Focal is known for their top-range speakers with undeniable qualities but, unfortunately, not for affordability.
That’s why the manufacturer decided to launch a more affordable series a couple of years ago.
It included two models, the CMS 65 and the CMS 50 equipped with 6.5” and 5” woofers respectively. A subwoofer is also available for brown noise fans.
Both models received a warm response from users, so now Focal recently launched an even smaller and less expensive speaker that benefits from all the qualities of its big brothers. The big question is did they succeed?
Small but Powerful
When we were unpacking the speakers, the first thing that surprised us was the very compact size of the CMS 40: 9.39” x 6.14” x 6.10” and about 12 lb.
In other words, these speakers are very small and can be easily transported — which is good news, particularly considering they provide the same high manufacturing quality as their big brothers.
On the other hand, they are also quite heavy — the price to pay for good quality manufacturing, I guess…
You get the same reinforced and damped aluminum housing, black powdered paint and protection grills for both drivers: a 4” woofer made out of a polyglass membrane and an aluminum/magnesium reversed-dome tweeter.
Once you comfortably set up the speakers, you can remove the protection grills and fix the tweeter phase plugs. According to the manufacturer, this improves their response.
Since Focal is generous with accessories, you’ll also find a decoupling table stand and four rubber feet in the box, as well as two height-adjustable spikes to tilt the speakers forward or backward, or even to the sides!
It’s important to mention that all CMS are magnetically shielded so you can easily place them next to a cathode screen monitor.
Regarding speaker position, Focal advises the user to keep at least 1.3 ft from the CMS 40. The rear-panel fixing points allow you to mount them on a wall or any other support.
The rear vertical connections allow you to mount the speaker directly against the wall, which is acoustically possible since the bass reflex housing is front ported.
A very good feature for home studio owners who work in a “closet.” You can use the CMS vertically, horizontally or upside down in order to keep the tweeters at the same height as your ears.
In short, the small CMS is adaptable to almost any environment — a great asset. The manufacturer states that this speaker is not very sensible to the critical acoustic environments of non-optimized rooms!
