Call an Audiolab Associate at 800-513-8555 For More Details or to Purchase

In 2006 we have moved from manufacturing loudspeakers to luxury products

For Focal, Chorus symbolizes one of the most stimulating challenges for the loudspeaker and refined product manufacturer that we are: to allow the greatest number of consumers to access  our technological innovations. For the first two generations Chorus (2000) and Chorus S  (2003), the objective was to keep high-end sound and maintain sophisticated Focal  technologies by adapting our industrial machine to the highest standards. While outsourcing had become a key economic strategy for the majority of manufacturers, we chose on the  contrary to heavily invest in our manufacturing process in order to achieve an exceptional  sound quality while at the same time remaining competitive. It is the only possible way in this path of permanent innovation: development and manufacturing of loudspeakers “Made in  France”, design by cabinet-makers, mastery of quality, total autonomy in the design and  development of our products. This strategy has been key to the success of the preceding Chorus lines. This third generation known as Chorus 800 V will go even further in this  strategy. Technological innovation does not only solely touch strategic components of the  speaker, but the actual whole of the design. Thanks to the use of advanced and exclusive  materials, elaborate manufacturing techniques of the cabinets, the Chorus 800 V line of today shines with a unique, high-end esthetic. Chorus V isn’t only a performing product line, ideal  for entering the Focal universe, but objects that will inhabit living spaces, with an innovative  esthetic, quality of manufacture and a finish worthy of a higher segment, with a new Natural  mat finish for the year 2009. This is indeed a new esthetic dimension, a new era for the “Spirit of Sound”.

V design

We have moved to Paris

So far, the Focal approach has consisted in introducing the maximum of technologies to offer the best performance possible starting with our entry-level products. If Chorus 800 V  continues in this logic with novel technical solutions, the Chorus V design benefits from new,  high-end esthetic lines usually reserved for our upper segment products. With the conventional  line of thinking, entry-level speakers are very limited by cost, which produces  extremely simplified designs, and a dry, boring and mediocre appearance. Chorus V shakes up  this tendency by having a high-end look with a strong, modern and fashionable esthetic. To achieve this goal, we gave the design to the Parisian design house Pineau & Le Porcher, who  had already created the curves of Profile 900 and Electra 1000 Be. The “V” symbol being the principle concept (shape of the cabinet, the “neckline” of the grille…) that is presently popular  automobile industry, high-tech…), Chorus 800 V stands apart with its very tight  lines, totally divorced from the usual conservatism that has stagnated in this segment. It has  true personality, with its own shape and expression taken directly from high-end, with a  sophisticated form and above all exclusive materials. For the first time, these speakers employ  a covering in acrylic, which the mirror luster gives a depth in the black finish never seen before on a speaker, not even with a true piano black lacquer. To create that which had never  been attempted before, value-add to our speakers thanks to new, perfectly realized solutions;  this is another facet of Focal innovation.

Cabinets

Affordable luxury

The construction and the finish are the other essential elements of the design. For Chorus 800 V, we didn’t wish  to limit ourselves to notions of esthetics and perceived quality, therefore we introduced novel technical solutions for the category. All the panels, in MDF, have a minimum thickness of 20mm, and 25mm on the  sides. Considerable bracing, complicated pieces cut in MDF and integrated cable management optimize this  rigidity to create a barrier which is particularly efficient against vibration. Finally, exclusive construction  solutions allowed us to maintain nonparallel inner walls on these speakers to break up standing waves, which is a technological refinement until now impossible on generations of Focal speakers prior to Chorus 800 V. All  these specific qualities work together to eliminate parasitic interactions in cabinet design, especially in the  lower octaves. This is where all the technical points come together to demonstrate the innovative power and  creativity of Focal: to clear the way with new processes and technologies to make the impossible come true!

View of a Chorus 836 V floorstander: MDF construction up to 1"(25mm) on the sides, massive internal bracing, integrated cable management, nonparallel inner wall structure. Notwithstanding an exceptional level of finish where each detail is integrated to design, all is put into motion whereby the speaker looks and  performs exceptionally in its price range.

