Customer Reviews

Focal XS Satellite Speakers with Dock for iPod and MP3 Players

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first set was for the music room computer. We needed great sound for listening to our performance recordings and playing with accompaniment software. Wow, fits the bill perfectly. We also connected an Airport Express with Airtunes to add music to that section of the house. There is nothing like wireless and powered speakers for getting an one hundred and fifty year old house rocking.

I was so impressed with the sound from the Focal XS that I replaced the Harman Kardon speakers on the computer in my office. It sounds like I am listening to my music for the very first time. Many speaker manufactures publish specifications; very few deliver them with clarity and presence, like Focal XS.

I would highly recommend the Focal XS to any one looking for great sound on their computer or connect it to an Airport Express and put music in any room of your house.

There's not a lot more to say. This system is simply excellent; there is one caveat though: make sure you put enough real estate between the 2 monitors -- they need room to breathe. Soundstage width and depth are excellent if they're given enough room. When you hear it, try to remember this is a $600.00 2.1 system; it will be difficult. BTW: my main system consists of a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista (tube) DAC, VTL Tiny Triodes, Monitor Audio Silver Series towers, Transparent and Cardas speaker and power cabling, etc. I've wasted a lot of money on systems and this definitely ranks as one of the best values in my collection (the Monitor Audios top the list).

I am a bit of an audiophile. And I have an excellent system of components that I have assembled over the years for my core listening pleasure. However, like many people, I spend more time working at my computer than I do relaxing in my leather chair in the living room. So, it is at least as important for me to have a good sound system where I work. To find such a system, I did a lot of research, and I have a bit of a history of trying products as well.

I have at various times used Altec Lansing, Bose, and Bowers speakers on my computer desktop. This time, I wanted more. My close friend has the Utopia Grandes in his home system, and he said that his experience with Focal has been nothing short of fantastic. So, I decided to give their many times removed little cousin, the XS a try (I know, this is like Apples and Oranges, but I figured: "how far can the Apple (or Orange) fall from the tree?".

Not far it would appear: The sound is phenomenal. Let me be clear, these are in an entirely different realm than the Utopia Grande's, but there is also no question that Focal really put some thought and care to creating the XS system.

The speakers took a bit of time to break in, but I now have trouble leaving my desk -- the sound is that good. These are better than a lot of monitors that I have heard. And they are very compact and nice to look at. A lot of tech packed in as well. Built in DAC. 2-way satellites. They are not cheap, but they are worth every penny. As a 2.1 system, the are not going to produce the midrange of a pair of good towers, but the sound is very, very good.

The only "weak" spot in my opinion is the iPod dock. It works with some, but not all iPod versions, and syncs in some, but not all circumstances. This is not really a criticism of Focal, though, since Apple is always changing and updating their hardware and software, and it seem impossible to find any device in the market that can keep up with all of them. Nevertheless, I would not recommend purchasing this system if you plan to only use it as a docking sound system.

Summary: If you are looking for incredible sound from a relatively compact 2.1 system, and you will connect primarily to your computer, this is the best option in the market.

If all you want is thumping bass that drowns out the nuances of the rest of the frequencies, you may be disappointed with this system - and it is not for you. If you want balanced, detailed sound, and don't want to shell out $1,000+ (or much more) for studio monitors, this is the absolute best 2.1 system for the price. This system is not designed to produce massive amounts of bass, just quality bass which you can adjust (useful if you live in an apartment with other tennants). When it comes to true hi-fi systems, the sky is the limit in terms of what you can spend, I'm talking tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars. This 2.1 system is manufactured by one of the leading companies in high-fidelity sound, and it shows, even if the XS are one of the cheapest items Focal sells.

I first heard some Focal speakers (not the XS 2.1) in a big box retail store that had gone bankrupt. The one great advantage to retail stores is that you can compare products side by side, and I was blown away by how detailed Focal's highs and mids sounded. I have had Definitive Technology's BP8 towers for years now, and I think they are very nice speakers, but Focal's balance and detail in at all frequencies really stands out compared to other hi-fi manufacturers.

