Focal TRIO6 BE Monitors Speaker Instruction Manual

: June 9, 2024
: FOCAL

Table of Contents

Focal TRIO6 BE Monitors Speaker
INTRODUCTION
Quick set-up guide
Installation
Stereo position
Settings and connections
FOCUS MODE
Specifications
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

Focal TRIO6 BE Monitors Speaker

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing a Focal product. Welcome to our High-Fidelity world. Innovation, tradition, excellence and pleasure are our values; our one and only aim is to bring you a sound that is rich, pure and true. To get the most out of your product, we recommend that you read the instructions in this booklet, then store it in a safe place to refer to in the future

Package contents
Each monitor is provided with the following items (besides this manual):

1 power cable
4 rubber feet
1 N° 4 Allen key
1 warranty card
2 protective grilles

Recommandations We insist on emphasising that your equipment can generate high sound pressure levels, especially in a 5.1 configuration. As the distortion levels remain low and the auditory fatigue incurred on the user is minimal, it is not always easy to realise how high the sound pressure level actually is. Remember that exposure to high volumes over a sustained period of time may lead to permanent hearing loss.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS!

Read these instructions. Keep these instructions. Heed all warnings.
Do not use this apparatus near water. 6. Clean only with dry cloth.
Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including amplifiers) that produce heat.
Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized plug. A polarized plug has two blades with one wider than the other.
The wide bladed is provided for your safety. If the provided plug does not fit into your outlet, consult an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.
Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched particularly at plugs, convenience receptacles, and the point where they exit from the apparatus.
Only use attachments/ accessories specified by the manufacturer.
Use only with the cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or table specified by the manufacturer, or sold with the apparatus.
When a cart is used, use caution when moving the cart/ apparatus combination to avoid injury from tip-over
Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. Servicing is required when the apparatus has been damaged in any way, such as power-supply cord or plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has been dropped.
This product is a device belonging to Class Only plug in the device using the mains plug provided, which incorporates an earth connection.
The device must be plugged into an earthed mains socket.
When the On/Off switch, or the mains plug or adapter connected to the product is used as a disconnect device, this device must remain readily accessible.
To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do not expose this apparatus to water, rain or moisture.
And the apparatus shall not be exposed to dripping or splashing and that no object filled with liquids, such as vases, shall be placed on the apparatus.
Do not obstruct ventilation openings. Do not insert any objects into the device’s ventilation openings.
They could come into contact with one of the high-voltage components or short-circuit them and cause a fire or electric shock.
Do not spill liquid on the device. 20. Do not attempt to repair this device yourself. Opening it may expose you to hazardous voltages or to other risks. Contact a qualified professional for all maintenance work.
The equipment shall be used at maximum 35 degree Celsius ambient temperature (95°F).
Do not use this device in tropical climates. 23. Do not use this device at altitudes of more than 2,000 m (6,500 ft).
Do not overload wall sockets, extension leads or multiple socket outlets as this could cause fire or electric shock.
The device must not be mounted to a wall or ceiling unless intended by the manufacturer.
If the product has been transported from a cold to a warm environment, make sure that no condensation has occurred before connecting the power cord.
No naked flame sources, such as lit candles, should be placed on top of the device.
The product should only be connected to the mains power type shown on the label on the device.
If you’re not sure what type of mains electrical supply you have, ask your retailer or your electricity supplier.
For devices intended for use with a battery or another power source, see the user manual.
Always leave a distance of at least 5 cm (2”) around the product for proper ventilation.
When replacement components are needed, make sure that the maintenance technician uses the components recommended by the manufacturer or components with the same technical features as the original product.
Using non-compliant components could cause fires, electric shocks or other risks.
After any maintenance or repair work on the device, ask the maintenance technician to test it to check that it works safely.
To avoid damaging your hearing, do not listen to loudspeakers at high volumes for long periods of time.
Listening to speakers at high volumes can cause damage to the user’s ears and may lead to hearing problems (temporary or permanent deafness, buzzing in the ears, tinnitus, hyperacusis).
Exposure to excessive volumes (over 85 dB) for more than one hour can cause irreparable damage to your hearing.

Beryllium

The Trio6 Be uses a tweeter equipped with a Beryllium dome, allowing a frequency range extending beyond 40kHz. I
n its solid form, Beryllium is harmless. However, due to its nature, certain special precautions should be observed to avoid exposure to unnecessary risk:
Under no circumstances should the Beryllium dome be subjected to any form of abrasive action.
To ensure no accidental damage to the tweeter dome it is advised to carefully replace the protection covers while not in use.
In the unlikely case of damage to the dome, of any form, a wide piece of adhesive tape should be immediately used to seal the whole front surface of the tweeter.
The protective cover should then be replaced and also taped securely in place.
You should then inform the dealer from whom you purchased the product so that the tweeter can be removed by a professional and returned to the product distributor for replacement.
If the dome is broken in any way giving rise to loose particles of Beryllium, these should be carefully collected with the use of an adhesive tape and sealed in a zip-top bag to be returned with the tweeter.
For further information, please contact Focal-JMlab directly: beryllium@focal.com

Conditions of guarantee
All Focal loudspeakers are covered by guarantee drawn up by the official Focal distributor in your country. Your distributor can provide all details concerning the conditions of guarantee. Guarantee cover extends at least to that granted by the legal guarantee in force in the country where the original purchase invoice was issued.

