Focal 826V Review

JM LAB / FOCAL

JMLab is the ex-name of the company from early times when they produce drivers for famous hi-fi speaker producers such as Wilson Audio and it is created from the initials of the founder Jacques Mahul, a driver specialist. After producing only driver, they continued to produce speakers with that name for a long time. The company decided on “Focal” as the brand name in 2005.


FOCAL 826V, CHORUS 800, CHORUS 700

Before reviewing the speaker Focal 826V in listening sessions, I think it will be beneficial to talk about where Focal 826V resides among all products of Focal. Focal 826V, is one of three floorstanding speakers of Chorus 800 series, which is defined as affordable luxury class by Focal itself. Chorus 800 series is superior to Chorus 700 considering some technical and exterior design issues.


The differences in exterior designs are created by designers from Paris and they are the piano black covers and foot of the speakers (also have a technical benefit). Checking higher priced speakers of the brand we understand that design is very important for Focal. Grande Utopia III, the most sophisticated speaker of Focal, is defined as an acoustic sculpture by hi-fi enthusiast.

The technical difference between Chorus 800 and Chorus 700 is the additional port underneath the Chorus 800. The common port is on the front panel of the speaker. The additional port, considering the explanations made by Focal, is to increase the bass performance to go in deeper frequencies in 360 degree. This port functions by means of the single-piece foot of the speaker. Designer say that, the extra port prevents the reduction in the performance of the bass response due to placement and room conditions. To give some technical information, unbalanced distribution of bass inside the listening room affects the bass response due to delayed bass or creating resonance in the room and sometimes results in unbalanced mid-bass in stereo image and disappearance of the deep bass. It is evident that Chorus 800 lowers the frequency response down to deeper basses compared to Chorus 700. However, port supported bass responses of bass-reflex speakers generally do not create expected results. It is important that how much the bass is controlled, instead of how much it is. Please keep that in mind, 45-50 Hz frequencies that can be reached by a closed cabinet having a diaphram of 15-20 cm, is so near to the actual lowest limit of musical production. If your room is around 15-20 meter square then the bass response is the first problem that you have to solve.


While listening, at first sight, the wider soundstage of Chorus 800 and deeper bass response are noticed comparing it to the 700 series. These features also tell us that Chorus 800 series need more space. The entry level of Focal was Cobalt 800 before Chorus. The most important difference between Cobalt and Chorus was the W diaphrams, which are used in Cobalt. These diaphrams are also used in higher ranges of Focal now. Focal started to use V diaphrams in Chorus. The single exception in Chorus 800 series is the 30th year special product Focal 826W. Focal mentions that V diaphrams are better than W diaphrams considering the price/performance criteria. Although this mentioning seem to have contradicted with W usage in 826W, let us add that the diaphrams used in upper ranges are not exactly the same and it adds considerable amount to the price.

Focal uses aluminium-magnesium alloy for tweeters in entry leves while berilium is preferred in upper ranges. The inverted-dome design is used in all models and it provides widespread of the higher frequencies compared to the standart designs.


FOCAL 826V, FOCAL 816V & FOCAL 836V

Focal 826V has three ways and 4 drivers; 2 for the bass, one mid-range and one tweeter. Mid-range and bass drivers are 16.5 cm wide. The crossover frequencies are 300Hz and 3000Hz. The speaker can produce 91.5 dB at 1 meter with 1KHz tone of 1 Watt. The frequency response resides between 45Hz and 28KHz. The frequency response tests show that the mid and high frequencies are dominant with respect to an ordinary hi-fi speaker. The impedance of the speaker gets lower than 4 Ohm at upper high frequencies. There is no individual input for high and low ways, Focal is so confident about its design that it does not allow bi-wiring or bi-amping. 


In 800 series there is 3-way 836V and 2 ½ way 816V options for different bass needs. Although 816V seems to be the little brother of 826V with only one bass driver difference, since 816V is 2 ½ way there is a certain difference between mid-bas performance. More than that, considering the increase in the volume and the level of tweeter with respect to the ear level we can say that the difference is not only in bass response but also in the stage depth and mid-high brightness. Especially the bass performance is very critical to decide on a speaker and it directly affects the system quality. If there should be made a choice between the three, the listening room and the trial room should be compared by reflectivity, absorbtion and dimensions carefully.


The Equipment:

Integrated Amplifier: Marantz PM-11S2

Speaker: Focal 826V

The Digital Source (Both Transport and DAC): Marantz SA-15S1 CD Player

Reference Speaker: ATC–SCM40 (all other equipments are unchanged, some comments about Focal 826 are referenced to ATC SCM40)


The Listening Room and Placement:

The room is 5m x 4m x 3m. The 4 meters side is used for placing the speaker line. The speakers are spaced 50 cm from sides and 75 cm from rears. Approximately 5 degree toe in is applied. The listening position is 4 meters away from the speaker line.


