The Focal Diva active loudspeakers offer high-fidelity for the low-tolerance household
When we first announced the Focal Diva back in October, we reminisced about the "six pack" Naim system of 20 years ago; a fully active three-way setup that ran into 20 different boxes plus two loudspeakers.
Today, Focal Naim offers the same fully active, three-way configuration but with everything contained in the two floorstanding loudspeakers. (Naim no longer makes active crossovers, and indeed, the fully active separates system seems to have fallen out of fashion in home hi-fi, perhaps because similar separation and detail is more easily achieved with modern power supplies, fast subwoofers, and today's sensitive, detailed speakers.)
However, when you have the chance to design a dedicated amplifier-speaker combination, it makes sense to go fully active, that is, have one perfectly matched amp per driver, and feed each amp only the high-, mid-, or low-frequency signal as needed. To that end, each Focal Diva speaker contains three class-AB power amplifiers: a 250 W for the four side-firing W-cone 6.5" woofers, 75 W for the W-cone 6.5" mid, and 75 W for the beryllium tweeter.
How Does the Diva Sing?
Diva offers Wi-Fi and a proprietary wireless sync, so all you need are two power cables to get music playing. If there's still a little old-school audiophile left in you, you can use Ethernet cables to hard-wire the streaming and synchronization functions.
The primary speaker offers HDMI eARC and optical inputs, so you can integrate Diva with your television, and there's an RCA line-in to connect a CD player or turntable plus phonostage. The onboard streaming DAC is controlled via the excellent Focal Naim app to access all your favorite online sources.
Focal offers room calibration, easily performed using the Focal Naim app and what Chris Shaw of Focal Naim described as "the best microphone in the world, your ears." After you input a few measurements to determine speaker distance from walls and ears, you are asked to volume-match and balance test tones. Once done, you are treated to a room-filling sound that is effortlessly capable, and is everything you'd expect when an electronics powerhouse shares a cabinet with a loudspeaker powerhouse.
The Focal Diva is available for demo at the store. Your hunt for the perfect system might just be over when this Diva sings!