Dynaudio Focus 10 Update

    Audio: Listen to this article.

I reviewed the Dynaudio Focus 10 in November 2022, and at that time I loved what I heard. I concluded:

A streamer, DAC, preamp, amp, and loudspeaker in the same chassis, is a compelling solution on its own. Add to that the engineering prowess, reputation, and support from Dynaudio, and you have a sonic solution that's tough to top. The Focus 10 features classic Dynaudio aesthetic lines, but even more importantly contains an "engine" capable of very high performance. From the Pascal amps, proven for years in professional reference monitors, to the Stream810 module, to the custom DSP engine, to the dual room correction options, including Dirac Live, the real secret sauce of the Focus 10 is hidden under the hood. 

I enjoyed the Focus 10 on stands in my main listening area and on my desktop. I enthusiastically employed both the Dynaudio room optimization DSP and Dirac live DSP, with great success. Music filled my listening room, presenting an image much larger than I thought possible through these speakers, but not inappropriately so. This was not a synthetically large image, it was a beautiful soundstage on which my favorite artists performed my favorite tracks. Silky smooth sound, controlled bass, and a mid range that delighted me all day, every day. I highly recommend the Dynaudio Focus 10 active loudspeakers. Music, speakers, and fun, without the mess.

Recently, I had good reasons to fire up the Focus 10 speakers and take them for another spin. First, I received a Dynaudio Sub 6 subwoofer that works very well with the Focus 10. Second, Dynaudio updated the Focus series firmware to version 1.2.107, and this update contains some huge improvements. Let’s dig in.

First, the Dynaudio Sub 6. I’m sure this sub could integrate into any system very well, but with a Dynaudio system, it integrates perfectly and without any work. The Sub 6 features powerful DSP, a 500W amp, and two newly designed, mostly aluminum woofers.

The Sub 6 features presets designed to work perfectly with 28 existing Dynaudio loudspeaker models. The Focus 10, 30, and 50 aren’t among those however. This is because the Focus 10/30/50 controls the subwoofer. Given that I’m using the Focus 10, I set the Sub 6 to its defaults and never touched the sub again.

These presets and subwoofer control via the loudspeaker really do it for me. Subwoofers are like my kryptonite. I struggle to understand them and much prefer to bypass any controls on a subwoofer in favor of controlling everything with external DSP. My 12 channel system controls it all via minimum phase convolution filters. This Focus 10 based system controls it all via the loudspeaker in a somewhat similar way to my 12 channel system.

New Firmware

The new Dynaudio Focus series firmware, version 1.2.107, is major. Here are the broad strokes.

• Advanced Subwoofer Management
• Dirac Live Subwoofer support
• IP Control support
• Tidal MAX support
• Bug fixes

I have to give a big tip of my cap to the teams at Dynaudio USA and Dynaudio in Denmark for their timely, thorough, and well-reasoned responses to an initial draft article I sent prior to publication. I’d completed new measurements of the system, engaged the new presets, done all my listening tests and written this article. As is the standard practice here at Audiophile Style, I sent the Dynaudio team my draft and waited for the go ahead to publish. Fortunately, the team responded with several items I should address prior to listening one more time, followed it up with a helpful phone call, and one last round of questions and answers via email.

The advanced subwoofer management features auto or manual distance compensation (not measurement), presets, latency, polarity, and subwoofer output gain. The speakers don’t have the capability to automatically measure distance, but once the distances between the listening position and speakers are entered manually, the delay, phase, and gain are adjusted automatically.

The BIG DEAL for me is Dirac Live subwoofer support. Having previously added the speaker distances in the Dynaudio app, I enabled the subwoofer in the same app, and selected Sub 6 as my preset. The app told me to perform a factory reset of the Sub 6, and that’s it. I didn’t have to attempt manual EQ or phase adjustments on the physical subwoofer.

Then, I fired up Dirac Live on my MacBook Pro, connected my Earthworks M30 measurement microphone, and ran some measurements via the Dirac wizard driven software. An M30 isn’t required, but as I already own one for my 12 channel system, it made sense to use the best microphone I have. I whipped through the wizard, looked at the proposed Dirac DSP correction, named it and exported it to the Focus 10 speakers.

I didn’t do anything that required knowledge of DSP or room correction. This is the beauty of Dirac. The export process is smooth as silk. When I clicked export, the Dirac filter transferred to the loudspeakers automatically (the actually process involves the measurements being uploaded to the Dirac servers for creation of the correction file(s), which is sent back down to the computer and transferred to the Focus 10 over the local network. It all happens in a matter of seconds.). No USB stick or SD card or similar manual method required.

I opened the Dynaudio app, saw the new preset for the Dirac filter, selected it, and I was done. The Focus 10 and Sub 6 were automatically configured for perfect integration and room correction for my listening position. Having done this in the past, I knew that the correction Dirac showed me was going to be the one I wanted. However, those more adventurous can create several filter presets and export them to the Focus speakers. Switching is as easy as selecting them in the Dynaudio app.

