Terry, you have one of the best review platforms on youtube, both video and the review content itself. It is clear that this takes a lot of planning and work. And the price for the viewer is really good, FREE! Thank you.
Thank God for quality recordings of Tainted Love jazzy cover, the fabulous Rossini aria, and the magnificent Freya. These recordings revealed the excellent attributes of the Chora 806. Simultaneously transparent, yet warm and full body sound. This speaker is impressive for it's price. I look forward to a shootout sound demo with quality recordings. Thanks Terry.
To be honest I haven't got time to do one of those as that is a weeks work to do right and I have got a ton of other products to review with manufacturers shouting at me as I have taken so long on this mega test. Its been time consuming like you wouldn't believe
I don't know what to think about these, if they sound this impressive and clear playing through youtube on RF-25's in two channel, I am seriously interested in hearing a set of these in person. I love this Mega Test series. I think this series may end up costing me a lot of money by the time I finish it. Thanks for igniting a curiosity about what COULD a system sound like. Man.... back to Natural Sound to see what they have on demo.
I've watch many of sound test videos and researched speakers over the years. This guy, (Terry Ellis) is one of the best with his presentation and information provided. Excellent job. Got allot of good out of this. Thanks.
The mid to high balance was superb...the best so far. Actually, the only ones that made the system shine. However, the bloated bass did my head in. I'm guessing it was at around 60-80hz? It was a little over emphasised. Definitely the leader
@@PursuitPerfectSystem I love your reviews. If you're ever in Croatia, let me know. In all honesty, I respect your opinion and your videos because we get a chance to hear them. If you're interested, I'll send you a photo of my system that's currently not setup because I just moved to Zagreb from Sydney. Cheers buddy
Truly an amazing speaker, nothing matches it in it's price range in terms of openness, expressiveness and great mid and bass harmony. Don't think, just buy it.
Great you love the speaker but there is very stiff competition at this price point and maybe check my group test conclusion ruclips.net/video/ZlWShSH5RRs/видео.html
I got my Focal chora 806 X Display model from Ebay He wanted £300 I asked would you Take £250 he say meet me half way I paid £265 plus free Delivery at This last Christmas thank you for taking time to text me bk
I like this videos, but even more, I love how you use technology like Dirac to get the best out of any system. For many decades, audiophiles were totally against anything that could change the sound, unless it was with expensive cables. That’s one of the reasons why so many amplifiers don’t have any sort of tone control, and if it was true that some had a negative effect on quality just by not being bypassed, when a room takes the bass response away, no one’s going to solve several dB of attenuation with cables, that’s for sure. I wish more people in audio would talk about it and use it, as it could make more brands include Dirac and other corrections systems (or at the very least, a decent parametric EQ) on stereo amplifiers. DSP is not a substitute for good acoustics, but good acoustics aren’t always easy (or even possible) to obtain on certain rooms due to several reasons (changing to another house isn’t always an option 😉). A terrible loudspeaker won’t turn into a great one with DSP, no matter what, but all of them will benefit from room correction when done properly. Yes, it takes knowledge and experience to get the best results, but we’ve seen audiophiles pursuing better sound by other means that also implied some dedication, so I feel that anyone who’s missing this opportunity is missing more enjoyment from the music they love. I’d favor no EQ/DSP at all when we’re talking about the “raw” characteristics of any loudspeaker or audio equipment, although it’s also good to know how a particular loudspeaker reacts to EQ (which is the best case scenario for anyone who ends up buying it). Keep the great work. 👍 Thanks.
I've just bought a pair of these partially on the strength of your review - thanks so much for the group test, they're so helpful. At the moment they'll be powered by an old Cambridge Audio Azur 640C;and Yaamaha WXA 50 streamer. Is it worth upgrading the amp?
Fantastic, informative video, as are all the others which I have now watched in this match up comparison. I’m living in Thailand for a little while and am restricted to what I can get (without paying an extortionate price) But I can but a pair of these Focal 806’s in light wood and cream for a reasonable price, and am wondering how they would work with a Quad Artera Solus Play which I can also buy here …… any advice /opinion from anyone would be greatly appreciated, cheers 🙏🏼✌
I know this sound demo is three years old now but I always look forward to them because they're so well done. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna pull the trigger on the Martin Logan XT B100's but the last I checked Focal was discontinuing the Focal Chora 806 and were selling them for $600 in the US. That's a hard deal to pass up particularly when that makes them $1000 cheaper than the B100's. I love the looks of both speakers and that's important to me as well. Thanks for all you do.
They sound a bit trashy like there's too much mid on certain songs. Not as detailed as the B&W 606 but i guess some will prefer this as everyone's opinions are different. Them B&W 606s sounded awesome. Great channel and great reviews 👍
Focal needs good quailty class A or tubes on the warmer side to not sound harsh with their tweeters. And forget about lesser quality recordings 😄. You need to spend serious on equipment if you choose Focal. But they can sound spectacular. Its a challange though.
I A/B'd these and the B&Ws and went with the focals . smoother , better soundscape , more detail . the b&w were brighter but thinner and less revealing . build quality on the french focals was also better
trashy? it blows the b&w away, much easier to place as well. the mid range you are hearing is on a youtube video . b&w sound thin almost like a chinese copy of what someone thinks focal sounds like. im talking in real life not on youtube.
My source is a fixed point for my reviews, I built the source and totally manage it so know how it sounds and it allows me to do things an Auralic wouldn't which would be very limiting to my work flow, especially doing sound recordings.
Hi Pursuit Perfect System! Thanks for your great review. I have a pair of Focal Chora 806 in white cream. They are great speakers but a bit too much forward with mids in my place. I paired it with an Class D smsl amp. i would like to pair them with a more laidback amp ( kind of v curve) for now and i'm ready to upgrade. I was thinking about the denon pma 600 which is laidback but maybe too much. Which amps do you recommend in order to get a less forward and less mid tone sound in the 400-600 euros range without loosing to much the clean tigh bass. even if i have a subwoofer to compensate a bit. Denon, Yamaha, Cambridge, others? Small tube amp? a softer Dac? Thank you so much for your reply. Musically.
I use a Keces E40 with good results on my Focal 807Ws. It's small, I like it better than a Rega Brio and it has a full and well defined bass...within the sound limits of power and loudness. If you play at loud levels, you may have to move up to something with higher power but maybe not. Rega and Cambridge are also spoken highly of but I found the Keces to sound much like my Hegel h160 within its limits. On the Focals, I play mainly between 10 to 11:30 position. A bit higher on my Dali Opticon 1s but it will be stable to about 2:30 to 3 pm position depending on how much current a speaker needs from it. At that point it is way above the volume I listen to on any speaker I have. It will be sufficiently resolving, the treble extends but some amps give more extension, I do not fell I miss anything but the bass and mids are fantastic, IMO. I am looking at the Focals myself for a bit smaller option to the 807w without losing out on SQ. I think the 807W is a better speaker but I want a smaller package, even if a couple of inches/cm. Hope that helps. I like the little integrated so much I bought another even after considering an Exposure 2510. Will sell the Hegel which is a great amp but 40 lbs...I'm getting older.
@@nc3419 Thank you for your experience! i didn't know this nice product. How does it sound regarding mids and high mids? i looking for a laidback amplifier to tame their forwardness in mids and high mids. it seems that it does not provide tone control so i will need external one. but if it sounds like an Hegel h160 in 30-40 watts range, i think you gave me a nice proposal cause i don't play music loud! thank you!
@@piktosonik7669 You can read its review on Soundnews. I like it alot. In my experience, it drove Focal 807Ws really well, MA Silver 100 6th Ed really well, both to very load levels. I didnt keep the 100s as they could get tiring but they were exciting. Too dynamic as I would constantly be adjusting volume at night watching movies. But I did like those more than what I found critical. Only Dali Menuet SE the Keces drove it well enough but would get hot, too much IMO as the impedance dropped well below 4 ohms over much of the lower freq range BUT do very well with Dali Opticon 1s I purchased in Menuets place. No issues with too much heat and those are 4 ohm loads. Also, SE version too refined and cut out alot of detail even though they were more resolving as well as smaller sounding. That to me was counter-productive. Didn't do any better with the Hegel in regards to detail. The Keces has driven alot of speakers really well including a pair of 6 ohm Triangle Plaisir Zetas (like the Color series) without issue. I don't think there would be any issue driving most speakers as long as they they stay at or above 4 ohms or don't need alot of power to get the bass playing like some inefficient speakers or large floorstanders may require. Supposedly as a decent MM input as well as usb but I only use 1 or the 2 inputs with a dac for movies and music with a CD6006 as a transport. Plenty of detail and good resolution. For the price, it isn't cheap but doesn't sound cheap like alot of other products where the upper mids scream at you or has a flat stage. It has body, good depth and width as well. Bass is not flabby like MF 2msi I tried or flat 2D sounding like an Emotiva I tried. That's my experience. Another seemingly good amp that seems to be discounted now is the Rega elex-r which does give about a third more power. I also considered that myself but ended up buying another Keces e40 someone had NIB...just couldn't pass that up. There's better, but at the price and size? I don't think so. It's so tiny but capable, within its limits. Good luck and happy listening.
@@nc3419 thank you for this "review" from this amp and your experience with it! Very instructive. I'm sure you will happy with the Focal 806 ! I'm happy with it. My little problem with them is only because of my place because in my other room which is smaller an a bit "treated", they are wonderful! Maybe they will go upstairs when i will buy the 926 but not now... Happy listening
I found even just the smsl su-8 dac to be not just very bright sounding, but like a digital “glare” which I think comes from something else. If you ever have the funds I recommend getting a Merason frerot or denafrips ares 2 as they remove the glare and forward narrowness of the sound.
Put this one in the middle of the pack. Bass sounded a little soft and booming. Vocals were good, just were getting a little lost. Can understand why most would like it
The bass is not boomy from them, I pushed them for more bass with the Dirac Calibration, a touch too much as you can hear in song 2 but not any of the others hence I didn't really notice, its a smidgen too much push. Had I noticed I would have fixed that, shows how accurate these recordings are :)
@Rom_troy maybe it depends on what your comparing to the chora sound like they have a half paper and half metal driver its not quite as fast sounding as a metal driver but its smoother and warmer more like a paper the detail is all there its played to you not at you which always comes across as slower but its not necessarily - its an easier listen like that. They are a bit smooth common trade off for a 2 way, either smoother and fuller or lively and lean is the 2 opposite ends.
@Rom_troy can't expect ultimate performance for £599 mate, they are not perfect but its important for me to stress what they do well and make sure that translates in my sound demos too :)
@Hemolbeta that's what I found testing them. a lot of brightness but not much happening up there . the focals were more revealing in the top end even if a little more laid back there was more natural information in the very top
Is this really the recording of the chora 806 without sub ??? This is impressive. I am currently in intenses hours of research to buid my home cinema system and I was not impressed by the listening of the chora 816 in my local store. This sound much better and I don't understand.
