Why no love for Sopra 1?

I have a very positive impression of the Sopra 1 having heard them for about 15-20 dedicated minutes in a dealer's room with Devialet amplification. Impressive for their clarity and resolution. Highly detailed and musical. I'm a floor stander guy, but if I lived in an apartment, (and was able to spend $9K on stand mounts) I'd certainly have the Sopra 1 home for a demo trial.

My generic advice would be not to get swept away by a bargain price. Be certain to focus on the speakers' fit in your room and not how good a deal you're getting.

Thanks Joe,good advice,I am a long time Dynaudio user/fan and have owned many different pairs,also had Taksim reference 3AS for a short time,but these are the first Focals I will of tried at home.I am not sure what the price in Britain is for these,but converting the Canadian price he wants to pounds,it is 3,400 with stands,and they are basically brand new.

Think the S1 is too expensive, my dealer told me that most of his customers jump to S2....

Great speaker Sopra 1 with fine clarity speed and detail.Listened to both extensively and S 2 naturally provides a bigger scale with more low end extension but S1 is a fine speaker and unless spending much time listening to heavy rock or bass heavy music S1 would make a very enjoyable speaker.

It seems as though most of the videos I can find on YouTube with Sopras,they are driving them with Macintosh amps,I wonder if that is to tame the highs a bit.Does anyone know if my Naca5 would be a good match for them?What worries me a bit,is fatigue,I am used to the soft dome tweeter in the Dynaudios,inverted metal dome beryllium is new to me.

It seems a general trend on the market now . Standamounts are slower selling than their floorstanding counterpart at the same or next level of cost. I ' ve been told so  by our local Kudos distributor

Regards

Roberto

I certainly wouldn't be concerned with the monikers applied to the tweeter types. "Soft" versus "metal" is no indication on how they will perform to your ears. YouTube videos are even more worthless. NACA5 ought to work fine. I'd stop fretting extraneous variables and get yourself in a proper mindset to relax and enjoy music from the speakers once they arrive.

You are right Joe,I am sure they will be fantastic,and I will keep this thread updated with my thoughts after they are up and running.

If you want something really bright and impressive they should be ideal. The fact that they are being shifted at a cheap price surely suggests something. They are only a bargain if you’d pay full price for them. 

I’ve not heard the Special 40 but have read glowing reviews, and they look lovely - nice and small. The Sopra 1 is huge, with massive floor stands. Discreet they are not. 

Naim used the Sopra 1 for the Uniti launch forum event at the factory, NACA5 was the cable. They were good at showing the difference between the three models but there was a lot of reservations in the room about the choice of speaker for long term enjoyment even though we were all impressed at how well the Nova dealt with them. Not the same as a home demo though, take your time and enjoy the ride, is your dealer installing them? 

Hungryhalibut posted:

If you want something really bright and impressive they should be ideal. The fact that they are being shifted at a cheap price surely suggests something. They are only a bargain if you’d pay full price for them. 

I’ve not heard the Special 40 but have read glowing reviews, and they look lovely - nice and small. The Sopra 1 is huge, with massive floor stands. Discreet they are not. 

I actually like the look of the Sopras HH,these speakers were in my dealers home for roughly the last year,and he likes them a lot.He just picked up a pair of Dynaudio Contour C20s to take their place.It is nothing at all to do with their sound,he just changes speakers often,being a dealer and all.

Ah, the C20. That’s a nice looking speaker, and it sounds lovely too. Maybe hold on till he sells them for half price next year. 

Yes,actually I am going over on Saturday to grab the Sopras,and it will also be my first time seeing and hearing the C20s,so I am excited about that too.He has a walnut pair,you know,I may end up keeping my 40s,after all,that is what a home demo is for.

I think this will come down to personal preference and room integration.  

I've heard the Sopra 1s in a friend's system, (top flight LP12 source and driven by a 250). They sounded lovely with superb articulation in the mid and upper range. Ultimately they didn't quite have the oomph at the bottom end which left us missing that visceral bass kick on some material but if heavy rock isn't your thing I'd say they were excellent.  

