Advise needed: Dali Oberon/Opticon vs Focal Chora 826.

[Uchianseron]

Hi Guys,

I`ve recently moved into a new house and I have been wanting to upgrade my speakers for almost 7 years.
Unfortunately I have going back and forth on my speaker purchase for several weeks now, hopefully you guys can help me out.

The system will be used mainly for music, but also movies, and ultimately I would like to create a dolby atmos 5.1.4 / 5.2.4 setup in my living room.
I know my current receiver max is 5.1.2, I will also upgrade my receiver down the line.
Also important room size is ~29m2, and the speakers will be relatively close to the wall, 10-15cm.

Current hardware:
AVR - Denon x2400H (90 Watt per channel in Stereo, will this AVR be sufficient to run the Opticons?)
Speakers: KEF iQ70

Speakers I have listened to:
- Dali Oberon 7
- Dali Opticon 6 MK2.
- Focal Chora 826

The Dali Oberon 7 ticks all the boxes that I`m looking for in a speaker, its dynamic, great bass, just a fun speaker.
However the Opticon 6 keeps sticking in my head, its detailed seperation is just amazing. The music is more articulate, however I do miss the "warm?" and lower ( beefy? ) sound of the Oberon 7.
I demo`d Cosmic Gates - Be Your Sound (Acoustic version) with the Oberon`s first and was quite enjoying what I was hearing, but when the Opticon start playing the guitar strings.. it took the experience to whole different level.
The Focal Chora 826 are also a surprisingly amazing pair of speakers, but lack bass response in the lower region and I didnt like their bass response overall.

Since I`m eventually going for a 5.1.4 setup, I will include a subwoofer somewhere down the line, I was thinking of the SVS-SB-1000 or REL HT/1003.

With this in mind:
The Opticons (and Focal) lack the "oempff" of the Oberon 7`s, but adding a sub which will integrate well with the system should fix that?
I`ll have the clarity and detailed sound of the Opticons and a (much) better bass response from the sub, knocking the Oberon`s out of the park?

The WAF would love me to go for the Focal`s because of their looks, so I`m still considering them, incl. a sub.

I would really appreciate your advise

 

[PENG]

If WAF is a key factor then go with the Focal but be prepared to crossover the 826 at 110 Hz, at least 90 Hz I would say, if you listen loud enough. If you listen at say 15 dB below reference level from say 10-11 ft you should be fine though. Reason is, the little Denon will struggle to power the 826's woofers that would dip below 4 Ohms from about 200 Hz, even below to 3 Ohms at about 120 Hz. The graph below is from the Stereophile review of the 826W (the anniversary edition), but I believe the 826 would be very similar if not identical.

To be clear, you X2400H can do the job, but it depends on your seating distance and how "loud" you listen to music/movies. The key is to use it with a good sub and crossover at higher than 100 Hz. Also invest at least $10-$15 on a fan to protect the AVR from over heating.

Focal Chorus 826W 30th Anniversary Edition loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com