Sopra 2 Bass
The MA9000 is more than enough. Don’t let people tell you different. McIntosh is the red headed step child on this forum but their current line is excellent agents pretty much anything. The Mac is a great combo with Focal. The Sopras dips to 3 ohms at 100hz so try the 2 ohm tap. That amp will put out 300 watts at 2 ohms and you are only going to use 4-5 watts. The drive units in this focal will burst into smoke before that amp runs out of gas. For what it is worth I run a mc462 with speakers that are well into 2 ohms with good results. Anyway the Sopra does not put out low bass without room gain. Just the way it is and most speakers are the same way. I am of the opinion that all but the largest (and I do mean largest) speakers need subs. I would buy two subs and highpass them at 60hz (where the drivers take a dive and rely on the port). I have used JL subs with the focal electrica line before with good results. A highpass crossover is the key to good integration. Just running them under your speakers without a highpass will result in poor integration most of the time. If you use something like a JL E112 there is a built in highpass. You would run the preamp into the sub then sub into the amp. In your case you would pull the cross bars on the back of your integrated amp and run the output from the #1 out to the sub and then run the sub back into the power amp input. You can then just adjust the crossover to where ever you want and the highpass and timing will be handled in the sub. There are a number of external crossovers too as most subs lack highpass crossovers. The Sopra 2s with good subs would compete with pretty much anything on the market within sane prices. Like others have said you can push your speakers toward the front wall. You need to be closer than 41” to not cancel bass below 80hz or more than 6.7’ out from the wall. Anywhere between those two boundaries there will be hills and valleys in the bass. I personally would pull the speakers out as far as possible and run subs at less than 41” from the front wall. This way each speaker can run with minimized room effects. Video on the subject. https://youtu.be/T10_MLGOBfc |
My advice is to wait while your new system beds in. For new speakers experienced hi-fi reviewers use to place speakers baffle to baffle and run a cd player on repeat play for 48 hours before commencing serious auditioning. My new pre-amp took two months to bed in. As for your room, there is nothing you can do about height !! I have a similar ceiling height and have learned to live with it. Use of carpets/rugs/drapes and other soft furnishings strategically placed will probably do as much as expensive room treatments, but this is something you must assess for yourself. Best regards Steve. |
