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Am I the only one to opt-out on the Sopra 2's?

I home auditioned a pair of broken-in Sopra 2's for over a week (Clayton M 100's and Naim 272 pre).  I began by loving them but then gradually found them fatiguing.  Then I noticed that I'd been making excuses for them when high notes became painful and the sound stage seemed blurred.   So I tried Dynaudio C1's, also broken in,  and everything was suddenly better.  I ended up with C2's  and could tell a difference even when they were not broken in. All of these speakers were auditioned with a REL subwoofer.  In the end, I not only disliked the Sopra's, I disliked them a lot.  All the Sopra reviews seem to be generally favorable.  I know I'm probably in a minority, but in my system, the Sopra's were a failure.  Its been suggested that my reaction was because I was  used to the Dynaudio tweeters in my Merlin VSM's, but I think it was more than that.  Anyone else have a similar experience?
hinde
stevizzy's avatar
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stevizzy
110 posts
 
I've heard very expensive speakers totally fall apart in a bad room. 
Everything in audio seems to be co-dependent. 
mmporsche's avatar
mmporsche
144 posts
 
I auditioned the Sopras at Apex in Denver.  I was very disappointed in their sound. I found them very bright and not enjoyable with a broad range of music.  Initially they were played with SS Aestethix gear.  I complained about the brightness and Carl switched them over to VAC.  It helped quite a bit, but I still didn't like the sound.  It literally hurt my ears at volume on the high notes.
jafant
19,059 posts
 
These speakers, Focal/JM Labs, can be bright if not gear-matched properly.  I have auditioned several older models of each brand. I have not had an opportunity to demo the Sopra models.
zavato's avatar
zavato
1,391 posts
 
I listened to the Sopra 2's last fall. I expected from all I read to be blown away.  Didn't care for them one bit. Utterly disappointed. I liked the Sopra 1's, Wilson Sabrina, and Revel Studio 2's. 

Bought the Revels. I could have been happy with the Sopra 1's and Sabrina's too.
extravaganza
373 posts
 
I think it is important in which sequence you are listening speakers.People who listen first dynaudio then sopra,might be impressed by sopras clear sound and disapointed by dynaudio bland sound:)
And people who auditioned a lot of speakers and got tired of sounds can find dynaudio sound relaxing.
In the end you can keep both speakers for diffrent situation and mood swings
In my case , sometimes after listening dyn c1 or s1.4 switched to harbeth SHL5 and found that scale of music was bigger and sound was cleaner .Other way round switching I found that harbeth does not have punch and nice sweet rythmic highs of dyns
 
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