Focal Professional CMS50 Studio Monitors

Reviews for Focal Professional CMS50 Studio Monitors

Customer Reviews and Ratings

4.5 out of 5 stars

Based on 9 reviews

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Superb, professional-standard speakers

    • Written by from San Francisco

    These are wonderful speakers, designed for what is known as near field monitoring (for example, when working on sound recording/editing and having the speakers placed close to the listening position, between 1m and 3m away.
    They are powered by their own built-in amps and are not designed to be used with a receiver, which probably explains one of the other reviewer's negative comments.
    Rather, these speakers work superbly when connected to something like the Apogee Duet Firewire interface. Connect the Duet to your Mac and connect these speakers to the Duet and that's all you need for some magnificent sound.
    In small rooms, they can be used for fantastic quality replay of audio files, with an outstanding quality high enough to reveal the weaknesses of most compressed music, while doing full justice to uncompressed or Lossless sounds. These speakers are for ears that appreciate such differences. For others, they would be overkill.
    Build is top class. Switches on the rear allow for custom adjustments to suit the acoustic characteristics of any listening room.
    If you are looking for quality and have been considering similar studio speakers (say, the Adam A7), I give these my highest recommendation.

    182 of 193 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Nearly perfect desktop monitors

    • Written by from Brookfield

    With a high quality DAC, these professional near-field monitors deliver non-fatiguing superb low-level detail and tight high-quality mid-bass and for their size better than expected bass.

    Very adjustable, the 160 hz notch eliminates the mid bass boom common with desktop use and with front gain knobs on both speakers, the stereo image can be dialed in just right.

    The decoupling pad and spikes are well done. Dusted my BM5A monitors. Very musical and involving, but with detail consistent with their mixing monitor design. Don't know of any similar sized monitor at this price that can compete. Highly recommend.

    144 of 156 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    You won't believe the sound!

    • Written by from MEMPHIS

    I bought these speakers to compliment my 24" imac and was surprised at the shallow sound and how much background noise they generated for $1,000.00. After some research, I purchased a Benchmark DAC to interface between my Imac and the Focals, and I was amazed at the new sound quality. There is no background noise regardless of volume, and the effect is like being at a live performance. Apple should offer the Benchmark DAC as an additional product to upgrade your listening experience. Believe me, you will have a sound system better than anything costing several times as much, with the Itunes flexibility of control. Of course, your music library needs to be in the Apple lossless format.

    124 of 141 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Focal Professional - CMS 50 Monitors

    • Written by from Boynton Beach

    I've had many 'professional 'products on my watch. The Focal CMS 50's are truly what they claim to be. As uncolored and clear as they come. Simply Outrageous no matter the Volume or type of music. On my uncompressed Albums I get music I simply never heard before. The highs are brilliant and the lows are resonant and not muddy. I am running them through a MacBook Pro 17 with the Duet by Apogee running Block between the two. A more clear, majestic soundstage is simply not be had at this low price, for what you get. These are BMW's in a Chevy world. They earn my hearty Recommendation for purchase if you have Uncompressed music on your iTunes. The normal fare from the store sounds 'great', but it's the uncompressed that really will 'Blow You Away'. Buy them if you have the green and won't settle for the Ordinary! You will have No Regrets! Oh, I hooked them up with 1 Mono RCA cable each..

    92 of 95 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great Choice

    • Written by from Hockley

    The nice thing about buying studio monitors, especially Focal studio monitors, is that you get a sound that is more true and natural than anything you would get out of typical consumer speakers. Theses are expensive but they produce great sound. If Focal is out of your budget look at JBL, M-Audio, or Alesis Studio Monitors.

    60 of 67 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Another Focal makes you bite the dust ;)

    • Written by

    Amazing compact monitors for the home studio!!
    I was blowned compared to the compact monitors that I used before (Event, Genelec) MUCH BETTER!!!!
    Not tiring, very true sound, and uncomparable finish

    JUST BUY IT ;)

    66 of 88 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    I am at a loss for words

    • Written by from FAYETTEVILLE

    I am a jewelry designer & by no means a professional audio engineer. I must concentrate very deeply on the work that I do. I am addicted to classical music, opera & I also like to listen to a verity of world music. Since I bought these speakers I am more relaxed & I can do my jewelry much better.

    They will not sound well connected to the earphone jack of my IMAC but with my digital analog converter these speakers produce sound that lends to realism. Sometimes it sounds like live musicians are preforming next to me in my small studio.

    They may be pricy, however, you get what you pay for in anything you buy & the Focal-CMS 50 speakers are worth every dollar I spent on them.

    31 of 33 people found this useful

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  • 3.0 out of 5 stars

    Cool for little guys

    • Written by from Chestnut Hill

    I am spoiled, having grown up in the era where speakers were part of the living room decor in their elegant walnut cabinets and big smooth sound. The behemoths were capable of filling a room with sound with little effort, producing solid bass down to 32Hz, in the case of my speakers (I still have them). Most of these behemoths were hand made in either Hope, AR or Northridge, CA. These were the speakers that set the standards for movie and audio mastering.

    Most of these old speakers lasted so long that there are replacement parts readily available, something that can't be said in a throw away generation.

    Most of the new "mini monitors" are very directional, or as my friend would say "tinny". I found the detail in these speakers to be remarkable, yea, they have no bass line and no, they don't come close to the old Altec Monitors with the 811b sectoral horns, but the aren't half bad for inexpensive little guys. They are for near field monitoring, the farther away you get, the more directional they sound.

    All in all, if you're on a budget, they ain't half bad in near field.

    23 of 57 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    GOOD, BUT KINDA EXPENSIVE

    • Written by from West Linn

    These are good speakers, I use them with my TV. They have very impressive sound, but they are not very sharp. They don't have enough treble. I had to buy a Harman/Kardon receiver to fix the treble problem. If you don't plan to use them with a receiver, I wouldn't recommend them. They look nice, but take up a lot of space, and collect A LOT of dust.

    Overall, 7/10

    20 of 156 people found this useful

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