Focal Chora 816 Floorstanding Speakers

Focal Chora 816 Speakers

The Focal Chora 816 floorstanding speaker is the smaller floorstander in the Chora range and is also a great example of a model that offers a whole lot of speaker for the money. With a trickle-down aluminium/magnesium inverted-dome tweeter, proprietary Slatefiber mid/bass and woofer in a quite reasonably sized and beautifully finished cabinet, the Chora 816 is designed to be a friend to your décor whilst offering plentiful, room filling sound.

Made in France at Focal's specialist manufacturing facilities, Chora is a new generation of high-quality yet affordable loudspeakers, featuring unique technology and design. It's great what you get for your money with this medium sized model. The Focal Chora 816 is a 2.5-way floorstanding loudspeaker design that utilizes a 1" (25mm) TNF aluminium/magnesium inverted-dome tweeter (from the Aria range), and two 6.5" slatefiber cone woofers for precise and dynamic sound. In a 2.5-way driver design, both woofers produce bass frequencies, but only the upper mid/woofer produces midrange frequencies. The Chora Series floorstanding loudspeaker offers the most faithful sound reproduction, whether you are listening to music or a movie soundtrack. The Chora 816 is a medium size speaker which works best in rooms measuring up to around 30 square metres.

A Closer Look At The Chora 816

TNF Aluminium/Magnesium Tweeter: The Focal Chora 816 features a single 1" TNF inverted-dome tweeter made of aluminium and magnesium alloy. The inverted-dome technology allows optimal energy transfer and wide dispersion. The aluminium/magnesium makeup guarantees exception performance in terms of stiffness and damping, thus ensuring a subtle blend of softness and dynamics. Performance of the TNF tweeter is enhanced by its new Poron suspension material. Poron is a polyurethane micro-cellular foam which has a porous open-cell structure. This memory foam is very light which means that the suspension will not become damaged or compressed with time. It is an essential element of the TNF tweeter as the suspension allows the dome to move freely. Its uniform and constant physical properties ensure excellent stability and linearity, along with extreme accuracy and distortion-free sound. The result is a sound which is soft and precise and which offers improved harmonics richness and a more precise soundstage

Two Slatefiber Woofers: The Chora 816 uses Slatefiber cone technology in its two woofers. Slatefiber technology, exclusive to Focal, involves the use of recycled, non-woven carbon fibres applied as a sandwich between two layers of thermoplastic polymer. In their quest for perfection, Focal engineers have opted to use non-woven carbon fibres, all pointing in the same direction to achieve even greater rigidity and better damping. Manufactured in the Focal workshops using an ultra-modern industrial tool, the "slate" effect of the cone provides better damping and rigidity, but also lightness - the three "essentials" of a good loudspeaker driver.

Bass Reflex Enclosure: The Focal Chora 816's speaker cabinet uses solid MDF construction, internal bracing, and a non-parallel inner wall structure to reduce internal resonance for less coloration. This bass reflex type cabinet uses an aerodynamic front port for greater efficiency and to reduce distortion of the bass.

Grilles: The Chora Series floorstanding loudspeaker comes with a detachable magnetic cloth grille that covers the woofers and midrange driver. The grille has to be aligned just right with the front of the cabinet to magnetically attach to the speaker. The tweeter features its own integrated, non-removable grille.

Binding Posts: The Focal Chora 816 is outfitted with a pair of binding post terminals that will accept bare wire (up to 10AWG), pin connectors, spade connectors, and banana plugs (single only). You'll need to remove two plastic caps from the binding post terminals to accommodate banana plugs.

Tilted Based with Rubber or Spike Feet: The Focal Chora 816 comes with a tilted base that provides proper time alignment for optimal soundstage imaging that is more focused on the listener. It also includes spike feet for carpeted floors; as well as rubber feet for hardwood, ceramic, laminate, and vinyl flooring. The base and feet have to be installed. Note: The plinth and feet should always be used for proper time alignment, optimum sound quality, and maximum stability.

Focal Chora 816 In The News

"The speakers will immediately impress you with their ability to render the front soundstage so nicely while at the same time expand it in all axis. But it was not only its expansion that was impressive but also its uniformity that put us directly in the middle of it. The speakers do have a pleasing tone to them that we definitely liked and those that look for something more than just a casual audio signature will be exited with these ones.

Stereo imaging was very good and with the expansive area the speakers created we were impressed how easy it was to distinguish every sound source in space. Panning stereo effects felt very precise with no lag visible while audio dispersion was pretty good with the sound keeping its quality and characteristics in various positions without losing much cohesion.

Once again the higher end was amazing and it shows what great work Focal did with their inverted dome technology. Vocals had a lively tone while they felt very clear and focused. They had a certain dimensionality wrapped to them that made them feel so much more alive and natural.

The lower frequencies were very pleasant, deep and with enough oomph to give the necessary base to each song. We did try a few more demanding songs but we didn't feel like the Chora 816 was struggling to keep up with the rhythm, on the contrary they felt right at home giving a pretty distinct bass that was never muffled or muddy.

Closing this part we can assure you that for an entry level HiFi speaker the Focal Chora 816 is as amazing as it can get in this price. With good balance, nice mid-range, exciting highs and solid lower end if you are a fan of mixed music then these can get through any situation with a straight face. What more you can ask for, huh?" Home Media Entertainment

Main Features & Specifications

• Design: 3-driver, 2.5-way floorstanding speaker
• Drivers
• 1" (25mm) Aluminium/Magnesium TNF inverted dome tweeter
• 6.5" (165mm) Slatefiber mid/bass driver
• 6.5" (165mm) Slatefiber bass driver
• Sensitivity: 89.5dB (2.83V/1m)
• Frequency Response: 50Hz - 28kHz (+/-3dB)
• Low Frequency Point: 45Hz (-6dB)
• Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohms
• Minimum Impedance: 4 Ohms
• Recommended Amplifier Power: 40 - 200W
• Crossover Frequency: 270 Hz & 2,700Hz
• Finish: Black, Light Wood, Dark Wood
• Dimensions (WxHxD) 303 x 1,023 x 388mm
• Weight: 18.5kg each
• Shipping Weight: 20.5kg each
• Manufacturer's Warranty: 5 Years (Covers faulty workmanship and materials, but not abuse)

Note: Features & Specifications Subject To Change Without Notice. E&OE