Can the Sopra 2's give sufficient height to the soundstage? Listened at a dealer and they were having problems. Raked all the way back and vocals still sounded like they were coming from 4 feet high. I wondered if that tilted mid driver was causing this.
I have similar experience when i have listened to the Sopra 2. I also had a chance to visit another dealer that have Wilson Audio Sabrina, and as didn't now what to expect i thought i would just go and listen to see what that was.........and wouuu was i blown away soundstage in 3 D and very high soundstage.
Tweeters were at roughly seated height to my ears so it wasn't like chair was too tall or something. I'm close to pulling the trigger on these but if they make Dan Bejar sound like a little person I'll pass. I just figured it was a setup issue and surely people haven't been raving about these speakers with a 4' soundstage height.
Hard hard to imagine , yes. Which is why I'm so concerned after hearing this in a well damped professional showroom being several feet away from any walls.
I have the Sopra 2's paired with Simaudio 700i. Huge soundstage, room filling vocals, when the artists intent was to have a huge soundstage. Can and will be more narrow and focused when the artist recorded that way. The speakers are very representative of how the material was recorded.
What Dan Bejar song (Destroyer album or TNP?) are you referring to I will give it a listen and let you know how the soundstage and vocal height is on my system.
I have had my Sopra's a year now, they get better with mileage and continue to improve, at about 350 hours now I would guess. Have read they need over 400 to settle in nicely. They sound amazing now and much better than when they were delivered (although sounded very good when delivered, but tight). They also love the Simaudio 700i (what a beast), however my Hegel 300 also worked very well with the Sopras.
The track we were playing that really accentuated this was Nine Inch Nails - Into the Void. It has some crazy/phasey effects in it that are great to test soundstage depth and width and specificity. Problem was Reznor sounded 3 feet tall.
Listened to NIN Into the Void, cranked it up to about 85db. Big powerful sound, filled the room, lots of information to dissect (the Sim and Sopra's were easily up to the task). With all the soundstaging in the mix, IMHO the main vocals are purposely more focused as opposed to swimming around, they sound centered, big and forceful coming in at 1:23 at 2:27 they get even bigger in the mix. The drums at 47 seconds are chest pounding. I am about 15 feet from the speakers and the main vocals are very big. Love the pull dynamics/back at 3:23, I was not familiar with this track, it is very good for demo purposes. The last minute is when the Sopra's really start to flex their muscles, the bottom is killer, the main vocals are blending with the backups and everything keeps getting bigger. The last "Tired to save my self..." Vocals only is huge.Very cool.
Not sure what was the issue with your demo, this is a wow song for demo and it wowed me. Perhaps it was your front end. I can only comment on the Sopra's with my integrateds, Simaudio and Hegel love the Sopras.
Thanks for easing my concerns, they're ordered. I don't think they liked the damped room and being so far from front wall. They did not sound good with my electronics (NAD M12/M22) or the Moon 340i. They did sound pretty good with an AVM integrated. I've got a budget solution to try out first while I get my gear sold (Vincent 236 MK). Seems like it'll be a good match and soften the treble a bit which I prefer. The moor expensive Sim gear and Accuphase are on my radar.
Congrats, I am sure you will be very pleased, remember they do take time to break in. Be patient. Also I have run my Sopra's with a SA 600i, sounds really nice.
Nice thread- I have a question on the Sopra 2's bass response. I heard them for the first time at a dealer who placed them 3 ft or so from back wall. Great soundstage, mid bass was fine, but the lower bass was boomy. I noticed this on jazz (with double bass), and orchestral music. Was it his setup? Do you find them to have flat bass response? Any color on this is helpful!
I've enjoyed my Sopra No2's now for about 16 months now.
It did take me a while to get them "dialed in" to the room they are in. The room had terrible low bass response, adding that "single note" to the bass line in the musical source. Ten bass traps later, fixed that.
I did a lot to play with the positioning of the Sopra's, at first the soundstage was "good" but not "great", like I heard in the audio store. To my surprise, positioning them so they "focused" just in front of the listening position and the soundstage is now just awesome! I now have that "performer in the room" listening sensation.
As for the bass, I find the bass that the Sopra's have is very good, but not low enough for my tastes...so I have a pair of JL Audio F113V2 sub woofers...and the bass now sounds awesome too!
ejr1953, I recently purchased a pair of Sopra 3s and am in the process of dialing them in. I’ll try the way you have them set up and will focus them in front of my seated position. Quick question...I too have a couple of jl audio subs(f112s) that I like to use with them. What crossover point do you have set for your f113s with your Sopra 2s? Thanks
Since living with them they sound MUCH better in my listening room than they did in an overdamped room. They feel like they're tailored for a real living space.
They are very amp dependent and this will definitely show up in soundstage width, height, and depth.
The BEST amp I've found after a lot of auditions was the Perla Audio Signature 50. There are too many superlatives to list but you get the very spacious soundstage with startling image specificity and body, along with great tone color and timbre. These two are a match made in heaven and it probably gets even better with their pre and monos.
No no problems with soundstage height with this pairing.
Also to previous poster, I have mine placed 3' off the back wall and measured bass at the preferred 3 db or so upward slope (pyschoacoustically nuetral). It's well worth the $100 to get a mic to help with placement.
I've had my Sopra 2's for several years now using a Simaudio 700i amplifier and Simaudio CD Player. They've improved quite a bit after a few hundred hours of play time. Recently, I've tried to get them dialed-in better to my room which is a Townhouse...very wide so sidewall reflections aren't a factor. I've got them pulled out into the room about 4'8" to the front tweeter with hardly any toe-in needed. I'm planning to remove the metal grill covering the tweeter as I've heard good reports about how they sound considerably better without that grill scattering the high frequencies. Maybe the toe-in adjustment will change by removing the metal grill....we shall see. Any comments from anyone else who removed the tweeter grill? They're beautiful speakers to look at and listen to.
I too would like to hear about experience with removing the tweeter grill. I also have the 700i (killer synergy). Have now fed all digital sourcing into the Yggy A2, perfect match with Sim/Sopra combination. Also the TWL AD power cable on the Yggy has added heft to the Sopra bottom end with more air and deeper soundstaging. Great cable, highly recommended. Wonderful system synergy.
You must have a verified phone number and physical address in order to post in the Audiogon Forums. Please return to Audiogon.com and complete this step. If you have any questions please contact Support.
