Vienna Liszt vs. Focal Sopra No2

arboc-

I have had several auditions w/ VA speakers w/ Primare, ARC and Rogue Audio gear and it has never disappointed! 

Focal is a little different- I have demo'ed 928, 937 and 1027Be models.

The Be tweeter can be forward in its natural presentation. Perhaps it can be toned down somewhat w/ tubed gear?

Thanks! for sharing- ricred1

after reading so many glowing reviews of Aerial, when I finally got audition time, several times in fact, I could not get into the 6t nor 7t models.  Perhaps the 10/20t models are better?

My sessions were w/ ARC reference gear, Classe' and Mark Levinson.

Maybe the Rowland gear is this speakers' sonic match?

arboc, I have owned the Avalon Ascendants and know what you mean about it being too polite.  There is a certain "sameness" to the sound and the dynamics including the bass are somewhat lacking.  It has some really nice imaging and midrange.  I listened to probably 17 different speakers before I bought the Vienna Acoustics Liszt.   The Focal Sopra was just about to come out but I didn't hear that model, but heard some other Focals.   

I just seemed to connect with the Liszt on an emotional level better than all the other speakers I heard.  I also discovered that the tweeter design or incorporation became a real deal breaker on a lot of the speakers.  Many were too etched, or razor like.  The other area that became an area of focus was the bass and overall dynamics and integration.  Some failed at bass presentation by being somewhat flabby or diffuse. 

If you want a speaker that has a treble like a Wilson or to a lesser extent Magico, this wouldn't be a speaker for you.  It would be worth an audition if you liked the Avalon and want better dynamics and bass but like the overall tonality of the Ascendants.  Just my two cents.