Custom Made Bookshelf Speakers using Focal IC-706V Ceiling Drivers

[aashish351]

Folks,

During the Delhi meet in January, I had the pleasure of meeting many good fellow hobbyists. One of them was the very young and talented Pranav Kumar who is still an electronics engineering student and has already launched his brand name Acoustic Science. I am confident that he will one day become a successful hi-fi entrepreneur.

After the meet I called him and gave him a proposition to build custom stand mount speakers for me using a pair of Focal JM Lab In-Ceiling 706V drivers that I had lying idle for years. He was quick to accept the offer and over the past two months has been designing and building the speakers in a truly professional manner. On Thursday, he finally delivered the final product to me and I have been pleasantly surprised.

I have always loved the sound of Focal speakers. They are generally on the warm side of neutral and produce a very pleasing sound. You can listen to Focal speakers tirelessly for hours. I have only given them one or two hours of listening till now, so you will have to wait for a complete review. Till then, enjoy seeing the pictures of Pranav's excellent work with the build:

(Please excuse the iphone photography. Will post hi-res pictures soon)

 

[panditji]

I like the rack...the speakers look nice...another reason for me to drop in soon..

 

[AmitKumar]

Speakers looks really good.

Best wished to Pranav for his future ventures.

One doubt: i dont see the tweeters, is it not required?

Regards

 

[aashish351]

Coaxial speakers. Centrally mounted tweeter.

 

[ghatgepatil]

Your floorstander is "paling" in comparison to the stand-mounts, in looks!
How would you rate them to the FS, in all aspects?
Stupendous finish! :clapping:

 

[kanwar]

Very Neat build.

Kudos to Pranav.

 

[aashish351]

Your floorstander is "paling" in comparison to the stand-mounts, in looks!
How would you rate them to the FS, in all aspects?
Stupendous finish! :clapping:

The thing about speakers like Dali ikon 6 is that they don't need to look good! They anyway become invisible when they sing. .

However, in comparison:

My room is 15x25, that's 375 sq. ft. So definitely ikon 6 can fill the room much better with bass than the focal bookshelf. That is also because these focal ceiling speakers have an Fs of 85hz. They cannot be expected to produce huge bass. But the achievement is that I don't miss the bass in jazz, vocal, Indian classical, instrumental. Only rock and electronic music is a slight problem. Another small issue is with lower midrange. There is slight emphasis in the 500hz region. But I would not yet attribute that issue with cabinet build yet because the stands that I'm using are pathetic. I expect the bass also to improve with better stands.

Secondly, the focal highs are less bright while the midrange is as good as Dali. So I'm already feeling that these can be heard longer than Dali. However, the Dali's ribbon super tweeter can produce a sweetness and air around highs that the focal cannot match. So there is a trade off. With correct partnering equipment and good quality recordings the ikon 6 can reward you with beautiful detail with sweetness. On bad recordings it will punish you mercilessly. Focal will always walk the middle path.

 

[aashish351]

I like the rack...the speakers look nice...another reason for me to drop in soon..

The rack is custom built using using plyboard and teak veneer.

 

[longshanks]

Congrats! looks great, how much did it cost to build excluding the drivers? i am asking because i have a focal component unit with with lying idle(both drivers and crossover).

 

[aashish351]

Congrats! looks great, how much did it cost to build excluding the drivers? i am asking because i have a focal component unit with with lying idle(both drivers and crossover).

Since Pranav has done this for me in his professional capacity, I'll request him to answer this question.

 

[TheCoolestOne]

Great looking speakers. Very neat workmanship I love the glossy look. Congratulations to you and all the best to Pranav. Its good you could put your old drivers to use.

 

[pranavkumar]

The thing about speakers like Dali ikon 6 is that they don't need to look good! They anyway become invisible when they sing. .

However, in comparison:

My room is 15x25, that's 375 sq. ft. So definitely ikon 6 can fill the room much better with bass than the focal bookshelf. That is also because these focal ceiling speakers have an Fs of 85hz. They cannot be expected to produce huge bass. But the achievement is that I don't miss the bass in jazz, vocal, Indian classical, instrumental. Only rock and electronic music is a slight problem. Another small issue is with lower midrange. There is slight emphasis in the 500hz region. But I would not yet attribute that issue with cabinet build yet because the stands that I'm using are pathetic. I expect the bass also to improve with better stands.

Secondly, the focal highs are less bright while the midrange is as good as Dali. So I'm already feeling that these can be heard longer than Dali. However, the Dali's ribbon super tweeter can produce a sweetness and air around highs that the focal cannot match. So there is a trade off. With correct partnering equipment and good quality recordings the ikon 6 can reward you with beautiful detail with sweetness. On bad recordings it will punish you mercilessly. Focal will always walk the middle path.

Thanks Aashish for the initial review, i hope to read more about these in the coming future.

and, thanks everyone for the kind wishes.

 

[sachu888]

Very nice work Pranav.Thanks Ashish for starting this thread.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[pranavkumar]

Congrats! looks great, how much did it cost to build excluding the drivers? i am asking because i have a focal component unit with with lying idle(both drivers and crossover).

Hi,

The enclosing of the speakers with the finishing costed around Rs.7500. Although this can vary on the availability of the few wood workers.

Let me know what you have in mind for the drivers that you have.

Cheers !

 

[pranavkumar]

Very nice work Pranav.Thanks Ashish for starting this thread.

Regards,
Sachin

Thank you

 

[spirovious]

Congrats,look very nice & so the sound.

 

[ukjeyaraj]

speaker looks very nice

 

[longshanks]

Hi,

The enclosing of the speakers with the finishing costed around Rs.7500. Although this can vary on the availability of the few wood workers.

Let me know what you have in mind for the drivers that you have.

Cheers !

I sure will once i decided, thanks for the info.

 

[AVM]

Congrats on neat work Pranav.

 

[pranavkumar]

A few more pictures: