What can you tell me about Focus Audio?


I'm in the process of auditioning speakers. Looking for a small to midsize floor stander for my 12'x18' room. A dealer has turned me on to Focus Audio. I plan on listening to a pair from their Prestige series this weekend (FP80Se), but I have found little about them on the web.

Anyone have any experience with these speakers? As background, I listen to about 75% rock and 25% jazz.
dhoff01
Though I'm late to this thread, I've heard them on various occasions, and have always been more than impressed. Since my experience is that finding a good loudspeaker is so very difficult, that's high praise.
Thanks Trelja. I can't tell you how frustrating it was trying to find the right pair for me...
Please keep me in the loop as you develop your impressions of the FP80se. I am down to a few researched speakers for audition myself, among them, this particular Focus model. I would like to a/b audition along with Dynaudio's Focus 360s. Hope you're enjoying them!
Mbump - I'm more than happy to. I've only put about 30 hours on them so far, but I was impressed with them out of the box. Voicing is spectacular, the bass is fast and punchy, but the highs are a little harsh at the moment. It uses a scanspeak revelator ring tweeter that is known for being detailed and smooth (as it was when I demoed them) so I expect it will start to open up after another 100 or so hours. I'll keep you informed.

On a side note (and feel free to ignore any of this), I noticed your system and saw that you face some of the same limitations that I do. You have a much wider room, but your listening position is simlar to mine - I sit about 10 feet away from the speakers, which sit 3 1/2' out from the wall. Looks like you'll be a little closer, actually. Since I sit rather close and do not enjoy much space behind me, I shied away from larger floorstanders like the FP88se (presently in production - uses 2 7" drivers instead of the 2 5 1/2" used in the 80se) and the PSB Synchrony 1s. I worried that it would be too much speaker for my room, and I didn't want a muddy bass even if it did reach way down low. Just something to think about when your listening to the 360s.

Also, I did audition the 220s along with a pair of Contour surrounds. I thought the high end of the FA that I demoed to be much smoother that either of the Dynaudios with sacrificing any transparency. I really was unimpressed with the Dynaudios - they just lacked that "wow" factor that I was looking for when listening to speakers. Of course, the 360s are a different animal, and everyone listens with their own set of ears, so it could've just been my own acquired tastes. Just something to consider.

Good luck on your quest!
I had a brief experience with a set of Focus Audio speakers 4 years ago when I was auditioning a Croft twinstar 3 amplifier. The Croft stack was hooked up to the FA fs8 floorstander, IIRC. The drum solo piece I used in one of my test tracks: "For Roy (Haynes)" by Jay Boehmer, was jaw dropping. The speed, dynamic and transient response was simply amazing. It is one of the most memorable sound I've experienced. Great speakers .... congrats!