Focal Chorus 826 vs. 836, anyone heard both?

[gixxerific]

I will more than likely be getting the 836's tommorow. They don't have them in store but they do have the 826's which are frickin' awesome. Just wondering if the 836's are worth an extra $500.

Thanks
Dono

 

[rded]

Just FYI. You may wanna raise your budget and get a new receiver and/or amp

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/80869

 

[rded]

or this one

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/80866

 

[the grunt]

I will more than likely be getting the 836's tommorow. They don't have them in store but they do have the 826's which are frickin' awesome. Just wondering if the 836's are worth an extra $500.

Thanks
Dono

If you get a chance post your thoughts on them. I listened to the 807s and 816s and loved both of them. It would be great to here your impressions of the 826s and 836s if you get the time.

Thanks

 

[gixxerific]

Just FYI. You may wanna raise your budget and get a new receiver and/or amp

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/80869

As soon as you start sending me checks I will!

I'll start out with Mark Levinson or McIntosh electronics, than a dedicated, noiseless, circuit for my audio equipment. That will go in a custom room built with acoustics as the first priority. Than speakers, Dynaudio or maybe something from Jim Salk, the list goes on. Cables anything but Monster. Don't forget a SVS 13 Ultra or two. Oh and some of those theater chairs that vibrate to the action on the screen because of course there will be video figured into all of this as well. I can send you my address if you like, so you can start financing my dream.

No, really I'm sorry. I'm not bashing you or anything just dreaming with your money. I appreciate your ideas, I just wish I could swing all that right now. I'm not rich by any means (Read: Child Support). One thing at a time, it sucks to have champagne taste on a beer budget.

If you get a chance post your thoughts on them. I listened to the 807s and 816s and loved both of them. It would be great to here your impressions of the 826's and 836's if you get the time.

Thanks

Well I haven't heard the 807 or 816 but I have heard the 826 and it is most awesome. Quite possibly I will write up a review on either the 826 or 836 in my home within a week or so. They didn't have the 836 in stock, and I don't want a floor model (unless it is super cheap).

 

[rded]

As soon as you start sending me checks I will!:
Well I haven't heard the 807 or 816 but I have heard the 826 and it is most awesome. Quite possibly I will write up a review on either the 826 or 836 in my home within a week or so. They didn't have the 836 in stock, and I don't want a floor model (unless it is super cheap).

Truth be told, I had to wait over a year to save up for my current set up and I'm still saving and working extra hours during weekends to pay for my future up grades like a Naim Flatcap2x(power supply for my CDP), a REL B1 sub and change my front speakers to Confidence 2 . My Dynaudio 3.4s are demo speakers and they are absolutely spotless. I was able to haggle with the dealer and he took off almost 40% the original price. If in the future upgraditis hits you, some dealers have generous upgrade programs where they give you 100% the value of your gear with trade in. Just a thought.

 

[gixxerific]

Truth be told, I had to wait over a year to save up for my current set up and I'm still saving and working extra hours during weekends to pay for my future up grades like a Naim Flatcap2x(power supply for my CDP), a REL B1 sub and change my front speakers to Confidence 2 . My Dynaudio 3.4s are demo speakers and they are absolutely spotless. I was able to haggle with the dealer and he took off almost 40% the original price. If in the future upgraditis hits you, some dealers have generous upgrade programs where they give you 100% the value of your gear with trade in. Just a thought.

I hear you, I have been waiting long enough it's time to buy. But thanks for telling me about the upgrade policy. I have heard about them before but wasn't thinking about that. I will definitely ask about that.

Really I should have done this long ago. I have been building top notch car audio systems for years, it's time I start putting my money into home audio.

 

[smokeman]

i just bought a pair of the 826's. i was also thinking hard about the paradigm reference 60 and reference 100. the paradigms were a lot better in the low end; very tight, very focused. individual notes, not muddy. and very musical, which i find hard to achieve with bass for some reason. the bass just seemed to fit in with the music. very good balance. it wasn't "blatty", it wasn't pushed into your face. the upper mids and highs were lacking, however, and this is my problem. due to work problems, my upper-end hearing isn't the best. if your hearing is in good shape, i'll bet you'd love these speakers

but mine isn't. so on to the focals. the 826 in particular. the exact inverse of the paradigms. upper mids and highs aren't bright or prominent, but they are more of a presence. i was hearing stuff in that range on the focals that i couldn't hear on the paradigms. and the upper end on the focals is really clear; you can 'hear' the dead air around a performer, the empty space behind them in a recording. really clean and airy. just magnitudes beyond the paradigms. the problem with the focals, of course, is the bottom end. not as refined, not as defined. i'm not a bass-head, and i don't like a ton of bass, but i want to hear the clarity of the upper end, so between the two, i'm willing to put up with a bass problem to get the upper clarity i want

of course, i'm working on tightening up the bass on the focals. i A/B'ed a rotel cd player and a cambridge audio one. the rotel was $800, the CA was $1800, and i liked the rotel better. go figure. i took the rotel separates out of the mix and plugged in a CA integrated, the one that gets rave reviews. i'm just not a CA fan, i guess. it tightened up the bass, but at the expense of dumbing-down the top end as well. i was disappointed in this. when i get home from my business trip, i'm gonna try a marantz integrated. i'm also gonna hook a Moon integrated into them. i have high hopes for the moon; my dealer has it plugged into some $10,000 revels and they sound stupendous.

