Focal are famous for their inverted dome tweeters used by a whole raft of other manufacturers (including Neat and Wilson Audio). They have, however, kept their beryllium (that's what the 'Be' stands for) ones for themselves. First brought to the market in their flagship 'Utopia" range, the beryllium tweeter has now percolated into the latest Electra range. In fact quite a lot of the Utopia technology has found its way into these comparatively affordable loudspeakers, with a very similar looking low mass sandwich coned bass / mid driver, not to mention some of the Utopia styling cues.

For straightforward hi-fi duties the range kicks off with the £2150 Electra 1007 Be stand-mount (pictured right). At £3915, there is the 1027 Be floor stander shown below the 1007. There is a matching centre speaker and sub-woofer for a/v use. The new uber electra is the 1037 be pictured above.

All are beautifully finished and elegantly styled with thick side cheeks that must be wood veneered but look like solid wood. The colour choices are a honey colour (classic) and dark red stain (signature). Beyond that, there is oodles of gloss black with a slightly metallic twinkle and stainless steel. It all looks sufficiently understated to make a them look like potentially timeless designs. There is a cover for the tweeter (held on magnetically) and some snap-in covers for the bass / mid drivers. They sound best with the covers removed and look attractive either way. The covers will give some peace of mind should you have small inquisitive fingers to worry about.

So do they sound any good?

Surprisingly so. We got our hands on the 1007 stand-mounts first and were impressed by their lack of congestion, the dynamics, refinement and resolution. With midrange Naim electronics, they turned our previous cable choice (Nordost) on its head, but, once we had got a handle on them, they have continued to impress on all types of music and in a variety of environments. In fact, in our slightly difficult listening room, they actually sounded better than the the considerably more expensive Micro and Diva Utopias. We have heard the Micro Utopias sound blindingly good (on similar electronics) in other environments, so this is a comment on our room but it does show that context is everything when making judgements.

On the subject of judgements, the fairly pricey (£550 in matt black) matching stands for the 1007 have come in for some criticism. We initially tried the 1007's on the Something Solid XF, and the Focal stand won hands down on sound quality. After further experimentation, the Partington Dreadnought Broadside (almost fully filled with dry sand) has turned out to be the best match so far. It's an excellent visual match and fairly modestly priced to boot.

Having been so impressed by the 1007's, moving on to the 1027 floor standers generated anticipation and trepidation in equal measure. For starters, they look stunning. After years of hearing products that promise much but deliver little, we recognise this as a bad sign! On top of that, we have quite often found the stand-mount version of a design to show some real sonic advantages over the floor-standing one. In fairness, this is usually more true of tower speakers that have a filled chamber at the bottom in lieu of the stand. In this instance, the whole box is 'active', with the lower two bass drivers taking over below 350 Hz.

Meaty beaty, big and bouncy? Only in the nicest possible way. The bass on the 1027s is extended but it is also very well timed, exceedingly, tuneful and very well matched to the rest of the speakers character. In fact far from being lumbering and weighty they are agile, open and nimble but with a bass that can define acoustics and offer real wallop when required. The amount of mid-range information actually seems slightly greater than with the 1007 and the image scale even larger. Add in the extra resolution in the bass and you have a very fine loudspeaker suited to medium to large sized rooms - and one that sounds more natural and transparent the more running-in it gets.

Having come to understand the 1027s, the newest model, the £6395 1037 be, had something of a mountain to climb. Yet again, the strengths are where you might least expect them (in the mid band and top) although the bass is extremely solid and rather more extended. These are the most electrostatic-like versions of a range that has many of the virtues that people attribute to this alternative technology.

Across the range there is a lightness of touch and lack of overhang that brings out the phrasing and intonation of playing. It is not a percussive false boogie factor here, but a genuine ability to allow the ends of notes to be as abrupt or as gently decaying a the musician intended. Certainly they 'rock' but they can convey a hell of a lot more than that.

Our very first buyer for the 1037s has traded up from 1027s and is using a 25 watt valve amplifier with irritating success, so these are not difficult speakers to drive! The 1007, 1027 and 1037 Be models are musical and involving with a willingness to get behind any sort of music that you care to throw at them. If that does not make them 'short list' material then I don't know what does.

Arcam, Audio Technica, Creek, Chord Company, Eichmann, Dynavector, Epos, Focal / JM Labs, Grado headphones, Harbeth,

Isoblue (and special branch), Kudos Audio, Lyngdorf, Lyra, Michell Engineering, Naim Audio, Neat Acoustics, Nordost, Origin Live, Ortofon, Nottingham Analogue, Partington, Primare, Rega, Roksan, Sim2, Graham Slee, Shahinian, Something Solid, Stands Unique, Stax Earspeakers, Sumiko, Trichord, Wireworld, Wyrewizard

Signals hi-fi for grown-ups. suppliers and installers of music hi-fi audio stereo system, systems and a/v av products to all areas of Suffolk,North Essex, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 01473 655171

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