Focal Chora 826 with Cyrus 8?

[charliechisholm1984]

I am looking at upgrading my speakers and the Focal Chora 826 on my shortlist. They would be used in a 5m X 4m room with a relatively near field setup.

I am using a Cyrus 8+PSX-r amp which I purchased in 2004 which I would prefer not to upgrade as I enjoy the sound.

Would the Cyrus amp be powerful enough for the Chora 826 or would I need something more powerful? I've read comment about the speakers needed a lot of current.

The 826 has a reputation for being bright (perhaps overly so). I am concerned that pairing them with the Cyrus may be too much of a good thing?

Although I'm not a bass fiend the consesus seems to be that the 826 is a bit bass light. I'm currently using Wharfedale Diamond 12.3s and I find their bass is more than adequate for my room and seating position. Assuming the Cyrus has the required power would the 826s be noticeably lacking in bass in comparison?

The specs for the Cyrus 8 are:
Continuous Power 70w per channel into 8ohms
100w per channel into 4 ohms
Burst Power 340w (IHF, one channel driven into 1 ohm)
Damping factor (1KHZ) 150
Sensitivity (50w) Line 200mv
Input impedance 50kOHM (RCA)
Output voltage 380mV (pre out) S)N ratio 101dBA

Thanks

 

[gibbsy]

With a sensitivity of 91dB into 8 ohms then the 70 watts is enough. However they do drop to a quoted 2.9 ohms and that could lead to some distortion as both the 4 ohm performance of the Cyrus does show a lack of underlying power in reserve. A lot will depend on how hard you are going to drive them and if indeed you actually like how they sound.

Don't buy speakers on recommendation or performance, buy them with your ears. You must book an audition and take the Cyrus with you. An at home audition would be even better.

I would say the Focals are a better speaker than the Wharfedales which are an easy drive even though they are less sensitive the 5 ohm minimum is not going to be taxing on the Cyrus. Get that audition and if possible line up some other speakers as well.

 

[ShanePJ]

Don't buy speakers on recommendation or performance, buy them with your ears. You must book an audition and take the Cyrus with you. An at home audition would be even better.

Never a truer word spoke. Believe you're own ears and ignore spec. If we all looked at the data, many fantastic products wouldn't even get built!

Can I ask why you are not looking at something else via Wharfedale if you enjoy the combined sound stage? Maybe the Evo 4.4 should be where you are looking and then if you find that your Cyrus needs a little something extra to help push them, you can at least add a power amp unlike the Focal's which are single ended and not bi-wireable/bi-ampable

 

[charliechisholm1984]

Thank you for your replies.

Funnily enough the Evo 4.4s were initially my first choice but I have read a few reviews were it was suggested that they need a beast of am amp - somewhere in the 200w range. If that is not the case I would certainly give them an audition.
I did consider the Dali Oberon 5 but I doubt it would be a massive upgrade if at all over the Wharfedales in my system.
I also like the look of the Monitor Audio Silver floorstanders but I doubt the Cyrus amp would drive the Silver 300 as the minimum recommended amp power is 80w. There is the 200 of course but I doubt the bass would be deep enough for me.

I live in an apartment so my listening levels aren't particularly loud - about 50-60db most of the time.

In answer to your question regarding my reasons for upgrading. My Cyrus 8 was driving a pair of Mission 782s (extremely difficult to drive but the Cyrus seemed OK with them even at high volumes) but I had a DIY accident and literally destroyed one of them! :-(
I was devastated so needed to replace them quickly, hence the 12.3s.
With the improvements in speaker technology the 12.3s are actually superior to the 782s in many areas e.g. bass accuracy although they are not as smooth in the treble as the Missions were. The 782s were £700 back in 2002 and Cyrus was £800 in 2004 so with inflation something comparable would be significantly more expensive nowadays. I just feel like the 12.3s may not be in the same sort of price bracket or class as a modern amp equivalent to the Cyrus? Although an old amp it still holds up well and I enjoy the old Cyrus house sound.

 

[ShanePJ]

I suppose that's hearing them at their best is what we all want hence why some suggest they need bags of power, however you will still hear more from them than you'll hear from the lower range speakers as they'll naturally give you more. The area where they may not be as accomplished could be the bass when using a hugely power amp as any speaker requires power to grab this area. But if you haven't heard them with 200w of power behind them, you have no other reference point other that your experience whilst hearing them though your toys, plus if you was to add another Cyrus amp to drive this section of the speakers should be ample for you to experience some serious control

I would say that you should look at Cyrus from the same era if you don't want to upgrade everything to keep the same sound signature as with every new model, there is an improvement in sound signature and you could actually create a miss-match in sound especially if you really enjoy the Cyrus you have today

I would say, some dealers "like us" do offer home demonstrations (phone for more details) and then you can be the judge yourself as your ears are the best judge as to whether any speakers work well in your room. If they give you a hint of what your are looking for, then you also know you can improve them with more power to. It's just a thought