Focal has been making some radical changes to its entry-level loudspeakers. The 26-model Chorus V range has replaced the 54 models of the Chorus S and Cobalt S ranges. That's still a lot of speakers. So, in order not to baffle its potential customers, France's biggest speaker maker has divided Chorus V in two, creating the entry-level 700V range and the 800V ‘affordable luxury' alternative.
The Chorus 826 V is the penultimate speaker in the 800 V range, sitting below the 836 V (which has an extra bass unit) and above the 816 V floorstander and 806 V and 807 V standmounts (pricing starts at $1299 per pair for the 806 V). The 826 V is a three-way with a pair of 165mm bass units, a matching midrange driver and a 25mm aluminium and magnesium tweeter. Unlike previous Chorii, both cabinet and drive units are built in-house, and the tweeter drive unit (dubbed with the mystery acronym TNV) is housed in a very attractive casting.
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Curiously, this speaker no longer uses the ‘W' sandwich-coned units of earlier models. Instead, the new Chorus V range uses drivers made of a polyglass skin over a foam core. Given that the W glass cone has been at the core of
Focal drivers for so long, this is slightly surprising. However, we are told that the new V2 polyglass cones are subjectively better sounding than the W cones used in the preceding Chorus range.
The most immediately striking thing about the 800V range is the style. This was achieved with the assistance of Paris based designers Pineau & Le Porcher, who have used black acrylic for the wrap of top, front baffle and rear, and combined this with angled side cheeks finished in ‘Moka' or ‘Ebony' veneers. These look very luxurious in the flesh, especially the dark brown Moka. The more affordable 700 V range is available in only one finish (dubbed Amati) and does not feature the polished black acrylic or cast alloy base of the floorstanding 800 Vs.
It's not all styling either. The angled sides of the box are reflected inside to remove one set of parallel surfaces and reduce standing waves. Another more drastic design revision over previous ranges is the inclusion of significantly greater port area. Having listened to alternative port placements, the engineers at Focal went back to the drawing board and looked at the Reynolds coefficient – this states that when the airflow in a port exceeds six metres per second, it effectively becomes sealed. In the original Chorus range, this airflow speed was reached at only three watts input, which meant that power handling was compromised. By combining front and down firing ports in the floorstanding 800V models and increasing vent diameters, Focal has managed to keep the port working up to 30 watts input. This increases the contribution that the port makes to the bass by up to 6dB.
The 826 V features a cast alloy plinth that raises the cabinet's base to allow airflow from the lower reflex port. This plinth incorporates a V shape and this is reflected in the grille top, should you leave the latter on. The grille certainly looks better than a stack of drive units and enhances the overall aesthetic of the speaker by making it look slimmer than previous models.