Listening Sessions:

The SPL is chosen between 80-95dB. By a simple calculation it can be shown that I have worked with maximally around 15-20W. I should add that I have listened all the songs from beginning to end and I get some rest between different songs.

1.Electric Bass, Rock-Jazz

Artist : Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten

Album : SMV, Thunder
Track : 8. Classical Thumb
Thunder, although prepared by the owner of the initals, basists Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten, carries the well-known sound of the legendary bass player Marcus Miller. Marcus Miller has a profound effect on rock-jazz and fusion especially in last period of Miles Davis with great albums such as Tutu. Victor Wooten can be remembered from Dave Matthews Band as well as his great solo works. Many find Victor Wooten better than Marcus Miller considering their slap bass technique. Among them, the most experienced and earnest one may be Stanley Clarke. He is rather a classic jazz&fusion bassist. The piece that we have used in our review is Classical Thumb. It is just like a slap bass technique lesson. This performance needs a fast bass responsing system. We use it for our bass test.

The mid-bass was very detailed. Moreover, I could hear the deep bass as expected. The wide spread of the highs were impressive. Considering that the mid-bass is good and the stage depth is well defined, we can say that it is hard to compete with Focal 826V in this price segment. It is obivous that Focal 826V will do a good job in bigger places. I did not experience a phase problem about the bass. However, the bass was slow and it sometimes became a little bit unnecessarily long. The punch effect was not enough. More than this, the mid-range and high details were a little bit more than real. In other words, they were coloured. In this record, since the bass was slow I could not find what I was looking for but I am so impressed by the stage and imaging.

2. Jazz & R&B

Artist : Christian McBride

Album : A Family Affair

Track: 5. …So You Thought
Christian McBride may be the best jazz bassist in the world nowadays. You can see his name not only in jazz scene but also in rock music, especially in works with Sting. He deserves this reputation by his deep feelings in American Jazz Music and virtuosity in not only trio records but also in big band performances. Christian McBride is performing with electric bass in an R&B Jazz piece in this review, as also a great electric bass player.
The drum set cymbals give a real colourful and energetic sound with Focal 826V. I could follow the mid-bass and deep-bass individually. The aura created in the room by intense vibratos in the vocal, tenor saxophone and the crashes of the drums shows us that Focal 826V is a real jazz speaker. However, the kicks of the drums got a little bit overwritten and disappeared at the back. In other words, the definition of the kicks got lost. In addition to this, when the amplification is raised more I have felt that the highs became aggressive.

3. Progressive Rock

Sanatçı : Pink Floyd

Albüm : Dark Side of The Moon

Parça : 4. Time
Pink Floyd is founded by four architecture students in Cambrdige in 60’s. These students are Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, Richard Wright, to whom David Gilmour joined later on. They have created lots of masterpiece albums and songs to the progressive and psychedelic rock music world until the middle of 90’s. Although the most popular album seems to be The Wall; Dark Side of The Moon, which is produced in 1973 by using the synthesizer first time, has stayed in the charts for 700 weeks becoming a world record. According to statistical urban legend, this album is being listened by at least one person at any time in the world. Time, which is an important milestone in this concept album, is the subject of this test. Thanks to its entrance with the most famous cacophony of the world created by records of several alarm clocks played at the same time and the deep bass notes and heartbeats following this entrance, Time has also stayed in charts of Hi-Fi test people for very long time. The so-called cacophony is hard to listen when the system is under qualified. Because the alarm clocks produce noise when mixed up but when you can hear everyone individually it becomes a nice partition.
I could hear the deep clock ticks and deep noise just before the entrance, where we listen last parts of the previous track, On the Run. This means the dynamic range is very wide. I could differentiate every alarm clock in the exploded sound in the same amplification setting. The mid and high volume surrounding the listener was impressive. The widespread inverted dome tweeters look like working great. The heartbeat, although it is not emphasized enough, was audible and deep. The clock ticks emerging at the backward, was not sharp enough. The two notes of deep bass pushed my lungs hardly as I have expected, it may even be too much. I have lost the heartbeats from time to time. Although it seems to be that Focal 826V can give these deep basses, we need at least 40 meter square. Small rooms may sometimes create some misleading critics about speakers due to the phase problems in the room and small speakers having recessive bass response can accepted as better. Focal 826V need more space considering that. A little dirty guitar, piano and drum part is heard very colourful and mid-range dominant, which is different than what I have expected. Although the record is 30th year special master, the recording time 1973 is among times that bass is sacrificed due to the LP mastering/printing and playback technique. For this reason, bass dominant systems were more impressive for old hi-fi enthusiasts. New sets, trying to be more transparent and flat, can generally not give a desired performance in such records. However, Dark Side of The Moon is a little bit outside this generalization since it is well at the forefront of its era considering the recording made by Alan Parsons and its mastering made from original analog tapes. I can say that Focal 826V gave an impressive 70’s rock performance.

