
The Dome system combines sleek good looks and high quality sound.
(Credit: Focal)
Focal Audio, aka JM Lab, may not be a well-known name in the U.S., but it is France’s largest speaker manufacturer. I had Focal Mini Utopia speakers in my reference two-channel system for years and the Focal Grande Utopia EM ($180,000 per pair) is the best sounding speaker I’ve ever heard.
Maybe that’s why the Focal Dome 5.1 satellite/subwoofer system ($2,595 MSRP) review by Michael Trei in Sound & Vision magazine piqued my interest.
The Dome replaces the Sib and Cub 5.1 system I favorably reviewed a few years ago. Unlike the Asian-built Sib and Cub, the Domes are manufactured at Focal’s factory in Saint-Etienne, France.
The Dome 5.1 package is Focal smallest home speaker system yet. Trei writes: “the Dome satellite’s cast-aluminum enclosure feels solid enough to withstand being run over by a small car.” Each satellite speaker has a 4-inch woofer and a 1-inch aluminum/magnesium inverted dome tweeter, similar to the one Focal uses in its upscale Profile and Electra S models. Optional stands are available for the sats.
The matching cylindrical, rounded-top subwoofer has a single downward-firing 8-inch woofer and a built-in 100-watt amplifier.
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Originally posted at The Audiophiliac