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Enjoying My New Focal Sopra No2's

Just received my new Focal Sopra No2's (in black lacquer) a few days ago, probably half way thru the break in, these speakers amazed me when I auditioned them, even more amazing in my home.
These have exceptional clarity and detail!
ejr1953
ryder
1,689 posts
 
How does the Sopra 2 compare to the Sopra 3 in terms of bass boom since the former is said to exhibit some of that? Also, has anybody compared the Sopra 2 to Harbeth SHL5 Plus? Which is a more involving speaker, not only being detailed, fast and dynamic but having the capability to portray voices and instruments in their truest timbre and tonality. The Harbeth is one of the most natural sounding speakers I have heard by far. Voices and sound of instruments sound just like the real thing through them. Once I switch to other speakers music sounds less like the real thing. I was wondering if the Focal Sopras could match the Harbeth in the areas of timbre and tonality.

I presume the Focals do not sound as warm or lush as the Harbeth with their leaner presentation.


toneranger58
132 posts
 

The same speaker will perform differently depending on the front end. My Hegel H300, has a very musical bottom, works great with the Sopra, which extends down to 28HZ. Not a lean speaker at all. As a matter of fact one my daughters Kanye CD's shakes the house.

I have learned blanket statements are never accurate especially with speakers.

I haven't demoed a Harbreth with my Hegel so I cannot comment on how it would compare. I did listen to a nice pair of Harbeth speakers at AXPONA, a very nice speaker indeed.

At this level one really needs to demo as much as possible to come to an accurate conclusion.

ejr1953 OP
912 posts
 
The Sopra's sounded awesome in my "man cave", without the sort of low bass I enjoy in adding sub woofers, but the bass the No2's have I found to be very tight, detailed and not at all "boomy".

Now, once I added the subs, the bass they produce in that room, was very boomy.  It took a lot of fiddling with positioning, settings, bass traps, etc. to get the subs properly integrated and not sounding boomy.  But the Sopra No2's bass (as low as they go) sounded really excellent, again...in my room.
ryder
1,689 posts
 
Thanks for the responses. The Focal Sopras have received a lot of great feedback from current owners. Further investigation revealed that they are the European speaker of the year (2015) having won the EISA award. Since there are folks who reported great success driving the Sopras with Naim amplification (I happen to own some Naim amps), these speakers have got me interested. The build quality is superb and form looks classy and elegant. That is one of the reasons I got attracted to these Sopras. Sound-wise I presume they will be fantastic given the pedigree of these classy French speakers. Will need to give them a listen sometime.


stevizzy's avatar
stevizzy
114 posts
 
Toneranger....I didn't try the Simaudio 600i, so I can't comment on how it would work with the 
Sopra2. 
I have a relatively small listening room, but a huge space (cu. ft.) to fill due to a cathedral ceiling and loft above my listening area. 
My 700i loafs along driving the Sopras. In a normal room without the volume to pressurize, I'm confident the 600i would be awesome. 
They are both sweet sounding amps. 
Steve
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