Sopra N°3

[FDPDK]

Originally Posted by Superfrg

Nice, did you get a retail price for the number 3's in DKK?

Im considering parting with my no.2's in black, so if your set on those let me know and we might work something out.

Ohh, by the way which cables are you using for your speakers ?
And i dont remember if i have seen you talk about which Amp. you have would be interesting for me to hear.

By the way they are also demoing in Aalborg on these tuesday, maybe you can still make it if your in the area, the take 350,- Dkr but i understand there will also be some food.
In Copenhagen t was free but only some free green tea and water which was also great on at hot day....and for me Copenhagen was more easy from Odense.

[Superfrg]

You'd be very welcome, im using silver eclipse speaker cables with the speakers.
Rest is a Lumin T1, Arc ref 6 and a ATI 6000 series amp.

I dont want to go, im thinking about downsizing a bit and if I go i'll probably end upgrading instead

[FDPDK]

Well, thank you for the info
And i have to say i am very impressed with the Lumin T1, especially coming from Bluesound Node, which by all means did a good job for the money.

Yes, the itch to upgrade is always there when we hear something truly great.
The problem for me listenig to the Statement System from Naim and the No. 3 then going to a shop nearby which had the No.2 ( K.T. radio at Vesterbrogade ) and a much scaled down Naim amplifier and CD player is that its hard to tell what is the speaker and what is the Amp. + CD Player also the room played a role and the cabling was not the same. But despite that the No.2 ´s was really great, i also want to see if i might be able to listen to Magico S 3
and Sonus Faber Olympica II or III.
But as you already knows the Sopra is a really great speaker, although i just listened for a couple of different tracks being played. I was really impressed with the detailing and female voices.
I just read on the homepage of Focal that they recommend the No.3 for rooms from 40 square meters.
Also i was told after asking how close they No.2 could be to the back wall, and i was told that
10 cm, was the minimum where it worked.
Flemming

[Superfrg]

The Lumin is truly great, no need to think about DAC's or streamers anymore

I need at least 40 CM to the wall behind (long wall setup) for them to work properly in my room, so they need a bit of space.

The Olympicas are nice as well, its quite a different sound compared to the Focals.
Looks stellar too.
I auditioned them last year, but went for the Sopras instead.

Many great options to choose from, and alot of money to be spent in this hobby..

[Babur72]

Had a little trouble posting images. But here goes...



Naim's Jason Gould introduces us to Naim's Statement pre & power-amps & their NDS, paired with two 555PS DR power-supplies.



Dave Speirs of Focal UK Sales takes us through the design, manufacture & specifications of the Sopra No. 3's



A wider view of the Sopra No. 3's conveys their beefier dimensions, compared to the Sopra No. 2's.



The Sopra No. 3's in profile.



Ins & outs.



View behind Naim's Statement amp's showing the NDS with 2 555PS DR power-supplies & some of Vertere's reference HB(Hand-Built) cabling. More than £30,000 worth!



Vertere's RG-1 & Reference arm.

Success. Eureka!

Regards.

Bobby.

[FDPDK]

Hi Bobby.
Thank you for the nice pictures, and not easy to make good shots in such dimly lid room.
What did you think about the sound ?

Flemming

[Babur72]

Originally Posted by FDPDK

Hi Bobby.
Thank you for the nice pictures, and not easy to make good shots in such dimly lid room.
What did you think about the sound ?

Flemming

Hi Flemming,

Hard for me to form a firm opinion as i arrived a little late & ended up having to stand mostly being pressed up against the rear sliding door. However, my initial impressions were largely positive.

As well as the expected improvements in bass control & slightly augmented bass extension, perhaps more of a surprise was a better balanced presentation overall.

The Sopra No. 3's replay of the upper registers, which some have found on the Sopra No. 2's to be a tad on the 'bright', 'excitable', 'hot' or 'strident' side(especially with the playback of some digital media), seemed to draw less attention to itself & sounded better integrated with their performance of the mid & lower ranges.

I'll be able to confirm my first thoughts once i get to hear the Sopra No. 3's alongside the B&W802 D3's.

Regards.

Bobby.

[FDPDK]

Hi Bobby.
Thank you so much, i think its interesting to hear what other think about them, as i was really impressed with the No.3 but of course the Naim Statement system also plays a big role. Therefor it was not easy for me to make a comparison to the No.2 which was in another room with a really down scaled Naim system although they sounded really good also.

Flemming

[raidho]

Hi Flemming,

I had listen the Linn klimax dsm (without pre and much better with pre) but Lumin S1 was my choice.

Sonus Faber is not my speaker: focal is faster in HF/Mid /LF!!! Olimpia is tooooo soft......
the Magico S1 (with a sub?), S3 or Focal Sopra 2 or 3 (Scala v2?!) are very different.

price from Focal vs Magico is another question. I had feedback from friend that the Sopra sound different from the Utopia serie...and is not a price liga diference...sound from Focal has changed!?! I dont know at 100% but a Scala v2 demo at the same price from little more from the Sopra 2 for me is the better choice...

S1 -> S1 mk2 sound very good. woofer? yes are not present but sound amazing too without the "dedicat" woofer! is very straordinary what this "little" speaker can do.

listen the Sopra with a Naim Statement system can give you a "different" immagine from the Sopra.....

[Art Vandelay]

For those interested, the Sopra 3 is reviewed in the September issue of Hi-Fi News magazine.