Focal 700V series for 5.1 home theater or ???


Newbie here. Am pairing sound with a Panny 58". Just got the Marantz SR7005. Have listened to the Focal 726V and the 826V (separate rooms) - not hearing a ton of difference for the money btw the two BUT I do like the Focal sound. Likely 70/30 Video/Audio use on this setup. Have listened to Paradign, PSB (liked both) B&W (too "tight") and the new entry level Martin Logan (interesting). Room is in a converted barn - primary listening area about 16 x 13 (entire open area is 16 x 39) - vaulted ceiling is over 25'. Speaker budget for 5.1 ideally around 3K but I have wiggle room. Am open to demo/refurb/used. Thanks for any input!
xmobile
Well ... made the BIG move ... re-listened to a bunch of things yesterday and pulled the trigger on the Focal 836V with 800 series center and sub. ( OF COURSE it was more than I had planned/budgeted for! ;) ) We have a pretty big listeneing area so ... we hope to fill it! Should be starting to set up things in a couple of weeks. Thanks for your input.
Congrats! I can't imagine that you won't be happy with your purchase once you've forgetten about the bill.

You'll find two things with the 836v speakers. First, when they are new the tweeters can sound fairly harsh. I'd suggest putting on some music with some good highs and let it run and a low to medium volume for a couple of days. It doesn't take too long to get 95% of the harshness to go away. I've heard enough of the speakers that were new and broken in that I can immediately tell if the speaker in the store is new out of the box. Second, as the speakers break in the bass response gets much stronger. This aspect isn't really a negative in the short term, but you'll likely notice a change/improvement over the long term.

What do you have for a receiver/amplification?
Just picked up a Marantz SR 7005 (saved a bit of money there - factory refurb).

Thanks for the tips! You've been very helpful.
I think you'll like the Marantz. It would be fun to compare Marantz SR7005 to my Integra 50.1 in a side by side.