Focal Sphear £100 - Oslo Hi

What Hi-Fi?©
2015/11
United Kingdom / Royaume-Uni
Page 1/1
Focal Sphear £100
French hi-fi company Focal spent two years
developing their debut in-ear headphones. They
certainly seem to have given plenty of careful
thought to the Sphears’ design. The in-line
remote and mic button is discreetly hidden in
the logo in the cable’s Y-section, and the Focal
logo on the buds acts as the bass reflex port.
The buds’ stainless steel build is of high
quality. The sleek design is ideal for keeping the
buds secure. Which is a good thing, as you won’t
want to stop listening to the Sphears – they
sound wonderful. The lilting piano notes in the
Amélie soundtrack are fluid and weighty, with
each clunk and harmonics delivered clearly.
Lenny Kravitz’s Are You Gonna Go My Way is
packed with heavy guitars and attacking drums.
Layers of textures are laid bare. It’s a big sound,
punchy, agile and solid.
Our only criticism is that the Sphears can
sound a little polite. That rawness to Alice in
Chain’s Unplugged performance isn’t fully
conveyed. Rivals like Sennheiser’s Momentum
M2 IEis are a tad livelier and more expressive.
It’s a minor worry in an accomplished
performance, though. We’d spend £100.
Rating ★★★★ ★
FOR Wonderfully subtle, balanced and weighty sound;
rich bass; clear with voices; classy, comfortable, secure
AGAINST Could be a touch more expressive
VERDICT A gorgeous and engaging pair of in-ears
www.whathifi.com
Reproduced from November 2015
Sélectionné par / Selected by Focal-JMlab - Tel : (+33) 04 77 43 57 00 - Fax : (+33) 04 77 37 65 87 - www.focal.com