Text/Lai Yingzhi New Audiophile 2021-12-01 16:34
High price symbolizes quality and honor. We may all have been attracted to higher-priced items, but for luxury goods, affordable prices will drive away customers: if Hermès uses 100 yuan to promote scarves, most old customers will lose interest in this brand. In the case of Apple's mobile phone, Apple is not Hermès and cannot sell mobile phones at a price of twenty or a hundred times higher than that, but its asking price is indeed much more expensive than its peers. Since the early days of Apple, Jabbers has publicly expressed his admiration for HP, and the difference between HP and Apple is that HP is mainly a supplier of professional equipment, and Apple sells directly to consumers, so it can make full use of all the elements that symbolize elegance. Most Apple customers think they are rational decisions to make, because the iPhone is smart, smart, smart, good performance, durable, in fact, there is another potential factor: because it symbolizes luxury and taste.
Focal is known to have been founded by Jacques MahulFocal in southeastern France. Founded by Étienne, from JM-lab to Focal, they have been at the forefront of material technology, such as the use of natural fibers such as flax and pulp composites, as well as the application of challenging beryllium, glass composites, titanium dioxide, aluminum and magnesium, etc
Of course, it does not mean that buying luxury goods will increase personal charm, and millions of iPhone users will still sleep alone at night. However, buying luxury goods can lead to a feeling that the serotonin that improves happiness and success increases. Jabbers' decision to transform Apple from a tech company into a luxury brand was the most far-reaching in corporate history and the foresight to create the most value. Tech companies can scale up, but rarely last, Chanel CHANEL is definitely longer than Cisco (a high-tech company based in Silicon Valley, California), and Gucci Gucci may witness the meteorite impact that put Google Google on the road to extinction. There are four mega-companies in the United States with a market capitalization of more than one trillion US dollars called the "Four Horsemen", and the average of the world's 7.6 billion people spend 1 minute of 6 minutes online on Facebook; amazon Amazon is the first choice for half of consumers in the United States to search for products; Google Google answers 3.5 billion search questions every day; and the hot zone map using Apple iOS is the global rich distribution map. But Apple has the best GENES among the Four Horsemen, the only company among the Four Horsemen that continues to thrive after the original founders and management team left, and it's no wonder that so many luxury companies are willing to modify the iPhone to keep adding icing on the cake.
Luxury cars, alcohol, audio, are men's dream toys, Focal actively cooperate with the world's famous car manufacturers to make the dream come true
For luxury goods, French Focal has long been deeply involved. Coming from France, which is rich in luxury brands, Focal has been providing high-quality speaker units and speakers to the best audio manufacturers and audiophile players for many years, and they are also keen to cross-border cooperation between music art and top brands in other fields to give music a more humanistic atmosphere. In 2016, Focal launched the flagship open headphones of Utopia Utopia, followed by the release of Utopia by Tournaire headphones in collaboration with Tournaire Jewelers, a worldwide limited edition of 10 sets, 18K gold headphone cases, and 6.5 carats of diamonds, full of gorgeous feeling. Although the price of one million yuan is unattainable, part of its sales will be donated to a 8-year-old boy suffering from spinal cord muscle contraction. Focal tasted the taste of fame and fortune, and then jointly launched Naim for Bentley wireless audio and Focal for Bentley headphones with Bentley Motors in the United Kingdom, which is equivalent to bringing together the acoustic technology of the two major audio brands, and at the same time has an innovative and unique design, brilliant appearance, excellent musicality, and can realize most people's craziest dreams! The appearance value is the same as That of Focal, and the Grande Utopia EM EVO Supreme Utopia Black Gold Edition speaker presented in this article has added a finishing touch to Focal's appearance!
Focal/Naim requires agents around the world to use similar decoration styles for display, and I believe that domestic agents will soon follow suit
Focal calls their process Gold Finish, which requires a combination of more specialized manufacturing techniques and new finishing processes that cost more than twice as much as ordinary coatings and take more than 3 months to customize. The original factory did not introduce the details of the process, generally paste gold more use gold leaf technique, we may be able to refer to it. Japan is probably one of the regions with the best gold leaf craftsmanship, and Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture accounts for more than 90% of the country's gold leaf production, and I have visited the local museum, which can only be described as breathtaking. The gold leaf produced by Kanazawa is "cut off" and "edge pay", the former is mass-produced by modern craftsmanship, and the latter uses the traditional process of hand-copied and paper. "Yuanfu Gold Leaf" uses goose skin paper that took half a year to manufacture as foil, and then repeatedly beats and extends under the machine after sandwiching the gold paper layer by layer. The first step in making gold leaf is "alloying", that is, melting trace amounts of silver and copper in gold, because 99.99% of pure gold is too soft to form gold leaf, and it is also to adjust the color of gold leaf. The gold, silver and copper are melted at a high temperature of 1300 degrees, and then poured into the mold to cool the forming, and then the alloy metal block is pressed into a strip with an extender, with a thickness of about 0.02-0.03mm, and then cut them into small pieces of 13 cm square, which are called "small soldiers".