Tweeter TNV

When we improve our tweeter, the distortion is divided by six

After the experience we gained in the creation of the famous tweeter in pure Beryllium, we invented the TNC tweeter, the first tweeter with the aluminummagnesium alloy. This alloy  proved to have excellent damping qualities too and resulted in the entirely new TNV of Chorus 800 V. A new foam for surround suspension with reinforced mechanical properties, new configuration of the neodymium motor, entirely reconceived design, this new tweeter  benefits from all the latest Focal research. Harmonic distortion is divided by three at 1000Hz, by 6 at 500Hz: the smoothness of the reproduction in the midrange is transformed. Also, we entirely ceased the use of ferro-fluid in the tweeter, as the new motor design improves power handling: the dynamics of the tweeter is improved with a higherquality rendering of details. The TNC tweeter had capitalized on the immense experience and knowledge acquired with  the pure Beryllium tweeter of the Grande Utopia Be concerning the reproduction of higher frequencies: importance of damping, elimination of the phase piece for standing distortion, emergence of the concept of optimization of performance at the source, which consists of  obtaining the characteristics of ideal loudspeakers without having to return to mechanical or  electrical corrections at the crossover, a very risky and dangerous approach. Sweetness and dynamics in the treble, this is another quality that is traditionally reserved for the high-end.

Destination: Bass!

To increase the bass, we’ve reduced the speed of sound

A well-designed speaker is… compact! And yet it cannot encroach on our lifestyle, and must  the least amount of floor space. It must also be handsome and impressive, all which has  become reality in the new Chorus 800 V. The speaker must at the same time create deep and quick bass, which poses considerable difficulty. Controlling bass congestion necessitates  smaller woofer diameters, which, when loaded into internal volumes which are reduced as  much as possible, creates a situation where solid bass is improbable. The only answer is to  increase the excursion of the cone, to compensate for the reduced active surface of the 61/2“  (16.5cm) woofers. And yet, another technical issue arises: with less internal volume and  increased excursion, internal pressure sky-rockets within the speaker and above all, a very  high speed passage of air through the vent. Dynamic compression in the low bass appears at  modest volumes, but with distortion that climbs greatly and rapidly. There is only one solution: increase the surface of the bass reflex port to limit the speed of the passing air. This  was a simple principle that allowed us to increase the output of the vent by 6dB (400%). But  we didn’t stop there: the next step was to find an intelligent configuration of the two ports. A  front port has its advocates: the power of the impact is at its maximum, as well as firmness,  articulation and pace. A port placed at the bottom of the speaker and which is pointed at the ground has the advantage of deeper bass  response, but at the detriment of the speed of impact. The relationship of the two ports quickly came to an impasse: the output abundance  of the lower port versus the strength of the front port.

Cast aluminum base of the Powerflow™ bass reflex system.

The Chorus 800 V floorstanders and the subwoofer rest on a base made of pressure-formed aluminum alloy, which also permits  adjustment of the spikes. Despite its strong looks, it actively participates in bass performance thanks to its aerodynamic profile, extending the bass-reflex port situated at the bottom of the speaker.

Home Theatre

Natural, precise, rich . . . at any level

The dynamics in film and multichannel music soundtracks push us to surpass ourselves. All  the models of the Chorus 800 V line have exceptional power handling and output, giving them  seismic dynamic range, maintained down into deep bass thanks to the new optimization of the ports and the cabinets. The new subwoofer SW 800 V follows this logic. It inherits  much from the famous SW 700 S from the last generation, renowned for the quality of its  impact and its dynamic range. The increased rigidity of the cabinet, the double port, the  powerful BASH® amplifier, which exceeds 350 Watts, new, accessible settings make for  many important improvements and a bass even deeper and more powerful despite a limited  cabinet displacement. The Chorus CC 800 V center channel speaker benefits from optimal  settings in order to marry to the other loudspeakers in the Chorus 800 V series. Despite its simple configuration, we managed to achieve directionality curves to combat the typical  limitations of a center channel speaker (an instable 3D image, “boxy” dialogue sound,  inconsistent transition between the three front speakers). The naturalness and precision of the dialogue constitute a major strength for this perfectly designed loudspeaker. A totally new design, the surround speaker SR 800 V adopts a new elaborate bipolar design, quite rare at  this price point. Compact, discrete, with an acrylic finish, this model suggests a high-end touch and an ease for integration and installation thanks to its Polyfix™ wall-mount system.