Dear Marge,

So that's the floorstander I assume. Do you have a picture of the standmount Bin 1?

Wow thanks! Bin 1, Sopra 1, cast them as cousins. It'll take someone cleverer than me to get them in the same picture, side by side. 

joerand posted:

Noogle posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

Those Sopras look a bit like too much fur coat and no knickers to me, with all those funny metal bits and curvy corners - rather like a Brabantia pedal bin. After a few years struggling to form a long term relationship I happened upon my new partners by chance, following an inadvertent tip off on the forum that they were looking for a new lease of life. There are a few of them around though they are very rare, but might be worth looking out. They are quite shy and like to stick to the walls, which in a modest room can only be a good thing. I have a feeling that they will be better at communication than the Sopras, which is always the basis of a lasting partnership. 

What's not to like about this iconic design?  I have a stereo pair (recycling and landfill):

I'll make it easy for you Nigel, and give you more or less what you paid for your SL2s  :-)

C.

As we have a new autonomous world, with cars now driving themselves, perhaps we need an autonomous speaker that can position itself around the room as it sees fit for best replay, I give you the Metal Mickey speaker auto correct and room positioning system.

Dan43 posted:

 ... perhaps we need an autonomous speaker that can position itself around the room as it sees fit for best replay...

Done, almost. This one steers the sound around the room.

Jan-Erik Nordoen posted:

Dan43 posted:

 ... perhaps we need an autonomous speaker that can position itself around the room as it sees fit for best replay...

Done, almost. This one steers the sound around the room.

Now come off it.  You've just ripped a page out of the Advanced Origami Handbook.

Noogle posted:

Hungryhalibut posted:

Those Sopras look a bit like too much fur coat and no knickers to me, with all those funny metal bits and curvy corners - rather like a Brabantia pedal bin. After a few years struggling to form a long term relationship I happened upon my new partners by chance, following an inadvertent tip off on the forum that they were looking for a new lease of life. There are a few of them around though they are very rare, but might be worth looking out. They are quite shy and like to stick to the walls, which in a modest room can only be a good thing. I have a feeling that they will be better at communication than the Sopras, which is always the basis of a lasting partnership. 

What's not to like about this iconic design?  I have a stereo pair (recycling and landfill):

Yep. I've got one of those........and I'm also a Focal fan. Maybe HH has put his finger on some unconscious connection.    

I've been romancing  the sopra 2's for a few weeks now....I'm normally a calm, sensible fella, but I have experienced a connection I've not felt in a long time...I have subsequently proposed and after a brief engagement have finally tied the knot.....everytime I glance across the room it makes me smile....yes I'm in love

Wow, what a steamy thread. At first I thought I had stumbled across one of those dodgy websites. And no, I do not frequent such sites.

I heard the Sopra 2s with an NDX (or was it NDS), 282/SupercapDR and various power amps (250DR and 300DR) demo at a new dealer in Herts. They sounded splendid and I even got a chance to play a couple of my fave tracks via Tidal.

I would be interested to see if love blossoms between the OP and these French beauties. They do have expensive tastes however and are possibly too rich for my blood.

Mind you - cheap dates are often a disappointment. Who am I kidding, what the hell do I know as a happily married man.

wenger2015 posted:

I've been romancing  the sopra 2's for a few weeks now....I'm normally a calm, sensible fella, but I have experienced a connection I've not felt in a long time...I have subsequently proposed and after a brief engagement have finally tied the knot.....everytime I glance across the room it makes me smile....yes I'm in love

Congratulations!  Out of interest, which finish did you go for?

Hi Noogle,  I went for the black..... for me theirs just something very classy about black, but that's just me....

Big mistake.  White is the correct answer.  :-)

They will make you smile...whatever the colour.....

Who am I to speak?  I haven't even been on a first date yet and you're already on your honeymoon...

Just remember after that first date....it's only going to end one way

I would stick with a normal floorstander. Why rob yourself of all that bass, that you will simply not get from stand-mounted monitors?

Agreed, I am the headmaster of the "more is more" school.  But as an empiricist I'm also interested to find out which sounds better in my room.

Alas - that leaves you with only one plausible outcome - to test....

Testing Sopra 2 today pretty extensive listen with Linn front end at this dealer.

Initial thoughts, lots of drama (as in they are dramatic and scale is impressive) with these speakers, bass lots of it, soundtracks quite cinematic, vocals very Ovator esque, low/mids/highs extremely well balanced.

Loading some of my tunes into a Melco, so back there in a little while for part 2. Very impressive so far, but want to listen to my stuff for better reference.

Any tendency towards brightness?

Finished with the Sopra 2 demo. Better listening to your own regular tracks. First thoughts are I think I am going to buy these, I like them, a lot.

Low/mids/high frequency balance is excellent. Low volume excellent. Bass very well driven and controlled. Sound staging initially very good, but this is not my room so thats the next test.

I am being offered a very reasonable ex-demo deal, and I have probably bitten.

They have presence and deliver in spades. No tendency to brightness, if anything it felt like the extreme highs were slightly rounded off, harsh edges were softer, which is a thought as some like that extra longer ringing out. Piano keys you can here the pressure of the keys being hit, guitar plucking is clear and crisp, but not harsh at the extreme end.

Of course how they perform at my place is another thing, but these are excellent speakers and 'feel' very very good.