CUK has underscored Focal’s cutting-edge custom installation (CI) solutions at its Ascot training and demonstration centre, unveiling what it describes as the clearest vision of luxury media room design.
Over forty years of design innovation and engineering have made Focal one of the most respected and loved high-end speaker brands. From its founding in 1979, Focal has based production and R&D at its Saint-Étienne site to develop and perfect its own drivers and systems for hi-fi, home cinema, CI, all-weather/marine, automotive, headphones, studio and pro AV.
The model media room
The Focal room at CUK’s Ascot demonstration facility feels much like a living room. The company has chosen sofas rather than dedicated cinema seating to complement the look of its coffered ceiling and pale carpet. This multifunctional space features two Focal 9.1.4 systems, the first comprising 300 series IW/IC speakers, the second stepping up to the flagship 1000 Utopia series.
Designed for easy, tool-less installation, Focal’s 300 Series uses its patented flax cones and the brand’s signature aluminium/magnesium inverted dome tweeters to provide the qualities of high power handling with low distortion, effortless dynamics and accurate dispersion for nine 300 IWLCR6 3-ways and four 300 ICA6 angled baffle coaxial ceiling speakers. Four 100 IWSUB8 passive in-wall subs handle LFE. Powersoft amplification powers the subs while NAIM CI Series amplification drives the other channels.
In the same comfortable space, the most discriminating media room customers can experience Focal’s flagship 1000 Series of closed-back in-walls, designed as a super-discreet alternative to traditional high-end audio systems. The line features Focal’s "W" membrane glass/foam/glass driver cones for exceptional bass and midrange definition coupled with its pure Beryllium inverted dome tweeters, capable of covering more than five octaves (1,000 - 40,000 Hz). Three bi-ampable 1000 IWLCR Utopia 3-ways handle main LCR duties; six 1000 IWLCR6 3-ways deliver surround, with four 1000 ICA6 angled baffle 2-way coaxial ceiling speakers adding the height dimension. No fewer than fourteen 1000 IWSUB Utopia passive in-wall subs support LFE. NAIM CI Series amplification drives the LCRs while the extremely powerful and comprehensively specified Focal Astral 16 AV receiver powers all other channels.
Focal 1000 Series
Music, Film, Party
At a flick of the proverbial switch, the supremely versatile Focal media room at Ascot will deliver high-end AV to film devotees, the best hi-fi experiences to music lovers, and a clubber’s paradise through ‘party mode’. It can be so many things, exemplifying the Focal brand but also, in the widest sense, the value of Ascot to CUK’s customers.
Stuart Thomson, managing director at CUK, said: “I doubt whether there is a more comprehensive or accomplished stage than Ascot for a brand so invested in high quality sound and design versatility for enthusiasts of both music and film.”
To book a tour, contact CUK on 0141 440 5333 / enquiries@cuk-group.com or use the form here.