Why no love for Sopra 1?

HI MR U

i am not sure if I would go with GAIA 11s,or try the ISO pucks between the stands and speakers.Now that I am happy with the positioning,I will just listen for the rest of this week.Next week,I may try a sub or two...just to see.If you are looking for some music that really shows what these speakers are capable of,try Agnès Obel...Philharmonics,and Aventine.Currently listening to KEB MO,his debut album,just called KEB MO...good stuff too.Next up will be Beck...Sea Change.Curious If you or anyone are using Superlumina cables with Focals,I think WENGER uses Tellerium with his Sopra 2s.I just qued up Beck,golden age sounds fabulous!

I have a Superlumina loom and very nice the cables sound with my Sopra 2s. Very open and transparent with none of the brightness some report with Focal tweeters. I’ve had my speakers  for a few months now. They took around  3 week’s to break in from new. The Focals are very well made too and are in a room 34 by 24 feet so room to breathe.

Of course you could go for Sopra 2s and ditch the subs! Less clutter in the room and they can’t take up much more room than the Sopra 1s on stands. They’re certainly less room dominant than my old Ovator 600s.

Thanks RAVENSWOOD10

Sopra 2s are not going to happen for me,too big,and I can not afford them right now either.The sub/s will likely be just an experiment,since I currently live in an apartment.Did you get the SL cables brand new,because I heard they take forever to break in?I am also going to be demoing a Chord Dave soon,and who knows,THAT may change everything,even which speaker I prefer...should be interesting when that arrives.I also plan on trying the Dave as a preamp,I just want to be sure what direction to go.I am even considering Omega Alinco Speakers driven directly off the Dave,with my JL subs.

NO QUARTER

It sounds like you are enjoying the Sopra’s.

Regarding Speaker cables, I did try the SL cables, I had them on dem for a while, I know they are excellent high end cables and work extremely well but they just didn’t reach the level of TQ Silver Diamonds.

That said the SL will be a huge improvement on the Nac a5, if you have the opportunity then I would recommend you give them a try...

Just picked up a Chord Dave for my home demo,no time today to play,but tomorrow...

spurrier sucks posted:

I feel the same about speakers or I did. I love the walnut on the C20. Has a nice mid century modern look. If I were to get Kanta 2 it would be walnut with white face. Would just need an Eames chair to go with those. 

I have the Kanta 2 in combination with 282/200Dr/HiCapDr/NDX ... they are simply stunning 

Had a good listen too the Kanta’s at the recent Bristol Show, certainly a great sounding speaker choice...

I'm off work for the upcoming week. I may try to find a dealer with Kanta No. 2 and have myself a listen. Not sure I'm ready to move on from my Contour 20 yet but no harm in hearing some different speakers. Just don't tell my wife.

I'll be sure not to mention it to her

I had the opportunity to listen to the Kanta at the end of the 272/250 as well as with the Nova.

Left me cold. Just didn't feel anything...

spurrier sucks posted:

I'm off work for the upcoming week. I may try to find a dealer with Kanta No. 2 and have myself a listen. Not sure I'm ready to move on from my Contour 20 yet but no harm in hearing some different speakers. Just don't tell my wife.

I have heard Sopra 2 next to Kanta 2 on a Naim stack and the brands familiarity is immediately there. they come very, very close. The Sopra 2 is a slight more "brilliant" in a sense that it emphasizes high frequencies a bit more and there was a bit more depth in the imaging. Differences are small though. I think in the situation of the OP, room-size and acoustics are decisive: if room-size requires monitor loudspeakers, the Sopra 1 are very interesting; if not I'd recommend to have a listen to Kanta 2 also. Iver

Hi NQ,

I use NAC-A5. I wouldn't give house room to boutique cables as I believe the markups are enormous. I was listening to a friends system yesterday (Aurilic Aries > Audio Note 4.1 Balanced DAC > Pass XP-20 >Pass x350.8 > Audio Note speakers). As he does reviews he has a pair of silver speaker cables plumbed in, £33k to you guv. To each their own.

A friend came round with a pair of Tannoys to listen to in my system. I told hime I was using Nac A5 and he arrived with bags of differing cables. We plugged in the A5 and he removed all his esoteric cables and we just carried on as we were.