The production of the horn unit is divided into two parts: manual and automatic line, the manual production line produces about 400 units per day, the automated production line produces about 700 units per day, about 200 employees, is the largest horn unit factory in Europe. Photography is prohibited in many key areas of the factory, including an independent laboratory that produces beryllium treble. All units are rigorously inspected before leaving the factory, including frequency response characteristics, temperature, humidity, pressure, and the reliability of adhesives and glues
The process of extending the "creep" strike is called "hitting Cheng". After hitting Cheng, the "creep" will be extended to 18cm square "wild gold", and then the hit will be extended to "Shang cheng", with a thickness of 0.003mm, and then the work will really enter the stage of foil making. The craftsman will be sandwiched with foil small paper cuts, with cowhide and other wear-resistant materials fixed into a stack under the foil machine to beat, the ductility of gold is very good, and finally you can get 0.0001mm thick gold foil, as light as air, blowing breath can float up. Since the gold leaf is very thin, a breeze or static electricity can damage it, so it should be carefully clipped with bamboo chopsticks. When making foil, because it is impossible to directly beat the gold sheet, it can only be sandwiched in the foil for beating, ordinary goose skin paper should first be soaked in gray water, egg yolk, egg white, persimmon and other mixtures, and then beaten, drained and placed for half a year, before becoming tough and not easy to damage the foil paper. Gold leaf from the beginning of the production to the completion of the need to use four different paper, the paper to straw stem as the main raw material, foil using goose skin paper, the white cover paper to protect the gold leaf is the paper, and the final packaging of the gold leaf is the use of three paper, the four kinds of paper are different in character, indispensable.
With gold leaf thinner than a cicada wing, the next step is to paste gold. The traditional technique is to mix the refined tung oil with raw lacquer, and then infiltrate a small amount of silver vermilion to make a primer, carefully apply the primer to the surface of the utensils, and cover it with gold leaf with a bamboo clip when it is drying quickly. The gold leaf is placed radially to show a more beautiful luster and pattern, and then brushed on the back of the gold leaf liner paper with a soft brush, and then gently rubbed with silk cotton balls, and the gold leaf will be attached to the surface of the utensil. Finally, use a thin brush with clear soy milk, and after drying, apply a layer of gold paint (raw lacquer is made of oil) to protect the gold layer. The gold leaf clamped with bamboo chopsticks flows like colored air, and when placed in the sun, it will emit an incredible blue luster, and the thinner the gold leaf, the better the permeability, and the stronger the luster. When the gold leaf flutters slightly on the hand, you must hold your breath and concentrate on it so that it will not fly away, and the difficulty of production can be imagined. Generally understand the gold leaf process, even if Focal's approach is different, but I believe you will also agree that the Grande Utopia EM EVO black gold version of the speaker, which belongs purely to the luxury category, every penny is reasonably expensive, and can also highlight the value of luxury and honor.
Focal's wooden boxes were handed over to a furniture factory in Bourbon-Lancy, a small town in Burgundy, north of Lyon, which Focal acquired in 2007
Of course, before the 24K gold process, Focal's own wooden box craftsmanship was already at the top of the European level. Focal is headquartered in St. George's, in southeastern France. Étienne, but here is only responsible for the unit manufacturing and the final finished product assembly, testing, in order to find the right cabinet factory they did not have to worry about. Initially they commissioned Bourbon-Lancy, a furniture factory H. F. Guy came to produce, which was originally the factory building of lingerie manufacturer Dim, and later changed to a high-end furniture manufacturer. Located on the banks of the Loire River between Paris and Lyon, Bourbon-Lancy is a spa town with a history of more than 2,000 years, famous since Roman times and later became a fief of the Bourbon family. In order to make the horn box well, Focal acquired The Guy Furniture Factory in 2007 and let them make only Focal speakers, and the horn cabinets were made from raw materials, cutting, assembly, painting, polishing, all at once. The century-old Guy Furniture Factory values tradition and craftsmanship, and a table designed in 1937 won the Bronze Medal at the French Design Awards, so Focal took over and expanded the scale, and Guy still retains the founder's winning works.
