Two years ago, I drove four hours to Delaware to audition Focal Sopra 2’s. Also at the time, I listened to Electra 1028 BE ’s and 1038 BE 2’s. I took my own amps and cables. First was the 1028’s. To my ears they sounded very good at low levels but when pressed with complex orchestral pieces at higher volumes they lost some of their ability to reproduce the music accurately. The Sopra 2’s were next and to my ears, from the first moment, I felt the mid range and upper end were too revealing. For instance, I could hear more (too prominent) of the studio reverb effect on female voices during certain tracks which was a distraction to me. I knew the tracks well and never hear this separation of voice/effect before. Then I listened to the 1038 BE 2’s. I liked them better than either of the previous two. They had much more composure than the 1028 BE2’s at higher volume on the same orchestral tracks. The mid and upper range was better balanced than the Sopra 2 to my ears.
I went there hoping to buy the Sopra 2, but walked away with the 1038 BE2’s. They are a wonderful sounding speaker and yes, they are a steal at the price they are selling for now. I would advocate the OP try to listen to a pair, but doubt you would be disappointed if purchasing without a demo especially at new retail of $6,999. I understand Focal needs to keep developing new products but the Electra is one of it’s success stories and for good reason. The ‘W’ woofers and midrange are well implemented in this design and share the same frequency response as the Sopra 3 ( 33Hz - 40kHz )! Too bad they apparently will eliminate these from their lineup. Regardless, I’m just glad I made the decision to purchase them.