Why? Maybe you haven't worked with it enough to understand - you put a speaker in a room the designed in frequency response changes to be nothing like the designed frequency response, this is inevitable - using clever DSP allows you to undo that to a degree and actually hear the speaker with less of the rooms negative influence on it. If you think DRC cant be used to review a speaker neither can any room in any building except the room the speaker was measured in and that messes up everything up now doesn't it
@@PursuitPerfectSystem The problem is that DRC significantly changes the direct sound i.e. the speaker itself as well as the room. It changes the frequency response, the phase response, the transient response and the distortion profile. So you are no longer reviewing how the speaker itself sounds, which is what most people looking to purchase are interested in. As to your point about the room's influence on the sound, then sure, it makes reviewing harder and one has to take the room into account. That's made easier by the fact that we are all used to the sound of our rooms, so to some extent we can tune that out. I don't use Dirac by the way, I use an open source solution that works on similar principles and gives you far greater control than you get with Dirac e.g. you can alter the windowing exponent to control how much correction you apply at a given frequency. But you can't get around the fact that you are fixing the speaker's imperfections as well as the rooms.
@@Sparta155 but there in lies the biggest problem you hear the same room being added to every speaker so how can you differentiate the sound of the room from the speaker when you are used to hearing the room, you can't and that is a major problem because the room has its own distortion characteristics in frequency reponse and impulse response so you never truly hear what the speaker is doing you hear what the room lets you hear or what the room is doing to the speaker. So any opinion formed by a reviewer is based on all those misinformations. I can and do listen before and after and the fact there is an after means I can hear just how much effect the room is having and I can still very much hear how individual speakers sound even after a dirac calibration. I also have graphs to show the different starting points and make people fully aware of what I am doing and why. How many other reviewers show you in room freq responses of the speakers they review I havent seen any. While no solution is perfect this one works for me and I stand by its validity of giving me a closer to the truth end result than I could get without it because I have fully treated the room every inch of wall and ceiling is treated so I am at the maximum best starting point I can be at in my room but its still not enough because we can do better
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Actually we can and do tune our rooms out to an extent. Reflected sound reaches our ears later than the direct sound, and with a sufficient time difference between the two our ear/brain can differentiate them. Ww agree that reviewing is a flawed process as you can never completely hear a component in isolation. Re. your point that you can hear a before correction and after correction sound, I agree you are hearing a reduction in room sound, but you are also hearing a reduction in the speaker's inherent distortions. While an end user would likely want to do this, I think it's a problem for a reviewer. Surely you should want to reveal a speakers flaws, not mask them with DRC? I do agree that even with DRC you can still hear a difference bvetween speakers - DRC is only a partial fix - and I'm also appreciative of the detail you go for your reiews. In particular I think the group test you are doing is very useful for potential purchasers.
@@Sparta155 if you have a huge room you can put yourself in a better position but most people have normal sized rooms that are in a lot of cases too small, like my room its too small. I know the acoustic limitations of my room and I have measured the shit out of it and there is nowhere I can install speakers to give me a good enough frequency response imo. This is where you have a situation where if you have raised freq in the mids or null freq in the bass or worse peaking freq in the bass. How can you tell if the speakers are lean in bass or heavy in bass if there is always lean or heavy bass caused by the room? Its impossible. That is an issue Then you have the issue of reflected sound to me this is a very interesting topic because I know reflected sound is a factor of psychoacoustics but if you look up the definition of an echo an echo is any sound that's reflected off a surface so in hifi we are listening to a lot of echo if there is reflected sound in the room, an echo of the original is not the original I find this an immensely interesting topic and it depends on your priorities and what you get yourself used to. What I have noticed is even if you set 2 speakers to deliver the same bass freq curve in dirac they don't sound the same for bass, leaner speakers still sound lean and that is probably more to do with perception. If a speaker measures more flat and doesn't have enough bass it sounds leaner even if the bass is the same as the next speaker which is more rolled off in the mids and highs. Again meauring this helps to identify what it is your actually hearing lean bass or forward mids and then dirac also helps me level the playing field if one speaker would be better suited to a different room or space in a room I just don't have.
That is why I suggest headphones, pure monitors with no room acoustics to mess things up, no recording is ever the same as the real thing but we already know that as audio enthusiasts, you can take from a recording some information not all but most importantly this recording supports what I said about the speaker in its spoken review video that you can also find in the channel
@@PursuitPerfectSystem That was my thought when I was investigating in order to buy a turntable, I could not appreciate 100% of each that I heard through my laptop obviously but I could distinguish somehow the sound among all the models. Thanks.
Also i think the best affordable speakers are : Wharfedale Diamond 11 series , EVO series and Elysian series designed by Peter Comeau. They sound and look like speakers that cost 3 or 4 times more , they are unique and very good built. I HAVE SPOKEN
sounds too bass heavy for me...for a better sound comparison, wd it be possible to demo the same 3-4 tracks (2-3mins long per track) for all the 9 speakers?
