Tubed Monos for Focal Aria 948s

@ikluemper00
I did get the isoacustics you mentioned. They do make a bit of a difference. Overall, I love these speakers. I was considering the Kantas but when the opportunity to get these popped up I jumped. Very glad I did. I’d love to try the Sopras some day just to hear the difference 

Well i finally found a pair of focal sopras in blue and pulled the trigger. They were the sopra 3. Definately too large for my room. Compared to the 948 using my audio research ref 75 amp. Main difference was bass. The sopra has midbass for days. I could honestly sell my sub now. When using the 948 the bass was nice and tight but still needed some sub help. The sopra 3s dont need any sub help. They look stunning. But i may be getting a tad bit better detail but the bass was the hugest impact. As soon as i turned a track on i was stinned. I went to check what i had the sub on. Because sometimes at night i would lower the knob of the sub. It was in the very low setting. It felt like the sub was cranked to what setting its initially at. During the day that is. Nights ill lower it. 
Ill be honest the aria 948 can hold its own in the midrange and highs. The sopra you do get a more presents. Like it has more authority. Its Definately a better speaker. It should be it costs more than quadruple its price. Im now considering selling my audio research gear and getting naim or micromega integrated. Since those brands mesh well with focal. Audio research sounds great but whats funny is when i crank up the ref 75. The watt meter barely goes over 5 watts. Its hard to get them to go over 10 wattts. 
It doenst take much to drive focals. I feel the arias were harder to push than the sopras according to the vu meters. 
So im at the point that maybe a integrated would push these sopras fine in class a/ab amp like a micromega m150 or naim nova. Decision decisions.
The krell was sooo good it makes me think i could do without a tube amp. And maybe its because my preamp is so good. Best of luck to you. Arias are still a great product line. Sopras have more definition, presents, authority... Best way to describe it. Thanks

Congratulations on the Sopras. They are beautiful speakers. I've been playing around with placement of the 948s. I positioned them a third of the way into the room and set them 3.5 feet off the side walls without toe-in. The soundstage really developed nicely after that. I've been using Tool's Fear Inoculum to test it. Could always hear the guitar and bass directly from the left and right speakers respectively before but since spreading them further apart, the band is all in the center now. I raised the front of the speakers about 5mm to raise the soundstage a bit and the bass really came to life. On cello soloist music it's like I can feel the vibration of the wood body now. I don't think I will mess with the amps now. I'm going to enjoy this for a bit.
Glad to hear you're enjoying the Sopras

Micromega M150 would be a great match for Sopra N3, I have M100 and looking into Sopra N1. or N2. However, beware of Micromega, LAN on my M100 stopped working, and I've tried to contact Micromega every way I can, they do not respond..........

Speakers are efficient yes, 
dontmshort change yourself on a low,powered amp.
get something with power.
your ears will thank you.