La Boutique du Son, based in Lyon, is a product experience store directly operated by Focal/Naim, and The young overseas sales manager of Focal, Quentin Morieux, is responsible for the renovation design. Located in the heart of Lyon, this shop aims to allow music lovers to enjoy fine music and experience the products of Focal and Naim in a relaxed and comfortable environment
Acquisition of H. In France F. Guy is such a technically rooted wood factory, and maintaining large-scale operations, the cost is very, very high, and for high-quality products Focal is really no matter what the cost. 99% of the Focal horn cabinet material is made of MDF board, because this is the best material for making the box, the remaining 1% of the material is a lower density plastic plywood, the material is softer, the damping characteristics are good to use in the internal compartment or reinforcement place to increase the damping of the box. The advantage of MDF is that it has no sound dyeing itself, the density is very uniform, and it is also convenient for processing, which has more advantages than solid wood materials that are easily deformed. Second, the texture of MDF is very hard, but the internal physical characteristics are soft and hard, and the internal damping is very good, so the vibration generated by the speaker unit when working will be absorbed and canceled by the internal damping, and the excess resonance will not have a negative impact on the sound. Third, MDF itself is a very environmentally friendly material, and all wood chips left behind after cutting are recycled as fuel.
The wrench is inserted into the screw hole behind the tweeter, and the wrench can be turned to adjust the angle of the 5 speakers, thereby changing the position of focus
The solid wood veneer of the Focal speaker can be customized wood grain, of course, this is also done in their own factory, the workers will MDF and the veneer with glue, and then gently compacted, and then dry with UV light to stand for 24 hours to ensure that the veneer is smooth and smooth. When producing the box, the workers first prepared all the parts, glued the white glue on the edges, wiped off the excess glue with a wet sponge on the outside, and then tied tightly with strong tape round and round. Like the flagship Grande Utopia EM EVO, which consists of multiple independent cabinets and has a lot of curved structures on the surface, it is very time-consuming to produce. In general, it takes about seven days for Focal speakers to be polished from cutting wooden boards to painting and polishing, while the Utopia Utopia series has to be polished repeatedly for two weeks just because of the glossy paint on the surface. Focal polishing and polishing process is exactly the same as the automotive industry, but Focal's full manual operation is more delicate and delicate, grinding program 5-8 times is possible, depending on the completion of the grinding. Sometimes there will be some small bumps in the middle of the baking paint, it will be returned to the repeated polishing, must be perfect, black paint light can illuminate the talent to pass, the entire box needs more than a month to deliver.
With jumpers that allow the amplitude and slope of extremely low, low, medium and high frequencies to be adjusted, plus an EM excitation woofer, the Grande Utopia EM EVO has nearly 1500 adjustable combination variations
At present, Focal's utopian series products, the annual output of the table has been pre-ordered by Chinese agents, China has also become the largest market for Focal high-end models, and the consumption power makes foreigners stunned, so we also have the opportunity to see the dazzling Grande Utopia EM EVO black gold version speaker. Before the pandemic, Gérard Chrétien, the designer of the Utopia collection, even visited the house to install, position and fine-tune the tones to ensure that the potential of focal speakers was stretched to the limit. It is reported that next year Focal will extend the gold jewelry process to other products of the utopia series, including a pair of bookshelf boxes and a pair of floor boxes, the global limited edition of 50 pairs, of course, all the output has been swept away by Chinese agents, interested friends can consult in advance.
The story of Supreme Utopia began with a major innovation in 1995: a W-shaped composite sandwich cone made of multi-layered foamed material bonded to fiberglass; then in 2002, Grande Utopia Be pioneered the use of concave pure beryllium tweeters; and then The Focus Time focus adjustment technology, each of which is a model of Focal's top technology. In fact, Focal has been multi-ferrite magnets, plum blossom magnetic circuit structures, OPC crossover protection lines, gamma speaker structures for many years... and other innovative technologies continue to lead the development of the audio circle. Unit is the core value of Focal, in 1987 Focal launched the sandwich Kevlar diaphragm unit, also known as the bulletproof cloth, high rigidity and light weight, Focal is one of the first manufacturers to use this material, and all units are made themselves, the process is also Focal's own research and development, such a tradition continues to this day.
