Hi all, A bit of a long shot, but does anyone know where I might be able to get a pair of the Focal Chorus 705's? I nearly bought a pair a few years back but now it looks like they may be discontinued. The 706's may do if I simply can't get 705's. The room is only around 4 by 4 meters so 706's could be a little big. Or I may consider Klipsh KLR51MB as I can get them locally but not sure if they are in the same league as the Focals. I've googled etc but not had much luck. I'm located in Brisbane but would take a punt buying unheard and have them shipped. I currently have B&W 686S2 and they just don't really do it for me.... perfect size but generally just sound flat and uninspiring. Cheers EDIT: It looks like the 706's may be discontinued and hard to come by as well....
Another option would be Aussie Audio Mart, Post in the "Speaker" section. It's also Free https://www.aussieaudiomart.com/classifieds/3-speakers/ Also keep an eye on Len Wallis Audio in there secondhand section, or an inquiry E-mail asking if they have anything that meets your requirements, You might be surprised what they have hidden away. https://lenwallisaudio.com/category/secondhand/
Yeah the chorus 700 series have been replaced with chora 800 series and there is a 806 bookshelf model. They are a similar sounding speaker. There wouldn’t be a problem at all with a 706 or 806 in a 4x4m room, hell would even run a 716 or 816 (Or bigger) if you have the room for a floorstander. However square rooms aren’t ideal for listening either. I feel the same about the B&W, they sound closed off and not dynamic to me. Focal is much better in my opinion.
Thanks for replies - I'll keep an eye out on those sites. There is no room for floorstanders and the cabinet that the speakers currently sit on (long TV cabinet and a speaker at each end) means that anything bigger than a ~5" speaker will look big but a 6" will probably be ok. So I guess I'm a little torn between the Klipsch KLR51MB for their smaller size and local availability, or taking a punt on 706/806's. They actually look a little small in the pic....
I don’t think either of the 706 or 806 will look to big there at all. Get a tape measure and compare the sizes to the existing speakers. The other thing with the Klipsch is that they are rear ported, and stick against the wall won’t work well. The Focal will work much better in that location. Having said that getting them away from the wall will work wonders for sound stage, but visuals also play a part. Got and have a listen to them in the shop, ideally same listening room. That will give you an idea about what you like from an audio point of view.
If your going to audition anything in a HI FI showroom take a good look at the amplification there using. After all they want to present the very best in performance. And things are going to sound a lot better there then in your room..
Seems these sites are showing stock, one in NZ; https://garyanderson.co.nz/product/focal-chorus-705-bookshelf-speakers-sale/ https://www.vinylrevival.com.au/col...cts/focal-jm-lab-chorus-705v-black-style-pair JSmith
May I suggest an alternative? https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/532449 I got them at that amazing price but for ~$1k I think they're still good value for money and there are 2 larger sizes. You can see my thoughts in one of the comments there - I have 826W's. Front firing ports and LF and HF shelving controls mean they will be fine hard up against your front wall. You could add some IsoAsoustics stands later.
Thanks for all the suggestions and I did see them available at VinylRevival after I posted earlier. They have 705 and 706's. I do prefer the front firing port, hence once reason I went with the 686S2's, but they did sound better to me in the showroom. It's not that they are bad, they just seem to lack something especially when I listen to the same track on my headphones or in the car (Morel speakers) but obviously the environment is totally different in those scenarios. I've had Focal car speakers in the past and really liked them, unfortunately I'd have to buy them unheard as no where in Brisbane stocks them. Videopro in Brisbane stock Klipsch so I can check them out.
Todd's in Brisbane have the PSB bookshelves on sale... might be worth a look and you could listen to them then locally; https://www.todds.com.au/collections/hot-offers/products/psb-imagine-xb-bookshelf-speakers JSmith
Thanks again for all the replies. I have heard that PSB are pretty decent, so I might check them out. As a general question - is there likely to be any noticeable difference between the Focal 705 and 706 (or any 5" v 6.5" of the same brand/series) when used at moderate listening levels with a Rotel A12 (60w/ch) and Velodyne SPL800i (8" 1,000w) sub? The room is roughly as below, with an open normal doorway on the right, a wider open section into the dining room on the left and a small/medium window in the centre of the wall behind the lounge. Granted the speaker placement (marked by red X's) isn't great, but it's all I have to work with..... I guess I'm uncertain on going with 6.5" as they are physically bigger, and cost a little more, if they'll offer no real advantage in the current set-up (both equipment and room). Cheers
I tend to agree the 5" will be fine for your usage. If that saves you money I'd still say look at the IsoAcoustics stands, or at least raise them off the bench with foam or sorbothane or similar. Do you have any form of DSP between your sub and mains for crossover and time alignment? Until I did that my main-sub integration was sub par. That plus Dirac made a massive difference as my room is also compromised by needing to fit my house
Respectfully disagree guys. The 706 is not going to big for that room, and will provide much more head room and mid and low range than the 705. If you are listen at moderate level, the 706 will be much better. The sub is only going to cover you for below 250Hz, and the mid range driver will still need to cover everything up to 3KHz. So the 6.5” will provide more energy than the 5” driver. And as the old saying goes, buy the best speakers you can reasonably afford.
I thought I should give an update to this thread. In the end I decided on the 706 and got a pair shipped up from Vinyl Revival in Melbourne. While definitely bigger than the 686s2’s, they don’t look out of place. In fact, these speakers look great (I hadn’t actually seen in person or heard these before, so was taking a punt...), nice shape and finish to them Still early days but I really like the sound of them and having a bigger driver means I can turn the sub down a bit which gives a cleaner, tighter bass response. I’ve also started using Tidal again however I have come across some issues of it disconnecting from the Chromecast Ultra which is annoying - but maybe a good excuse to get a proper network streamer Thanks everyone for thoughts and opinions!
Nice work. They look great. Being Focal they will need some time to run in. Also maybe think about bring them forward if you can, and some isolation would be good too.