I’d been waiting for this firmware update for quite a while and I’m happy to report it was worth the wait.

I immediately fired up JPLAY for iOS on my iPad and played some Pearl Jam on the new 2.1 system. No, not Do the Evolution or Lukin, but something a bit softer with solid foundational bass. I put on the song Man of the Hour, from the soundtrack to the film Big Fish. Director Tim Burton asked the band to create a song for the movie, and Man of the Hour is it.

Listening to Man of the Hour, the Sub 6 bass was seriously dreamy and integrated with the Focus 10 perfectly. A couple seconds into the track Jeff Ament plucked his bass and my body was at ease. There’s something about deep, powerful bass, even when it’s foundational rather than chest punching, that really does it for me.

Initially what I heard when enabling and disabling Dirac, was a large difference in bass. This is where the team at Dynaudio really helped me, asking me to make sure I had the settings for the built-in bass management set correctly and all the speaker distance measurements in place. Once I’d done this, the sonic difference between Dirac and no Dirac was much closer.

In these experiments, enabling and disabling Dirac, I and heard some differences in the very bottom end of the bass. Jeff Ament’s bass line at the beginning of Man of the Hour was fuller in the deepest regions when Dirac was enabled. My guess is this is a result of the Dirac filter’s +0.5 dB at the lowest frequencies. I could’ve adjusted this manually, but I went with the Dirac recommendations, as this is a feature update article, not a full Dirac review.

The Sub 6 is obviously capable of great bass with or without Dirac. But one beauty of Dirac is that I had great very deep bass without attempting to manually set anything up. Configuring subwoofers via the back panels is less than desirable in my opinion, especially if one is doing it alone. The Dynaudio app enables subwoofer output gain, but not all the other settings available on the back of the Sub 6. Again, Dirac does it for you. On the other hand, setting up a microphone and taking measurements, along with the added cost of Dirac, is a bridge too far for some people, and I completely understand why. We are all comfortable with different aspects of this wonderful hobby. There’s really no right or wrong way to enjoy HiFi.

Speaking of enabling and disabling Dirac, another beauty of this DSP is the ability to enable and disable it with the tap of a finger whenever one wants. Some people may like it only for certain albums or types of music. Just tap a finger and it’s enabled or disabled. This is very different from adding a tube amp for a little bloom, but not wanting that bloom on every album. With DSP there’s no plugging or unplugging. I personally like it on everything, but I understand not everyone shares my taste. In addition, with the new Dynaudio subwoofer management, the subwoofer level can be adjusted from the listening position with the swipe of a finger. Very convenient.

Circling back, from my previous Focus 10 review, to Jose James album Yesterday I had the Blues, specifically the track Good Morning Heartache. I previously wrote:

Playing music such as Jose James's cover of Good Morning Heartache, provides a perfect example of adequate, appropriate, and controlled bass. On my main Wilson Alexia V speakers, the bass on this track is a bit too much for my room. Without room correction, I can't listen to this track. Through the Focus 10, the bass wasn't as deep or room filling, to be expected, but it was tight and rolled off very well at the lower end of the speaker's capabilities.

Now, with the Sub 6 and Dirac Live subwoofer support, I tapped play on this album and sat back for a listen. Just as I thought would happen, the bass was much better and deeper with the Sub 6 (versus only the Focus 10) and more controlled with Dirac Live than without Dirac live. Not night and day different, because the Dynaudio bass management is quite capable, but better with Dirac. I could hear the entire track, as produced in the studio, rather than only the upper frequency portion supported by the Focus 10. In addition, the bass offload enables the Focus 10 to play at louder levels without an issue because the more difficult frequencies are pushed to the Sub 6. It’s a win-win all around.

This track is a tough one in my room. I need either limited frequency speakers, such as the Focus 10, or room correction and a full range system such as the Focus 10 and Sub 6, 2.1 system. This test was passed with flying colors by the Dynaudio Focus 10, Sub 6, Dynaudio subwoofer management, Dirac, and the new firmware upgrade that enabled the system to integrate together flawlessly. I should also note that this time around, I connected the Focus 10 and Sub 6 using Shunyata power cables to the Shunyata Gemini4, rather than using stock cabling and connecting it to the wall. This Shunyata system is what I use for my desktop system, but I see every reason in the world to use it with active speakers in a main system as well. I’d just never thought of using it this way previously (insert head-slap emoji here :~)).

Another big tip of the cap to Dynaudio for creating systems with advanced technologies that make a real difference. Even a novice can hear the improvement with Dirac and Focus 10 only, the improvement when Dirac is engaged with a Sub integrated into the system, and without Dirac, when the system is configured using the new subwoofer management features in firmware version 1.2.107. This isn’t the difference between DSD1024 and DSD 2048 (minuscule). This is a big deal with huge benefits.

    Product Information:

•     Dynaudio Focus 10 Active Loudspeakers $5,500     
•     Dynaudio Focus Brochure     
•     Dynaudio Focus Manual     

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