Recording - October 2015 - 36

B Y PA U L V N U K J R .

In April 2015, Recording was invited to
a special product launch in Las Vegas at
the prestigious Studio at the Palms. It was
there that the folks at Audio Plus Services
gave us a sneak preview of new products
in its distributed lines: a new mic from
Lauten Audio, new interface and processing hardware from SPL... and the new
Trio6 Be speakers from Focal.
Focal is a French speaker company that
makes some of the most popular pro studio monitors on the market today. The
company's lineup ranges from the affordable entry-level Alpha series (reviewed
December 2014) to the SM6 series with
its popular Twin6 Be (reviewed July
2008), to the flagship SM9.
The Trio6 Be is the new top end of the
SM6 series, positioned between the Twin6
Be and the SM9. It's an active 3-way monitor with an 8" subwoofer, a 5" woofer,
and one of Focal's famous 1" beryllium
(Be) inverse dome tweeters.

Focal Trio6 Be Monitors
Power, accuracy, beauty, detail... and did we mention the power?
The insides: brand new, powerful, fast,
and toxic
Both of the drivers are a brand new W
composite sandwich cone design made
specifically for these monitors. A dual glass
fiber design, each cone is made up of two
thin layers of woven glass fiber sandwiched
together onto a structural foam core.
According to Focal, this is a more homogenous and flexible design than cones made
from Glass Aramid or woven Kevlar.
Focal both pioneered and perfected the
beryllium tweeter design. Incredibly light
and rigid, beryllium is said to offer a faster,
more linear transient response than titanium
or aluminum designs. Its only real downside is that it's poisonous if ingested, so no
licking the tweeters... and no, you're not
supposed to touch them, either!
The Trio6 Be is a triamplified active
design. There's a 200 W Class G amp for
the 8" driver, a 150 W Class G amp for the
5" driver, and a 100W Class AB amp on
the tweeter. The Trio6 Be has a range of 35
Hz to 40 kHz with a 115 dB SPL. In Focus
36

RECORDING October 2015

mode (see below), the range is 90 Hz to 20
kHz at 105 dB maximum SPL. Its crossover
points are set at 250 Hz and 2500 Hz.
Like other models in the Focal line, the
Trio6 Be offers a power saving mode
known as Automatic Standby. The cabinets
power on in standby, and return to it if no
audio signal has passed through them in
15 minutes. Think of it as screen saver/
sleep mode for your speakers; when in this
mode, power consumption of each monitor
is less than 0.5 Watts. When signal is
detected, the Trio6 Be wakes back up with
a gentle fade in and resumes work.
The outsides: cabinet, connections, and
controls
Each cabinet is made from 22mm
(0.86") thick MDF finished in a textured
gray. They measure 201/2" x 1015/16" x
143/16" inches and weigh 44 lbs. each.
The 8" subwoofer is in its own chamber
and isolated from the 5" cone and tweeter. Each section has its own front-firing
bass ports: there is a large bass port below

the 8" woofer, similar to the ones found on
other Focal cabinets, and there are two
small matched ports flanking the 5" driver.
The latter are similar in size to those on the
Alpha series monitors.
Input is handled around back by a single electronically-balanced 10 kilohm XLR
input jack, complete with an input sensitivity switch with settings for -10 dBV or
+4 dBU levels. Also on the back are three
recessed, screw driver accessed tone
shaping controls. Each one offers ±3 dB
of attenuation or boost. There is a 35 to
250 Hz Low Shelf, a 4.5 to 40 kHz High
Shelf, and a Low Mid bell filter set at 160
Hz with a Q factor of 1.
Also on the rear is a standard IEC power
socket, as well as a pair of 1/4" jacks labeled
Focus Input and Focus Output.
Sorry, no "Hocus Pocus" jokes
One of the Trio6's main features is
Focus mode, first introduced on the SM9.
This mode effectively gives you two sets
of monitors for the price of one.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - October 2015
