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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
toneranger58
134 posts
 

Dwhite, I assume your speakers are new and the dealers speakers had many hours on them?

I have had mine 8 months and they continue to improve. I have about 250 hours on them. After the 1st month they started to sound like the pair I auditioned at the dealer (well over 400 hours on the demo pair). They need time to break in and they do like to breath. I also have the Simaudio 700I now, a perfect match.

I expect my Sopra's to improve with more hours, up to 400 hours I have read.

Don't be concerned, give them some time to settle in.

crouse99
44 posts
 
dwhite11, if you haven't, connect the Focals to the 4ohm taps.  If that doesn't help, go with the 2ohm taps of your amp.  If that doesn't work, you may want to consider something like the DSpeaker anti-mode.  It will give you the ability to boost the bass.  Although it is anathema to many, I like having tone controls for just this sort of situation.
dwhite11
3 posts
 
Guys thanks for the advice, my speakers are brand new so I should give them a little time to break in before I panic.  Crouse99 the nominal impedance is 8ohm, but I'll try the 4ohm tap and let you know if it changes the sound.  
mmeysarosh
126 posts
 
Not being familiar with Mac gear, it appears to be a very hefty amplifier with some design specs that are somewhat uncommon.

First it appears to produce 450w of power no matter the load 8,4, or 2 Ohm. We more commonly see increases (and sometimes decreases) as impedance drops. The other is the three sets of taps which are rated for 8,4, or 2 Ohm. This again a fairly unique element for their amps.

While I doubt the 2 Ohm taps are necessary, maybe some experimentation between 4 and 8 ohms would be worth while test. This model does stay fairly low going from the baser to the mids and then goes up a good but as it moves up.
erik_squires
16,118 posts
 
I would kill for a picture of the Sopra's crossover. If they did the same trickery as they did int he Profiles, this is fixable.
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