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Am I the only one to opt-out on the Sopra 2's?

I home auditioned a pair of broken-in Sopra 2's for over a week (Clayton M 100's and Naim 272 pre).  I began by loving them but then gradually found them fatiguing.  Then I noticed that I'd been making excuses for them when high notes became painful and the sound stage seemed blurred.   So I tried Dynaudio C1's, also broken in,  and everything was suddenly better.  I ended up with C2's  and could tell a difference even when they were not broken in. All of these speakers were auditioned with a REL subwoofer.  In the end, I not only disliked the Sopra's, I disliked them a lot.  All the Sopra reviews seem to be generally favorable.  I know I'm probably in a minority, but in my system, the Sopra's were a failure.  Its been suggested that my reaction was because I was  used to the Dynaudio tweeters in my Merlin VSM's, but I think it was more than that.  Anyone else have a similar experience?
hinde
ohlala
1,236 posts
 
After hearing them three times I wonder if rake/tilt is a real thing for their setup. Each time to me they were disjointed; I was cognizant of the drivers and the cabinet. The sound changed oddly with listening distance. Not so with the utopias or the Sopra1, although 1’s house-type sound was turn off for me. At RMAF there was major gulf between the lines despite the price difference. I have to think my experience was at least partly positioning problems.
hinde OP
12 posts
 
Thanks for the responses.  I'm sure that the Sopra's work well with the right electronics and in the right room.  I'm also sure that some will listen to them and love their sound.  Personal taste is probably the most important variable.  And so I won't rise to extravaganza's  the bland  bait.

  I guess I was surprised by several things.  The first being that I've never been a Dynaudio fan never expected to own them.  The second being that the Sopra's have been so well reviewed that I fully expected to love them and buy them. To the extent that I made excuses for them.   And third, I was stunned to realize that my opinion of the Sopra's was only fully formed and clear after listening to the Dynaudios.
This experience has been an eye opener.
dwhite11
3 posts
 
I'm new to the forum so I hope this is the right place to post.  I just received my new Sopra #2 on Thursday evening, I traded in a pair of Focal 948's.  I really like the Focal sound and the Sopras were amazing when I heard them at the dealers, however they sound really flat with no low end in my room.  I know they need a little time to break in, but I'm super stressed that they won't improve.  They are in the same position as my 948s with all the same equipment mac 2500 pre/ 452amp and VPI prime turntable.  Should I be concerned with their sound at this point?
erik_squires
16,118 posts
 
Focal likes to de-tune their speakers with < 4 Ohm impedances in the critical bass slam region, around 70-150 Hz.

The only real fix is a really beefy amp.

If you ever take a look inside, I'd love a pic of their crossover.
mmeysarosh
126 posts
 
Erik seems to be spot on in regards to the Sopra 2 being demanding for power right around 80-100hz. It goes below 4 Ohm and and includes pretty demanding phase angle as well. The NRC measurements published by Soundstage has both plots.

It wouldn't surprise if the bookshelf design had taken into account a less beefy amp and adjusted accordingly. Sounds like your situation was a system mismatch.
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