I it would have been sensible for me to record the same songs on every system to be able to create the video easily - but as I didn't think of it, to do it now would be a huge job that is too much for me given what else I have to do to keep this ship sailing. I feel like I am one of the very few people doing any form of high quality sound demo which takes a huge amount of time, and the videos are not revenue generating so in essence I am working for free which is a bitter pill to swallow. The reason I didnt record all the same songs because I thought it would make the sound demo videos really boring really quickly - and I want the sound demo videos to used for comparative purposes of course but really to be used in support of what I explain in the reviews because its very important to understand how I set the speakers up and why they sound how they do - i.e. with the Focal Chora I pushed the bass a little to keep their full and warm sound at louder volumes.
also thinking about it, listening between 9 different samples of the same track, you would have no chance of remembering which is which 3 or 4 in let alone 9 in. I am not sure I will do a group test this massive again, never say never so I think a 4-5 group sample sound demo comparison could work but I think 9 would be too many to make it usable in a video situation
@@cybergod77 I am not going to have a chance to do that believe it or not thats about a weeks work to do properly and I have a lot of other interesting projects waiting in the wings to be getting on with
Hi, I'm in between theses and the acoustic energy AE500. I might even consider the Focal Aria 906 as they cost the same as the AE500 in my country. I'm really torn between which one to choose. I'm new to speakers and haven't had any to know what I like. I'm planning on using them just to relax and lay back. It will be in a small room in a pretty tight space and I will be sitting around 6 feet. I don't think I would like a more neutral and clinical sound, as suppose to a more inviting, warm and lively sound. What are your thoughts and what would you do or are there any other speakers you would recommend? Would highly appreciate the help!
I haven't heard the Aria 906 but I would buy the AE500 over the 806 = given the sound you said you would like I think they will fit the bill - they are a better all rounder than the Chora 806
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Thanks a lot for the input and opinion! If I wore to look on a cheaper speaker such as the br02 or br03 how would you think it would compare. I will be needing to place them close to a wall in order for them to fit. They will also be in quite a small room at around 3x7 m. Or something like the klipsch rp-600m.
Interesting to hear classical vocal on one of these demos…. I have that recording and it is a brutal test of upper range transparency …. Sorry but the tweeter sounds like it is generating really annoying coloration; I’ve never heard a metal dome that could do transparent upper female operatic, maybe Focal’s beryllium one ??? But is is a common fault and common given that so many designers go for detail and strong top end… it’s not kind to sopranos ( or mezzos like Joyce here ) Ps I’ve heard her live a number of times and her voice definitely doesn’t have a fizzy tizzy coloration when she goes loud mid to high 😬
Studios have speakers installed in the walls because technically that gives you the best frequency reponse - it's only in hifi circles its advised to pull speakers away from walls. What is the motivation to do that - to try and reduce reflections and this is often in a room that is totally reflective. Noone ever talks about the effects on bass of moving speakers away from boundaries. Nothing is ever that simple
@@porkchopspapi5757 I have never seen any audiophile youtube channels talk about bass response for hifi systems, most don't talk about in room messurments let alone bass reponse yet they will all tell you about adding subwoofers. There are complexities of adding subwoofers to systems and the integration of speaker and subwoofer still requires the speaker to deliver a reasonable amount of bass otherwise your asking the subwoofer to work in frequency ranges it will not be fast enough in. Standard stuff really
That still wouldn’t be the same. But I recorded lots of speakers and systems in my room so the room is the same and doesn’t change so the variable that changes you hear some of. Not for you no problem.
![GEEK TIMË [OFFICIAL AUDIO]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ry-6RvkH880/mqdefault.jpg)
Terry, you have one of the best review platforms on youtube, both video and the review content itself. It is clear that this takes a lot of planning and work. And the price for the viewer is really good, FREE! Thank you.
Thanks Andrew appreciate the kind comments mate
Thank God for quality recordings of Tainted Love jazzy cover, the fabulous Rossini aria, and the magnificent Freya. These recordings revealed the excellent attributes of the Chora 806. Simultaneously transparent, yet warm and full body sound. This speaker is impressive for it's price. I look forward to a shootout sound demo with quality recordings. Thanks Terry.
To be honest I haven't got time to do one of those as that is a weeks work to do right and I have got a ton of other products to review with manufacturers shouting at me as I have taken so long on this mega test. Its been time consuming like you wouldn't believe
Speaker sounds fine. I really like the way they look. Thanks for all your reviews and demos!
I don't know what to think about these, if they sound this impressive and clear playing through youtube on RF-25's in two channel, I am seriously interested in hearing a set of these in person. I love this Mega Test series. I think this series may end up costing me a lot of money by the time I finish it. Thanks for igniting a curiosity about what COULD a system sound like. Man.... back to Natural Sound to see what they have on demo.
I've watch many of sound test videos and researched speakers over the years. This guy, (Terry Ellis) is one of the best with his presentation and information provided. Excellent job. Got allot of good out of this. Thanks.
Also have a look at alpha-audio, they are (IMO) even better:) (how is that even possible!)
Cambridge CXA61, Rotel A12, Denon CeolN10, Marantz PM6007, Yamaha A-S701 < which one amp from these should be perfect pair with 806's ? :)
Really nice recording here, this sounds awesome on my set up!
The mid to high balance was superb...the best so far. Actually, the only ones that made the system shine. However, the bloated bass did my head in. I'm guessing it was at around 60-80hz? It was a little over emphasised. Definitely the leader
Bear in mind Ivan mate its the bass that lets the mids and highs sound like that and not too forward and analytical :)
@@PursuitPerfectSystem I love your reviews. If you're ever in Croatia, let me know. In all honesty, I respect your opinion and your videos because we get a chance to hear them. If you're interested, I'll send you a photo of my system that's currently not setup because I just moved to Zagreb from Sydney. Cheers buddy
1st song bass is actually voluntarily like that
They sound like good "all rounders" for sure. Thanks.