I just spent a full day ripping all my CD's into FLAC (lossless) files. Many people don't know that MP3 files are highly compressed and, depending on the type of music or the artist, sacrifice varying degrees of detail of the music in order to shrink the file size. My FLAC files are 5-7x the size of their MP3 counterparts. But when I played my first FLAC (Rachmaninov's Piano Concertos 1-4 played by Vladimir Ashkenazy) I was blown away by the new detail I was hearing in the music. Mind you I do not only listen to classical, I listen to everything from The Notorious B.I.G., Sneaker Pimps, Korn, to Sebastian Bach, and no matter what genre of music I'm listening to, I heard new details.

My previous pair of PC speakers were a $200 2.1 set made by Altec Lansing. Comparing FLAC files on the Altec Lansing side by side with Focal's XS 2.1, the XS are on a completely different level. The Altec Lansing system has very heavy, muddy, and unrefined bass, very tinny sounding highs and pitiful midrange, everything is muffled by overstated, mucky bass. When I have nothing playing on the Altec Lansing you can hear a static noise which is very obnoxious, regardless of how high the volume is, with the XS there is complete silence. This comes with the massive difference in driver and speaker housing quality. I spent months researching and comparing other computer speakers. I listened to the B&W MM-1s a great deal because I originally wanted a 2.0 system after having such annoying poor quality bass with my Altec Lansing system. The B&W MM-1 are also great speakers and have an attractive small footprint. In the end, I thought that the Focal XS have better overall sound and have a nice punch with bass which is pretty much impossible to obtain without a dedicated subwoofer. I was very close to purchasing the MM-1's because I didn't want to spend $600 on speakers and liked the smaller footprint, but when I caught the XS on sale I immediately snatched them up.

I almost never write reviews even though I purchase a lot on amazon, so it just goes to show you how big of an impression these speakers have made on me. They are definitely not for everyone, spending this kind of money is definitely not necessary if you aren't a true sound or music enthusiast. If you are an enthusiast however, I highly recommend these speakers.

I am going to review these NOT as a audiophile, but as a average "Joe" looking for a good set of computer speakers.

These are well worth the money spent. Without getting into specs which have already been reviewed here extensively, here goes.

These are probably the easiest set of speakers on the planet to hook up. 5 minutes max, it will take longer to remove all the twist ties than installation will take.

Sound is crisp and bright. After break in the music "warms" nicely. I still recommend using some type of equalizer with MP3's as these speakers will expose any weaknesses in the MP3's.

Can listen to these for a extended period of time without fatigue.

Now are these worth $600 to the average guy? NO NO NO!

I think the average listener would be more than happy with a set of Klipsh Promedias in the $150 price range. They are fantastic, one of the best sets of computer speakers out there for the non audiophile.

Are these a fantastic set of speakers? Yes! But for the average listener, the huge price difference is not justified. The risk reward is not there.

But if you have $600 for computer speakers, these are the best in that price range bar none!

The difference between these and the Bose Companion 5, besides a few bucks, is that these sound really good. Good midrange, adequate bass if you put the sub on your desk. The sub is good looking and looks nice behind the iMac. The knob for adjusting bass level is on the back of the sub.

A word of caution: when unpacking your new Focals, be careful lifting the sub out of the box. The speaker cone on the bottom of the sub is UNPROTECTED by a screen or anything. If you're not careful and try to lift the sub out of the box by wrapping your fingers underneath, you stand a good chance of putting your finger through the speaker cone. (I didn't, but man I came close!)

I listen to Slacker and Pandora while working in my office at home and I'm glad I purchased a high-quality 2.1 instead of a 2.0 -- you've got a have a serious piece of box to make a rich bass. Go listen to the B&W 2.0 for $500 at an Apple store and you'll see what I mean.

UPDATE: now that they're breaking in, they're even better sounding. I agree with the review that says to put a bit of space between them: I moved mine about 4 inches away from the iMac monitor and with the sub right behind it, the sound is unbelievable. I've listened to every computer speaker there is and wanted to keep the budget below $500. Take my word for it -- the extra $100 is worth it.

After buying a pair of MM-1's from the Apple store and listening to the for a week. I quickly returned them due to absolutely no sound quality that I could relate to. The tinny sound was not as good as a pair of old logitech that cost fifty bucks!

The Focal's are so sweet sounding at any volume with imaging that replicates $1000+ speakers

These make listening from my laptop easy, "as easy as a Sunday morning"!

