Review Summary
Sound
"Smooth sound, impeccable imaging, and exquisite detail";
"soundstaging ability is obviously a standout, but [the
FS-688's] midrange-on-up magic differentiates it from
many speakers large or small"; "I’d wager that the FS-688s'
midrange and top-end performance can hold their own
against a good number of speakers regardless of price."
Features
Two-way minimonitor that uses very high-quality parts,
including Scan-Speak's Revelator tweeter; "the FS-688’s
wood veneer is drop-dead gorgeous, and the extra-thick
clear-coat finish makes it sizzle."
Use
Doug recommends "listening off-axis somewhat, say
15 to 20 degrees, which brings down the top end a tad and
makes the whole presentation just a little more natural."
Value
"An audiophile instrument with luxury-good appeal that
plays music with great precision."
In 1981, I paid $400 for my first set of two-way loudspeakers.
Today I can name more than a few speakers priced less that can
not only clean house on those original speakers but provide
sound quality that will impress even the most discriminating
audiophile. Speakers have gotten nothing but better a n d
cheaper with time. So today when you reach $2000 for a pair
of two-ways, you get so much that it’s hard to imagine what
more you could want.
Above $2000, however, a two-way bookshelf speaker has to
be pretty darn special to warrant recognition. Unfort u n a t e l y
I’ve come across many that use parts and technology you can
find with speakers a fraction of their price; construction and
finish that are no better than that of sub-$2k contenders; and
sound quality that’s often not as accurate as that offered by
some of the best lower-priced speakers.
O c c a s i o n a l l y, though, a two-way minimonitor makes a successful
case for crossing the $2000 threshold—justifying what is,
admittedly, a large chunk of money for a small speaker. Focus
Audio’s $2600 USD Signature FS-688 speakers are pint-sized
gems that do just this.
Description
With a cabinet that measures 13"H x 7"W x 10"D, the FS-688
is the smallest speaker in Focus Audio’s newly revised Signature
series; the floorstanding FS - 788 and FS-888 models are above
it. The compact size of the FS-688 definitely puts it into the
minimonitor class, and I like this— I find small speakers attractive,
easy to place, and no problem to set up in an appropriately
sized room. The FS-688, though, is no lightweight—it comes
in at 20 pounds and is rock-solid.
While the FS-688’s dimensions don’t necessarily correlate
with its price, the build quality certainly does. Just as a diamond
has value that defies its size, a careful look at the workmanship
of the FS-688 reveals something that is in a different class
than almost all of the two-ways I’ve seen, regardless of price.
The FS-688’s wood veneer is drop-dead gorgeous, and the
extra-thick clear-coat finish makes it sizzle. The review set of
s p e a k e r s came in what Focus Audio calls piano walnut, and
it’s p e rf e c t. Other finishes include piano burr oak and piano black.
The FS-688s are finished on all six surfaces, and there’s not a flaw
in sight. Words, even pictures, don’t describe how good these
speakers look. You need to actually s e e them to appreciate them.
Turn the FS-688 around and you’ll also notice the attractive
way the binding-post area is recessed and finished—flawless
again. Same goes for the port, and this surprised me. At worst,
ports are just holes on the back of speakers. Most companies,
though, at least finish the port with a plastic flange that also
helps direct the air properly. I suspect that Focus Audio felt that
plain ol’ plastic wouldn’t be good enough, so the FS-688 has
the flange shape, but it's carved into the cabinet and finished
to the same degree as the rest of the speaker. Really nice.
The only gripe I have—the o n l y o n e—is that the snap-on gr i l l e
is rather ordinary. It’s certainly not bad—it’s fine, in fact. It’s
just not something I can say is among the best I've seen,
p a rticularly when other companies are finding innovative ways
to attach a grille to a cabinet beyond the common pegs and holes.
The tweeter is Scan-Speak’s 9900-series 1" silk-dome Revelator
—one of the most expensive dome-type tweeters available.
