Focal Sopras and Naim at the Audiobarn this Saturday

Hi Lindsay,

Yes, for the afternoon session.  I might even bring some vinyl along, just in case.

Best regards, FT

I was there when they had their SL open day and like you said it's a great venue .Will try to make it for pm session .

ayap1

I will try to be there in the early afternoon. Lovely venue, and Jack is a great guy.

Maurice from Naim has just arrived with a few goodies coming in from the back of his car....

Very exciting, looks like we are in for a great day!

Cheers

Jack

I hope some of the goodies are cake

hope to drop in early afternoon

Surely seal or fish Mr Bear!

Hope to be there for the 3.30pm session. Save me some cake!

Hi Polarbear

Not cakes this time, I have to rush to the bakery 8am tomorrow to get them nice and fresh!

Hope to meet you tomorrow.

Cheers

Jack

A brief note to that Jack for organising this lovely demonstration day and for providing a sumptuous feast of sarnies, delectable cakes, limitless supplies of hot tea and a great selection of music upstairs in the listening room.

Thanks too go to Maurice (from Naim) for laying on such clear and relaxed demonstrations of Naim's and Focal's finest.  Very good of you to give up a day (or 2) so that we can indulge in our music listening hobby.

Always a pleasure to catch up with familiar faces, including Jon (R), Jon (H), PB, Karen, Lindsay and a number of other familiar faces. 

Those Focal Sopra 2 speakers do seem to have that elusive quality of being proper music makers, when driven by a NAP300DR.  The NAP250DR certainly drives them but the NAP300DR makes music with them.  Worryingly good, that 300DR.  Might have to replenish the piggy bank for one of those...

Best regards, FT

I would also like to add my thanks to Jack and Maurice for a very entertaining and interesting demo at Audiobarn today.

It was also a pleasure to meet some forum members and put a face to the Avatar.

The stars of the show for me were 300DR and the Sopra 2. At last Naim and Focal in harmony.

I would love to hear them 

Me too. Hope to hear that combination at Infidelity soon (though my bank balance might feel rather threatened!)

Mike 

A big thank you to Jack an the Audiobarn for putting on a great event. A big thank you to Maurice for an excellent demonstration of all the products on show.

I have to say the venue was fantastic, Jacks done an excellent job with the Audiobarn, a very relaxed environment and great views from the demo room. What could be better.

But what I enjoyed most of all was the friendship from everyone you meet at these events. It was great to catch up with Jon R, Lindsay, FT, Jon H  and Gary Y but also meeting new friends who we hope to meet again.

I have to say that the new Focals and Naim seem to have a synergy missing from earlier Focals, maybe there has been something gained by the partnership and thats great to see. The Naim gear was as great as ever but what surprised me was just how good the SuperNait is.  I really enjoyed the Sopra's on the end of the SuperNait, needless to say improvements were to be had by moving up the ladder and yes, the 300 DR was a real winner. 

Next audition, the 500 DR ...  

agree in spades -- a very good day - and some focals that dont want me to drive a sledgehammer through my forehead! Miracles do occur.

Superb work on the DR stuff by the engineers at Salisbury. 

And an excellent day at audiobarn -- top marks to the crew. The cakes were fab :-) And good to see friends too

That's good to hear as my 300DRs are on order

I've used Focal Electra 1038 be's for several years with my olive naim setup. Always thought they worked very well. Therefore I never really understood all the negativity towards Focal speakers. I think they are well balanced and I don't find the treble annoying at all. Maybe at 59 my hearing is going but I think the Beryllium tweeter is fab. Haven't seen or heard the Sopra's tho.

david

Yes, my rather uncharitable comment was aimed at the big Focals which, up until the Audiobarn demo of the Sopra 2s, I have never enjoyed on the end of Naim systems. That's all changed now however with the advent of the Sopra 2.

I think that the rear ported design works better in some rooms than others.  I was impressed with the 1028be's at a dealer dem but couldn't tame the bass in my room when I borrowed a pair.

Nice to see the SN getting recognised amongst such esteemed company.

G

Ditto, I love my Aria 926s, better in my room and my system than lots of other more popular models

First - thanks to Jack once again for laying on such a great event including the much needed sandwiches and coffee/tea!!  I've said before but will repeat the Barn is a truly fit for purpose facility, it's so very encouraging to see investment in what is a niche market but great music is best replayed on great equipment which requires proper demonstration.

Music for me is in many ways a personal thing but what I enjoy about these occasions is the social aspect - just sharing experiences with like minded folk so great to see JonR, Mr and Mrs PB, Gary, Ian (FT), Jon H, and nigelb - hope I haven't missed anyone.

And so the equipment and music?  Well first clearly the new Sopras are a very successful product and very tuned to Naim electronics and as PB says great to see how accomplished the Supernait was at driving them.  My own personal preference has always been for Dynaudio and Neat speakers with Naim but clearly both the Sopra 1 and 2s present an excellent alternative - would love to hear them on the back of a 552/500!!!!

And from the point of view of a cable agnostic - I'm not in the they don't make any difference camp, they clearly do but equally I don't think it's worth the emotion that it brings on in other fora - the Superlumina IC clearly is a step up and if you are looking to really fine tune your system would be very worth considering.  Then as Maurice took us through the various upgrades I was very much enjoying the music little of which was in my usual listings - getting inside the influences behind the John Grant electronica was fun.  However, and this is the traditional viewpoint from someone whose collection is based on CD and vinyl I'm still to be fully convinced about the sonic qualities of streaming although clearly Tidal offers a more premium solution and that's an excellent thing if it means that the more recent generation of music listeners who will only choose to stream can get access to higher resolution.  DR?  I think the most obvious thing is the almost zero noise-floor resulting in a tighter focus on the music - it's just more captivating but the 250 in particular also benefits from the bass being far more fleet of foot and the general presentation being more dynamic. Game changer!!

Conclusion - if you like music it's all good!!