JM LAB Profile 918 User Manual

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User manual

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Focal-JMlab® - BP 374 - 108, rue de l'Avenir - 42353 La Talaudière cedex - France - www.focal-fr.com

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Summary

Page

Running-in period 3

Specifications 3

Positioning 5

Optimization 5

Connections 5

User instructions 5

Choice of speakers 7

Central channel placement 7

Effect channel speakers‘s place 7

Magnetic disturbance 7

Accessories 8

User precautions 8

About amplifiers 8

Cable 8

Conditions of guarantee 8

02

Specifications 9

Notes 20

International Guarantee 23

Profile user manual

Thank you for choosing the Profile
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) 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.

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

Running-in period

The drivers used in the loudspeaker
are complex mechanical devices
and require an 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 loudspeakers.

Specifications
Aluminum / magnesium inverted
dome tweeter: inverted dome techno-

logy is exclusive to Focal. It allows an
optimized energy transfer. Aluminum /
magnesium dome with Poron
surround reveals outstanding perfor­mances thanks to a more dynamic
and softer tweeter.

"W" cone (midrange and woofer):

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.

Bended, multi-fold MDF cabinet
structure: toughness and optimal

damping.

®

(optimum phase crossover):

OPC

phase optimization for a precise,
natural and stable soundstage and
image.

Front and rear profiled port tubes:

for a vigorous bass reproduction
without any distortion effect.

Highly efficient acoustic wadding:

excellent internal damping, deeper
and tighter bass.
Stainless steel fixing screws: non­corroding, even in humid climate.

Highly reliable input sockets.
Decoupling spikes.

®

03

installation

A B

C

D E

04

installation

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

To please the perfectionists, we shall
give an optimum positioning formula :
if A is the distance from the boomer
centre to the closest wall (floor or
wall), B the intermediate distance and
C the longest distance (A<B<C), the
relation B
position of the speakers (fig. D).

2

=AC determines the ideal

• Example 1:

The boomer centre is 60cm (24”) from
the floor (B=60cm) (mini speaker on
a foot), standing 50cm (20”) from
the back wall (A=50cm), the
side wall will be ideally 72cm (28”)

2

(C=B

⁄ A=72cm).

• Example 2:

the boomer centre is 30cm (12”) from
the floor (column speaker) (A=30cm),
1m (39”) from the back wall (C=1m),
the clearance with respect to the side
walls will be B=√AC=54.7cm (22”).

Important

Stylish driver protective caps conjoined
to the loudspeaker. Do not remove for
optimized performances.

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 (fig.
E). Stereo image, soundstaging and
bass perception would be seriously
compromised if these conditions were
not respected.

User instructions

The sound rendition of the
loudspeaker depends strongly upon
the listening room’s 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 be ideally 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”).

05

Home theater

F G

H I

J K

06

Home theater

Choice of speakers

Yours loudspeakers have been
engineered to work with stereo
systems as well as with home theater
systems. If you already own a pair
of stereo Profile loudspeakers and
wish to purchase a complete home
theater system, it is of the utmost
importance that you use the central
and effect loudspeakers of the same
product line. It is the sole possible
condition to bring to your system a
perfect tonal homogeneity and a
realistic and coherent reproduction
of tri-dimensional effects within the
listening room.

Central channel placement

Central channel speakers should
be placed close to the TV-screen to
obtain a proper placement and a
realistic reproduction of the dialog.
They could be placed below or above
the TV-screen if your TV-unit permits
(fig. F).
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 (fig. G).

Effect channel speakers‘s place

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.

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. H, I).

Place the effect speakers at a
suitable height, slightly above the

listener’s ears (fig. J).
The SR 908 dedicated surround
speaker is provided with a wall
mounting kit (fig. K).

A / V amplifiers include compen­sation systems, which allows to
set the delay applied on each
channel. In certain conditions, the

distance between each speaker and
the listening area may vary.
The latest high-level film soundtracks
are now mixed in 6.1. This system
requires the use of one or two
central surround channel speakers
(depending on the amplifier) which
should be placed behind the listening
area. If two effect speakers are used
simultaneously, make sure that they
are not too far from each other (less
than one meter; 40 inches) in order to
obtain the best results.

Magnetic disturbance

In home theater systems, the magnetic
radiation of the loudspeakers must be
taken into consideration.
Floor-standing speakers which are
fully magnetically shielded, all other
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
loudspeakers 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. In case
of problems, some TV screens (or
computer monitor) feature a degauss
control, but not systematically.

07

fine tune

Accessories

Floorstanding loud-speaker systems
include four decoupling spikes (cones)
and should be screwed, if necessary,
into the four metal inserts situated on
the base of the loudspeaker. These
spikes ensure a better stability for
floorstanding speakers, particularly
if the floor is not perfectly flat and
smooth. This stability improves clarity
in bass and midrange by decoupling
the system from the floor and thus
reducing floor-born resonances.This
required stability allows the energy
delivered by the woofer’s membrane
to be integrally converted into sound.
The enclosed spikes are adjustable
in height. After having adjusted the
height of the spikes, don’t forget to
lock them with the locknut.
When the use of the spikes proves to
be necessary, we advise you to place
a piece of metal (such as a coin)
between the floor and the spike in
order to avoid scratching a tiled floor.
Bookshelf speakers can be placed on
an optional stand specially developed
for them.

User precautions

The tweeter is made up of a relatively
soft aluminum/magnesium alloy and
has a “shape memory” that enables
it to rapidly take its initial shape
again after slight impacts. However
we advise you not to remove the
speaker grille in order to keep the
dome protected. If the dome surface
is damaged, tweeter performance
may be compromised.
As the loudspeaker’s covering
materials are strong, scratch and stain­resistant, 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.

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 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.

Cable

Don’t underestimate the importance
of the cable: make sure you chose the
appropriate section and length. Let
your retailer advise you.

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.

08

Your Focal-JMlab product was developed and manufactured with high-quality materials and components
which can be recycled and/or re-used. This symbol indicates that electrical and electronic equipment must be
disposed of separately from normal garbage at the end of its operational lifetime.Please dispose of this product
by bringing it to your local collection point or recycling centre for such equipment. This will help to protect the
environment in which we all live.