The black gold version of the flagship beryllium diaphragm treble has evolved to the second generation of IAL 2, and the bandwidth performance is particularly good, because the crossover point can be set at 2.3 kHz and then extended upwards to 40 kHz
In 2018, Focal's new generation of flagship Supreme Utopia Grande Utopia EM EVO was launched (EVO stands for evolution of Evolution), each generation of Grande Utopia has left an indelible mark, and the new product has become the most mature and ultimate acoustic benchmark for Focal through integrated NIC technology, TMD suspension technology, reinforcement ring and a new generation of crossover technology. At present, the EVO series has several models such as Grande Utopia, Stella Utopia, Maestro Utopia, Scala Utopia, Diablo Utopia Colour, etc., and the same technology continues to be decentralized. The new flagship looks from the front, with a tall body and majestic units. Viewed from the side, the five chambers are separated and have a bow-shaped arc. From the back, the sculptural lines are impeccable, with both technological and artistic beauty. If you have seen the first generation of Utopia, you will sigh from the first generation to the present is simply an ugly duckling to a swan, because Focal figured it out, from 2003 to spend a lot of money to ask the French Pineau & Le Porcher design company responsible for Focal design, so that the product suddenly became extraordinary. The design appearance must retain the structure of time phase synchronization, but also maintain the aesthetic characteristics of Focal, while also hoping for extremely simple, anti-basic elements. After several years of experimentation and correction, this big guy weighing 260 kilograms finally looked like a phoenix with wings outstretched, noble and light, and the lines were extremely elegant and streamlined.
Supreme utopias have evolved from the first generation, and in addition to unit improvements and beautiful shapes, the internal architecture has also changed a lot. The first generation of Grande Utopia already featured five units (15-inch bass, 11-inch mid-bass, two 6.5-inch mid-bass, and one treble), but with a three-tone design with a crossover point at 400Hz/3000Hz and a sensitivity of 95dB. The second generation of Supreme Utopian units is still five, the size of the old but changed to four-tone interval, at the cost of slightly reduced sensitivity. The third generation of Supreme Utopia is also a five-unit four-way sound separation, but the woofer has become 16 inches, and it has changed to an excitation (EM) structure, and the magnetic beam density has reached 1.75 Tesla, so the sensitivity has increased again. The 16-inch excitation woofer weighs 7 kilograms in that coil alone, including 24 kilograms in coil and frame, even heavier than a floor-to-ceiling speaker.
The second generation of the Supreme Utopia bass magnetic flux has reached 0.9T, and the new flagship's 16-inch excitation bass uses 7 kg of copper wire to wind the coil (the total weight of the woofer is 24 kg), and finally obtains a staggering 1.75T magnetic flux, doubling its energy at the same power! Due to the ultra-high beam density of the excitation, the bass diaphragm can be very effectively controlled so that it does not distort and the low frequency extends to a staggering 18Hz
Improvements to the fourth-generation EVO series include the latest IAL2 (Infinite Acoustic Load) version of beryllium treble. Beryllium is still one of the best treble diaphragm materials, it has the characteristics of light and hard, IAL2 beryllium treble beam density increased to 2.1 Tesla, and in its end and diaphragm side behind the pressure relief port to reduce the diaphragm back pressure, so that the resistance of diaphragm movement is reduced, so the efficiency is 1.5dB higher than the previous generation, the low-end extension is also reduced from the original 1280Hz to 528Hz, and the distortion rate is only 1/3 of the original. Focal developed the world's first inverted dome concave tweeter in 1981 and still holds a patent today, while since 2002 Focal has been using beryllium as a treble diaphragm material, which is 7 times stronger than titanium but weighs only 40% of titanium, so the high-frequency extension can be easily extended to more than 40 kHz.
The plum-shaped magnetic circuit structure coupled with the third-generation W-shaped composite sandwich cone gives this midrange unit extremely low distortion
The midrange unit uses a third-generation W-type sandwich composite diaphragm with Foam foam sandwiched in the upper and lower Layer Verre fibers to absorb parasitic vibrations. In the past, mechanical cutting was adopted for the inner and outer edges of the sound basin, but now laser cutting is used, in addition to improving accuracy, laser thermal energy is also used to help the edge of the sound basin for heat treatment, so that the intensity of the cutting place is improved. The midrange unit adopts a garland-like magnet structure, which is arranged in 6 groups of 12 small magnets, which can improve the efficiency of the magnet, minimize magnetic leakage, ensure the stability and concentration of magnetic supply, and accelerate the heat dissipation function. Focal also adds NIC (Neutral Inductance Magnetic Circuit) and TMD technology to minimize suspension resonance in the midrange. NIC is so that the voice coil is not affected by the magnetic field of the magnet no matter where it is located, and no back EMF is generated, further improving the clarity and dynamic range of the reproduced sound. TMD (Tuned Mass Damper) technology minimizes the resonance of the unit, just changing the overhang material does not solve the problem, TMD technology is conceived from the anti-shake damping technology used in skyscrapers, that is, adding a damper that is inversely proportional to the resonance frequency to counteract the frequency, the resonance disappears and the sound is naturally clearer and more transparent.
