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

I’m running sopra 3’s with a 300B 18 watt and the top of the line Luxman M10X.

the secret is a good power supply. Both sound awesome just different presentations.

I tried to find the Sopra 2 imedance curve but I couldn't find anything. If the impedance drops down low (2 ohms or so) for much of the audio band then you would need a very robust amplifier for them to sound their best. Your Anthem is rated for 2 ohms and increases its power with each halving of the impedance (400 @ 8 ohms, 600 @ 4 ohms, 800 @ 2 ohms) but it does not have the balls of a Krell or other monster amp.

Assuming that the Sopras have a reasonable impedance curve then your Anthem should work very well. You would have to spend huge bucks to get an amplifier with more current than your Anthem.

I have a the Sopra 2 fed by a Hegel H390, 250 watts at 8 ohms.  PLENTY of power.  Room is 17X28.  Smooth, clear, extended and quite fast and detailed.  Chopin to Foo Fighters, Susan Tedeschi to Snarky Puppy .  Always dynamic and, most importantly, engaging.  However, there is also a pair of REL low frequency speakers.  (REL doesn't like to call them "Subs" because, as they correctly point out, sub-sonic speakers produce sound outside of the range of human hearing.  Hence the term "sub" as in "sub-sonic".)  My primary use of the RELs is not to fill in the very bottom 15hz in the music, which they do admirably, but is to relieve the main speakers of the responsibility to deliver fully their last 15hz, give or take.  All speakers roll off as they approach their bottom.  I have the RELs set to start engaging at around 50hz, I'm guesstimating.  A number of people here are suggesting low frequency support.  Don't brush it off.  Sorpra/REL combination is a good one.

 

@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?