so overall, i really like the focals, mainly for the upper mids and highs. if i can find something to tighten up the bottom i'll be ecstatic

as always, YMMV

 

[gixxerific]

i just bought a pair of the 826's. i was also thinking hard about the paradigm reference 60 and reference 100. the paradigms were a lot better in the low end; very tight, very focused. individual notes, not muddy. and very musical, which i find hard to achieve with bass for some reason. the bass just seemed to fit in with the music. very good balance. it wasn't "blatty", it wasn't pushed into your face. the upper mids and highs were lacking, however, and this is my problem. due to work problems, my upper-end hearing isn't the best. if your hearing is in good shape, i'll bet you'd love these speakers

but mine isn't. so on to the focals. the 826 in particular. the exact inverse of the paradigms. upper mids and highs aren't bright or prominent, but they are more of a presence. i was hearing stuff in that range on the focals that i couldn't hear on the paradigms. and the upper end on the focals is really clear; you can 'hear' the dead air around a performer, the empty space behind them in a recording. really clean and airy. just magnitudes beyond the paradigms. the problem with the focals, of course, is the bottom end. not as refined, not as defined. i'm not a bass-head, and i don't like a ton of bass, but i want to hear the clarity of the upper end, so between the two, i'm willing to put up with a bass problem to get the upper clarity i want

of course, i'm working on tightening up the bass on the focals. i A/B'ed a rotel cd player and a cambridge audio one. the rotel was $800, the CA was $1800, and i liked the rotel better. go figure. i took the rotel separates out of the mix and plugged in a CA integrated, the one that gets rave reviews. i'm just not a CA fan, i guess. it tightened up the bass, but at the expense of dumbing-down the top end as well. i was disappointed in this. when i get home from my business trip, i'm gonna try a marantz integrated. i'm also gonna hook a Moon integrated into them. i have high hopes for the moon; my dealer has it plugged into some $10,000 revels and they sound stupendous.

so overall, i really like the focals, mainly for the upper mids and highs. if i can find something to tighten up the bottom i'll be ecstatic

as always, YMMV

I feel the same. I looked at the Studio line and didn't think they had what was needed to keep up with Focal's. I ended up getting the 836's they are amazing. But, as you said they could have more bass. Than again as you have also said the mid and upper mid is simply extraordinary. So I think they need a sub for rock music. Other genres with a slower less busy track they will shake the house, literally. There will be a reveiw coming up. Just trying to figure out how to say they have killer bass and that they don't have killer bass.

Dono

 

[smokeman]

i guess i wasn't clear. i don't think they need more bass. i think they need better bass. the 826s i listened to were mushy in the bottom end. really tough to distinguish individual bass notes. personally, i don't need a sub with these; they're pumping out more bass than i really want. i'm just trying to tighten it up

 

[gixxerific]

i guess i wasn't clear. i don't think they need more bass. i think they need better bass. the 826s i listened to were mushy in the bottom end. really tough to distinguish individual bass notes. personally, i don't need a sub with these; they're pumping out more bass than i really want. i'm just trying to tighten it up

I don't see that so much, I fact when I auditioned the Studio 100's I thought they lacked in everything as compared to the Focal's. But this could have had something to do with the room. I also auditioned some Monitor Audio which I also found disappointing. The only speakers that came close to the Focal's were the Dyn's, out of my price range and Some B&W's but they were not it either for me.

 

[smokeman]

to each his own. i don't have a problem with anything you've written. and, as i've said, i like the mids and highs a lot. i've lost quite a bit of upper-end hearing over the years, so something that's a tad bright, without being shrill (like thiels), serves my needs the best. these do it quite nicely. the dealer let me hear these through a Cambridge Audio integrated. i just don't care for that company's sound. i heard them through some Rotel separates. sounded better, but still mushy bass to me. he loaned me a Simaudio Moon integrated. that has tightened up the bass a whole lot, but it's still a loud, boomy bass (to my ears) that i don't care for. not very 'musical' to me, for lack of a better word; the bass doesn't quite blend in with the rest of the music. i'm gonna get a Marantz tomorrow and see how that works. granted, part of my problem is the room; the dealer's place was covered in treatments. i, however, am in a purely rectangular room with absolutely nothing on any of the walls. one or two more middles and i'm going to move on to treatments. i really don't wanna give up yet; i really like the clarity and openness of these things. i just want the booming to stop. i can't believe they're putting another woofer on the 830's