Focal Chorus OD 706 V Outdoor Speaker Review

[andreasmaaan]

In my opinion the Revel house sound is the result of the smoothly downward-sloping in-room curve, ER and power response, plus flat LW. ie. Good FR and smoothly, gently narrowing directivity. This is in contrast to, say the JBL LSR school of constant directivity as much as possible in the design format. For instance, in the LSR705, the LF/MF have a smoothly-declining trend as the directivity of the midwoofer gradually narrows, but the waveguided compression driver is designed to maintain constant-directivity over much of its passband, and this means the in-room, ER and power response curves have a distinctive "kink" from smooth downward slope to flat >1.8kHz, the crossover to the HF. Charles Sprinkle, of JBL M2 and subsequently Kali Audio fame, thinks it may sound less "natural". This is an insight that has shaped my view on directivity. The kink is ultimately a form of discontinuity in the DI, just a different sort of discontinuity from the typical one resulting from bad engineering, because the directivity at crossover is still matched (ie. there's no off-axis narrowing or flare). Our auditory systems may well be latching on this discontinuity. Of course, there are confounding factors like program material and room effects that mean you can't isolate this discontinuity in room, but it certainly provides a compelling account that is both intuitive and consistent with empirical evidence.

I spend sleepless nights pondering this exact question

 

[LTig]

The only thing I'd question is the elevated bass.

... and the resonance frequency of the woofer is at 90 Hz. I think the volume is too small and a bigger enclosure could fix this. If I remember correctly with increasing volume both resonance frequency and Q of the woofer decrease. This would dampen the bump and lead to deeper bass performance (higher SPL below 90 Hz).

 

[Xyrium]

Wow, initially, I was saying to myself "aww man, no interest in this one". Then, I saw the results and I almost fell over. This is darned good for a plastic, outdoor speaker. I wonder if it would be beneficial to start measuring cabinet resonances to determine why some of the speakers seem to spiral out of control (boominess in this case). Either way, good show Focal, especially for what this is.

$400? Each? Distortion thru the roof? Where is Piggy Bank Panther?

I don't believe the distortion was actually horrendous at 86dB, many of the more "desirable" speakers seem to suffer the same fate below 200Hz, some even 500Hz.

At 96 dB, we see it fall apart again, like many of its peers. Take the Revel 105 for instance:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ve-measurements-audio-measurements-png.73669/

BTW, a quick Google shows these can go for less than 300 each as well.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Come on now. You auditioned an Outdoor speaker indoors? What did you expect? Outdoors there is no room gain. That extra bass may be just the ticket.

Besides are Harman's principles good for outdoor listening? Is the formula any use outdoors?

Mea culpa?

 

[Chromatischism]

Come on now. You auditioned an Outdoor speaker indoors? What did you expect? Outdoors there is no room gain. That extra bass may be just the ticket.

Besides are Harman's principles good for outdoor listening? Is the formula any use outdoors?

Mea culpa?

I've thought about this. Predicted in-room doesn't really exist as we know it outside, so it's all listening window and floor bounce I guess.

 

[restorer-john]

Besides are Harman's principles good for outdoor listening? Is the formula any use outdoors?

Nah, you'd have to throw all that Harman stuff and formulas out the listening window.

 

[Chromatischism]

All this talk of outdoor sound...anyone know the absorption coefficient of grass? Imagine changing the sound by mowing the lawn...

 

[Dzhaughn]

Roasting or girilling zucchini with mint is very good for zucchini. I think it's a traditional Roman dish.

 

[amirm]

Roasting or girilling zucchini with mint is very good for zucchini. I think it's a traditional Roman dish.

There is a wonderful version with Curd in it. I have only had it with eggplant though, not zucchini. Will try it with it and see how it comes out. Thanks!

 

[andreasmaaan]

All this talk of outdoor sound...anyone know the absorption coefficient of grass? Imagine changing the sound by mowing the lawn...

