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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
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,778 posts
 
EJR the Naim Uniti Nova is hardly a thin and lifeless sound with the Sopras, the issue is that many Naim dealers use Naim cables which are really okay sounding, because the amplifiers are designed to be used with a cable with a known inductance, and  many higher end cables are low inductance, with better speaker cables the Naim Nova sounds really good, however, with $14k speakers we do like to see more expensive electronics used as the speakers will sound far better. 

So we would agree with your choice of the better Macintosh gear, if you heard the Sopras with the higher end Naim separates you would have also been smitten 

As per the battle of these two great speakers you couldn't lose with either. we would agree with the Sopras having a bit clearer midrange and top end,  with the Golden Ears having a smoothness and deep bass that is better than the Sopras.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor Golden Ear dealers
demich
9 posts
 
Just sharing my experience as it relates to the OP - After an extensive search last year I purchased a pair of Focal Sopra 2's and never looked back. The other two contenders were Wilson and Revel but I was concerned they were too tough to drive. I'm pushing the Sopra's with a Prima Luna Dialogue Integrated (+/- 42 wpc/25 in triod) and power is never an issue in a 14x20 room with vaulted ceilings. The bass is full, deep, fast and sometimes even earth shaking. I am surprised when others say the Sopra's are bright. I've listened to them with numerous SS and tube amps and the tweeter is one of the high points.

I also hear the Sopra's at AZPONA this year but they were in a huge room without their own 'space' and definitely wasn't the best I've heard them. The Focal rep was apologetic that they weren't set up properly and also should be mated with the better Naim amps. He also share his opinion that the Sopra 2 was a significant step up from the Katana (for what that's worth). I also heard the Golden Ear for just a few minutes but to me and my brother it wasn't doing anything special so we moved on. (I wouldn't consider our brief experience with the GE any kind of review or opinion). I'm not a big fan of subs or powered speakers but that's just me. 

In general, I find the Sopra 2 very easy to live with - easy to drive, easy to place and are very musical regardless of the genre. It's always inviting, involving and thrilling. While no speaker does everything well, the Sopra 2 does a lot right. If your able to get a good deal on a pair I doubt you'd feel any buyers remorse. 

Good luck on your decision and happy listening!
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,456 posts
 
I wrote a review of my speaker Journey and the Focal Sopra 2 speakers.
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/my-speaker-journey-and-focal-sopra-2 

ozzy
redlenses03
94 posts
 
As with any advice ones needs to filter on some of the generalities, quality type of comments.  The “spkr A blows spkr B out of the water” is pretty useless.  

Many get attached to their choices and once someone slams their product of choice, the sophomoric comments begin.

No one hears what you hear and you really need to listen to the products or take a leap of faith, which can obviously be risky.

I've heard GE’s (ref) twice in two different settings (home, dealer) and they are nice speakers for sure and do things well, but have never been wowed by them at all.  There is a certain disconnect.  IMHO I see them more cut out for HT settings.  The details of why I feel that way doesn’t really matter. Others may think they are the best spkr in the world.

There is so much that depends on getting the most out of every spkr (room, placement, acoustics, electronics) thus its important to do as much research and actual listening if possible.  

There’s also ones priority.  IOW, on one extreme some just want a good rig and don’t care much about all the details, time and work to get it dialed in and on the other extreme there are those that painstakingly devote a significant amount of time and resources (not necessarily big $) with setup, acoustics, power mgmt, isolation etc.  Neither one is better or worse as it’s really person dependent.
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