Verdict
There ’s bunch to like about the way the Focal Vestia No.1 sound – but they do n’t quite have the all - court of law game to equal the best of their rival .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Gallic loudspeaker savant Focal has never been one to follow the herd – and the Vestia No.1 standmounter is just the latest manifestation of that fact .
At a glance it look exactly as you might expect – but you do n’t have to await all that close , for all that long , to reset the company has brought its individualistic thinking to bear . Individual is one thing , though … good is quite another . Is the Vestia No.1 more or less than the sum of its parts ?
Availability
The Focal Vestia No.1 are on sale , and in the United Kingdom they sell for no more than £ 799 a pair . In the United States they ’re yours for around $ 1199 , while in Australia you ’ll take to part with AU$1749 or thereabouts .
It hardly needs saying that this is considerable money for a pair of standmounting loudspeakers , and Focal are up against considerable competition as a moment . The likes ofBowers & Wilkins , KEF and Sonus Faber ( to name but three ) all have similarly priced alternatives with which to tempt you …
Design
First thing first : the Vestia No.1 are in good order made and swimmingly stop – and in this obedience at least , they are well up to the variety of standard you ’re entitled to expect when drop this form of money on what are , after all , quite heavyset loudspeakers at 387 x 219 x 260 ( HxWxD , mm ) .
The cosmetic intervention Focal has decided on for the speaker cabinets is – to my eyes , at least – a slightly more qualified achiever . The Vestia No.1 are available in three different conclusion : high - gloss disgraceful , colored wood or the whiteness of this brushup sample .
The white finis , as you may see , is wrapped across its front , back , top , and bottom surfaces in white leather - upshot vinyl ; the side panels , which are just slenderly larger in every direction than the surfaces they meet , are finished in a character of granulate wood - effect textile that would n’t look out of place if used as shock .
The other two finishes have smutty , rather than white , leather - effect vinyl group as their design flourish . The show of the front baffle board , at least , can be alter thanks to magnetically attached acoustic grill .
Features
There are low-set verbaliser - hold Emily Price Post at the rear of the Vestia No.1 cabinet , which are able to bear bare wire , spade or 4 mm banana tree hack . But other that that , all of the Focal action is up front .
Towards the top of the front baffle there ’s a quite complex tweeter organization . Inside a urethane waveguide sits a 25 mm atomic number 13 / magnesium M - shaped inverted dome TAM tweeter that ’s sound , accord to Focal , for in high spirits - frequency elongation up to a woozy ( and unhearable ) 30kHz . It ’s the first clock time Focal has fitted this coordination compound ( and visually quite arresting ) tweeter to a domestic speaker unit compass .
Below it , there ’s a 165 mm mid / bass driver . you could tell it ’s made from Focal ’s reprocess carbon - fibre slatefiber stuff , because the driver environment says so in quite self-asserting lettering ( the environment also carry the message “ FOCAL – Made in France ” ) . This driver arrangement surrender a frequency reply , according to Focal , of 56Hz – 30kHz .
At the bottom of the front baffle board there ’s a circular bass reflex porthole that ’s tuned to help reward the loudspeaker system ’s low - frequency reply . Because it faces forwards , the odds are that the Vestia No.1 will be a small more relaxed about their position relative to a rearward wall than they otherwise might be .
Standmounting speakers , of row , are design to be used on sales booth . Focal has developed some stand for use with the Vestia No.1 : they ’re 55 cm gamy , finish in sinister , and boast a tilted top - plate in an endeavour to optimise the fourth dimension - alignment of the speaker ’s sound .
At £ 199 per pair , they ’re price to contend with some very well - regarded stands from some very well - involve medical specialist manufacturers – although to be fair , none of the alternatives I have in nous sport a tilted top - photographic plate …
Sound Quality
I may as well get correct to it : there ’s good news and there ’s bad tidings regarding the way the Focal Vestia No.1 perform . The secure news outbalance the bad , though , so let ’s start there …
Given a big high - resolution file of I Got The … by Labi Siffre to deal with , the Vestia No.1 take next - to - no time to reveal themselves as a big , organised and very refined listen . Their overall presentation is mature and highly polished , with hardly a rough edge or a sharp recession to be heard . If the mind of sonic sophistry , along with plenty of scurf and heft , appeals , you ’ll find tidy sum to love here .
scurvy oftenness are deep , coarse-textured , detail - ponderous and are confidently wide-ranging in terms of both timbre and attack . There ’s discreetness and attack in equal measure down at the bottom of the frequency range , and the sort of control condition that keeps rhythmic expression convincing . The Vestia No.1 puncher with determination , but they never lose the run of themselves and bass entropy stays well unclouded of the midrange .
The midrange itself is as clean-living and detailed as the bottom end , and the Focal have plenty of worthwhile observation to make about a Isaac M. Singer ’s tone of voice and technique . It ’s not especially comfortable to permit the midrange enough space in which a vocalist can in good order express themselves while insure it ’s integrate smoothly into the presentation as a whole , but the Focal achieve it almost casually . The soundstage these speakers make is large and persuasive , and it ’s laid out explicitly . As a consequence , even a fairly dense and busy recording like this one is is satisfyingly easy to follow .
The top of the frequency range is similar in both tone and characteristics – treble sound are detailed and bright , but never vulgar or overblown even if you like to hear at significant volume . The fair complex tweeter arrangement delivers substance and subtlety in equal amount , and there ’s no lead of callosity to the top end .
dynamical headway is considerable , so the difference in intensity throughout the recording are give good manifestation . And the Vestia No.1 are quite attentive to harmonic variations at the same clock time , even if they ’re quite small-scale – context is everything , and the Focal manage to contextualise transeunt occurrences in a transcription quite skillfully .
Switching to a similarly information - rich digital file of The Fall ’s Paranoia Man in Cheap Shit Roomexposes some weaknesses in the Focal ’s overall attitude , though . For all their powers of resoluteness , these talker are far from the most gumptious – there ’s a variety of issue of fact - ness to the way they present what should be a rather feverish and exhilarating recording .
They seem unwilling or ineffectual to get capture up in the queasy headrush of the Sung ’s instrumentation and performance , seek in the most inappropriate manner to smooth it off and break it down . Fun is an important element in a loudspeaker ’s performance , but the Vestia No.1 seem to regard the idea as rather childish . In an effort to impose their adulthood and edification on a recording that is immune to it , the answer is a power battle that ’s resolved to no one ’s satisfaction .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
The Vestia No.1 have the gloss you want
These speakers are only not interested in receive either ‘ down ’ or ‘ dirty ’
Final Thoughts
I ’m all for enquire the road less travelled , and Focal can always be relied upon to do affair its own way . As someone who revels in an teenage thrash of audio as much as the expensively produced and tasteful alternative , though , the Vestia No.1 are a second too originate - up for my liking .
Trusted Score
How we test
We try every hi - fi loudspeaker system we review thoroughly over an extended period of fourth dimension . We use diligence - stock tests to compare features properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a mathematical product .
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
No , the stand are an optional duplicate for the Focal Vestia No.1