Focus Audio says that you won’t find a Revelator on a speaker
priced less than the FS-688. I can’t confirm this claim, but
what I do know is that a pair of the tweeters alone retails for
more than the speakers I bought in 19 81. The woofer is a 5 1/2"
Hexacone unit from Germany’s Eton with a phase plug Focus
Audio says was made specifically for them. The woofer’s cone
is a combination of the Dupont materials Nomex and Kevlar.
The tweeter and woofer hand off to each other at 2.5kHz, and
Focus Audio says that the MultiCaps used in the crossover cost
more than the entire crossover in previous models in the
Signature lineup. On the back of the speaker are dual sets of
Cardas all-copper binding posts with which you can biwire. If
you choose to single-wire the speakers, all-copper strips are
provided to join the two sets of posts. Again, everything here
is top quality, commensurate with the price.
Despite the impressive parts and the beautiful cabinetwork,
the specifications are quite normal for a design like this.
Sensitivity is said to be a mild 85dB, impedance is reportedly
8 ohms, claimed frequency response is 45Hz to 25kHz +/-3dB,
and recommended amplifier power is 20 to 200 watts. While
some consumers may be looking for specifications with more
gusto, understand that manufacturer claims and real p e rf o r -
m a n c e are often two different things. I’ve encountered
speakers whose manufacturers make wildly ambitious sensitivity
claims, most likely to convince lovers of low-powered tube amps
into thinking the speaker is "tube friendly," only to find out
that the speaker is about as friendly as most other speakers
out there. What Focus Audio presents seems realistic and rang
true in my listening tests.
One performance aspect I found extremely impressive is the
speakers’ soundstaging ability, something I mention now
because it made me check Focus Audio’s literature to see if it
was part of their design strategy. Sure enough, it was. But the
reason they gave for the FS-688's soundstaging performance
surprised me.
Focus Audio didn’t attribute the superior imaging to the crossover
slopes or driver positioning or anything like that; instead, they
discussed pair-matching the speakers. Focus Audio says that
they test each component before it gets placed in a speaker,
record the specs, and then match each component so that one
speaker is as close in performance to the other as possible. Is
this important? Yes. Deviations from one sample to the next
are a dirty little secret in audio, and good companies do what
they can to ensure all their products are as close in perf o r m a n c e
as possible. When it comes to loudspeakers, the most import a n t
thing is that the left and right speakers are ideally matched.
Wouldn’t it be disconcerting to know that your left and right
speakers each might have better-matched mates playing music
at other audiophiles’ houses?
There’s another side-benefit to this kind of testing: Should
you ever need replacement parts, Focus Audio keeps this data
on file, so a matched part can be substituted. I like this, and
it shows that Focus Audio is going the extra mile with what is
decidedly a spare-no-expense two-way speaker.
System
I used the FS-688s with the Simaudio i-3 integrated amplifier,
rated at 10 0 Wpc. The i-3 is reasonably priced ($1695) and
certainly had no trouble driving the FS-688s. I used my Theta
Data Basic transport and i2Digital X-60 digital cable with two
different DACs: the Zanden Audio Model 5000 Mk II and the
Weiss Medea, priced at $9800 and $13 , 500 respectively.
These DACs offer ever-so-slightly different sonic perspectives,
and both can be considered world-class digital components.
Power cords, interconnects, and speaker cables were from
the Canadian company Maple Audio Works.
The FS-688s were set up on 24"-high stands, although your ideal
stand height will depend on your listening-chair height. A little
bit of Blu-Tack was used to firm up the speakers on the stands.
Sound
I first cued up the Blue Rodeo’s "5 Days in May," the opening
track from Five Days in July [Discovery 77013]. This is one of
this group’s best-sounding albums and one of the oh-so-rare
pop recordings with a real soundstage. I was impressed by
the expansive soundstage that the FS-688s presented—it was
huge! Bass extension certainly wasn’t overwhelming, but it
certainly wasn’t underwhelming either. This smallish speaker
wasn’t tricking me into thinking it was a large floorstander
with a woofer twice the size—such speakers have to justify
themselves, after all—but it certainly didn’t sound all that small,
and it certainly didn’t sound thin or lightweight either. In fact,
the FS-688 had a touch of warmth and weight with a tube-like
dimensionality in the mids that was intoxicating.
