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Focal Sopra 2 or Sopra 3?

This isn't going to be happening soon as I need to save more for them. (I will have to find a good used set)I have a VAC Renaissance 70/70 amp that I am getting updated by VAC in January to MK IIIS. I love this amp and i am not looking to change it. I may be interested in working toward a different speaker for it some day and these Focals may work. 91 db sensitivity which should work with my amp's 65 pure class A WPC.  My current speakers really match well with it, they are Goldenear Triton 1.r's and to me they sound very good. But someday I may want even better resolution, not sure. What issues may I find mating these to my amp in the future?  My Preamp is a VAC CLA1 Mk III, it was just serviced by VAC and completely updated to Mk III with new parts. So my pre/ Amp combo is tubes. I've read in reviews different opinions on how these sound, some say rather bright and forward and others do not, say they are really smooth in the midrange  so it's confusing. I may just take my amp to a dealer about 1.5 hours away and make an appointment to audition them. Are these a reasonable option? My room is a dedicated listening room with a great deal of treatments, especially with bass absorbers, diffusion etc. The room is 14 x 18 x 6.5 ceilings. The Tritons have a lot of bass so it seems to handle it well after a lot of experimentation in placements of speakers. They are 7 feet out from the front wall and over 3 feet from side walls and about 7.5 feet apart.

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Showing 4 responses by ozzy

ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,561 posts
 

I guess what it comes down to is if the Sopra's are overpriced then they wouldn't sell many. But these days nothing makes sense financially.

They are very nice-looking and good sounding speakers. I like mine alot. Especially once I placed them on top of the Townshend Podiums and used them with Townshend F-1 speaker cables.

ozzy

ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,561 posts
 

I owned the Legacy Focus speakers (albeit an earlier version) about 6-7 speaker changes ago. Each progression through my speaker evolution improved greatly in sound quality.

Too bad you can’t hear both the Sopra and the Legacy in the same room.

Added:

I see that the Focus XD version is amplified, it seems you like that feature in a speaker. So enjoy!

ozzy

ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,561 posts
 

One of the reasons I am using subs is because I pulled the Sopra’s about 8 feet out into the room. When you do that, you lose some of the deep bass provided by wall enforcement. I like the extra wide soundstaging and just added subs to provide that deep bass 40hz below. Otherwise, the Sopra's provide very tuneful bass.

ozzy

ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,561 posts
 

I listened to the Sopra 3’s at a dealer’s showroom and liked the sound very much. I think, the 3’s will give you more bass response, but it may be too much for your room and limit placement within the room. The tweeters were kinda bright for a while but mellowed out nicely with more hours on them.

I ended up buying though the Sopra 2’s and I am very happy with that decision. Placement of the smaller Sopra 2’s was easier and important for soundstage.

Either one is excellent though.

BTW, I also own (4) JL F-113 subs.

ozzy

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