Focal PROFILE SR 908 User Manual

PROFILE IW/IC 908

User Manual

Français page 9

Thank you for choosing the
Profile in-wall / in-ceiling 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 in­terms of speaker design,
whether it is for high fidelity or
home theater systems.
In order to (make the most of
these speakers) enjoy the max­imum of their performance, we
advise you to read this user’s
manual and to keep it carefully
so that you can consult it later.

To ensure optimal performance
from your loudspeakers, we
highly recommend that
installation is carried out by
a professional. They will be
able to advise on the best
placement within your listening
environment and adjust your
system to achive the highest
possible sound quality.

The Focal-JMlab guarantee
only applies if the enclosed
guarantee card is returned to
us within 10 days of purchase.

Included inside:

• 1 x two-way loudspeaker

• 1 x removable metal grille in wich a
removable driver mask is located

• 1 x wall cut-out template

• 1 x protective mask for use

when painting the frame

• 1 x hexagonal key (IW 908)

• 1 x Focal logo

Specifications
MDF sealed loudspeaker: A true

high-end two way sealed box
design (IW 908 only).
Optional back box (IC 908 only).

Aluminum/magnesium inverted
dome tweeter: inverted dome

technology is exclusive to Focal.
It allows an optimized energy
transfer. Aluminum/magnesium
dome with Poron
outstanding performances.
“W” cone: technology of “W”
composite cone is a Focal patent.
“W” means “Verre-Verre”, because
of the 2 glass leafs affixed to both
sides of a structural foam. Profile
uses the latest ”W” cone’s up­grades: new proportioning of
glass leaf, new foam thickness.

OPC® (Optimum Phase Crossover):

phase optimization for a precise,
natural and stable soundstage
and image.
Wall Boost Control: to reduce the
“wall effect” inherent to any built in
speaker, we have developed a wall
boost equalizatio circuit which
corrects this phenomenon and
makes it easier to position your
speakers to suit your preferences.
Adjustable tweeter level: for
better acoustical adaptation
Easy integration: UV stabilized
paintable aluminum grille
and frame.

Optional mounting kit

®

surround reveals

Focal® is a trademark of Focal-JMlab® - BP 374 - 108, rue de l'Avenir - 42353 La Talaudière
cedex - France - Tel. [phone] - Fax [phone] - www.focal-fr.com

Due to constant technological advances, Focal reserves its right to modify specifications without notice. Images may not conform exactly to specific product.

PROFILE IW/IC 908

User Manual

A B

2

C

E

D

F

PROFILE IW/IC 908: INSTALLATION

User Manual

3

Connections

The Profile 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. Stereo
image, soundstaging and bass
perception would be seriously
compromised if these conditions
were not respected.
Don’t underestimate the im­portance of the cable: make
sure you chose the appropri­ate section and length. Let your
retailer advise you.

About amplifiers

Contrary to what one might think,
it is not a too powerful amplifier that
might damage a loudspeaker,
but rather a lack of power.
Actually if the output level of the
amplifier is too high it will saturate
and distort which will irremediably
damage the tweeter. The power
handling and frequency response
of the Profile loudspeakers is good
enough to highlight the qualities
or weak points of the amplifiers
they are combined with. Let your
retailer help you make the right
choice, matching your personal
taste and budget.

Mounting

This should be carried out after
all of the cables have been fitted.
We recommend that you use a
marked cable in order to conserve
the polarity of the speakers (+/-).

Existing construction:

• Cut the dry wall using the tem­plate supplied (fig. A). Be sure
to check that this is perfectly
vertical using a spirit level be­fore you begin cutting.

• Check construction plans of

your room to make sure that
you are not drilling into a pipe,
an electrical cable or any other
specialised installations behind
the wall.

New construction:

• Use the optimal dedicated

mounting kit.

• Route the connection cables

before installing the plaster­board.

• Ensure that the speakers are
connected before installing them
into the wall!

Fixing

The loudspeaker is firmly fixed into
the wall using a system of clamps.
To achieve this, place the speaker
into the cut-out and tighten the fix­ing screws in a clockwise direction

(fig. B, C for IW 908) (fig. D, E
for IC 908).

Wall Boost Control

Your loudspeakers use an
exclusive filtering process known
as OPC (Optimum Phase
Crossover) guaranteeing a
perfect stereo image and out­standing sound definition.
Additionally, in order to reduce
the "wall effect" inherent to any
built in speaker, we have devel­oped a wall boost equalization
circuit which corrects this phe­nomenon and makes it easier
to position your speakers to suit
your preferences (fig. F).

PROFILE IW/IC 908

User Manual

G H

4

I

Position 0 Position I Position II

With
driver mask

Without

J

driver mask

-3dB 0dB +3dB

0dB +3dB +6dB

PROFILE IW/IC 908: INSTALLATION

User Manual

5

Speakers placement

The Profile loudspeakers have
been engineered to deliver the
most faithful sound reprodution,
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
o the particular disposition of the
room (fig. G).
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 his usual listening
area (fig. H).

Surround and center speakers
placement

The soundtrack mix for a film or
music encoded in multichannel
format is very complex and
allows the listener to benefit from
a wide range of special sound
effects, which require the use
of effect channel speakers.
In order to obtain a realistic 3D
soundstage, the placement of the
speakers is decisive, even when
confronted with a restrictive
disposition of the listening room.
For enhanced performances,
the following elements should
be noted.
Central channel speakers should
be placed close to the TV-screen
to obtain a proper placement
and a realistic reproduction of
the dialog (fig. Ha). They could
be placed below or above
the TV-screen if your TV-unit
permits. If a standart projection
screen is used, the central
channel speaker must be
placed under the screen.
If an acoustically transparent
projection screen is used, the
central channel speaker can be
placed behind and at the bottom
of the screen.
Avoid placing the effect speakers
too far from the listening area
otherwise the sound perception
will be altered. In order to ob­tain surround effects, with great
sound density we advise you
to place the speakers against
the sidewalls on each side of the
listening room (fig. Ib, Ic). You
can use IC 900 as In Ceiling
surround speakers (fig. Hc) or
for back center surround channel
for 6.1 or 7.1 configuration.

Adjustment of tweeter

To carry out adjustments, use
the switch level located on the
front baffle of the speaker as
follows (fig. J).

Paint

If you wish, you can paint your
speaker to match your room. We
advise that you paint the grille
and the housing of the speaker
separately.
For the frame: remove the grille
and place the paint mask in
position to protect the drivers.
For the grille: if necessary
remove the driver mask from the
grille before painting. You can
put this mask back into position
after drying if you wish.

PROFILE IW/IC 908: CAUTIONS

User Manual

6

Precautions

As the loudspeaker’s covering
materials are strong, scratch-

and stain-resistant, maintenance
is easy and consists only in
cleaning the covering with a dry
cloth. If the enclosure is stained,
we simply recommend the use
of 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.

Running-in period

The drivers used in the Profile
loudspeaker are complex
mechanical devices and require
a run-in period before they
deliver their best performance.
They must get adapted to
the temperature 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
loudspeakers are completely sta­bilized, it is possible to enjoy the
real performance of your Profile
loudspeakers.

Magnetic disturbance

In home theater systems, the
magnetic radiation of the loud­speakers must be taken into
consideration.
These loudspeakers generate a
magnetic leak that can inter­fere with household applianc­es, some of which are sensitive
to this phenomenon.
It is strongly advised not to place
front loud-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 to close to the TV.

Conditions of guarantee

All Focal-JMlab loudspeakers
are covered by guarantee drawn
up by the official Focal-JMlab
distributor in your country. Your
distributor can provide all
details concerning the conditions
of guarantee.
Guarantee cover extends at
least to that granted by the legal
guarantee in force in the country
where the original purchase
invoice was issued.