Two speakers in one – Focal’s new monitor flagship leaves a big impression

French loudspeaker manufacturer Focal launched its Trio 11 Be monitor speaker series at the NAMM Show in January. The speaker has just arrived in Finland and can be heard in the premises of Focal’s representative, the Helsinki-based Kruunuradio. We took a look at the bulky monitor newcomer.

The Trio 11 Be is a large speaker on a monitor. Its height is 63.5 centimeters, width 34.5 centimeters, and depth 45 centimeters, and the speaker weighs 37.3 kilograms. The interior of the enclosure is made of 21 and 30 millimeter thick MDF with a striking red wood finish.

The speaker is designed with a three-way principle, featuring a 10-inch woofer, a five-inch midrange driver, and a one-inch beryllium tweeter with a reverse cone. The FOCUS feature seen in the Trio 6 Be speaker earlier is also included in the new flagship model. With this feature, the woofer of the speaker can be muted, making the Trio 11 Be a reference two-way speaker. This is a clever feature that means you may not need to install another pair of speakers in the studio to check the mix. The Trio 11 Be can also be installed horizontally, with the module embedded in the front panel of the mid-range and treble drivers being able to be rotated 90 degrees.

The amplifier in the Trio 11 Be works in the g-class and according to the manufacturer offers a maximum sound pressure of 118 decibels measured at one meter away. As a three-way system, its frequency range extends from 30 hertz to 40 kilohertz.

Based on the listening test, the Focal Trio 11 Be produces sound appropriate to its size: the sound is large, convincing, natural, and light. The music breathes, and the integration of the different frequency ranges is natural. The presentation of dynamics is also incredibly detailed, and the spatial information is conveyed if the production has attempted to achieve this. The sound can therefore be described as quite three-dimensional.

The beryllium tweeter cannot be called glaring, but it is quite present with the flat settings. Depending on the position, it can be good to drop it from the rear panel control dial by a slight degree in the ±3 dB range. There was nothing to complain about in the reproduction of the bass-midrange section in the Kruunuradio listening room. The room as a whole was just fittingly tuned.

It’s not worth letting the size category mislead you, because the basic parameters for even more subdued nearfield listening are surprisingly good. However, the direction is precise, as the speaker sounds most balanced only when listened to in a specific location.

The most interesting phenomenon in Trio 11 Be was that the music sounded as if it was being listened to at a rather fast pace, which is in a positive way quite surprising. We strongly recommend you give the speaker a try!

Focal Professional Trio 11 Be
Price: 3,500 € / piece
Additional information: Focal
Representative: Kruunuradio