What would you think of these as left and right channel speakers and then add matching center for good front presentation for my Dolby Atmos setup?
Please tell me what do you Real think of the focal chora 806 R U well pleased with them is there any Negative thing is say
Thank you for these reviews. I'm in the market for a pair of new speakers and these sound demos are very useful.
Klipsch 600M or Chora 806? Or maybe the Wharfedale?
Very nice sounding speaker, thanks Terry for your demos.
Truly an amazing speaker, nothing matches it in it's price range in terms of openness, expressiveness and great mid and bass harmony. Don't think, just buy it.
Great you love the speaker but there is very stiff competition at this price point and maybe check my group test conclusion ruclips.net/video/ZlWShSH5RRs/видео.html
I got my Focal chora 806 X Display model from Ebay He wanted £300 I asked would you Take £250 he say meet me half way I paid £265 plus free Delivery at This last Christmas thank you for taking time to text me bk
@@PursuitPerfectSystem I have Already seen great Video now for my Second time
I like this videos, but even more, I love how you use technology like Dirac to get the best out of any system.
For many decades, audiophiles were totally against anything that could change the sound, unless it was with expensive cables.
That’s one of the reasons why so many amplifiers don’t have any sort of tone control, and if it was true that some had a negative effect on quality just by not being bypassed, when a room takes the bass response away, no one’s going to solve several dB of attenuation with cables, that’s for sure.
I wish more people in audio would talk about it and use it, as it could make more brands include Dirac and other corrections systems (or at the very least, a decent parametric EQ) on stereo amplifiers.
DSP is not a substitute for good acoustics, but good acoustics aren’t always easy (or even possible) to obtain on certain rooms due to several reasons (changing to another house isn’t always an option 😉).
A terrible loudspeaker won’t turn into a great one with DSP, no matter what, but all of them will benefit from room correction when done properly.
Yes, it takes knowledge and experience to get the best results, but we’ve seen audiophiles pursuing better sound by other means that also implied some dedication, so I feel that anyone who’s missing this opportunity is missing more enjoyment from the music they love.
I’d favor no EQ/DSP at all when we’re talking about the “raw” characteristics of any loudspeaker or audio equipment, although it’s also good to know how a particular loudspeaker reacts to EQ (which is the best case scenario for anyone who ends up buying it).
Keep the great work. 👍
Thanks.
I've just bought a pair of these partially on the strength of your review - thanks so much for the group test, they're so helpful. At the moment they'll be powered by an old Cambridge Audio Azur 640C;and Yaamaha WXA 50 streamer. Is it worth upgrading the amp?
I dont know that amp but just see how you get on assess the situation in a couple if months
Love your Test Series Videos! What are those stands?
806 vs Revel M16 vs B&W 606 S2 AE. Which gives you best sound quality for music and movies. Dynamics, tone etc.
I find out that the intro song is very beautiful.Does anyone know what is the name of the song?
Fantastic, informative video, as are all the others which I have now watched in this match up comparison. I’m living in Thailand for a little while and am restricted to what I can get (without paying an extortionate price) But I can but a pair of these Focal 806’s in light wood and cream for a reasonable price, and am wondering how they would work with a Quad Artera Solus Play which I can also buy here …… any advice /opinion from anyone would be greatly appreciated, cheers 🙏🏼✌
Sound good/great! A little forward, still very nice hifi speakers. Focal rocks.
I know this sound demo is three years old now but I always look forward to them because they're so well done. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna pull the trigger on the Martin Logan XT B100's but the last I checked Focal was discontinuing the Focal Chora 806 and were selling them for $600 in the US. That's a hard deal to pass up particularly when that makes them $1000 cheaper than the B100's. I love the looks of both speakers and that's important to me as well. Thanks for all you do.
They sound a bit trashy like there's too much mid on certain songs. Not as detailed as the B&W 606 but i guess some will prefer this as everyone's opinions are different.
Them B&W 606s sounded awesome.
Great channel and great reviews 👍
The Bowers sound crisper, but they are also quite a bit leaner sounding
Focal needs good quailty class A or tubes on the warmer side to not sound harsh with their tweeters. And forget about lesser quality recordings 😄. You need to spend serious on equipment if you choose Focal. But they can sound spectacular. Its a challange though.
@@sandorbenny3251 these didn't sound bright maybe check the review video I explain it all there
I A/B'd these and the B&Ws and went with the focals . smoother , better soundscape , more detail . the b&w were brighter but thinner and less revealing . build quality on the french focals was also better
trashy? it blows the b&w away, much easier to place as well. the mid range you are hearing is on a youtube video . b&w sound thin almost like a chinese copy of what someone thinks focal sounds like. im talking in real life not on youtube.
Very helpful! I'm having a hard time choosing between the B&W 606 S2 or the Focal chora 806
This video might help you too ruclips.net/video/ZlWShSH5RRs/видео.html
what decision because I have the same puff B&W 606 S2 or the Focal sick 806 ?
Try a different source to see how good speakers can sound, Auralic perhaps..
My source is a fixed point for my reviews, I built the source and totally manage it so know how it sounds and it allows me to do things an Auralic wouldn't which would be very limiting to my work flow, especially doing sound recordings.