The overall tonal balance of the FS-688s is spot-on, and the
highs are superb overall, with just a few caveats. On-axis, the top
end is quite prominent, but the speaker never sounds bright
or fatiguing. If you listen with the speakers toed-in directly
at your position, the extreme highs are certainly there and
pronounced, but they are never in-your-face harsh or anyt h i n g
of the kind. The top end is smooth and pristine. I recommend
listening off-axis somewhat, say 15 to 20 degrees, which brings
down the top end a tad and makes the whole presentation
just a little more natural. With my setup this meant toeing
them in just a smidgen, that’s all.
Despite their smallish size, I learned early that the FS-688s can
play loud, darn LO UD, and this surprised me. I cranked ‘em
pretty high with some head-bangerish rock’n’roll and they
refused to ask for mercy. Certainly, you can go overboard and
break them if you really t r y, but know that these little speakers
aren’t necessarily delicate little flowers.
The imaging and soundstage presentation flat-out stunned me.
Had I stumbled on some great setup trick that resulted in
h o l o graphic, pinpoint imaging like few speakers I’ve heard? Not
r e a l l y, although I did set the speakers up carefully. The FS - 68 8 s
simply image like gangbusters. On the same Blue Rodeo
recording, singer Jim Cuddy is firmly in the center with Greg
Keelor accompanying him, close by his side. Their positions
are a snap to discern with the FS-688s, and their voices are
warm, rich, detailed, and distinct in the mix. I then took note
of James Gray’s keyboard playing as I never had before. On
this track he’s placed left and to the back of the stage. His
position is easy to target, and if I flicked a bottle cap from
behind my ear, I could have picked him off in an instant—the
so u n d s t a ging is that precise. When I was drawn to his position
in the stage I was amazed by the precision of the image, but it
was the sound of those keyboards that then kept me transfixed.
The FS-688's soundstaging ability is obviously a standout, but
its midrange-on-up magic differentiates it from many speakers
large or small. There isn’t a bit of hash, grit, or any other such
nasty thing occurring. This makes the FS-688s exceedingly
smooth and surprisingly full, and gave Gray’s keyboards a
warm and weighty glow that occupied space but never sounded
bloated or overdone. It also made Cuddy's and Keelor’s voices
sound rich, present, and natural, but never chesty or wooly.
When I said that FS-688 speakers have a tube-like dimensionality,
I was talking about a sense of fullness, presence, and liquidity.
Due to the FS-688’s smallish size, bass extension and overall
output levels certainly aren’t going to be this speaker’s strengt h s ,
but like the ability to play quite loud, these are not weaknesses
either. At first I worried that, given the smaller-than-average
cabinet size and the 5 1/2" woofer, versus a 6 1/2" driver in
many similar designs, the speaker would sound light—bass
s h y some would say. No way. In fact, this small speaker sounds
weightier than some other two-ways with slightly larger woofers
—enough so that the FS-688s had me rushing for musical
favorites just to see how well they could do down low.
Except for a tinge of digital-at-middle-age crispness, Lou Reed
and John Cale’s 1990 release Songs for Drella [ Warner Brothers
26205] is recorded well—robust and weighty, with excellent
clarity and detail. The first track, "Smalltown," has Reed’s voice
rock-solid in the center. The FS-688’s imaging is tight, precise,
and unwavering. The second track, "Open House," is more
thunderous-sounding than "Smalltown," though with quite a
lot of bass, and it’s more of a test of what a speaker can do
down low.
