Looking for straight talk on Focal Sopra No 2 speakers

FWIW, listened to a pair of Sopra 2’s at a local dealership yesterday; my impressions vs my Olympica 3’s 

Initial impressions:  stunning bass, doubt a sub would ever be required by most people, tight fast deep authoritative powerful

Soundstage - impressive size in all directions, realistic and well proportioned 

Midrange - tons of detail, got  the impression that whatever’s on the recording is reproduced in the musical recreation, vocals extremely detailed, maybe not as natural sounding as the SFs but extra clear and immediate 

High end - here’s where I might have an issue owning this speaker;  borderline hyper detailed, I truly believe if it’s on the recording the speakers reveal it, I didn’t hear anything I hadn’t heard before but the details were forward, super clear, and compared to the SFs, often bright, certainly brighter than via the SFs.  The beryllium tweeter definitely makes a statement.  All this in a treated, carpeted showroom....my guess is in my acoustically challenged room, minus the treated walls, plus the hardwood floors and multiple windows the Sopra 2’s would sound even more forward.  This impression could be the result of two speakers on opposite ends of the acoustical spectrum.  

Have to now sit down in front of the SFs and listen to compare the two with the Focal experience fresh in my mind.  Obviously these are two very different audio products.  

So what speaker sits right in the acoustic middle between the hyper detailed Focals and the ultra smooth SFs? 

Heya Prof, 
  Have had my Sopra 2s for about a year now. I was powering them off a NAD M27 and thought they sounded wonderful!  However, I recently purchase a Classe CT2300 and the difference is astonishing!  The biggest difference was the bottom end. These speakers can thump and if you are only using them for 2 channel, I’m sure you could be happy w/out a sub.  But I am not the best person to ask about using a sub as I’m a bit off a bass-head;) That being said, when listening in 2 channel mode I am certainly content without one.  Even though these are very efficient speakers, lots of power makes a difference!  

Cheers

I had Sopra No 1s for the past two years. Really enjoyed them. They were powered by a 300wpc McIntosh MA8000.

Never once had any type of reliability issue with them. I found their strength to be vocals, courtesy of Focal's beryllium tweeters, and a surprising (to me at least) amount of depth for monitor speakers.

I was up until recently in the market for new speakers, and I tested half a dozen. Among those were the Sopra 3s and the Diablo Utopia. No doubt about it, the Sopra 3s pack a nice, hearty wallop in the bass region, which is something I adore. In every other respect, I preferred the Diablos. Just food for thought in case you want to give them a try.

However, the direct answer to your question, is that the Sopras never once failed me. On a handful of occasions I had them really screaming, around their SPL Max, and again never once was there an issue. I highly recommend. I'm sure the 2s are awesome.

Thanks briands78 and gmercer. I started the thread voicing my concerns about reliability and that really is my biggest concern with new Focal speakers. Again, I enjoy the "house sound" of Focal, but can't spend $15K on a pair of Sopra No 2s just to witness them fall apart. I spent $7K on my Electra 1028 BEs and was very pissed off to see them fail twice under moderate use. 

where are you located? try to get your ears on some Rosso Fiorentino
speakers. Closer to the Sonus Fabers in sound than the Focals.
www.rossofiorentino.com/en/home.asp

I’ve used them everyday for about a year, no issues. 

mboldda1,
I'm in northern Michigan. The closest metro area would be Ann Arbor/Detroit, about 5 hours one way by car.

I've been enjoy my Sopra No2's now for nearly three years (got one of the first pairs to hit our shores).  I have been changing out this, upgrading that, but with my current setup, no desire to do any more of that.

I have nothing but good things to say about my Focal's.  No problems at all.  Once setup and "dialed in" to my room, they have wonderful sound stage, great detail, very musical, and with my amp (McIntosh MD452) easy to listen to for hours without fatigue.

No plans to change from the Sopras.

Thanks ejr1953. The MD452 is an amp on steroids and if there were any problems with the Sopras, your amp certainly would have made those flaws apparent.

Have had my Sopra 2’s for 18 months. No issues with reliability and I push them. Have run them with Simaudio 700i, Hegel 300 and Mastersound Box. They handle soft jazz to Heavy Dub no issue. The Sopra’s love to be pushed and they know how to flex their muscles. Hope this helps with your decision.

toneranger58,
Thanks, your reply helps.

Taking those ugly shiny Tweeter Grills off should be on the first page of the quick setup guide. 
....I could go on and on about how they ring like a bell from a fingernail tap, but it’s easier to just take them off. Nicer looking too !!!