recommend CC 1008 Be center units and SR 1000 Be surrounds.
You can also use in-wall IW 1002/3 Be when environment limitations do not allow you to use SR 1000 Be surround
loudspeakers.
The SW 1008 Be subwoofer perfectly completes any Electra 1000 Be II multichannel configuration.

Magnetic disturbance

The Electra 1000 Be II line speakers (except CC 1008 Be) 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 overhead­projector) should not be placed too close to non-shielded loudspeakers.

CC 1008 Be center loudspeaker positioning

CC 1008 Be center loudspeaker must be placed within close range of the screen for realistic dialogue reproduction. If
a standard projection screen is used, the center unit must be placed right under the screen for optimal performance.
If a perforated, acoustically transparent screen is used, the center unit can be placed behind at the lower half of the
screen. (fig.F)

SR 1000 Be loudspeakers installation

Securely fasten the fixation rails on the wall using the provided plugs and then insert SR 1000 Be (fig.G).

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SR 1000 Be positioning

Considering it is detrimental to perception, avoid placing the surround loudspeakers too far back in the listening
area. The best location can be obtained when SR 1000 Be surround loudspeakers make a 120° to 160° angle with
respect to the listener. (fig.H).
Place SR 1000 Be surround loudspeakers significantly high (between 50 and 90cm) above the listener’s ears.

SR 1000 Be Bi/Twin Modes

This speaker features a double Bi/Twin operating system allowing it to be used either in standard bipolar mode (Bi)
or in double monopolar mode (Twin). Adequately defining parameters on the 3 positions mode selector and on the
double input connector, providing one or two power amplifier connection capability for each speaker, enables SR
1000 Be to implement 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 configurations using only one pair of surround loudspeakers. (fig.I)
That selector authorizes the loudspeakers to work together or divided in two groups (➊ and ➋) carrying different
information to the front and to the back of the listening area (fig.J). The three position mode selector allows to
choose between the Bipolar mode and two Twin modes (Front ➊ and Front ➋), according to the speaker direction
(fig.K).
The use of a third or even a forth SR 1000 Be II surround loudspeaker is still possible for the most advanced 6.1 and

7.1 configurations.

ELECTRA® 1000 BE II

User manual

F G

7

H I

J K

Front 1

L

Front 2

R

L

M

N

O