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Focal Speakers The Spirit of Sound

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  #21  
Old 08-31-2018, 10:42 PM
mintakaX mintakaX is offline
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So I'm going to audition the Sopra 3s on Wed at a dealers store in Denver. I'll also audition the B&W 802 D3s. I need to choose one and they will bring a pair to my house for a home audition. I hope its an easy choice . I currently have B&W N802s so its going to be interesting !
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  #22  
Old 09-01-2018, 08:20 AM
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Formerly YB-2 Formerly YB-2 is online now
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With 350wpc you can drive about any speaker you want in your $20K price-range. You might also look at the Wilson Sabrina and/or Yvette. They might work better for your location requirements.
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  #23  
Old 09-01-2018, 03:53 PM
mintakaX mintakaX is offline
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Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2 View Post
With 350wpc you can drive about any speaker you want in your $20K price-range. You might also look at the Wilson Sabrina and/or Yvette. They might work better for your location requirements.
Thanks for the Wilson mention. I am going today to audition some Sabrinas, the dealer didn't have any Yvettes at the store.
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  #24  
Old 09-01-2018, 06:50 PM
Progfan2112 Progfan2112 is offline
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For what it's worth to the OP-and he posted this a long time ago-I drove my Focal Sopra 2s temporarily with a Yamaha home theater receiver from circa 2000 with a 75 watts per channel rating. I had to have a minor repair done to my McIntosh C2300 preamp and my only alternative for nearly 3 months while the repairs were done was with this old receiver. While it sounded awful musically, in terms of power, that Yamaha receiver didn't choke at all and I typically listen to music that peaks in the upper 80s db. The Sopra 2s are remarkably easy to drive; I can't imagine the MC275 not being able to drive the Sopras with authority-and in actuality the MC275 delivers closer to 90 watts. Unless you're listening at concert levels, I'm sure you'll have more than enough juice.
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  #25  
Old 09-01-2018, 07:18 PM
jakegt3 jakegt3 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Formerly YB-2 View Post
With 350wpc you can drive about any speaker you want in your $20K price-range. You might also look at the Wilson Sabrina and/or Yvette. They might work better for your location requirements.
I know the Sabrina has received a bunch of favorable reviews. However when I auditioned them, I was hugely disappointed. There wasn't anything about them that impressed me. The Sopra 3's were far superior. But have a listen for yourself and see what you think.
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  #26  
Old 09-03-2018, 11:27 AM
greekspec2 greekspec2 is offline
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for $20k you can get a new pair of Scala V2's
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  #27  
Old 09-03-2018, 01:16 PM
mintakaX mintakaX is offline
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I know the Sabrina has received a bunch of favorable reviews. However when I auditioned them, I was hugely disappointed. There wasn't anything about them that impressed me. The Sopra 3's were far superior. But have a listen for yourself and see what you think.
I liked the "house sound" of the Sabrinas but its not enough of a speaker for my large room. They did not have the Yvettes at the store, but assured me if I liked the Sabrina that I would love the Yvette. They offered a home audition of the Sabrina. The Sabrinas sounded very nice in the sweet spot, but that was not really sustained off axis. I do a lot of background off axis listening at my house. I feel like my current N802s fill in pretty well off axis. Would it be correct to say that I am looking for speakers with a larger soundstage ?

On Wed I will store audition the Sopra 3 and B&W 802 D3. This dealer will let me choose one of those for a home audition. I'm excited because I've never heard a Focal speaker before.

I'm not really very experienced with auditioning speakers. I plan on having a short list of tracks that I know. One think I do know is that I am bothered by bright sounding speakers, so I'll be listening for this. Any other words of advice for in store speaker auditions ?
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  #28  
Old 09-03-2018, 04:34 PM
Poncha Poncha is offline
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I'm a newby so please take that into account. I recently went through the same exercise and maybe in the same store (Listen Up, Denver ?). I closed my eyes and listened as the salesman switched the speakers and repeated the track just heard. There were 3 pairs of speakers during each demo and the speakers from each channel were side by side. I found that the speakers furthest apart tended to sound better as the sound stage was more spacious. Instead of switching speaker placement and trying again we listened to one brand at a time with a mono source. I rated the speakers in these two scenarios to come to a decision. The demo electronics were high end Simaudio Moon solid state units. I ended up with a tube preamp which has a warmer sound; I doubt repeating the demo with tube equipment would've altered my decision but I can't be sure. If you know what will drive your speakers you might get a better preview if the store can at least approximate the type of electronics you'll be using. I enjoyed the experience and felt confident in my choice when all was done. Good luck and please give us a follow-up.
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  #29  
Old 09-03-2018, 07:35 PM
jakegt3 jakegt3 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mintakaX View Post
I'm not really very experienced with auditioning speakers. I plan on having a short list of tracks that I know. One think I do know is that I am bothered by bright sounding speakers, so I'll be listening for this. Any other words of advice for in store speaker auditions ?
When I audition components, I don't really compare one model against another. I audition each and try to assess how closely it recreates the illusion of a live musical performance. Of course this presumes you know what live music sounds like. I listen mostly to classical music and I have the experience of attending live concerts. I am particularly critical of midrange performance and recordings of voice and piano are very useful for making this assessment. I would go for the speaker that generates the "goose bump" factor the most for you.
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  #30  
Old 09-04-2018, 06:15 PM
mintakaX mintakaX is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Poncha View Post
I'm a newby so please take that into account. I recently went through the same exercise and maybe in the same store (Listen Up, Denver ?). I closed my eyes and listened as the salesman switched the speakers and repeated the track just heard. There were 3 pairs of speakers during each demo and the speakers from each channel were side by side. I found that the speakers furthest apart tended to sound better as the sound stage was more spacious. Instead of switching speaker placement and trying again we listened to one brand at a time with a mono source. I rated the speakers in these two scenarios to come to a decision. The demo electronics were high end Simaudio Moon solid state units. I ended up with a tube preamp which has a warmer sound; I doubt repeating the demo with tube equipment would've altered my decision but I can't be sure. If you know what will drive your speakers you might get a better preview if the store can at least approximate the type of electronics you'll be using. I enjoyed the experience and felt confident in my choice when all was done. Good luck and please give us a follow-up.
Thanks, yep same store ! I have a high end Moon pre but a Mac MC352 amp, all solid state. I will give a follow up !
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