Quick set-up guide

First of all, check that the monitors and all audio sources (mixing console…) are turned off and that all settings at the rear panel of the monitor are set to 0.
Connect the audio signal from the source to the monitors using the XLR input.
Check that the correct voltage is selected according to the mains power voltage chosen using the voltage selector, check the fuse and replace if necessary. The amperage of the fuse depends on the operating voltage (see fuse characteristics in specifications table). The monitor speakers absolutely must be grounded using
the power cable provided. See page 21 for more information.
Turn on the audio source and check that the output level of the audio source connected to the monitor is set to -∞ or to a very low level.
Turn on the power to your monitors. The monitors are now in “Standby” mode.
Turn up the output level of the audio source until a signal is detected by the monitors in order for them to turn on automatically.

TRIO6 Be
TRIO6 Be is a professional near-field monitor with 2 monitor speakers within the same cabinet. TRIO6 Be is composed of an 8-inch subwoofer with a “W” composite sandwich cone, a 5-inch woofer with “W” composite sandwich cone and a 1-inch pure Beryllium inverted dome tweeter. In 3-way mode, the monitor has a frequency response of 35Hz to 40kHz (+/- 3dB) and 40Hz to 20kHz (+/- 1dB). In 2-way mode, only the 5-inch woofer and the tweeter are activated. The 2-way monitor speaker has a frequency response of 90Hz to 20kHz (+/- 3 dB) and is very efficient for checking the transfer quality of mixes carried out using systems with a limited bass range frequency response. These modes are controlled using a footswitch (see page 21).

The TRIO6 Be monitor speaker is equipped with 3 internal amplifiers:

1 x 200W powering the 8-inch subwoofer
1 x 150W powering the 5-inch woofer
1x 100W powering the 1-inch tweeter

Installation

Mains power
Your products absolutely must be grounded using the power cable.

Positioning
TRIO 6 Be monitors are near-field professional monitoring loudspeakers which require positioning facing the listener at a distance between 1 and 3 meters (3 to 10 feet) They can perfectly be positioned on a mixing console or they can be mounted to appropriate stands. Whichever position you choose, it is highly recommended that the tweeter be at about the same height as the listener’s ears.

Positioning of the rubber feet
TRIO6 Be monitor speakers are supplied with 4 rubber feet so that the monitor can be detached from its support (mixing console, stand…). We recommend positioning the rubber feet as to keep the distance between them as big as possible according to the dimensions of the support

Orientation of the midrange/tweeter plate The midrange/tweeter plate on the TRIO6 Be monitor speaker can be rotated 360°, 90° at a time. This allows the user to optimise the set-up according to the room acoustics and installation constraints

Procedure for rotating the midrange/tweeter plate

Remove the 4 screws using the n° 4 Allen key
Pull the plate 10 cm out whilst inclining it (fig. D).
Using the vents, rotate the plate to the desired position. Check that the retention pins are in line with the holes on the plate to ensure the screws are perfectly in line with the holes on the plate (fig. E).
For a proper implementation of the horn, always observe the following 3 points:
Position the horn. Place and tighten by hand the 4 screws respecting the order shown on the opposite diagram.
Respecting the order in cross, tighten the screws again. Adjust the screwdriver on a low speed.
Still respecting the order in cross, tighten more. Adjust the screwdriver to a faster speed now. Then, make sure the screws are tighten enough.
The monitor speaker is now ready to use.

Stereo position

We recommend positioning the monitors to form an equilateral triangle with the listening area. The listener being at one corner and the left and right monitors at the other two corners The pure Beryllium inverted dome tweeter has one major advantage: its very low directivity. When using the monitors at less than 1.5 m (5 ft) away, it is highly recommended to widen the stereo image by increasing the distance between the two monitor speakers (the distance from tweeter to tweeter) to between 1.8 m and 2 m (6 ft and 6.5 ft) so as to balance integration constraints and working precision. If needed, point the tweeters outwards to increase the width of the stereo image. Focal
TRIO6 BE Monitors Speaker 8

Multichannel position
When using a 5.1 configuration, we recommend positioning the monitors around the listener so that the monitors are equal distance away from the listening position. Position the centre channel at 0°, the front right channel at 30°, the back right channel at 110°, the back left channel at 250° and the front left channel at 330°