4. Vocal Jazz Oldies

Artist : Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

Album : Ella and Louis Again

Track : 5. Autumn in New York
It is unnecessary to talk a lot about Ella and Louis. Ella Fitzgerald may be the best jazz vocal ever. Louis Armstrong is one of the founders and leaders of Jazz Music. The album is recorded in 1957, however it is like a lesson to the contemporary vocal records. There is Oscar Peterson on the piano and Ray Brown on the bass. However I should add that records of these other instruments are not well qualified. The multi layer colourful vocal of Ela Fitzgerald and the deep and wide voice of Louis Armstrong are ones that we will be looking for during our test.
Ella Fitzgerald, starting as saying “Autumn in New York”, presented us her colourful singing. I have faced with a so hot sound at the stage that I feel her in front of me. The following vocal of Louis Armstrong is extraterrestial and it covers all the room by creating a big mouth artifically between the speakers. Focal 826V can be accepted as a real jazz vocal monster. I think this results from 16.5cm wide mid range driver. I feel a granular mid performance well distinguished from the bass. This result is hard to take from a 2 ½ way speaker. The critical thing is that there should be no problem in phase. Focal 826V is also successful in doing this. The following trompet has proven what we have said. The problems in the performance were that the high performance become aggressive and the dissolving in the vocal when the instruments are started to play.

5. Vocal Jazz Sweden

Artist : Ida Sand

Album : Meet Me Around Midnight

Track : 1. Mr. Pianoman
Although she is a blonde Sweden woman, Ida Sand has a real Afro-American vocal. She is a valuable vocalist and pianist, who is known by the world via ACT record company and by introduction of Nils Landgren in Christmas with My Friends records. This ACT record mainly consists of jazz and blues pieces. It will be helpful to understand the performance of the system for contemporary jazz not only by its vocal records but also with its warm and uncompressed instrument records.

I have felt all the details in the energetic entrance, whose dynamic range is very wide. The following piano record was good but it can sound more realistic. The width of the stage and the locations of the instruments on it were perfect. The details of the vocal can be heard even in crowded instrument partitions. Focal 826V is perfect for contemporary jazz and vocal records.

6. Jazz

Artist: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans (Wynton Kelly),

Jimmy Cobb ve Paul Chambers

Album : Kind of Blue

Track : 1. So What
It is 1959. The legendary jazz musician Miles Davis, who probably has ruled the jazz world nearly 25 years, gathered with some other legends; John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans (Wynton Kelly), Jimmy Cobb and Paul Chambers and the album of improvisations on popular modes, Kind of Blue, the best selling jazz album ever is created. Many says jazz had never been this cool after that album. So What is the most well known piece in the album, which is used in countless jazz themes in many concepts all around the world. The reason why this piece is in my test are the unique instrument tones of Miles, John and Cannonball and that the records are made in the best record studio of all time, CBS 30th Street Studio, which is an old church of 33x33x33 meter cube.
Focal 826V successfully presented the explosion in the music triggered by the crash of Jimmy Cobb just after the bass and piano entrance. The well known trompet sound of Miles Davis and the depth of the studio created the third dimension through to the back of the speakers. First Coltrane from the left channel with his tenor and then Cannonball from the right channel with his alto, showed us that Focal 826V is just like a saxophone simulation. The backward movement of other instruments giving the stage to the soloist instrument, especially soft touches of piano, drum and bass are heard in detail. Some weaknesses of Focal 826V in these performance is the harshness of the cymbals and deep basses on the edge of resonance.

7. Nordic Trio Jazz

Artist : Esbjörn Svensson Trio

Album : Seven Days of Falling

Track : 2. Seven Days of Falling
Esbjörn Svensson is a genius pianist giving his name to the trio. He was a very important jazz musician until he is passed away in 2008 in a diving accident. He has played in several genre from mainstream jazz to funk in several albums since 1993. He has created an extraordinary style with his trio which we may call progressive jazz, carrying the cold aura of nordic music thanks to his great technique. They do not resemble to the previous or to the following by their unique drum and bass records. I have used one of their most liked piece Seven Days of Falling. I will try to check the double bass, the location of the instruments individually on the stage and the tone of the piano in this test.
Focal 826V created the double bass of Dan Berglund just at the center and almost 3 meters back from the speaker line. The transition of Magnus Öström’s touches from left to right is well at the front. Esbjörn Svensson’s coloured and electronically supported piano, following this entrance, played homogenically all around the room above other instruments. The cymbals, which seems to be harsh in the previous tests look like well-fitted in this one. Same applies for the bass. Every detail of the deep bass can be heard easily. The only drawback may be that the bass is sometimes really near to the resonance, which probably because of the larger room requirement of these speakers.

