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


I've listened to both, and each has its pluses and minuses. Unfortunately, I can't listen to them side by side as they are at different dealers.  :-( 
I listen to a lot of classic rock and I'm not sure the Focals are up for the challenge. The Refs sound a bit fuller (to my ears) and I think adapt better to rock music....especially with the built in subs. 
Obviosly the Focal are GORGEOUS and sound incredible...but for $5k ish more?

Im looking to buy one or the other in the next 30 days. Any advise or input would be helpful.

Thx

jnc
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.
I think it comes down to personal preference. I got a chance to listen to Goldenear (not sure about the model) at Audio Concepts in 2014, and it left me unimpressed. Surprised by @jnc's comment that they were "in your face" when he listened to them. On the contrary, they sounded muffled and the upper frequencies seemed missing. Now the Focal 1000 series and Sopra series sounded pretty nice when I got to demo them. The Focal 1000 series has a slight hot treble. But the Sopras sounded balanced in a system that had Simaudio/Moon amplification and CDP.
FWIW I think golden ear speakers are great. I respect them a lot. I just don’t think they’re giant killers, or necessarily punch substantially above their weight (price) at all (very few speakers actually do).
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