Breaking-in
The transducers used in the TRIO6 Be monitors are complex mechanical elements which require a breaking-in period to operate at their best and to become acclimatised to the temperature and humidity of the environment. The length of time this takes can vary depending on the conditions, and can sometimes last several weeks. Avoid listening at high volume during the first few hours of use. In order to shorten the breaking-in period, we advise you to let your equipment operate for about twenty hours at medium volume with programmes having significant low-frequency content. Once the transducers’ characteristics have totally stabilised, you will be able to enjoy the full performance of your Focal products

Settings and connections

INPUT
The XLR connector enables you to connect a source with a balanced signal and has a standard wiring layout:

Pin 1 = ground (cable shield)
Pin 2 = in-phase signal (aka hot)
Pin 3 = reverse-phase signal (aka cold)

INPUT SENSITIVITY
This selector allows you to adjust the input sensitivity of the monitor speaker according to the source (mixing console, sound card…). If the source transmits an audio signal via an unbalanced line, set the input sensitivity of the monitor speaker to -10 dBV. If the audio signal is transmitted via a balanced line, set the input sensitivity of the monitor speaker to +4dBu.

LF SHELVING
The LF SHELVING potentiometer allows you to activate or deactivate the volume correction below 250Hz. We recommend setting the LF SHELVING potentiometer to +2dB when the acoustics of the listening room naturally soften that frequency range. We recommend setting the LF SHELVING potentiometer to 0 when the acoustics of the listening room are neutral. We recommend setting the LF SHELVING potentiometer to -2dB when the monitors are placed near a wall or a corner.

LMF EQ
This potentiometer allows you to adjust the level of the low-mid frequencies. The centre frequency is 160Hz and the Q factor is 1. The corrections are made on a range of +/- 3dB. This correction is also useful if the monitor speaker is installed on top of a mixing console. Activating this function will diminish the reflections generated by the mixing console.

HF SHELVING
The HF SHELVING potentiometer allows you to activate or deactivate the volume correction above 4.5kHz. We recommend setting the HF SHELVING potentiometer to +2dB when the acoustics of the listening room naturally soften this frequency range (mat environment). We recommended setting the LF SHELVING potentiometer to 0 when the acoustics of the listening room are neutral. We recommend setting the LF SHELVING potentiometer to -2dB or -3dB when the acoustics of the listening room naturally increase this frequency range (clear environment). Focal TRIO6 BE Monitors Speaker 10

Focal TRIO6 BE Monitors Speaker 11

FOCUS MODE

INPUT
This input is for connecting the footswitch controller or for receiving the signal from the OUTPUT of the FOCUS mode of a TRIO6 Be monitor.

OUTPUT
This output is for connecting a TRIO6 Be monitor to another TRIO6 Be monitor. Make sure you use an instrument-type cable with 2x 6.35 mm mono jacks to connect the footswitch to a TRIO6 Be, and to connect two TRIO6 Be monitors. Focal TRIO6 BE Monitors Speaker 12

Focal TRIO6 BE Monitors Speaker 13

ON/OFF
The ON/OFF switch turns the internal amplifiers on or off.

Automatic Standby mode
TRIO6 Be monitors feature a “Standby” mode. When you turn on the power to the monitors, they are already in “Standby” mode. To switch from “Standby” mode to “On”, send an audio signal to the monitor by gradually increasing the volume of the audio source. After 15 minutes without an audio signal, the monitors automatically go into “Standby”. When the “Standby” mode is activated, power consumption is inferior to 0.5W

VOLTAGE SELECTION
This slide switch allows you to select the voltage according to the mains power supply depending on the country you’re in. There are two options: 115V or 230V. To change the voltage, proceed as follows:

Turn off the monitor and unplug the power cable
Using a flat-head screwdriver, remove the fuse situated below the power socket 11 .
Replace the fuse with one having the appropriate values:
- a. 115V: class T fuse, value 3.15A
- b. 230V: class T fuse, value 1.6A
Using a Phillips screwdriver, slightly loosen the screws 12 , and remove the protection cover from the voltage selector.
Switch the voltage selector 9 to the appropriate setting using a flat-head screwdriver.
Using a Phillips screwdriver, put the protection cover for the voltage selector back into place and slightly tighten the screws 12 .
Reconnect the power cable 10 .
Turn on the power to the monitor using the Power ON/OFF switch 8 .

POWER SOCKET
Connect the power supply cable supplied to this connector socket.

FUSE HOUSING
This is where the fuse is located to protect the monitor. If necessary, replace the fuse as explained in section 9 – VOLTAGE SELECTION.

SCREWS
Two screws protect access to the voltage selector 9 .

POWER LED (front panel)
There are three possible states for the POWER LED: