Goldenear Reference Vs. Focal Sopra #2.....pocket the $5k difference and don't look back?

gdhal: that means nothing. Sandy Gross is the ultimate wine & dine and marketing master when it comes to reviewers. They’re not bad speakers, but if you’re ever going to be skeptical, be skeptical about anything he touches, review wise.

@contuzzi, I get the gist of what you're saying, and to an extent I agree with you. However, the marketing wine and dine routine could be said about many audio manufacturers who wind up getting "awards", and the Golden Ears have many. That said, Sandy does know a thing or two about about measurements and reviews, and in fact pointed out an error to John Atkinson regarding his (John's) Stereophile review measurement technique, which I understand John subsequently went back and remeasured using a different technique which showed that Sandy was/is correct. John is supposed to include a comment on this when he posts the review online.

you can't get a better speaker for 8500.00

Yes you can. : )

One thing I can say knowing well about precision, parts quality 
And accuracy, and cross over parts .the Sopra is night and day better built  noticsbly better low level detail especially if you have top notch electronics.  On decent electronics probably npboth are very musical but different. Sopra I gave heard, the reference  uses Xover parts from China which in no way can compare to any top brand from The U.S or Europe.. it all depends how critical a listener 
You are.  Just like the Double impacts ,really good for the money 
Refinement is not their best suit ,Chinese drivers are in no way 
In the same class as the well know drivers from Denmark, or Norway.

contuzzi106 posts"gdhal: that means nothing.  Sandy Gross is the ultimate wine & dine and marketing master when it comes to reviewers.  They’re not bad speakers, but if you’re ever going to be skeptical, be skeptical about anything he touches, review wise."


So true... I've demo'd all of his products... and... they do not possess the dynamics, transparency, or clarity of many other good speakers - not even close.  Certainly not the Focal Sopra's.  

And... if you want "price-competitive" speakers that sound much better there are:

Wavetouch Audio Antero's or Grand Tetons
Magnestand 1.6's
And... of course... the Linkwitz LX521's or used Orion's 

To all the Golden Ear naysayers about the the parts quality, China, Sandy and what have you I’ve personally listened to an in home audition of a $200K of Alta Statement towers and I’m rather content in knowing how much of a better value (price/sound/quality ratio) my Golden Ears are. And when I check into some of the speakers mentioned on this site throughout the years, I find it interesting how much of the "best" qualities of those other speakers are actually found in the Golden Ears. These qualities include high efficiency, large voice coil, ability of voice coil to handle high temperature (play loud), d’appolito driver array, built in sub woofer amp, anechoic chamber used in its design/voicing, fully balanced crossover, high-velocity folded ribbon tweeter, mix of lamb’s wool and Dacron for effective internal damping, 3/32˝-thick steel plate for stability, the list goes on.

It doesn’t matter (to me) whatever you write to disparage them or compare them to in a negative light because it will not change the enjoyment I receive on a daily basis as I listen to them. And I’ve heard a handful (20?) of rather high end systems and don’t believe I’m missing anything.