8. Classical, Orchestral

Artist(Composer and Musician) : Edward Elgar, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis

Album : LSO Live –Elgar, Enigma Variations

Track : Enigma Variations 1-14
Edward Elgar is one of the most important composer in England. Enigma Variations is a masterpiece composed of 14 parts, whose main theme is seen and heard in very different concepts. The melancholic main theme is even used in the soundtrack of the famous movie, Matrix. London Symphony Orchestra is a famous orchestra all around the world with thier performance as well as qualified records. The record belongs to LSO Live. My aim in this test is to check the dyanmic range and naturality of the instruments in an orchestral piece.
The wide soundstage of the Focal 826V makes it possible to identify each instrument group individually. From the lowest level to the highest, I got a clean and impressive performance. I could give the name of the instrument even in the most silent partitions. The well known strings of LSO showed-off succesively from highs to lows. There appears a meaningless smile on my face when I hear the bass under everything. Although the higher octaves strings were natural, the lower octaves were not. I can say that Focal 826V is successful in many ways in classical music.

9. Classical, Chamber

Artist(Composer and Musician) : Giovanni Felice Sancez, John Potter

Album : Dowland Project, Care Charming Sleep

Track : 5. Accenti Queruli
John Potter is an academic author as well as a famous tenor. He has decided to sing John Dowland’s compositions, who is an important renaissance composer and lutenist, after his research and released many ECM albums in this concept. Potter also performed other baroque period composer’s pieces lived in near period with John Dowland with other ECM musicians. The piece is composed by Giovanni Felice Sancez and named Accenti Queruli. It is in our test not only for it is from ECM but also for being a chamber record full of tenor vocal, baroque guitar and bass clarinet.
John Potter’s profound vocal is in front of the instruments and detailed as expected. The baroque guitar full of overtones is perfectly listened and this showed us that again mid performance of Focal 826V is just amazing.  Although I feel that baroque violin is a little bit closed, I can say that the bass clarinet carried us to another world with its room-full sound.

10. Classical, Soprano

Artist(Composer and Musician) : Gabriel Faure, Rene Fleming, Lee Ritenour , Joshua Bell

Album : Amparro

Track : 4. Pavane Op.50
Rene Fleming is one of the most important sopranos in the world. The famous guitarist of Four Play, Lee Ritenour, has produced many jazz, classical and blues albums. They released an album with famous pianist Dave Grusin called Amparro and performed the famous composition of Gabriel Faure, Op.50 with Joshua Bell (violin) and Rene Fleming(soprano). Let us see how Focal 826V will sound with the incredible vocal of Rene Fleming.
Focal 826V, shows a great performance in this vocal and guitar dominant record. The speaker did not give up to give the low guitar while handling the dynamic and strong vocal in front. However I should admit that the guitar is not very natural.

11. Classical, Tenor

Artist: Pavarotti

Album : The Essential

Track : 1. La Donna e Mobile
Luciano Pavarotti, is one of the most important opera singers in the modern world. He added his uniqueness to all piece with his characteristic voice and has a perfect technique. He is the best performer of Napoliten songs. La Donna Mobile is the most famous of all. In this test we will check the incredibly wide and deep vocal of Pavarotti, which can try the limits of any sound system.
It was a great experience to listen to Pavarotti from Focal 826V. The speakers has rised to higher and higher as Pavarotti wanted, without being harsh. His profoundness, definiton was just right there on the soundstage in the living room.




The Results:

Focal 826V has certainly proved to be a good jazz and classical music speaker. This results from its perfect mid performance and wide soundstage, which is hard to find in this price range. It is very colourful and impressive in rock music but if it is a bass dominant speaker what is looked for as a rock speaker Focal 826V is not the best. Even then, if the records are acoustic and well qualified, Focal 826V is certain to give a good performance. Focal 826V can reach down to the deepest bass levels but it needs at least 30 metersquare for them. It needs to be away from the walls and toe-in of 5 degrees is efficient. More than that it can be bright. It is hard to drive this speaker with a cheaper amplifier since Focal 826V is somthing on the edge of higher hi-fi range. Besides Marantz amplifier in the tests, I have used some push-pull vacuum tube and class A hybrid amplifiers. It can be said that vacuum tube amplifier increased the jazz and classical performance whereas hybrid is better at rock.