Focal CMS-65
Twenty-three pounds of die-cast aluminum that turned a project-studio nearfield into a reference monitor.
Overview
The first thing you notice about the CMS-65 is the cabinet. It's a reinforced, damped, black-powder-coated die-cast aluminum enclosure that weighs a solid 23 lbs and measures 14.5 inches tall by 9.5 wide by 9 deep. That's an unusually serious chunk of metal for a compact nearfield aimed at the project-studio market. At $950 each, it sat in a crowded field of powered nearfields, but the design brief reads like a scaled-down version of the company's bigger professional monitors rather than a cost-reduced afterthought.
The drivers are where the Focal DNA shows. Up top is an inverted dome aluminum/magnesium tweeter mounted in an elliptical waveguide that controls directivity. Focal's own line on the material is that aluminum/magnesium offers high self-dampening, which the company credits with improved high-frequency reproduction and faster impulse response. Below it is a 6.5-inch Polyglass woofer, a thin paper cone coated with a thin layer of glass. The idea is to combine paper's self-dampening with the rigidity the glass layer adds. The biamped package supplies 100W to the woofer and 60W to the tweeter. Frequency response is 45 Hz to 28 kHz (±3 dB), with a maximum SPL of 108 dB at one meter.
The front panel is simple: power and clipping LEDs, plus a volume control that gives up to -66 dB of attenuation. The rear is where the CMS-65 earns its keep. Balanced and unbalanced inputs are provided via XLR or RCA sockets, and input sensitivity is selectable through a three-position recessed rotary selector offering -4 dBu, 0, and +10 dBv. Then come four recessed rotary selectors for EQ correction. A high-pass filter with a 12 dB/octave slope can be bypassed or set to turnover frequencies of 45, 60, or 90 Hz. A frequency-shelving option is pre-selected at 450 Hz, with +2 dB, flat, -2, -4, or -6 dB of cut or boost. A desktop notch filter centered at 160 Hz with a Q of two can be attenuated by -2, -4, or -6 dB to counteract close surface reflections. Last, a high-frequency shelving EQ pre-selected at 4.5 kHz offers +2, flat, -2, and -4 dB. That's an extensive toolkit for a monitor in this class, and the settings are recessed so they don't get nudged mid-session.
Setup matters here. The monitors ship with rubber mats for sitting on a desktop or meter bridge, and with perforated metal grilles over the tweeters for protection. The user guide recommends removing those grilles and replacing them with the supplied phase plug, a plastic ring with a central divider, using the included hook tool. Reviewers have stressed that this isn't optional. Performance changes dramatically when the grilles come off. The supplied documentation is described as simple and well-written.
In use, the CMS-65 drew high expectations and largely met them. Low frequencies came across as full and present without flabbiness or boom, tight and accurate rather than hyped. The midrange is where these monitors reportedly distinguish themselves, with crisp, well-defined clarity and stereo imaging that lets the tiniest balance and tonal shifts be picked out across a wide range of listening levels. The highs are bright and clear without harsh edges or excessive softening. Mix (June 2009, p.82) reviewed the CMS 65 as a front-ported nearfield offering power, balanced tone and adjustability. It also noted that the front-baffle standby switch mutes each speaker individually, though not totally silently, as there's a slight pop when toggling between On and Standby. That quirk is about the only complaint on record.
The EQ section proved practical in the field. One reviewer found the effects of any change instantly recognizable and was able to leave a pair flat and neutral across a variety of system applications. The CMS-65 belongs to Focal's CMS (Compact Monitoring System) line, which also included the CMS 40 and CMS 50. The CMS 40, a much smaller broadcast-oriented model at $495 list each, shares the same aluminum/magnesium inverted dome tweeter and reaches the same 28 kHz ceiling. Mix (May 2010, p.2) placed the CMS 65 alongside the CMS 50 and the ultra-compact CMS 40 in Focal's lineup. A separate Mix review of the CMS SUB described pairing the CMS 65s with Focal's companion subwoofer for the line, whose 11-inch Polyglass cone woofer is built from a layer of hollow glass spheres over a base layer. The CMS-65's own bass is tight, but a 6.5-inch driver only goes so deep, and the sub is there for when the low end needs more.
The verdict from the period press was warm. One review concluded that the CMS-65 was entering an overpopulated market and would go head to head with well-established competition. But after time away from the alternatives and a return to the Focal, the reviewer would personally choose the CMS-65 for day-to-day use without hesitation, calling it, on the strength of its clarity, in a class of its own. Anyone chasing a pair today should check that the tweeter grilles and phase plugs are present and that the recessed rear selectors still turn cleanly. The standby pop is normal behavior, not a fault.
Similar items on eBay
No exact Focal CMS-65 listings are live right now — these searches show current Focal and similar vintage audio gear on eBay:
As an eBay Partner, we earn from qualifying purchases. This helps support our independent vintage technology research.
Related Models
- Focal ALPHA-80
- Focal CMS-40
- Focal Utopia (1995-2002)
- Focal Grande Utopia (1996-2008)
- Focal SM9
- Braun AUDIO-1 (1965)
- Braun AUDIO-250 (1965)
- Magnavox Component Systems (1972)
- Acoustic Research AR (1967-1976)
- Acoustic Research 11