B&W.....Focal.....or Focal

a 3 1/2 hour drive to a high end store is nothing.  I drove 8 hours one way to listen to a tube preamp which I ended up buying.  It was a fun day and my wife got to eat 3 meals out in  a restaurant.
Win, win all around.

Can’t comment on 1038be2 vs Sopra but I had Focal Electra 1028be2 speakers. 
They sounded great but I was disappointed with their stability and coupling to the floor. The anchor points for the spikes loosened on mine within a few months. 
To their credit they replaced my speakers with a new pair, but the design was exactly the same. 

I ended up using pricy Stillpoints to get the sound I wanted, but ultimately I just wasn’t happy with the cabinet design, although I loved their sound using the Stillpoints/Spike setup on my carpet. 
When the Sopra2 arrived, setup was easy and the Stillpoints got a new job in my electronics cabinet. 

The speakers are a few leagues beyond the ****BE series IMHO. 
CHEERS!!! 

PS:  Driving a few hours deciding to pull the trigger on buying $14K Speakers can be fun....and much cheaper in the long run if you get it wrong. 

@stereo5 Absolutely on the money; you turn it into a fun experience.  I flew 8.5 hours each way to audition the D'Agostino M400.  Similar to you, I turned the audition into a nice holiday in Singapore and it was fun all around (love the city and the amps were everything everyone said they would be).