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From B&W 804 D3 to Focal Sopra 2?

I posted this on Reddit as well so apologies in advance to those who may have seen it.

 I have the Anthem STR Pre and Power amp. A dealer is selling a pair of Sopra 2s and he said my Anthem stack is very capable of running the Sopras.

I then read an ad from another seller and he said a lot of power is needed - dual mono (?) or better yet, mono blocks. I also watched a youTube short with that combination. Two people said the Anthem was “bottlenecking” the speakers - i.e. the potential of the Sopra 2 is constrained by the abilities of the Anthem.

Focal puts recommended power at 300 and my Anthem has 400 a side.
So I thought I’d ask thoughts are out there in internetland.

Currently, I’m running B&W 804 D3. I was running them with a 200 wpc integrated and I bought this Anthem set because it was sold to me for a really good price. I’m just not cranking up the volume.  I’ve owned several B&Ws and have found them to be weak in bass.  Improvement has been marginal over succeeding series.

Thanks in advance!

US; odd living/dining combo approx 13 x 30 ft; vaulted ceiling - 8 ft on low end; 15 higher end.; Classical, pop, EDM, folk/C&W.

128x128tobaccoleafpie

Showing 2 responses by rick_n

rick_n's avatar
rick_n
120 posts
 

I think that the your Anthem will power the Sopra's just fine.  I'm driving Sopra No2s with a Hegel H590 (300w/ side, dual mono) and it's never clipped or run out of headroom.  

 

B&W vs. Focal:  I disagree with some of the comments, I'm in the camp that the Sopra's will be nice step up sonically.  It's a much more robust speaker, better crossovers, much more substantial cabinet (for better bass).  The B&W weigh 73lbs the Sopra's are 120lbs.

 

Having said that, you have a very large listening space and it will be challenging for any speaker that size to fully pressurize it with bass.  Subs are an obvious option or perhaps consider the larger Sopra No3.  Good luck and cheers.

rick_n's avatar
rick_n
120 posts
 

@maxdukecapone I commented above that the size of the OP's room might be better suited to Sopra No3 over Sopra No2.  How do you find the native bass output from your No3's ?  What is your opinion on No2 v. No3 for the OP's room?

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