Focal's XS speakers are absolutely amazing. At first I was skeptical about buying these due to the fact that there has been people commenting that the built in iPod Dock throws random incompatibility messages when using an iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4. Since I have an iPhone 3GS, I was worried I'd be burdened by this. Turns out, I didn't even bother docking the iPhone when I received the speakers because 1) I already have the 3G dock which works great and 2) the speakers look great, didn't want to mess with their aesthetics.

That being said, I pretty much knew that I was going to get what I paid for with these speakers. Sure enough, I did. Incredibly crisp highs, extremely detailed mids, and tight, room-filling bass, the way I like it. I previously owned a Klipsch desktop 2.1 desktop speaker system and prior to that, a Klipsch 5.1 desktop speaker system. What a difference. Amazing.

These speakers are pretty directional in the sense that there is indeed a sweet spot, that being in your computer chair, 3-5 feet away from the speakers. But what a sweet spot it is.

They match incredibly well with the Mac displays and hardware, almost like these speakers were made for this type of hardware.

No complaints on this one. If you've got the money, buy the speakers. I doubt there is anything better.

best computer speakers i have ever owned! spend the extra money and buy these high end computer speakers,they will not disappoint! all you need to do is buy an equalizer app for fine tuning, this creates the most incredible sound i have ever heard from any computer sound system.100% satisfied!

I initially got the B&W MM-1s. They were very disappointing and I returned them after a few weeks. Here's my bottom line on them. If you like superior and lifelike bass response these are definitely not for you. And I'm not talking booming bass. I'm taking solid bass response - like hearing McCartney or John McVie in Fleetwood Mac just to name some old school music - clearly and distinctly. But, it's the same regardless of musical genre. I really think a major part of the problem is the MM-1s are 2.0 speakers thus no separate sub-woofer (a 2.1 system) to adequately handle the bass. They just don't cut it. I also gave these speakers a long burn-in time. Auditioned them with a wide variety of music in both compressed and non-compressed formats through my Apple MacBook Pro 15" with an i7 processor. To be honest, I have pretty good ears for music and can pretty easily discern the differences between speakers. My existing 2.1 system back then - which was a Klipsch Pro Media 2.1 - did a much better job overall for about 1/4 of the cost. Believe me, I had high expectations and really wanted to make them work. They look great and have a small footprint on the desk. Back they went......I can only think how amazing these B&W's would have been as a 2.1 system.

I then got the Focal XS Satellite Speakers. THESE SPEAKERS ARE OUTSTANDING!! They are everything the MM-1 weren't. In fact, IMHO, they blow them out of the water. The Focal's are a 2.1 system - unlike the MM-1's which are a 2.0 system with no separate sub-woofer. And the separate sub-woofer for bass response make all the difference in the world. Even before burn-in I knew these were keepers. Finally, my search for great computer speakers was over! Yes, they cost about $100 more than the MM-1s. Let me tell you, they are worth every penny and more. The sound is incredible. Even for compressed MP3s. I also like that the two, smaller satellite speakers that sit on your desk are elevated. This makes a HUGE difference vs. any speaker sitting on the surface - like the MM-1s. The sub-woofer (which is well-designed and it very attractive BTW) has a separate bass level control. The fit, finish and look of these speakers is 1st class all the way! Do yourself a favor. If you are considering a high end set like the MM-1s, Bose or some other brand you owe it to yourself to give these a listen. But, not in a store. Get them delivered and try them during the 30-day trial period using your equipment and music in your listening location. If you don't like them all you have to do is return them - and all you're out is the return postage. In fact, if you time it right the charges won't even appear on your cc bill if you buy and return during a single billing period. One more thing, you can plug your Apple iPod/iPod Touch right into the unit (right-hand speaker) which has a built in dock - and adapters for all models are included. They even included a separate package with adapters for the newest versions. I imagine this component will be upgraded/modified as new models are brought to market and will be made available to owners of this system. So, no worry about obsolescence. You can play directly from it as well as charge it and sync to your computer. All controlled via the included remote control which also controls speaker volume. EZ set-up. You do need to change a setting in your Mac (System Preferences) or PC (Configuration Panel) after you plug it into your USB port and turn it in. Takes about 1 second. The included manual explains it very well.

Yes, it's a major expenditure. But, like many of you my computer has for all intents and purposes replaced my traditional stereo equipment. I listen to most of my music there. And it really deserves the best possible speakers to maximize enjoyment.