Hi Pursuit Perfect System! Thanks for your great review. I have a pair of Focal Chora 806 in white cream. They are great speakers but a bit too much forward with mids in my place. I paired it with an Class D smsl amp. i would like to pair them with a more laidback amp ( kind of v curve) for now and i'm ready to upgrade. I was thinking about the denon pma 600 which is laidback but maybe too much. Which amps do you recommend in order to get a less forward and less mid tone sound in the 400-600 euros range without loosing to much the clean tigh bass. even if i have a subwoofer to compensate a bit. Denon, Yamaha, Cambridge, others? Small tube amp? a softer Dac? Thank you so much for your reply. Musically.
I use a Keces E40 with good results on my Focal 807Ws. It's small, I like it better than a Rega Brio and it has a full and well defined bass...within the sound limits of power and loudness. If you play at loud levels, you may have to move up to something with higher power but maybe not. Rega and Cambridge are also spoken highly of but I found the Keces to sound much like my Hegel h160 within its limits. On the Focals, I play mainly between 10 to 11:30 position. A bit higher on my Dali Opticon 1s but it will be stable to about 2:30 to 3 pm position depending on how much current a speaker needs from it. At that point it is way above the volume I listen to on any speaker I have.
It will be sufficiently resolving, the treble extends but some amps give more extension, I do not fell I miss anything but the bass and mids are fantastic, IMO.
I am looking at the Focals myself for a bit smaller option to the 807w without losing out on SQ. I think the 807W is a better speaker but I want a smaller package, even if a couple of inches/cm.
Hope that helps. I like the little integrated so much I bought another even after considering an Exposure 2510. Will sell the Hegel which is a great amp but 40 lbs...I'm getting older.
@@nc3419 Thank you for your experience! i didn't know this nice product. How does it sound regarding mids and high mids? i looking for a laidback amplifier to tame their forwardness in mids and high mids. it seems that it does not provide tone control so i will need external one. but if it sounds like an Hegel h160 in 30-40 watts range, i think you gave me a nice proposal cause i don't play music loud! thank you!
@@piktosonik7669 You can read its review on Soundnews. I like it alot. In my experience, it drove Focal 807Ws really well, MA Silver 100 6th Ed really well, both to very load levels. I didnt keep the 100s as they could get tiring but they were exciting. Too dynamic as I would constantly be adjusting volume at night watching movies. But I did like those more than what I found critical.
Only Dali Menuet SE the Keces drove it well enough but would get hot, too much IMO as the impedance dropped well below 4 ohms over much of the lower freq range BUT do very well with Dali Opticon 1s I purchased in Menuets place. No issues with too much heat and those are 4 ohm loads. Also, SE version too refined and cut out alot of detail even though they were more resolving as well as smaller sounding. That to me was counter-productive. Didn't do any better with the Hegel in regards to detail.
The Keces has driven alot of speakers really well including a pair of 6 ohm Triangle Plaisir Zetas (like the Color series) without issue.
I don't think there would be any issue driving most speakers as long as they they stay at or above 4 ohms or don't need alot of power to get the bass playing like some inefficient speakers or large floorstanders may require.
Supposedly as a decent MM input as well as usb but I only use 1 or the 2 inputs with a dac for movies and music with a CD6006 as a transport. Plenty of detail and good resolution. For the price, it isn't cheap but doesn't sound cheap like alot of other products where the upper mids scream at you or has a flat stage. It has body, good depth and width as well. Bass is not flabby like MF 2msi I tried or flat 2D sounding like an Emotiva I tried.
That's my experience. Another seemingly good amp that seems to be discounted now is the Rega elex-r which does give about a third more power. I also considered that myself but ended up buying another Keces e40 someone had NIB...just couldn't pass that up.
There's better, but at the price and size? I don't think so. It's so tiny but capable, within its limits. Good luck and happy listening.
@@nc3419 thank you for this "review" from this amp and your experience with it! Very instructive. I'm sure you will happy with the Focal 806 ! I'm happy with it. My little problem with them is only because of my place because in my other room which is smaller an a bit "treated", they are wonderful! Maybe they will go upstairs when i will buy the 926 but not now... Happy listening
I found even just the smsl su-8 dac to be not just very bright sounding, but like a digital “glare” which I think comes from something else. If you ever have the funds I recommend getting a Merason frerot or denafrips ares 2 as they remove the glare and forward narrowness of the sound.
Whats the best option these soeakers lr audio monitor?
Have you heard the older 705s or 705v, I'm sure they have better vocals than these, Think these slatefibre drivers might be a bit tosh tbh.
Put this one in the middle of the pack. Bass sounded a little soft and booming. Vocals were good, just were getting a little lost. Can understand why most would like it
The bass is not boomy from them, I pushed them for more bass with the Dirac Calibration, a touch too much as you can hear in song 2 but not any of the others hence I didn't really notice, its a smidgen too much push. Had I noticed I would have fixed that, shows how accurate these recordings are :)
@Rom_troy the sound is balanced across all the differnt music yes on the warm side but not slow as explained in the review
@Rom_troy maybe it depends on what your comparing to the chora sound like they have a half paper and half metal driver its not quite as fast sounding as a metal driver but its smoother and warmer more like a paper the detail is all there its played to you not at you which always comes across as slower but its not necessarily - its an easier listen like that. They are a bit smooth common trade off for a 2 way, either smoother and fuller or lively and lean is the 2 opposite ends.
