On 12 September 2023, Focal invited a select group of mixers, studio engineers, producers and recording technology journalists to the prestigious Artistic Palace Studios in Paris, to get an exclusive preview of their brand new ST6 Trio6 studio monitors.
Naturally Sound On Sound was there, and can happily report that the new speakers sound very impressive indeed. As on previous ST6 releases (the ST6 Twin6, which we reviewed in SOS October 2022, and the ST6 Solo6, which you can read about in the September 2023 issue), the ST6 Trio6 benefits from a number of improvements over the earlier 'Be' version. For instance, the bass driver now employs Focal's new 'W' composite cone construction, the midrange driver now features ridges in its roll surround as part of Focal's proprietary Tuned Mass Damper resonance-reduction technology, and the beryllium tweeter now sits in the latest version of the company's asymmetric waveguide, for optimal dispersion. The cabinet, meanwhile, has also been subject to an overhaul, and now features significantly more bracing, again with the effect of minimising resonance.
Internally the cabinet is split into three compartments, one for each driver. The tweeter enclosure has been specially designed to behave like an 'infinite' volume of air, for ideal acoustic loading, while both the mid and bass driver enclosures are ported, with the ports in both cases being flared both internally and externally to maintain laminar airflow and to minimise port noise.
The Focus mode that we've seen on previous Focal monitors has also made an appearance here, except this time there are two Focus options. In the first, both the tweeter and woofer are disabled, along with the low and high crossovers, leaving only the natural response of the midrange driver — effectively giving you single-driver, Auratone-style monitoring at the flick of a switch. The second Focus mode, meanwhile, disables the woofer and engages two-way operation between the tweeter and mid cone, approximating the response of a smaller monitor or hi-fi speaker.
Finally, the tweeter and midrange driver are housed in a rotatable faceplate, allowing you to orient the speakers for either portrait or landscape use, while maintaining optimal dispersion.
Previous ST6 Reviews
“We went to a handful of iconic studios and had some renowned engineers and mixers spend time with our prototypes. We gathered their feedback carefully and we continued to refine the Trio6. In the end, there were nearly a dozen different iterations of this speaker before we landed on this version. The new Trio6 ST6 is an incredibly precise tool but also gives you the feeling that you’ve known the monitors forever. The translation is effortless. We are overjoyed with the results and are confident you will be too.” - Sylvain Gondinet, Product Manager, Focal Professional Division
Pricing & Availability
The Focal ST6 Trio6 is due to go on sale later this month, priced at $3499£2599 including VAT / €2999. We'll be bringing you an in-depth review in an upcoming issue of Sound On Sound!
