Manufacturer improves line but maintains “sensible” price

At CES 2007, French speaker manufacturer Focal-JMlabs announced that it had replaced its popular line of Chorus S-series speakers with two new and very closely related families of speakers: the Chorus 700V and 800V lines. As in the past, the theme of the new Chorus lines is “affordable luxury,” meaning these models are designed to deliver unexpectedly sophisticated sound and stylish good looks–all at sensible, down-to-earth prices.

At first glance, the 700V and 800V models seem almost indistinguishable, and in fact the two lines do share a number of technical elements in common. For example, models from both lines feature aluminum/magnesium alloy inverted dome tweeters and “polyglass” woofers and mid-bass drivers. Interestingly, Focal does not believe in “one-size-fits-all” drive unit configurations, instead choosing to optimize driver units for the specific models in which they will be used. Both the 700V and 800V lines also feature enclosures whose non-parallel sidewalls help nip internal reflections in the bud.

Upon closer inspection customers will discover two important differences between the 700V and 800V range. First, the 800V models feature slightly richer-looking cabinet finishes than the 700V models. Second, floorstanding 800V models are dual-ported and use metal floor pedestals to create clearance for downward-firing reflex ports. The 700Vs have forward-firing ports only.

Pricing for the Chorus 700V family ranges from $450/pair for the 705V bookshelf monitor to $1595/pair for the 726V floorstanders. 800V pricing, in turn, ranges from $795/pair for the 806V bookshelf monitors to $2995/pair for the 836 V tower-type speakers.

Our take: A value-oriented speaker line has just gotten welcome improvements in external appearance and in underlying core technologies.

Shown here (from left to right) are the Chorus 706 V($595/pair), 716 V ($ 1295/pair), 826 V ($2495/pair) and 807 V ($995/pair).

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