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Focal Speakers The Spirit of Sound

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  #61  
Old 03-12-2016, 12:43 PM
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bart bart is offline
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Originally Posted by Etunes View Post
I've had a host of great speakers in my room over the last 5 years . B&W 802, Magico v2,EA Micro 1,Joesph Pulsar,Prespectives,Acoustic Zen Cresendo's and a few more and the Focal 2's are wonderful. I did add a REL sub
Nice room indeed!
With a wonderful system.
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  #62  
Old 03-12-2016, 12:45 PM
Etunes Etunes is offline
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Originally Posted by FDPDK View Post
Etunes, i think your speakers and room setup looks great.

What speaker cables are you using ?

Flemming
Thx

Labor of love.

Evolution Acoustics MM2 great match with the darTZeel front end.

A note on the high's or tweeters. In my space they are sweet and very non fatiguing. I've had Wilson Sasha's V1 with Doshi and ARC amps and those Focal tweeters were very shiny/hot and hard to position . Not so with the Sopra's.

Last edited by Etunes; 03-12-2016 at 12:47 PM.
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  #63  
Old 03-12-2016, 12:47 PM
FDPDK FDPDK is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Etunes View Post
Thx

Labor of love.

Evolution Acoustics MM2 great match with the darTZeel front end.

A note on the high's or tweeters. In my space they are sweet and very non fatiguing.
Thank you .
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  #64  
Old 03-12-2016, 06:09 PM
Venere Venere is offline
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Originally Posted by audio bill View Post
I heard a well broken in pair of Sopra 2 speakers several months ago with D'Agostino electronics driving them. I would best describe their sound as being very impressive, with great dynamics and an immersive soundfield. I didn't find them necessarily too bright, but their overall sound had somewhat of a forward perspective. Once their initial impressiveness wore off I shortly grew tired of them and didn't care for them in a long term listening session. This is totally subjective but I found them tiring to listen to, as opposed to being able to relax into the music. The dealer then connected a pair of Sonus faber Guarneri Evolution monitors, and they were much more to my preference. No they didn't have the bass extension of the Focals, but I immediately felt a sense of ease and was able to relax and gain more of an emotional involvement with the music. Again my preferences are totally subjective and other listeners may well prefer the more immediate presentation of the Sopras. Hope this helps, and obviously there is no substitute for auditioning them for yourself.
Thanks AudioBill. In the past i have always gravitated to a warmer laid back sound, so it will be interesting to hear the Sopras and see if they win me over. Will try to spend enough time with them to let the first impression wear off.
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  #65  
Old 03-12-2016, 06:54 PM
BrianT BrianT is offline
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Originally Posted by Superfrg View Post
To each his own, I dont find them bright in any way.
But there are 100 variables, most important ones own taste that matters.

If you are a long time b&w fan surely the D3 series are a good hit
Quote:
Originally Posted by Venere View Post
Thanks for the input guys. Looking forward to hearing them in person. The common knock on Focals for those who dont like then is the brightness of the twweter. Supposedly they tamed it a bit on the Sopras. We shall see. A little scared that a B&W fan found them bright because B&Ws have always sounded pretty forward to me, hence my love of Sonus Faber's house sound. Cant wait to go to AXPONA and hear all this stuff for myself.
Superfrg

Can you tell me what speaker cable you use, the store was using Transparent Super Wave.

Venere

Yes I am a B&W fan, been there for 20 years. I personally have never found the Diamond Tweeter to be bright. I have just sold my B&W 802D's in preparation for my new set of Black Focal Sopra2s that I had on order. After my second audition I have since cancelled them.
Even though I loved the Sopra2s on my 1st audition, they where fast, dynamic, great soundstage and real nice bass.
Now i'm looking at the Wilson Sabrina, if I can find somewhere to demo them or the B&W803D3
I'm heading to the Montreal audio show next weekend, I hope I can find a set of the Wilsons.

Brian
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  #66  
Old 03-12-2016, 07:43 PM
Superfrg Superfrg is offline
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I use Wireworld silver electra speaker cable.
Power & Interconnects too.
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  #67  
Old 03-12-2016, 08:26 PM
McIantosh McIantosh is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Venere View Post
Thanks AudioBill. In the past i have always gravitated to a warmer laid back sound, so it will be interesting to hear the Sopras and see if they win me over. Will try to spend enough time with them to let the first impression wear off.
I've been an owner of a pair of Sopra No2 for 4 months now. Never owned SF but did give the Olympica IIIs a try out (and like SuperFrg also heard them directly compared with the 802D2). A laid back warmer sound, the Sopras are not. I preferred the Sopras over the 802D2 in part for this reason, and in part because I found them more transparent. Same for the Olympicas (which I heard on ARC gear).

IMO, all the posts since your initial question ring pretty true to me based on my experience with the Sopras - but one. I would not describe them (or the tweeter) as bright. Otherwise, collectively I think they accurately capture their character.

Prior to pulling the trigger on the Sopras I spent a good two years searching an auditioning speakers. Some significantly above their price point. For certain the Sopras are a tremendous speaker for the price, and if their sonic character is your cup a tea, offer a value that is hard to pass up. They are definitevely quite impressive as many of the reviews are flagging.

I would offer that the Sopras will best pair up with electronics that don't lean to the analytical side. Mine are strapped to a McIntosh MC402 and C500T via two runs (each) of Kimber 8TC, Cardas Golden Reference ICs all around. The Kimber being possibly not the best suited for them however.
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  #68  
Old 03-15-2016, 12:08 PM
Flyboy1157 Flyboy1157 is offline
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Default Focal Sopra with Stillpoints

Has anyone heard or tried using Stillpoints with the Sopra #2 speakers?
I used the UltraSS under my 1028be2's with excellent results and I'd like to know if anyone else has used Stillpoints with the Sopra's.
I don't know how I would go about attaching them because the base design on the Sopra's uses very thick spikes and the 2 front spikes can't be removed unless the base would be removed from the speakers. The rear spikes have sufficient clearance are easily removed.
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  #69  
Old 03-15-2016, 12:14 PM
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Douglas Douglas is offline
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I have to listen to these Focal's. It seems like a classic in the making. I love them in black.
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  #70  
Old 03-15-2016, 12:19 PM
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Flyboy1157... Welcome to AA!
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