The previous generation of utopian speakers with an absolutely stable cabinet structure (Gamma Structure), characterized by a high and low sound independent cabinet so that the panel and the cabinet will not produce mutual interference vibration, so that the knot image is clearer, the timbre is more accurate, and the medium and high frequency domains have better clarity and transparency. The new cabinet adds an MRR structure to the original, which is the inner side of the front baffle of the woofer plus the aluminum die-cast ring bracket, so that the unit has a stronger mechanical strength when installing, even if the front and rear vibrations can be without vibration.
Of course, the crossover circuit has also been carefully and carefully optimized, Focal is called 0PC+ (best phase division) of the crossover, open the small door behind the speaker with a patch jumper can adjust the very low frequency, low frequency, medium frequency and high frequency of the amount of gravity and slope, because there is no variable resistance or attenuator, so there is no need to worry about the signal is attenuated. The sound splitter is manufactured using the most audiophilic components and special silver-clad wiring, such as the bass filter circuit using a steel sheet inductor instead of an air core inductor, so that the overall impedance of the speaker does not change too much and increase the burden on the amplifier. From the first generation of utopias, Focal placed the unit on an inner curved arc, called the phase consistent focusing horn unit arc arrangement technology, whose center point is equal to the height of the listener's ear, and the low-medium frequency energy and high frequency arrive at the same time. The 5 independent cabinets of the flagship Supreme Utopia are jointly fixed to a keel, and a wrench is inserted into the screw hole behind the tweeter, and the angle of the 5 speakers can be adjusted by turning the wrench, so that the "sweet spot" of listening is continuously variable between 2.5-6 meters.
The signature EM excitation woofer continues to be used, and the biggest advantage of excitation is to control the strength of the power supply, you can change the size of the magnetic force, change the low-frequency timbre or energy, and adjust according to the difference in music type or space. Focal offers a dedicated power controller with 6-segment switching to change woofer efficiency, OPC+ divider plus EM excitation unit, Supreme Utopia with nearly 1500 adjustable combination variations that can be adjusted to the finest possible spatial conditions.
Gradually enchanted by the mysterious light of the black gold version of the Supreme Utopia, I will not elaborate on its specific sound performance. In several music exhibitions this year, the Grande Utopia EM EVO speaker was performed in conjunction with the British Naim super flagship Statement NAC S1/NAP S1, and the price of the amplifier alone was as high as millions of yuan, which was really afraid to evaluate at will. I've hosted several music demonstrations and found the combination's extremely low-frequency extension, energy, dynamics, and analytical power at high volumes to be astonishing (all large spaces that can accommodate more than 50 people). And the high-frequency extension, gloss, air feeling, and meticulous texture also have incredible performance. Playing the explosive recording of RR records, you can also hear the soundstage level positioning of the supreme utopia is very organized, showing a neutral and precise side, with a neurotic dynamic scene, Focal is good to see the tricks and tricks, even under the stormy sound pressure is still clear and unhurried, relaxed. The excellent beryllium treble makes the percussion brilliant and brilliant like the sprinkling of the scattered flowers of the goddess, and a magnificent picture emerges. However, under the high volume, the temperament and charm of Focal+ Naim cannot be highlighted, after all, it is not every day at home, more often we need to calm down and savor the beauty of music. No problem, the simple string quartet broadcast by The Grande Utopia EM EVO, lively and brisk and jumpy, the luster and gorgeousness of the strings are excellent, neither too soft nor sharp, the strength and line of the strong play are elastic, the resonance is rich, and the low frequencies are also very vibrant. It can be said that the Focal+Naim combination heard at the exhibition only played a 30% effect. As for the black gold version of the Grande Utopia EM EVO sound is there any difference? I do not know! Just like the diamond-encrusted iPhone is still an Apple phone, but the sense of dignity in the hand is completely different.
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