@Rom_troy can't expect ultimate performance for £599 mate, they are not perfect but its important for me to stress what they do well and make sure that translates in my sound demos too :)
@Hemolbeta that's what I found testing them. a lot of brightness but not much happening up there . the focals were more revealing in the top end even if a little more laid back there was more natural information in the very top
Is this really the recording of the chora 806 without sub ??? This is impressive. I am currently in intenses hours of research to buid my home cinema system and I was not impressed by the listening of the chora 816 in my local store. This sound much better and I don't understand.
Room, equipment...and I myself prefer what a standmount can do that a floorstander often cannot regarding a more intimate experience.
IMO Focal's are best sounding speakers.
wow, details on those speakers.
Donde se pueden comprar, saludos.
Doing DRC invalidates any evaluation of the speakers performance without DRC. Thanks none-the-less, it was fun.
Why? Maybe you haven't worked with it enough to understand - you put a speaker in a room the designed in frequency response changes to be nothing like the designed frequency response, this is inevitable - using clever DSP allows you to undo that to a degree and actually hear the speaker with less of the rooms negative influence on it. If you think DRC cant be used to review a speaker neither can any room in any building except the room the speaker was measured in and that messes up everything up now doesn't it
@@PursuitPerfectSystem The problem is that DRC significantly changes the direct sound i.e. the speaker itself as well as the room. It changes the frequency response, the phase response, the transient response and the distortion profile. So you are no longer reviewing how the speaker itself sounds, which is what most people looking to purchase are interested in.
As to your point about the room's influence on the sound, then sure, it makes reviewing harder and one has to take the room into account. That's made easier by the fact that we are all used to the sound of our rooms, so to some extent we can tune that out. I don't use Dirac by the way, I use an open source solution that works on similar principles and gives you far greater control than you get with Dirac e.g. you can alter the windowing exponent to control how much correction you apply at a given frequency. But you can't get around the fact that you are fixing the speaker's imperfections as well as the rooms.
@@Sparta155 but there in lies the biggest problem you hear the same room being added to every speaker so how can you differentiate the sound of the room from the speaker when you are used to hearing the room, you can't and that is a major problem because the room has its own distortion characteristics in frequency reponse and impulse response so you never truly hear what the speaker is doing you hear what the room lets you hear or what the room is doing to the speaker. So any opinion formed by a reviewer is based on all those misinformations. I can and do listen before and after and the fact there is an after means I can hear just how much effect the room is having and I can still very much hear how individual speakers sound even after a dirac calibration. I also have graphs to show the different starting points and make people fully aware of what I am doing and why. How many other reviewers show you in room freq responses of the speakers they review I havent seen any.
While no solution is perfect this one works for me and I stand by its validity of giving me a closer to the truth end result than I could get without it because I have fully treated the room every inch of wall and ceiling is treated so I am at the maximum best starting point I can be at in my room but its still not enough because we can do better
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Actually we can and do tune our rooms out to an extent. Reflected sound reaches our ears later than the direct sound, and with a sufficient time difference between the two our ear/brain can differentiate them.
Ww agree that reviewing is a flawed process as you can never completely hear a component in isolation. Re. your point that you can hear a before correction and after correction sound, I agree you are hearing a reduction in room sound, but you are also hearing a reduction in the speaker's inherent distortions. While an end user would likely want to do this, I think it's a problem for a reviewer. Surely you should want to reveal a speakers flaws, not mask them with DRC?
I do agree that even with DRC you can still hear a difference bvetween speakers - DRC is only a partial fix - and I'm also appreciative of the detail you go for your reiews. In particular I think the group test you are doing is very useful for potential purchasers.
@@Sparta155 if you have a huge room you can put yourself in a better position but most people have normal sized rooms that are in a lot of cases too small, like my room its too small. I know the acoustic limitations of my room and I have measured the shit out of it and there is nowhere I can install speakers to give me a good enough frequency response imo. This is where you have a situation where if you have raised freq in the mids or null freq in the bass or worse peaking freq in the bass. How can you tell if the speakers are lean in bass or heavy in bass if there is always lean or heavy bass caused by the room? Its impossible. That is an issue
Then you have the issue of reflected sound to me this is a very interesting topic because I know reflected sound is a factor of psychoacoustics but if you look up the definition of an echo an echo is any sound that's reflected off a surface so in hifi we are listening to a lot of echo if there is reflected sound in the room, an echo of the original is not the original I find this an immensely interesting topic and it depends on your priorities and what you get yourself used to.
What I have noticed is even if you set 2 speakers to deliver the same bass freq curve in dirac they don't sound the same for bass, leaner speakers still sound lean and that is probably more to do with perception. If a speaker measures more flat and doesn't have enough bass it sounds leaner even if the bass is the same as the next speaker which is more rolled off in the mids and highs. Again meauring this helps to identify what it is your actually hearing lean bass or forward mids and then dirac also helps me level the playing field if one speaker would be better suited to a different room or space in a room I just don't have.
great vidéo! thanks
Focal 👍💥
These sounds very nice.
How can I listen these speakers doing it through my Audioengine a5+?
That is why I suggest headphones, pure monitors with no room acoustics to mess things up, no recording is ever the same as the real thing but we already know that as audio enthusiasts, you can take from a recording some information not all but most importantly this recording supports what I said about the speaker in its spoken review video that you can also find in the channel
@@PursuitPerfectSystem That was my thought when I was investigating in order to buy a turntable, I could not appreciate 100% of each that I heard through my laptop obviously but I could distinguish somehow the sound among all the models. Thanks.
