As part of the development of the Sopra project, the need for compactness meant that the maximum volume of the cabinet had to be used for the bass. Focal engineers had to find a new system for loading the tweeter.
MAKING THE MOST OF THE BERYLLIUM TWEETER
Our Beryllium tweeter has an incredibly light and rigid dome. Its main limitation is air compression in the rear cavity. Ideally, to overcome this limitation, an almost infinite volume would be required.
THE IHL (INFINITE HORN LOADING) SYSTEM
The rear of the Beryllium tweeter is loaded by a small cavity that communicates with the outside of the cabinet via a horn. The inside of the horn is filled with a damping material. The tweeter's rear wave is thus gently and progressively absorbed. Its acoustic impedance tends towards zero, so there's no resistance to dome movement. Definition is pushed to the limit. This device is patented.
The advantage of this geometry is that it only slightly affects the internal volume of the cabinet.
This means we can make the most of the woofers to maximize bass performance, with ideal positioning of the tweeter, all in a reasonably-sized loudspeaker.
We also had to isolate the tweeter from any parasitic vibrations. The tweeter mounting is made from a single-piece injected polyurethane part, optimizing mass and damping in a controlled volume.
Comparison of multitone/Klippel distortion between our IAL 1 version in red and the new IHL device in blue .
A 30% reduction is achieved between 1.5 and 4 kHz.
Focal products using this technology
Discover other Focal technologies
REMOTE AMPLIFIER IN CURRENT MODE
The most transparent and natural
Since main monitors are frequently soffit-mounted, these require external electronics for this application. Focal engineers have therefore developed an amplification system combining a class H with a current mode. By controlling the current (instead of the voltage), it is possible to directly control the force submitted to the membrane and eliminate any unwanted artefacts. Combined with analogue filtering and exceptional drivers, this amplification achieves the lowest THD ever measured in an anechoic chamber.
"M" profile Béryllium Tweeter
Rigidity and Purity
Patented by Focal, the pure beryllium ‘M’ profile tweeter combines rigidity, lightness and damping for exceptional high-frequency reproduction. The ‘M’ membrane is the result of many years of research and expertise. Made in a single piece, it improves sound dispersion, reduces distortion and ensures optimum power handling.
TNF Tweeter
Treble finesse
Made in France in our workshops, the TNF aluminum/magnesium inverted dome tweeter delivers smooth, clear treble. The surround that connects the dome to its support uses Poron, a shape-memory material. This surround is directly derived from Focal's famous Beryllium tweeter, and reduces distortion by a factor of three between 2000 Hz and 3000 Hz, the most sensitive zone for the ear. In addition, a waveguide has been developed to perfect spatialization and further improve the inverted dome's very low directionality. In the horizontal plane, the frequency response is within +/- 0.5 dB. This performance guarantees an incredibly stable soundstage.
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