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Focal Speakers The Spirit of Sound

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Old 11-26-2017, 07:23 PM
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Default 1038beII in dark walnut...or Kanta or Sopra 2???

There is a dealer on a few auction sites selling new pairs. I guess Focal discontinued this finish. I'm VERY tempted at pulling the trigger on a pair. BUT, should I be looking at the new Kanta....or a used pair of Sopra no.2's? Damn....
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Old 11-26-2017, 08:05 PM
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All of your choices are great speakers, but I would encourage you to wait until you can audition the Kanta line. What price is being offered for to 1038’s?

http://www.tonepublications.com/audi...no-2-speakers/

tonepublications.com/audiophile-apartment/focals-new-kanta-no-2-speakers/

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Old 11-26-2017, 08:27 PM
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Originally Posted by Questortapes74 View Post
All of your choices are great speakers, but I would encourage you to wait until you can audition the Kanta line. What price is being offered for to 1038’s?

http://www.tonepublications.com/audi...no-2-speakers/

tonepublications.com/audiophile-apartment/focals-new-kanta-no-2-speakers/

Regards
They have them listed at $9,999

Thx for the link! Good stuff. :-)
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Old 11-26-2017, 08:35 PM
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They have them listed at $9,999

Thx for the link! Good stuff. :-)
Wow that is a good price. Tough choice for sure.
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Old 11-26-2017, 10:27 PM
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Originally Posted by JWJW View Post
They have them listed at $9,999

Thx for the link! Good stuff. :-)
That is a good price, but nothing that would sway me to purchase something I was not going to purchase anyways. It is not too difficult to get Focal for 20% off list price.
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Old 11-27-2017, 06:41 AM
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That is a good price, but nothing that would sway me to purchase something I was not going to purchase anyways. It is not too difficult to get Focal for 20% off list price.
Good to know! Thanks!
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Old 11-27-2017, 10:21 AM
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Originally Posted by malba2366 View Post
That is a good price, but nothing that would sway me to purchase something I was not going to purchase anyways. It is not too difficult to get Focal for 20% off list price.
It's true that you can often see decent discounts on Focal's lower end speakers, but I've never seen 20% off any of their higher end lines. You CAN expect 20-30% off on Electra demo models though. It's been rumored that the Electra line is going away, so dealers might be discounting their remaining inventory. $9,999 is the published msrp for the 1038Be in dark walnut finish. I have that finish on my 1028Be's and it's really nice. As far as choosing the 1038Be over the new Kanta's or Sopra's, only your eyes, ears and wallet can determine that. To me, the Sopra's are basically restyled Electra's at a much higher price point. The Kanta's are a restyled Aria with a beryllium tweeter and are a step down from the Electra. I still see the Electra's as the best value at this time.
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Old 11-27-2017, 01:14 PM
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I find the new lines significantly better than the older ones.
If you can stretch to the Sopra, go for it!
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Old 11-27-2017, 02:54 PM
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I find the new lines significantly better than the older ones.
If you can stretch to the Sopra, go for it!
Focal's design focus for the new Kanta and Sopra lines was clearly to allow these speakers to appeal to people who might have electronics and source components that are otherwise incompatible with their older lines. People who are very familiar with Focal speakers know that there are many electronics that just don't jive well with their somewhat forward and revealing nature. Thus, the familiar "Focal speakers sound too harsh or bright" statement. The new lines have been tweaked to remove some of that forwardness. The Sopra's sound is very close to the Electra's except with a somewhat warmer tone established by deemphasizing the upper midrange frequencies. They do an excellent job of achieving what they were designed to do. They are also physically beautiful in my opinion. The Kanta's do the same thing even more with the addition of the beryllium tweeter which smooths out the high frequencies. The flax cone drivers are not as fast and rigid as the "W" sandwich cones in the Sopra's and Electra's. The Kanta #2's I heard sounded a little muddy to me on certain tracks I'm familiar with. Female vocals were not as vibrant and less airy than what I've become used to with the Electra series. They are definitely a step up from the Aria line with the addition of the Be tweeter.
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Old 11-27-2017, 04:00 PM
malba2366 malba2366 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jayvis View Post
It's true that you can often see decent discounts on Focal's lower end speakers, but I've never seen 20% off any of their higher end lines. You CAN expect 20-30% off on Electra demo models though. It's been rumored that the Electra line is going away, so dealers might be discounting their remaining inventory. $9,999 is the published msrp for the 1038Be in dark walnut finish. I have that finish on my 1028Be's and it's really nice. As far as choosing the 1038Be over the new Kanta's or Sopra's, only your eyes, ears and wallet can determine that. To me, the Sopra's are basically restyled Electra's at a much higher price point. The Kanta's are a restyled Aria with a beryllium tweeter and are a step down from the Electra. I still see the Electra's as the best value at this time.
$9999 is MSRP on the new dark walnut (non glossy finish), the OP posted the glossy finish which has a MSRP of 13,500. When I was seriously looking at Focal I was offered 20% off by 2 local dealers (the 20% was on the Electra series...I didn't inquire about Sopra because it is more than I want to spend). Its too bad they went with the lower end driver technology on the Kantas...the upcoming Focal f206be is what I am waiting to listen to
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