Focal Sopra 2’s vs. Legacy Focus SE’s

@bobbyloans I actually know someone here who had the PBN Montana EPS-2 a few years ago. I think he was able to get them for $2400 or so. I have a lot of respect for PBN, especially with their new amplifiers, but I was not at all a fan of that speaker. That friend sold them and upgraded to speaker from T+A, purchased from me. I would still push for Legacy for the combination of musicality, coherence, and resolution over that of the PBN, which I found to be more shrill in comparison.

Wow that’s interesting to hear. Are you sure they were EPS2s at that price? Peter makes a lot of speakers with similar sounding model numbers.  Example- I currently have spx2s. There are also Xps models …. It gets confusing . How big were his in height ?

Yes I am certain. He was very proud of finding $10K speakers for that price. They were very big, almost the same size as Legacy Focus SE. Legacy have more body in their sound signature. I ended up buying the Focus SE when he had the PBN. I no longer use Legacy, but I still have a lot of respect for them. 

I love the Focus SEs. And paired with Ayre electronics, they have superb synergy. I have owned mine about 2 1/2 years and I really wanted to listen to the new at the time Magico A5s, but it was impossible to find a place to demo them. Magico refused a tour due to Covid concerns so I said ok, you've lost a potential customer. So I went back to Legacy. I've owned their speakers since 1999. First the Classics, Silverscreen center and a Powered Impact II sub. Still have them all except the center. I gifted it to my retired father and he adores it. I bought a pair of OG Focus speakers around 7 uears ago and used them for nearly 5 years. I replaced all the drivers in each trying to get a more modern sound. And I succeeded but I lost my butt when I sold them.

Anyway, Legacy with Ayre has fantastic synergy. The clarity, Soundstage, deep, deep bass and articulate midrange are just killer. The funniest thing about the current SEs is they only have two 12" drivers. And compared with my original Focus speakers with three, the SEs are worlds ahead in both depth and output below about 50Hz. Surprised the hell outta me. 

That’s great to hear.  I’ll be listening to the Focus SE’s again this week and making a decision