Designed to take its place on the terrace, in the garden or by the pool, the Focal OD Stone 8 outdoor speaker blends into the background with its pebble shape. Tropicalized and IP55-certified, it’s weather- and water-resistant, so you can stay outside all year round. Its acoustic design is based on a passive two-way architecture and a large 20 cm diameter coaxial driver. Is it perfect for setting the mood in the garden and giving rhythm to your summer evenings?
Presentation of the Focal OD Stone 8 speaker
Design
At 44cm wide and 29cm high and deep, the Focal OD Stone 8 speaker is large. However, thanks to its ingenious pebble-like design, it blends harmoniously into a natural setting. Its curved, rounded silhouette evokes a real stone, polished and sculpted by the forces of nature.
The outer surface of the Focal OD Stone 8 speaker has a textured appearance inspired by real rocks. It is crossed by a line adorned with the brand’s name, giving the speaker the appearance of a large tennis ball. Available in three shades – white, basalt and sand – the Focal OD Stone 8 speaker blends perfectly into any environment, from lush gardens to modern terraces.
Developed to withstand bad weather, the Focal OD Stone 8 speaker benefits from a polymer chassis coupled with a metal grille covering the drivers. This design offers a high degree of protection against potential knocks and hazards, such as a stray ball kicked by your children. To guarantee maximum resistance to dust and water, the Focal OD Stone 8 features multiple seals on vulnerable elements, giving it an IP55 certification. This standard ensures high protection against heavy downpours and water splashes, for example from a swimming pool or automatic sprinkler.
To ensure that its elegance lasts over time, the Focal OD Stone 8 outdoor speaker benefits from an anti-UV finish that prevents any fading or premature deterioration of the materials. This means it can remain in the garden, summer and winter alike, without risk of damage. For public or open spaces, the speaker has a coupling ball under the base to secure it to the ground and reduce the risk of theft.
Acoustic design
Having established itself as a benchmark brand in the field of living room hi-fi and home theater, Focal is now turning its attention to the music lover’s garden, with the promise of offering the same exceptional sound experience. The manufacturer has an extensive range of outdoor speakers, including Focal Littora in-wall models, Focal OD Sat 5 satellite speakers, and the Focal OD Sub 12 subwoofer. The Focal OD Stone 8 takes advantage of this experience, integrating cutting-edge acoustic technologies with a more natural aesthetic than ever, thanks to its pebble shape.
Read: Focal OD Sat 5 + Focal OD Sub 12 review
Inside this mineral camouflage, the Focal OD Stone 8 speaker adopts a two-way design. Its real strength lies in the use of a large 7.9″ coaxial driver. Its Iris IP cone has been specifically developed to withstand humidity and extreme weather conditions. Thanks to its flexible surround and large internal charge volume, this driver delivers good bass while maintaining a fully sealed design to cope with rain and humidity. At the center of the driver is a 1″ tweeter. This is an inverted-dome tweeter with an aluminum “M” profile, a recipe that has made the brand’s hi-fi speakers famous for the clarity it brings to listening experience.
Thanks to this design, the Focal OD Stone 8 offers an extended frequency response, ranging from 45Hz to 28kHz, which is an extremely wide range for an outdoor speaker. As a result, it’s able to offer good bass reproduction, a real tour de force in a spacious environment like a garden. What’s more, its power handling of 75W RMS into 8 ohms and 150W peak means it can effectively bring sound to an entire patio and cover a large area of the garden. For larger spaces, where the distance to the amplifier can exceed several hundred meters, or to power numerous speakers, the Focal OD Stone 8 can also be operated at 70 and 100V. It then delivers 40W RMS power.
Installing the Focal OD Stone 8 speakers
The Focal OD Stone 8 speaker is a passive model requiring an amplifier to operate. This should be placed inside your home or on a patio, out of the reach of water and moisture. For ease of control, we recommend using a connected amp to control the music directly from the garden. For this test, we opted for the WiiM Amp and Denon DRA-900H WiFi amplifiers. Using their dedicated mobile app, you can turn on the amplifier, control the music and adjust the volume without even leaving the pool. The only condition is that you stay within the perimeter covered by your home WiFi network. If necessary, you can use a repeater like the Netgear Orbi 970 to extend network coverage.
Another constraint is the need to run cables into the house to link the amplifier to the speakers. Depending on the configuration, this may involve digging a few small trenches. For wiring, the speaker incorporates a short 5-conductor cable: blue, white, red, gray and green. For connection to a hi-fi amplifier, connect the red (+ terminal) and green (- terminal) wires. The blue (+) and white (-) wires are used to connect to a 70 or 100V amplifier. When used with an 8-ohm amplifier, these wires must also be connected to each other to supply the tweeter with power. To protect the connections, Focal supplies watertight plastic caps.
Listening impressions
The Focal OD Stone 8 speaker impressed us with its ability to deliver powerful, generous bass outdoors, even more so when the volume was turned up. We recommend placing it against a wall, low wall or tree to enhance the power of the lows and create a more enveloping sound experience. The bass remains strong and impactful up to ten meters from the speakers, ideal for a patio or swimming pool. For larger gardens, we recommend the addition of a subwoofer such as the Focal OD Sub 12 for a more uniform sound and real physical sensations.
The Focal OD Stone 8 also shone with its very low directivity, offering an even sound diffusion over a wide area, even when used on its own. Whatever our position in relation to the speaker, the music was perceived in the same way. Even at 180° to the sides, the sound remained clear and natural, ensuring that everyone around the pool or barbecue enjoyed optimum sound quality. Used as a pair, the stereo cutout is not very pronounced, in favor of a wider diffusion to cover a larger area.
The French manufacturer’s signature sound was faithfully reproduced by these outdoor models, with crystal-clear audio. Voices, in particular, stood out for their clarity and presence. They were well articulated and benefited from a natural texture that made them authentic and lively. The highs were luminous, ensuring that many details could be perceived, such as the plucking of guitar strings or the twinkling of cymbals. The different registers were harmoniously matched, ensuring constant balance, even at high volume.
Who are the Focal OD Stone 8 speakers for?
The Focal OD Stone 8 outdoor speakers are an excellent alternative to traditional Bluetooth speakers for enjoying high-quality sound outdoors and without constraint, thanks to their tropicalized design allowing them to be left constantly in the garden. Whether you’re organizing parties, outdoor receptions or simply relaxing by the pool, these speakers will create the perfect atmosphere with incomparable sound quality.
Conclusion
With the Focal OD Stone 8 speaker, the French manufacturer delivers a model that makes a statement both in terms of its size and its outdoor musical performance. Without being completely hidden like the Focal OD Sat 5 satellites, the Focal OD Stone 8 manages to blend harmoniously into any outdoor setting thanks to its pebble shape and mineral texture. Installation requires a certain amount of planning, particularly in terms of wiring, but once in place, it ensures an immersive musical experience thanks to its extensive sound coverage, enabling you to transform your garden into a true concert space. For larger spaces, you can use them as a pair and complete the system with the Focal OD Sub 12 subwoofer for real physical sensations.
We liked:
- The pebble shape
- The extensive diffusion
- The clear sound
- The generous bass (up to 10m from the speaker)
We would have liked:
- A more compact size
- Louder bass from a distance (perhaps impossible outdoors?)
- More sunshine so we could enjoy them for longer
