Catalog

Returning music
to its rightful place
In the course of the last decade the
ways in which we reproduce music
have seen enormous changes.
Plummeting CD sales and the
growth in downloads have turned
our relationship with music on
its head. It comes as no surprise
that access to music, which has
never been easier, and the cost of
that access, verging on the free of
charge, have led to a situation of
abundance. But, when all is said
and done, where is the pleasure?
What we need today is a new
set of benchmarks, fully in tune
with all new media, to guide us
towards the music we love. Many
specialised sites have appeared,
with the editorial content to help
us make our musical choice.
This is the "upstream" phase of
musical discovery: the pleasure
of uncovering new talents, new
works, and so on. Here at Focal,
our work focuses more on the
"downstream". Our role is to enable
you to reproduce music at home
with the best possible quality, while
never neglecting the aesthetic
dimension that is the hallmark of
every top quality product. And the
good news is that sound quality is no
longer limited by the quality of the
source media. Digital has entered
another phase: the high cost of data
storage that meant files had to be
compressed ten years ago is no
more and nowadays it is perfectly
possible to access high definition
music of at least CD quality.
The unfortunate thing is that the
majority of audio products developed
back then for compressed music -
albeit with advanced functionality -
were made with severe economies
placed on their acoustics, in the
quest for "miniaturisation" and
affordability. The result being that
they are simply not good enough for
quality reproduction of CD format
or high definition files. It is time to
return music to its rightful place
and it is no coincidence that we
are now witnessing a renaissance
in "classic" high-fidelity. No-one
would deny that hi-fi separates
systems are still out there for savvy,
demanding music-lovers. Luxury
does exist in the audio segment
and we are well established within
it with our Utopia III range. But one
of Focal’s defining characteristics
has always been our desire to be
ahead of the curve, anticipating the
needs of audiophiles everywhere.
Listening to a Utopia III system is
a rare moment, a very particular
sensory experience which opens
up hitherto unheard musical
landscapes. And the challenge for
us is how to bring such emotion,
such feeling, to a greater number of
people. Ever since its creation this
has been Focal’s quest, through its
respect for the acoustic art, through
its constant innovation in the fields
of materials and manufacturing
processes, and last but far from
least, through keeping every step of
production in house.
And so, Aria is an important
milestone in the pursuit of
"Affordable High-End".
> Aria 906 in Walnut finish with Naim DAC and amplifier.