Dynaudio join the fully streaming speaker crowd with the new Focus active range. Have to say they look tasty, use stream unlimited boards like Naim and an amp for each driver, DSP from Dirac. Me thinks this is where my future likely lies when the update bug hits. No cables , no boxes, no racks. Is this the future of hifi? Would Naim work with Focal and do the same and develop amp boards for them?
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Hi,
Very interesting I’ve had Dynaudio speakers before and love them.
Whether Dyna could buy amplifier components for such a purpose I don’t know but I would have thought a publicly recognised collaboration would be a non-starter given Naim’s tie up with Focal.
Regards,
Lindsay
The previous Focus XD range were highly regarded by some. They were on my radar for a while, but I never got to hear them. My dealer a big fan of them, and I recall Phil Harris (who used to run Naim support) had a pair and liked them.
As far as I can see there is no longer a regular passive Focus range, so perhaps they see these active speakers as the future. If they are successful, I can see that electronics manufacturers who don’t also make speakers may face challenging times 
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It’ll be a bit like people driving around in a diesel range rover in 10 years time.
I imagine the spiralling cost of electricity and general need for all of us to do our bit will dictate the direction of the hifi hardware industry.
Technology rarely stands still especially as digital streaming becomes the established norm for many enthusiasts even now, there’ll be the die hard hold outs but inevitably I imagine many will end up with active streaming speaker systems which are both energy efficient and family life / environment friendly.
I’m keen to hear the Kef floorstanders myself, might get some for the lounge / projector system.
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It’s a growing market and covering many different price ranges with the D&D 8c being one of the top ones.
Proof is in the listening test and performance relative to your own needs and listening environment but agreed there’s certainly a growing momentum in this space in the mid/high end ranges from numerous credible manufacturers.
I mentioned similar observations in a seperate Munich High End Show thread to that end, it seems appropriate for Naim and Focal to be well placed with their complimentary ranges in both camps to create a very compelling tiered solution covering Uniti through even Statement levels of systems.
I imagine the reluctance to embrace these forward thinking product strategies is their dependency on the likes of us still investing heavily in more traditional multi box systems, fearing a canabalisation of the legacy and loyal install base, they’d have an obligation to both maintain the current portfolio as well as extend to new product verticals as discussed here, they may not have the resources or concrete growth forecasts relative to the brands identity and install base to make that leap of faith.
They’ll probably sit on it a few years and see what competition stands out and with what strategy and pit an appealing Naim/Focal spin on that market we’d be willing to buy in to or evolve towards.
I remember back in the day seeing a Naim flyer with multiple olive boxes - active 135’s, Nat 01, etc and thinking that is super cool with so many boxes.
It’s fair to say that has shifted for a desire for less boxes, more simplicity without sound being compromised….
When I bought into Naim prices weren’t cheap but it was hifi that could last a life time and great servicing of legacy products - I bought into Naim and their philosophy and 25 years later I’m still a fan, however……
- the annual cost increases & monetisation of servicing has got a little out of hand - powerlines have nearly doubled in price - ok with profit and getting R&D investment back but Naim look like they are really testing the elasticity of their price.
- spending £16k on streaming tech that you know will not be current in a relatively short period of time isn’t too appealing.
Be really interesting to see how things develop and I hope Naim as a great British company get their strategy right.
The focus all in one speaker looks very interesting - cost wise I think it’s c£4K ish I believe so definitely an interesting proposition.
Gary
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