Focal Utopia Beryllium Line User Manual

UTOPIA BERYLLIUM LINE

U s e r m a n u a l

Français page 11

BP 374 - 108, rue de l'Avenir - 42353 La Talaudière cedex - France - Tel.: [phone] - Fax: [phone] - www.focal-fr.com

JMlab®, Utopia®, W®, Focus Time®, OPC®,, Focus Ring®, Power Flower® and Structure "γ"® are trademarks of Focal-JMlab® - ©Focal-JMlab-SCOS-030722/5

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: [e-mail]

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 standard 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

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.

THE FOCAL-JMLAB GUARANTEE ONLY APPLIES IF THE

ENCLOSED GUARANTEE CARD IS RETURNED TO US WITHIN 10 DAYS OF PURCHASE.

• Beryllium tweeter	p .	4
• “Focus Ring™” and “Power Flower™”	p .	5
• The “W®” cone	p .	6
• Focus Time	p .	7
• The “ϒ” (gamma) front structure	p .	8
• OPC crossover	p .	9
• Technical specifications	p. 10

"W" Woofer

"W" Medium "Power Flower" magnet

Beryllium Tweeter "Focus Ring" magnet

"W" Medium "Power Flower" magnet

"W" Woofer

"ϒ" structure cabinet

Focus Time

4		Beryllium tweeter	™
		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 midrange 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.

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 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. .

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.

The Beryllium tweeter offers a very extended response up to five octave from 1,000Hz to 40,000Hz. The impulse response is ideal.

Comparaison beetween Beryllium, Titanium and Aluminum. Beryllium is lighter and nearly five time more rigid.

5 Focus Ring™ and Power Flower™

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 Ring™” - 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 effects of home cinema new rules in terms of power handling are created, with the subsequent effect on magnet temperatures.

Handling these new demands was a key rational in the design process of the new tweeter Beryllium Utopia (TBe), which adopted a key new concept called “Focus Ring™” - Focal-JMlab patent pending. The material used in the magnet is Samarium-Cobalt Sm2Co17, which is more expensive and slightly less powerful than Neodymium. However it offers a major advantage in that it pushes the “Curie Point” (Tc) back to 825 °C, avoiding any chance of temperature related magnetic losses. However to obtain a magnetic field of 2 Tesla, as in the TGU, doping of the magnetic circuit is required by using a Neodymium ring to surround the Samarium magnet, thereby concentrating the magnetic flux and reaching the target field. In addition, with the ring being mounted away from the coil it is not affected by temperature increases and gives the tweeter exceptional stability

“Power Flower™” - a patent for a high precision mid-range

The new mid-range 165mm driver has also directly benefited from Focal-JMlab’s experience of developing Cone “W” technology since 1995. A new membrane has been developed for use with a new a 40mm coil and the optimisation of its rigidity has allowed a “single skin” cone to be formed, which is perfectly controlled over a one octave range from 1 500-3 000Hz - essential to the setting of the OPC filter. The phase plug is no longer effective and is replaced by a large aluminium focus plug. Any risk of coloration is eliminated and directivity is optimal. The link with the tweeter can be made seemless and the impusle response of the combined tweeter/mid-range is ideal.

This mechanical optimization of the drivers eliminates the source of various sonic problems and in addition offers the guarantee of great manufacturing consistency. The magnetic circuit must be of high precision with very low losses. But the utilisation of large pole parts generates a problem of flatness. The bonding beetween pole piece and magnet is not consistent and generate magnetic

losses. The “multiferrites”, technology, first initiated by Focal-JMlab more than twenty years ago for the company’s top woofer , also brings an unexpected solution to the mid range of the Beryllium Utopia line. The new - patent pending - “Power Flower™”, uses seven powerful, but small diameter ferrites laid out concentrically around the core. Bonding beetween pole piece and ferrites is very accurate and cancel any variations due to small deviation in the flat surface. Moreover the polar parts are machined in the shape of flower, whose petals match the shape of the ferrites, and to stop magnetic escapes between the bottom and top of the field. Finally, this arrangement satisfies a double requirement: high power output and perfect control of the magnetic discharge. Magnetic loses in production are thus very small and in combination with the tight tolerances of the Cone “W” manufacturing, the “Power Flower™”* design has given exceptional accuracy to the 165mm mid range unit. The very small tolerances ensure a perfect reproduction of any performances, particularly in the highly sensitive mid-range, guaranteeing the strict tonal balance of the speaker.

