Never was much of a fan of Focals but after hearing the Sopra 2's in a lengthy audition a few weeks ago at AXPONA, made me change my mind. It sounded nothing like past Focals I have heard.
I thought it was the best sounding speaker I heard in it's price range at the show.
CAPITAL LETTERS DON'T SCREAM, THEY INDICATE CONCERN YOURSELF WITH THE MESSAGE NOT HOW IT'S WRITTEN. ONE OF THE PROBLEMS I NOTICE WITH FORUMS TOO MUCH TIME SPENT ON NONSENSE AND NOT THE ISSUE.
The Sopras are excellent. Very different from the 1038be. The Sopras borrow heavily from the Utopia line. They have amazing low level resolution and are very synergistic with certain solid state amps, especially Naim. They need a nice, robust amp to make them come alive but once they do watch out. And the fit and finish is commensurate with a large company with deep pockets. No expense or detail was spared on the cosmetics. Black is stunning in person.
I own the 1038be and have heard the sopras but not in the same room. Both are excellent. I use the 1038s with either a Mark levinson 532H amp and a Prima Luna tube amp. I usually listen to music with the tube amp and with tv/movies I use the levinson
I own the 1038be speakers and purchased them new 1.5 years ago. I also listen to the sopra 2. I choose the 1038be because a) they sounded close enough to the sopra and b) were less than half the cost of the sopras. The value equation was stronger for me.
The 1038be with the Luxman class A intergrated L-590AXII sounds absolutely superb!!! You may find both the 1038 and the luxman for same price as one new pair of sopras.
The Sopra best the 1038 be on every level ,especially low level detail and pitch no contest and borrow a lot from their flagship line the only thing bad is Focal is getting greedy the Sopra 2 has gone up from $15k to$19 k in 5 years for no changes ,thst USA rip off I can see maybe $1 k notover a $25% increase pure greed !!
Old thread…. But yes the price hike is ridiculous! I was thinking about buying the Sopra 2 when it came out as I really like the house sound (neutral with some bedazzle) but I have totally moved on and don’t even look at the brand now. I have found the revel line just as good and almost 1/2 the price. The 228be and 328be should be a price check for all these manufactures. The higher sensitivity has really made these revels more dynamic than the past models to my ear.
I had the Revel F208 and M106 for a few years before I sold them. I wouldn’t say just as good. They are very good sounding speakers for the money. Now I have the Focal 1008BE, 1028BE and 1038BE. The Focals are just in another league.
I can respect the opinion. I think it just comes down to taste as the two brands are tuned a little different. The be tweeter really classes up the revels and the ceramic drivers are much different too. No long term experience with either just demoed both and I would be happy with either. Both are light in the dee bass for me and I would add subs.
I have 1038be, bought at the new price 8 years ago. At the time they smoked everything else in the range for balance (fat/thin), and high end clarity - the inverted be domes are great. I have owned 3 other Focal speakers, including their 2-way studio monitors which I mixed a hundred records on. So, I believe Focal engineering is high quality. I also own devialet amps, and their SAM compensation for the 1038 does indeed give it an additional octave of very smooth low end. The finishes on the 1038 look good too ... not a plastic kind of look.
I'm really having a problem with my 1038's. I find them very sharp and almost shouty. The bass is certainly not overpowering. I have the Denafrips Pontus 2 and using an audioengine streamer with an optical cable attaching it to my dac. My amp and preamp are vintage with a Sunfire TPG5 sound processor and a 5 channel Sunfire Cinema Grand signature surround amp 420watts per channel.No lack of power there.I agree with most of you that charging thousands of dollars more for the Sopra 2 is simply ridiculous. There haven't been any real changes in that speaker. Would I be correct in saying that the sopra 2's have the same W speaker cones and berillyum tweeter as the BE's?????? Art
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