Focal Chora 826 Speaker Review

Featuring a distinguished design that is both stylish and contemporary, the Chora 826 is a three-way loudspeaker that includes the French manufacturer’s exclusive Slatefiber cones to deliver detailed midrange and solid bass performance.

Focal’s Chora line delivers accessible high-fidelity sound at a very competitive price point. Featuring a distinguished design that is both stylish and high tech, the Chora 826 is a three-way floor-standing loudspeaker that includes the French manufacturer’s exclusive Slatefiber cones to deliver detailed midrange and solid bass performance. It has a front-firing port, so placement close to a front wall will not be a problem. Included in the package is a unique tilted plinth that angles the drivers slightly upwards, which should improve overall imaging by improving time alignment. The Chora 826 also comes in three colors, black, light wood, and dark wood. For this review, I was able to select the dark wood option, mainly because the front baffle came in a bluish tone that complimented my music room.

Focal is a French company that has been in the audio business for over 40 years. They make ultra-high-end speakers (Utopia), home theater speakers, professional studio monitors, car audio, headphones, subwoofers, and even a 16 channel A/V processor/amplifier. The Chora line is their entry-level, but that does not mean it is somehow less worthy of the Focal name.

The Chora 826 is the flagship speaker of the line and it has some nice trickle-down technology that makes it perform as good as it looks. My sample pair shipped to me from Canada and it was the first speaker box I’d ever seen that opened from the side. This made pulling them out of the packaging so much easier than trying to slide them out of the top or bottom of the cardboard box.

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The Chora 826 is a three-way, bass-reflex design. The tweeter is a TNF aluminum/magnesium inverted dome with a memory foam surround called Poron, which is also used for the beryllium tweeters in the Utopia models. The inverted tweeter reduces beaming resulting in a wider sweet spot for the listener.

Slatefiber is a Focal exclusive that uses recycled, non-woven carbon fibers applied as a sandwich between two layers of thermoplastic polymer. The fibers all point in the same direction, giving the cones rigidity and strength. I might add, it also gives the cones a unique look that I found visually appealing. There are two 6.5-inch woofers and a 6.5-inch midrange which are made from Slatefiber.

Unique as well are the included plinths that attach to the cabinets. They provide a slight upward tilt which creates the illusion that the front baffle is floating above the floor. An Allen wrench is included and attaching them only took a few minutes.

A magnetic grille is included, and the speakers look good with or without it. I preferred them naked, myself. The front baffle is made from a polycarbonate material that was mildly shiny and clean looking. It really made the speakers look modern. On the back, the binding posts had nice finger grips to assist in getting a good tight fit on the speaker wire.

I placed the Focal Chora 826s in the same location I had my Revel F36 towers, which is to say about 2.5 feet out from my front wall and 8 feet apart in my 14’x17’ listening room. I toed them in, so the tweeters were aimed to cross about a foot behind my head. I powered them with Emotiva UPA-1 monoblock amps and connected them to an Emotiva UMC-200 pre/pro with some 12AWG speaker cables from my collection; namely generic Monster cables from my disco years.

Because the plinth tilted the speakers at a pre-determined angle, I felt they shot over my head by several inches at 8.5 feet away. That said, I never felt that the tweeters lost focus, likely due to their wide dispersion and lack of beaming. I kept the grilles off for most of my listening, but this choice was based on aesthetics, not sound quality. I really liked their looks sans grilles. After about 30 hours of break-in, I began my more critical listening.

The midrange was smooth and displayed JT’s voice in between the speakers. The occasional rasp of a finger on a guitar string or an intake of breath could be heard. All the expected details were there.

The only thing that I could put my finger on that made these a bit different from my Revels was the bass extension. My F36s can go a bit lower with a little more punch. In fairness, the Revels have more cabinet volume. If I did not compare them side by side, I wouldn’t have noticed this at all. With dual drivers, the 826s can fill in the bottom octave of the music just fine. The bass was tight and never overemphasized. And if you want more bass, they integrate well with a sub.

You’ll recall this theme made more famous by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey when the black obelisk is revealed. The Choras reproduced the sense of space and dynamics with startling realism, and even when played loudly, and never sounded compressed or strained.

Treble, midrange, and bass melded without any emphasis on some frequencies over others. They have a nice open and organic sound that is quite pleasing to the ear. I can only imagine what the upper echelon Focal speakers must sound like if the Choras represent trickle-down technology.

The FOCAL CHORA 826 SPEAKERS are a reasonably-priced avenue into the Focal family. With a high-end finish and sound, they punch well above their weight class.

I enjoyed my several weeks with the Focal Chora 826 speakers. I like the fact that this European audio gear is as aesthetically pleasing to the eye as it is to the ears. These speakers have some pretty slick technology in them, and it shows when you put the music on. You can build a great stereo system around the Chora 826s or pursue a killer home theater based on all Focal Chora speakers. The build quality is so good, these could be the last speakers you’ll ever buy. And all of this comes at a price that puts you in the Focal family.

The Focal Chora 826 speakers have a natural, open sound that presents the music with a wide dynamic range with an impressive soundstage. These speakers are detailed enough for the audiophile and dynamic enough for the cinephile. The fact that they look gorgeous too, is but the icing on the proverbial cake. The Focal Chora 826s are where style and performance meet.