Focal Chora 806

Focal turns its attention to the affordable end of the market, so where better to start than with the smallest member of its new range?

Loudspeaker manufacturers with a product lineup that runs from three to six figures are few and far between. Focal is one such example, however, and after a few years where the bulk of its new arrivals have been at the more premium end of the scale, the focus has shifted back to being affordable. The Chora series is the second tier of the company’s range and comprises two floorstanders and the 806 standmount you see here. It follows the basic pattern of Focal standmount speakers. It’s a relatively large, two-way design that’s front ported and single wired. While the formula hasn’t significantly changed, the ingredients have. The 25mm aluminium and magnesium tweeter has been seen before, but it now uses a surround made from a material called poron which has trickled down from the company’s more expensive models. This is intended to reduce distortion across the high sensitivity point of our hearing while simultaneously improving dispersion.

The 165mm mid/bass driver is all new. Like previous models from Focal, it makes use of composites in its construction. This time, the primary ingredient is unwoven carbon fibre, arranged in parallel – something the French company says further improves consistency – and then sandwiched between two layers of thermoplastic polymer. The resulting concoction has been dubbed Slatefiber because it looks like slate once the driver has been finished. The resulting driver is extremely light and stiff – qualities Focal has long placed great emphasis on.