A large, visually imposing floor stander, this has the look
and feel of something much more expensive
Here’s a brand that’s had rather mixed fortunes in the UK
over the years, proving that our speaker market is a hard nut to crack even if
you’re as big as Focal! Now allied to Naima Audio, it may make a bigger splash.
Certainly the Chorus 726 V is the sort of speaker that knows how to make an
entrance; if ever there was a box in this group that has showroom appeal, then
this is it. Firstly, it is very big – it makes the little Splendor look like a
car speaker! Secondly, it has a super-impressive finish – lots of piano lacquer
and leather cloth, and the trim rings around the multiple drive units have
interesting surfacing. The overall effect is very flash, and many would likely
guess this speaker costs closer to $3,207.
Focal Chorus 726 V
It is a three-way design, with a 25mm aluminum/magnesium
inverted dome tweeter, plus three 165mm polygalas drive units, one for the
midland, two for the bass, crossing over at 3kHz and 300Hz respectively. The
cabinet is solidly built, well braced internally and sports a very large front
baffle-mounted reflex port, said to be aerodynamically profiled. Round the
back, there are single-wired terminals; full marks for these, as they are the
easiest to use here.
The manufacturer claims a high sensitivity, and this is
borne out by listening; these speakers will be ideal partners for lower-powered
Class A amplifiers, and/or tube amps. They prove to be a little fussier about
positioning than some, but the good news is that some experimentation yields
results!
Sound quality
An interesting design, this. It gives a big, powerful sort
of sound that is superficially very ‘fast’; it seems to delight in every steel
guitar strum from the High Llamas track, for example. It broadcasts to the
world its agility and great transient speed. But hang on, listened to back to
back against the Splendor – which is an altogether more refined design – the
Focal isn’t actually any faster at all. It’s a bit brighter and the drive units
seem edgier, but it doesn’t get the job done any more impressively. And there’s
a downside, which is that this speaker keeps drawing attention to itself in the
wrong way. It gives you the sense that instead of listening to the music,
you’re listening to Hi-Fi.
It gives you the
sense that instead of listening to the music, you’re listening to Hi-Fi.
Indeed, the Focal sounds like it looks – which is big, showy
and with lots of superficial detailing, which begins to lose its appeal as you
try to relax into the music. So yes, it can conjure up a wonderfully punchy
bass drum sound on the New Order track, chuck loads of detail at you and spray
massive amounts of treble information out, but somehow the overall effect is
underwhelming. And worse still, it can be tiring. The 726 V newer quite manages
to disappear into the middle distance, and let the music take control.
Bass is impressively extended, and there’s obviously a lot
of firepower, which really comes into its own at high levels when smaller
designs like the Acoustic Energy and the Splendor begin to give away their
diminutive dimensions – but still it always sounds a little leaden. Firstly,
you can hear the cabinet joining in the fun slightly in the upper bass, and
secondly it just doesn’t flow particularly well, as the Lou Donaldson track
shows. The tweeter sounds like a metal dome of yesteryear, which is to say
crisp and well detailed, but slightly clang and forced. I suspect extended
tuning and careful system matching would help with all the above (I’ve heard
the 726 V sound better in other venues), but it’s not a speaker for all
seasons.
One test
The CSD waterfall
shows fast initial energy decay, but some low-level resonance at treble
frequencies.
Our measured pink noise sensitivity of 89.6dB falls short of
Focal’s claimed 91.5dB, but still puts the 726 V above the group average. A
minimum impedance of 2.9 ohms is specified, but we measured a dip to 2.7 ohms
at 114Hz, neither figure being consistent with the claimed 8 ohms nominal.
Impedance phase angles are also large at low frequency, reducing the minimum
EPDR to an amp-challenging 1.1 ohms at 74Hz. Above-average frequency response
error of ±5.1dB was the same for both speakers, principally because the output
begins rising before 20kHz due to the tweeter dome resonance at 23.4kHz. Pair
matching was group best at an excellent ±0.8dB, and bass extension of 52Hz a
little better than the group average with an initially gentle roll-off below
95Hz. The CSD waterfall shows fast initial energy decay, but some low-level
resonance at treble frequencies.
Our verdict
·
Sound quality: 3.5/5
·
Value for money: 4/5
·
Build quality: 4.5/5
·
Ease of drive: 4.5/5
·
Like: Big sound; goes loud with little power; fine finish
·
Dislike: Doesn’t gel rhythmically; lacks subtlety and finesse
·
We say: Lots of speaker for your money, but sound is not to all
tastes
·
Overall: 4/5
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Technical
specs
·
Product: Focal Chorus 726 V
·
Origin: France
·
Type: Floor standing loudspeaker
·
Weight: 23.5kg
·
Dimensions (W x H x D): 222 x 990 x 375mm
·
Features: Three-way, reflex ported loudspeaker; 1x 25mm
inverted dome tweeter, 1x 165mm mid, 2x 165mm bass; Claimed sensitivity:
91.5dB/1W/1m
·
Distributor: Focal JMLAB UK Ltd
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