Also i think the best affordable speakers are : Wharfedale Diamond 11 series , EVO series and Elysian series designed by Peter Comeau. They sound and look like speakers that cost 3 or 4 times more , they are unique and very good built. I HAVE SPOKEN
I've got Wharfedale Diamond 9.1. Got them for around $90 and they really shine, given the price. Were also highly praised by WhatHiFi.
Found them last year for a ridiculous 600$ CAD (Worth 1650$ new) .. can't do better at that price
Which amp are you using?
It should list all the system in the description box below the video
sounds too bass heavy for me...for a better sound comparison, wd it be possible to demo the same 3-4 tracks (2-3mins long per track) for all the 9 speakers?
I it would have been sensible for me to record the same songs on every system to be able to create the video easily - but as I didn't think of it, to do it now would be a huge job that is too much for me given what else I have to do to keep this ship sailing. I feel like I am one of the very few people doing any form of high quality sound demo which takes a huge amount of time, and the videos are not revenue generating so in essence I am working for free which is a bitter pill to swallow.
The reason I didnt record all the same songs because I thought it would make the sound demo videos really boring really quickly - and I want the sound demo videos to used for comparative purposes of course but really to be used in support of what I explain in the reviews because its very important to understand how I set the speakers up and why they sound how they do - i.e. with the Focal Chora I pushed the bass a little to keep their full and warm sound at louder volumes.
also thinking about it, listening between 9 different samples of the same track, you would have no chance of remembering which is which 3 or 4 in let alone 9 in. I am not sure I will do a group test this massive again, never say never so I think a 4-5 group sample sound demo comparison could work but I think 9 would be too many to make it usable in a video situation
@@PursuitPerfectSystem perhaps do it for your top 3 speakers, thks
@@cybergod77 I am not going to have a chance to do that believe it or not thats about a weeks work to do properly and I have a lot of other interesting projects waiting in the wings to be getting on with
@@cybergod77 Stop lazing around and do it yourself , Laissez-faire!
Hi,
I'm in between theses and the acoustic energy AE500. I might even consider the Focal Aria 906 as they cost the same as the AE500 in my country. I'm really torn between which one to choose. I'm new to speakers and haven't had any to know what I like. I'm planning on using them just to relax and lay back. It will be in a small room in a pretty tight space and I will be sitting around 6 feet. I don't think I would like a more neutral and clinical sound, as suppose to a more inviting, warm and lively sound. What are your thoughts and what would you do or are there any other speakers you would recommend?
Would highly appreciate the help!
I haven't heard the Aria 906 but I would buy the AE500 over the 806 = given the sound you said you would like I think they will fit the bill - they are a better all rounder than the Chora 806
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Thanks a lot for the input and opinion! If I wore to look on a cheaper speaker such as the br02 or br03 how would you think it would compare. I will be needing to place them close to a wall in order for them to fit. They will also be in quite a small room at around 3x7 m. Or something like the klipsch rp-600m.
Interesting to hear classical vocal on one of these demos…. I have that recording and it is a brutal test of upper range transparency …. Sorry but the tweeter sounds like it is generating really annoying coloration; I’ve never heard a metal dome that could do transparent upper female operatic, maybe Focal’s beryllium one ??? But is is a common fault and common given that so many designers go for detail and strong top end… it’s not kind to sopranos ( or mezzos like Joyce here )
Ps I’ve heard her live a number of times and her voice definitely doesn’t have a fizzy tizzy coloration when she goes loud mid to high 😬
What center channel is that
Probably kef reference
Please compare b&w 606 s2
unbelievable
You can believe it, its a real recording:)
Everybody just buy Wharfedale EVO speakers ! They are the best under 4000$ ! The focal speakers does not come even close to these !
How many $4000 dollar speakers have you compared the EVO to?
No subtitles in English?
Sorry there should be, RUclips should do that automatically
ARIA 906 RIGHT!!!
Pull them out away from everything. Why don't people care about the soundstage? It's a big part of the signal.
Studios have speakers installed in the walls because technically that gives you the best frequency reponse - it's only in hifi circles its advised to pull speakers away from walls.
What is the motivation to do that - to try and reduce reflections and this is often in a room that is totally reflective.
Noone ever talks about the effects on bass of moving speakers away from boundaries.
Nothing is ever that simple
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Everyone talks about bass response. It's why you use seperate subs.
@@porkchopspapi5757 talking about adding subs is very different to talking about bass response
@@PursuitPerfectSystem Your attempt at arguing in circles is cute
@@porkchopspapi5757 I have never seen any audiophile youtube channels talk about bass response for hifi systems, most don't talk about in room messurments let alone bass reponse yet they will all tell you about adding subwoofers.
There are complexities of adding subwoofers to systems and the integration of speaker and subwoofer still requires the speaker to deliver a reasonable amount of bass otherwise your asking the subwoofer to work in frequency ranges it will not be fast enough in.
Standard stuff really
Sound is quite weak!! Low end sound
Only way this would be useful is if we had the same exact room so man kind of a waste of time!
That still wouldn’t be the same. But I recorded lots of speakers and systems in my room so the room is the same and doesn’t change so the variable that changes you hear some of. Not for you no problem.
It s better for the French not do any technique,perfume and croissants are all they can.
stimmt, Deutsche Boxen sind besser !
Τι καλώδια ηχειων ταιριάζουν.😂
sound horrible..