To the FS-688’s detriment, the bass on "Open House" cert a i n l y
isn’t as deep as that of much larger speakers you can buy at
the same price—I’m talking floorstanders and the like. But this
is not all that surprising, and certainly isn’t what the FS-688s are
about. The FS-688s are small speakers that concern themselves
almost exclusively with clarity, detail, and refinement, for the
most part forgetting that there is bass below 50Hz or so.
That’s why subwoofers were created. Still, the low point these
speakers reach makes them room-filling enough. As a smallspeaker
lover, I wouldn’t risk mucking up the sound by trying
to integrate a sub.
Now I can’t say that I was blown away by how the FS-688s
handles nasty, edgy rock’n’roll, but I can say I was pleasantly
surprised that they certainly didn’t fall flat on their baffles, as
some audiophile minimonitors can. Steve Earle’s "Ashes to
Ashes" (J e r u s a l e m [ A rtemis 751147]) is a straight-to-the-bone
song that would be most at home played at 1:00 a.m. in one
of those bars with beer-stained wood-plank floors that haven’t
been refinished, or even cleaned, since the Beatles broke up.
It’s raw, it’s visceral, and it makes you feel as if you need a
shower after you play it—and the refined-sounding FS-688s
handled it all quite well.
You can certainly find cheaper and larger speakers that can play
this type of music louder and edgi e r—so that you can r e a l l y
feel what it’s like to be in that bar at 1:00 a.m. with closing/
pickup time just around the corner. So, if this is your main type
of music, I encourage you to look at a number of other speakers
that can provide this kind of reproduction—most likely not a
two-way bookshelf job at all. But what the FS-688s give you
is a surprising look i n t o the recording: more microscopic, more
intimate, and more detailed. The FS-688s allow you to a n a l y z e
the track, not necessarily live it.
So while super-deep bass, gut-wrenching impact, and ultrahigh
output levels aren’t really the FS688s’ strengths, smooth
sound, impeccable imaging, and exquisite detail are. And when
music plays to those strengths, the FS-688s shine like few
speakers I’ve heard.
Two songs I really like on John Prine’s The Missing Years [Oh Boy
O BR-009D], "Daddy’s Little Pumpkin" and "Jesus the Missing
Years," are sparsely recorded and feature only Prine and his
acoustic guitar. In part i c u l a r, "Pumpkin," with Prine’s rapid guitar
plucking, can exacerbate problems in tweeters that manifest
in a steely, hard, and edgy sound. As good as some of the very
low-priced two-ways I’ve had here are, a number of them do
exhibit some of these problems, particularly when driven hard.
Even Revel’s $2000 Performa M20s, while certainly not hard
or edgy, can sound a little clinical and dry. There’s nothing nasty
about the FS-688s. Prine’s guitar has vibrancy and richness,
much like Gray’s keyboards on the Blue Rodeo album, and
the extension is all there without a hint of steeliness, even at
very top. The FS-688s are exceptionally detailed, but they’re
also very pleasing (providing, of course, that you are not d i r e c t ly
on-axis).
Then there’s Norah Jones’ Come Away with Me [Blue Note
32088]. I discovered this wonderful album about a day after
it was released, long before she became Blue Note’s version
of Britney Spears and scooped up more Grammys than J.Lo
has had husbands. Nevertheless, even after the millionth time
that I’ve now heard this album—at the mall, in the gym, at
the grocery store, and just about everywhere else people who
fit the demographic for "adult contemporary" go—I still like it.
Played through the FS-688s, Jones’ voice has such clarity and
immediacy, and her piano has such a robust and majestic
presence, that the CD is the next best thing to Jones being in
the room. On "Shoot the Moon," her voice is up front and the
drums are far behind. The distinction and space of the stage
are easy to unravel. Each musician is carved into his or her
own discernible, unique chunk of space. A musical moment
to be sure.
Comparisons
A pair of minimonitors that cost $2600? Who’s fooling who?
But the FS-688s have strengths that justify their price.
