Focal Chorus 836W--pleasantly surprised!
 

So, I arranged for listening session at a local dealer who carries Focal as well as Paradigm and Revel. There were multiple listening rooms and I was able to audition several speakers, the first room with a set of the Focal Aria 936 and a set of Paradigm Prestige 85F. The second room had sets of Focal Kanta No.2 and Sopra No. 2.

The first room was not treated and the Aria 946 seemed to overpower the room and induced quite a bit of reflections. The Paradigm 85F sounded better and more controlled in that room.

The second room was a treated, better quality room and both the Kanta No.2 and Sopra No.2 sounded really good, being powered by McIntosh and Mark Levinson electronics, respectively.

But in the entry area there was a trade-in set of Focal Chorus 836W. I hadn't thought much about them, but I figured, why not listen to them? It was a very modest system. So, the guy agreed to play them as well. Lo and behold, the 836W seemed to possibly sound better than the Aria 948. The 836W just seemed to sound "so right" to me, very controlled within their capabilities and enjoyable to listen to. Has anyone had experience with the Chorus 800W speakers and what are your thoughts as to how they compare to Aria? Could it be the case that, for an untreated or sub-optimal room, the 836W is a better choice?