I heard the new C20’s and they are very good indeed, likewise the Sopra1 but I preferred the C20 presentation overall. Not heard in ideal circumstances (Acoustica Show fed by NDX/282/250) so a dealer & home dem essential with this sort of financial commitment.

If you like the Dyn house sound, then I would have thought the C20 would be the next logical step up - personally I’d be requesting a dealer three way back to back demo with the Special 40, C20 and Sopra 1’s first, then perhaps take them home? Also, possibly even consider the Dyn Confidence C1 Platinum too?

I haven't heard the Sopra 1 speakers with Naim amplification. 

However, I have heard them on the end of a pair of (eye wateringly expensive) Simaudio Moon monoblocks, and they sounded exceptionally good. 

Perhaps in conjunction with Naim amplifiers, the combination is just too bright and clinical? 

Hmack posted:

I haven't heard the Sopra 1 speakers with Naim amplification. 

However, I have heard them on the end of a pair of (eye wateringly expensive) Simaudio Moon monoblocks, and they sounded exceptionally good. 

Perhaps in conjunction with Naim amplifiers, the combination is just too bright and clinical? 

Not to my ears, Hmack. Indeed I think the Sopra series has been voiced by Focal to work well with Naim amps (unsurprisingly).

M

Yetizone posted:

I heard the new C20’s and they are very good indeed, likewise the Sopra1 but I preferred the C20 presentation overall. Not heard in ideal circumstances (Acoustica Show fed by NDX/282/250) so a dealer & home dem essential with this sort of financial commitment.

If you like the Dyn house sound, then I would have thought the C20 would be the next logical step up - personally I’d be requesting a dealer three way back to back demo with the Special 40, C20 and Sopra 1’s first, then perhaps take them home? Also, possibly even consider the Dyn Confidence C1 Platinum too?

It is possible that I hear the C20s and know right away that I would rather have those,I have owned the special 40s since September,but the Sopras,I have only heard in his system,which ironically (HMACK),he uses Simaudio gear,with Blu2/Dave and Nordost Odin cables throughout.Belive me,my heart leans towards Dynaudio,I have also owned C1mk11s for a couple of years.Right now I have 3 different pairs of Dyns...excite12s,S40s,and XD 600s,so I thought it might be time to venture out and try Focal.Saturday,I plan on sitting down for a good long listen to the C20s before I take off with the Sopras,and for sure,I am asking what price I could get a pair of those for.Thanks for all the replies everyone.

MDS posted:

Hmack posted:

I haven't heard the Sopra 1 speakers with Naim amplification. 

However, I have heard them on the end of a pair of (eye wateringly expensive) Simaudio Moon monoblocks, and they sounded exceptionally good. 

Perhaps in conjunction with Naim amplifiers, the combination is just too bright and clinical? 

Not to my ears, Hmack. Indeed I think the Sopra series has been voiced by Focal to work well with Naim amps (unsurprisingly).

M

Glad to hear it. I was just speculating given some of the negative comments from some on this forum.

I think it's a really good speaker, and don't understood some of the criticism. 

Hi,

I actually really like the Sopra 1's ... I have used them by choice at a few events on the back of a SuperUniti through to NAC252 / NAP300 ...

Phil

T38.45 posted:

Think the S1 is too expensive, my dealer told me that most of his customers jump to S2....

Hi,

If you can properly accomodate the bigger S2's then yes - they are not *THAT* much more expensive but they are also a much more imposing speaker and also interact to a much greater degree with the room ... it's rarely just a decision based on perceived value for money ...

Phil

I'm quite keen on the Naim SNAXO for Kudos 

Thanks for your input Phil,coming from you,the praise of the Sopra 1s means a lot,and surely the Sopra 2s would give me more bass,and I have heard them.I have a pair of floorstanders that are going nowhere,so I am really only interested in stand mount.

No quarter posted:

Thanks for your input Phil,coming from you,the praise of the Sopra 1s means a lot,and surely the Sopra 2s would give me more bass,and I have heard them.I have a pair of floorstanders that are going nowhere,so I am really only interested in stand mount.

Thank you but remember that my *OPINION* holds no more validity than anyone elses ...

Phil