Description
Up for auction is a nice pair of Focal Chorus V - 807V that I picked up locally. I cleaned them up, replaced the grill cloth and a added a little rubber strip at the back of the top of the speaker where there were some little cracks. Overall they are in good shape but not perfect like most used hifi gear. Here is a review from StereoPhile, “The Chorus 800V series is the second from the bottom of the four families of speakers Focal designs for two-channel home audio. (The Utopia Be line is their flagship series, and the Chorus 700V speakers comprise their entry-level line.) The 800V series includes two bookshelf and three floorstanding models that range from $795 to $2995/pair, as well as several home-theater models. I chose the larger of the bookshelf designs, the 807V ($995/pair). The Chorus 807V is a front-ported, two-way speaker with a 1 TNV aluminum-magnesium inverted-dome tweeter and a 7 Polyglass-cone woofer. Focal America's Daniel Jacques explained to me that the tweeter voice-coil is attached midway along the dome rather than on the periphery, as in most tweeters. He claimed that this improves the driver's pistonic movement, to give greater speed and better control. Jacques also claimed that Focal doesn't believe in ferrofluid cooling: How fast can you walk when you are in a pool? The 807V looks stunning. Focal employed the Parisian design house of Pineau & Le Porcher to develop the attractive V look, which combines polished, acrylic-covered ebony with a highly figured finish of moka wood. I set the speakers on my trusty, 24-high Celestion Si stands, which were loaded with sand and lead shot. I noticed no difference in their performance with their grilles on or off, so I left them on—the V-shaped grille is a key part of the speaker's appearance. The Chorus 807V is not magnetically shielded. Listening I was immediately struck, with every recording I tried, by the natural, detailed, organic, and holographic midrange of the Chorus 807V. All vocal recordings were stunning. I mined my collection for the best-sounding vocals, which meant hitting the vinyl stacks as well. The title track of Doris Day's Cutting Capers (LP, Columbia C 11232) reveals her voice in its 1950s prime, in all its golden, silky, breathy glory—as if she's bathed in light against a backdrop of delicate, natural orchestral textures. I'm also a fan of the early Joan Baez; her rendition of Bob Dylan's It Ain't Me Babe, from Joan Baez 5 (LP, Vanguard VSD 79160), with that seductive, birdlike vibrato in her high register, was arresting through the 807V. The speaker's capabilities of subtle, low-level dynamic articulation almost let me hear Baez's head and throat as two distinct point sources. The most captivating aspect of the Chorus 807V was its high-frequency performance. Its resolution of detail, speed, and extension of the highs told me that this speaker has one remarkable tweeter. When I played Tiger Okoshi's Two Sides to Every Story (CD, JVC JVCXR-0004-2), his trumpet's blatty bite had the attack, spit, and golden glow of a live trumpeter in my living room. Nor was his a sweet-sounding horn; on every track it was in my face, dominating the mix, exactly as it would had Okoshi been standing there in my living room.” These speakers do sound and look great. I will package carefully or pick them up in Mount Pleasant, SC.
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