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Focal Sopra 2's vs Titron GoldenEar Reference speakers

Hello there, After a long and drawn out process, I’m finally down to a couple of choices for my New Speakers. The two speakers are the Focal Sopra 2 and the Golden ear Triton Reference Speakers/ I’ll either buy the golden ears new or buy second hand sopra’s 2’s only used for 2 months. The price is the same either way. I have heard both speakers in perfectly attuned rooms that were tweaked out. The last set of speakers I purchased sounded very different in my NON dedicated listening room than they did in the store. After this speaker purchase " which is a big one for me at these prices" I don’t want to even think of buying new loud speakers for years. I’m not one to change his gear often. Though I do change my underwear everyday. That was a very poor attempt at humor. If any of you reading this have heard both of these speakers, I would love to hear your thoughts on them good, bad or indifferent. My non dedicated listening room DIMENSIONS are 8 FEET HIGH,20 FEET LONG and 14 FEET WIDE. I will be using Mcintosh solid state preamp and power amp for the new speakers. After the speaker purchase, future purchases and time spent reading about hi-fi will be dedicated to room improvements. I like to listen to music loud, very rarely do I listen at low volumes. I’m 50 percent split on the music of my youth, Metal and punk. The other 50 percent Diana Krall, Duke Ellington
and more audiophile like music. It seems to me at the 11 Canadian price point it’s hard to find a speaker that does it all well. I have to admit I’m a huge mark for the look of the sopra 2 loudspeaker. Of course the Golden ear reference come with built in woofers which is a plus. I’m not a big bass head though. If any of you fine people could offer me your opinions or some insight to either speaker, It would be greatly appreciated. I;m a bit antsy as this is a big purchases for me and I don’t want to mess it up. A huge thank you for taking the time to read this long winded post. Would love to hear some strong opinions. Enjoy the music.

Mikey

riverboat
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riverboat OP
24 posts
 
 Again, thank you all for your opinions and insight. I have a few questions. Regarding the goldenear Triton 1 R’s, What percentage would you put on these in terms of being equal to the the reference. I read the reviews and what people write about them in the forums and I get the impression they are 95 percent the equal of the references and 3 grand cheaper. What percentage would you put it at? Can you sit 8 feet away from the 1 r’s and feel a punch in the gut at loud volumes? Obviously the bass on the reference will win out every time. Leaving base aside, how close are the r 1’s to the big Daddy’s?
  Regarding focal, how would you compare the Kanta 3’s which are cheaper than the sopra 2 ’s and a more recent model with bigger woofers? Do these speakers play Big?

  On a completely separate matter, h0w do you all feel about buying speakers from DIY companies like salk and teketon? If something goes wrong I guess you have to package it up and send it back to them. And for me there would be the border stop as I’m in Canada and then off to the company. You can’t get your dealer to send it back or take it as it would have to go back to where it came from sent from your home. I don’t know, is that risky business for the owner?
Thank you for reading.
jchiappinelli's avatar
jchiappinelli
117 posts
 
I have the Triton 1r's driven by an old Classe Audio Fifteen amp (175 W) through a Prima Luna Dialogue Premium preamp. My listening position is about 8 feet away and rarely do I need to move the volume control on my preamp beyond 9 o'clock. I've also found it necessary (in my room) to turn the bass driver amps down to 9 o'clock as well. Probably will switch out to a pair of lower powered tube mono blocks down the road. If i turn the volume up with my 175 W amp, the Triton 1r's can peel my skin off. 

J.Chip
helomech
1,651 posts
 
Both of these speakers are far from neutral to my ears, with the Golden Ears being the less refined of the two. Either would be a terrible choice for punk rock IMO, but the Focals would be the easy choice between the two.

As for the GE AMT, it's not a Heil, not remotely close.
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