Focal Chorus 716 V 716VLW User Manual

Utopia III

The Grande Utopia story star-

ted in 1995 with a major innova-

tion: the W composite sandwich 

cone. It went on in 2002 with the 

Grande Utopia Be that introduced 

the pure Beryllium inverted dome 

tweeter. Other important inven-

tions distinguished those two 

 

reference loudspeakers, which are 

still existing in the 2008 Grande 

Utopia. But nothing that can be 

compared to the W sandwich 

or the Beryllium, showcase of 

 

Focal’s know-how, Focal, desi-

gner and manufacturer of the 

best drivers in the world.

The 2008 technological break 

concerns once again the driver - 

at the heart of Focal’s know -how 

- with the Electro-Magnet woofer 

technology. Such a decisive step 

that it gives its name to this third 

generation of Grande Utopia. It’s 

a new milestone that is added to 

the long list of innovations coming 

from the previous generations of 

Grande Utopia: “W” cone, Focus 

Time, Multiferrite, Beryllium, 

Power Flower, OPC, Gamma 

Structure, all Utopia’s patrimony 

is taken up in its entirety, enriched 

with new technologies.

To preserve this heritage, the 

2008 Grande Utopia had to be 

immediately visually identifiable, 

keeping its imposing aspect of a 

reference loudspeaker, without 

being massive. To reach our first 

goal, we kept the Focus Time 

structure and the separate blocks 

for each driver, the true aesthetic 

signature of the Grande Utopia. 

To lighten the shape, the delimi-

tation between the blocks is more 

important. Simplifying the object 

in the extreme and eliminating 

what could be aesthetically su-

perfluous. Handed over to Pineau 

& Le Porcher agency, with which 

Focal-JMlab has been collabora-

ting since 2003, the Grande Utopia 

EM’s design is all purity and clari-

ty - obvious. That’s a truly amazin-

gfeat for a loudspeaker that now 

reaches 78” (2m) high and weighs 

573lb (260kg)…