"Curie Point" of different magnets. Only Samarium-Cobalt and Alnico offer a large safety area when temperature increases.

"Focus Ring™" : Neodynium ring concentrates the magnetic flux to 2T. The central magnet uses Samarium-Cobalt to offer high stability with temperature.

The shape optimisation and the use of multiferrites reduce consistently the magnetic field losses.

* The concept of “Power Flower™” also offers two additional advantages of excellent coiling for the coil and offers two another advantages, an excellent cooling of the reel and a full back de compression.

The new mid-range “Power Flower™”. A great manufacturing consistency provides an exceptionnal accuracy to this 165mm, guaranteeing the strict tonal balance of the speaker.

6		The "W"	™	cone

User manual Utopia Be line

For more than 15 years the composite cone sandwich technology is a Focal-JMlab exclusivity. The “W” process, first initiated in 1995 with the Grande Utopia, provides now a true optimisation of the frequency response.

Properties of a drive unit membrane

Three parameters are of prime importance: mass, internal damping and stiffness.

•Stiffness allows the cone to behave as a piston over a wide range of frequencies, especially important at bass frequencies for low distortion.

•Low mass delivers maximum acceleration on transients for the best reproduction of fine detail.

•Internal Damping damps out any ringing or vibrations in the cone structure that would otherwise color the sound.

Analysis using laser interferometry allows the optimization of the “W” cones in terms of rigidity/damping/mass.

Materials

•Paper a light material, though not very rigid, but with reasonable internal damping. Sound often suffers from a “cardboard” coloration.

•Polypropylene/Plastics a material relatively heavy, but with good internal damping properties. Not especially stiff and the sound tends to lack detail and precision.

•A simple woven aramid fibres cone (not a sandwich type construction) uses a resin to seal the cone and bring about the rigidity required, but this tends to lead to a dull plastiky coloration.

The sandwich structure Focal-JMlab

During the mid 1980s, a new type of cone was developed and patented by Focal-JMlab which combined low mass, stiffness and high internal damping; the “Poly-K sandwich”.

Using woven aramid fibres tissue skins and a core of hollow microspheres of glass mixed with a resin, this structure exhibited extremely high rigidity and low mass.

The damping could be controlled by the properties of the core.

Since this original construction, the process has been refined and developed to produce a new generation of aramid fibres sandwich. The major advance in the construction of this cone is the use of a special structural foam in place of the resin + microballs. This foam is used primarily in the Aerospace industry; no other foam offers the same high ratio of stiffness/mass.

The name “W” is derived from Verre-Verre (Verre = Glass). The “W” cone uses two very fine tissues of woven glass that are lighter and thinner than aramid fibres.

In addition, the molecular bond between the foam and the glass tissue is far superior to that of the aramid fibres. This results in a cone structure which is mechanically more stable and with superior stiffness. This construction allows us to further optimize the transmission speed of the sound wave in the cone. This new construction process allows the amount of internal damping in the structure to be very accurately controlled by varying the thickness of the foam: the thicker the foam,

the higher the damping factor.

The relationship between the thickness of the glass tissues and the foam core allows us to finely optimize the cone structure depending on the particular application and the frequency area

to reproduce.

The “W” cone produces an extremely transparent and neutral sound free from coloration and distortions normally associated with loudspeakers.

Its only limitation, the price; more than ten times the price of a quality paper cone.

Comparison of the index of rigidity in flexure (expressed in N.mm).

The performance of the “W” cones significantly betters that of other materials for the same mass. In addition, internal damping is also superior.

The hand-made manufacturing of the "W" cone. Our industrial process is patented.

The ‘W’ structure, a central core of foam covered by skins of glass tissue.