First, there’s the build quality. The FS-688s’ veneer is done
to such a high standard that I know of no speakers around
their price, and most certainly none below, that approach the
workmanship. Revel’s Performa M20 and Amphion’s argon2
—my references at and under $2k respectively—are cert a i n l y
nice, but their wood veneers are not to FS-688's level. The
closest speaker I know of is Verity’s floorstanding Tamino with
its nicely done piano-black finish. They’re also in my house for
review, but they’re $5000 per pair, and this should tell you
something.
Then there’s the sound. First, it’s obvious you can buy speakers
that go deeper. In fact, I can quickly name a dozen speakers that
can whomp the bass home with more force than the FS - 6 8 8 s .
Heck, at the FS-688's price you can get floorstanders, and in
the bookshelf class, the Performa M20 and argon2, with their
slightly larger woofers, seem to go deeper, if only by a little
bit. The FS-688s, however, are not light-sounding, and that’s
what’s key in deciding whether they’ll be the right small
speakers for you.
The highlight of FS-688’s performance is the exceptionally
clean sound they deliver and their gorgeous midrange-on-up.
The FS-688s can show amazing detail, but always remain
pleasant-sounding—a tough line for a speaker to, ah, walk.
It’s hard to quibble with Revel’s M20, but if you want to
complain, you can say that it’s a touch clinical in the top end
and somewhat lean in the mids. The FS-688s, on the other
hand, are sweeter in their delivery but without compromising
detail or extension. This is also where the FS-688s show their
muster against pricier competitors.
I went back and forth between the FS-688s and Verity’s almost
twice-the-price Taminos. Certainly the FS-688s can’t match
the ample weight of the floorstanding Taminos, but the FS - 6 8 8 s
edge the Taminos out in top-end sweetness and midrange
palpability. In fact, if I had more expensive speakers in-house,
I wouldn’t stop the comparison there. I’d wager that the FS - 6 8 8 s '
midrange and top-end performance can hold their own against
a good number of speakers regardless of price.
Then there’s the soundstaging and imaging, which are in a
league of their own. Recording after recording I was amazed
not only by how precisely the FS-688s could image, but how
each image occupied space and how well the instruments
were delineated from one another. The Taminos and the M20 s
are both very good in these departments too—good to the
point that they would be considered strengths for these
speakers—but as good as they are, the FS-688 goes beyond.
With the FS-688s, it’s as if you could get up and walk within
the stage blindfolded and know exactly where to go to get
between the musicians. The stage they set is t h a t well rendered.
Conclusion
The FS-688 is an audiophile instrument with luxury-good
appeal that plays music with great precision. Flawless? No,
but I don’t expect them to be. These are small speakers, after
all, with limits that I outlined, but what they can do, they do
extraordinarily well.
The FS-688 is designed for the person who wants something
b e t t e r than the crowd. So its finish is better than any comparable
speaker near its price, and certain aspects of its performance
—particularly the pristine top end, the tube-like midrange,
and the stellar soundstaging and imaging—outclass a good
number of speakers regardless of their cost. So given these
sonic strengths plus the outstanding build quality, my arbitrary
line for two-way bookshelf speakers has shifted a little. From
now on, if minimonitors cost more than $2600 per pair, they
had better have the looks and sound to justify their price.
P r o d u c t R e v i e w
4
www.soundstage.com
Company Info
Focus Audio Signature FS-688 Loudspeakers
Price: $2600 USD per pair
Warranty: Five years parts and labor
Focus Audio
43 Riviera Drive, Unit #10
Markham, Ontario L3R 5J6 Canada
Phone: (905) 415-8773
Fax: (905) 415-0456
E-mail: contact@focusaudio.ca
Website: www.focusaudio.ca
Loudspeaker Measurements
Measurements taken in an anechoic chamber at Canada's
National Research Council.
Microphone measuring position: tweeter, no grille.
Sensitivity: 83.0dB (averaged 300Hz-3kHz, 2.83V/1m).
http://www.focusaudio.ca/reviews/Soundstage.pdf
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