You're actually right. Or by turning the sprinkler on.

https://www.academia.edu/18341074/A...ficient_of_grass_and_artificial_turf_surfaces

 

[napilopez]

Wow, initially, I was saying to myself "aww man, no interest in this one". Then, I saw the results and I almost fell over. This is darned good for a plastic, outdoor speaker. I wonder if it would be beneficial to start measuring cabinet resonances to determine why some of the speakers seem to spiral out of control (boominess in this case). Either way, good show Focal, especially for what this is.


I don't believe the distortion was actually horrendous at 86dB, many of the more "desirable" speakers seem to suffer the same fate below 200Hz, some even 500Hz.

At 96 dB, we see it fall apart again, like many of its peers. Take the Revel 105 for instance:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ve-measurements-audio-measurements-png.73669/

BTW, a quick Google shows these can go for less than 300 each as well.

Yeah, seems like a fair price to me. The performance is honestly quite good.

One thing I often wonder about is how 'fuzzy' the frequency response is allowed to be before it's perceptible. This speaker is one of those that has, imo, nearly perfect trends except for for abit of a LW dip in the upper treble, but the frequency response is much 'fuzzier' than, say, a Genelec.

Similar for off-axis response, how some horns/deep waveguides have big bumps/jagged off axis response that is roughly balanced throughout the frequency range. It seems in general we assume these to bee benign, but I wonder if they really are.

The NBD score will punish a fuzzy response, if I understand it correctly, but I wonder if it is really more designed to catch resonances and other deviations than small jaggies. Intuition tells me that a fuzzy response isn't a big deal, but I don't know for sure. It's like how putting a grille one a speaker usually sounds worse, but not commensurate with how much worse the response looks when measured.

Come on now. You auditioned an Outdoor speaker indoors? What did you expect? Outdoors there is no room gain. That extra bass may be just the ticket.

Besides are Harman's principles good for outdoor listening? Is the formula any use outdoors?

Mea culpa?

Yeah on second thought, maybe the extra bass is a good thing outdoors? Honestly, no clue!

 

[Chromatischism]

The NBD score will punish a fuzzy response

Assuming it is the grille, if we applied smoothing to the response, what does that do to the score?

 

[dgay42]

Don’t forget that at its sale price, the Revel was basically 1/2 the price of this Focal.

The Focal is on sale in France for 100 euro a piece: https://www.fnac.com/Enceinte-d-ext...-Vendue-a-l-unite/a3673938/w-4#omnsearchpos=1 (and that should be including >20% VAT)

In general, Focal speakers seem about half-price in France vs the USA...

 

[restorer-john]

Assuming it is the grille, if we applied smoothing to the response, what does that do to the score?

Without the grille, the speaker would end up with buzzing noises from bugs and insects which would utterly ruin the Harman Garden Speaker score. Probably an infestation of spiders or wasps. You know, when it's placed outdoors- where it belongs.

What about those floating Bluetooth pool speakers? They would be fun to test

 

[Chromatischism]

Don’t forget that at its sale price, the Revel was basically 1/2 the price of this Focal.

What was the sale price of the Revel?

These sold for $200-250 each before being discontinued. The successor is $250 as well: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_091100OD6W/Focal-100-OD6-White.html

 

[amirm]

What was the sale price of the Revel?

Revels cannot be advertised at discount.

 

[restorer-john]

Revels cannot be advertised at discount.

Resale price maintenance is against the law in Australia.

Here's an example:

 

[Linus]

Please review the Focal Shape 65.

 

[sweetchaos]

Please review the Focal Shape 65.

See measurements. This can be yours for only US$2,000/pair. Call now!

 

[Chromatischism]

One thing I often wonder about is how 'fuzzy' the frequency response is allowed to be before it's perceptible. This speaker is one of those that has, imo, nearly perfect trends except for for abit of a LW dip in the upper treble, but the frequency response is much 'fuzzier' than, say, a Genelec.

Similar for off-axis response, how some horns/deep waveguides have big bumps/jagged off axis response that is roughly balanced throughout the frequency range. It seems in general we assume these to bee benign, but I wonder if they really are.

I would contend that they must be. The Buchardt S400 is a much better sounding speaker, with a price to match. Or, there's more than meets the eye in these measurements. Granted, they aren't 4-5x better, but diminishing returns and all that.