I think the Sopra No 1 vs No 2 would be interesting, and I suspect not all one way.

The Audio Note 4.1 is a great DAC in my friends system, but just did not work in the context of my system. I could hear greater detail and nuance, but some of the shear joy was lost; somehow we both preferred my much cheaper Border Patrol SE DAC in my system. In the system above the 4.1 shone. I look forward to your thoughts on the Dave. I don't think there is any straightforward rule about what really works well in any given system.

joerand posted:

I'll be sure not to mention it to her

Lol. I guess I left myself opened for that. 

I got the Dave home Saturday afternoon,but did not unbox it until Sunday night.So far,I have only tried it with headphones(at work),and it seems like something might be wrong with that output.When I turn it up loud (above -15 DBs on the dial) I am getting a lot of bass distortion,that I never had with the Hugo 2 at much higher volume.My dealer said he tried headphones with it only once,and something sounded off to him too.Maybe my cheap Sennheiser Momentum’s are just not up to it,sounds great at lower volume though.Today I will insert it between the Core and 272,and go from there.I will also try it in preamp mode,driving an amp directly,which is where the Hugo 2 excelled to me.

No Quarter - forgive my ignorance, but how do you insert the Dave between the Core and 272?  What sort of cables would I need?  Does the 272 see the Dave as a source?  Sorry for all of the questions.

Hi

Digital cable out of the Core to digital in on the Dave>analog out (rca cables) of the Dave to analog inputs on the 272.Choose the analog input you are using on the 272>select the Core in the app,find a song you want and hit play.Pretty simple really.

A little update...I have the Chord Dave in my system now,playing from the Core,to Dave,to analog inputs on the 272,and it is absolutely stunning!The layers of detail coming from nowhere is incredible,there Is air and separation of instruments like I have never experienced before at my home.Everything I play just makes more sense,and it just draws you in to the music.THIS DAC is an end game for me,and I will have one some day...can’t wait to try it directly into my amp,using it as a DAC/PRE.You really are not aware of how much information is on a track,and how much better your speakers can sound,simply by upgrading what you feed them,but there is only one problem...it is damn expensive to get there.This up to here was copied from what I posted on the Dynaudio owner’s thread...I will add some more.The Sopra 1s are a terrific speaker,that will show you all upgrades you feed them,it is looking like I may keep them,from what I have heard so far.The thing is,Would a full loom Superlumina and an upgrade to 555DR give me the same that the Dave is doing?I personally have no way to compare the two here where I live,the prices would probably be about equal...it never ends it seems,but I have more insight now as to what direction I want to go from here.A Dave into a 272 is magical,I even tried playing Tidal on my I-pad,USB into the Dave,then into the 272...and THAT was jaw dropping too.

Wellcome to the intoxicating world of Dave!

18 months on and I’m as addicted and pleased as ever. Hugo did that to an extent, but Dave is something else.

No idea about the Sopras, though...

Yes IB,it really is in another league than the Hugo’s...when I picked it up,my dealer had the Qutest hooked up to the Blu2,and it sounded awfully good too.A few people have mentioned the Sopras drove them out of the room,but I am not hearing that at all.

You seem to have the well set-up. Glad it is all working well. Going to be fascinating when you switch them back out.

How long have you for the Dave for?

MR U

My dealer usually lets me demo things for a few weeks,I have a few configurations I want to try still.The nice thing about using the Dave as a pre,which I have not done yet,is you CAN hook up subs to the XLR outputs at the same time as driving an amp directly with the RCA connections.

Ok,I know this thread is about the Sopra 1s,but it has kind of morphed into a Chord Dave thread,and the effect on the sound I am hearing from the Sopras.Today I got around to hooking up the Dave in preamp mode,using the Core/272 as a source only,and using my Anthem MCA 50 as an amp.From my limited time with it so far in this configuration,I must say,I am NOT convinced I like it,sure all the detail is there,but I does seem like I have lost some of the Naim PRAT or engagement with the music.I will listen like this for a couple of days,to be sure what I prefer,but it appears that with the 272 as a pre,is preferable so far.This does tell me that the Dave is much better than the Hugo 2,as a DAC (makes sense),because the H2 did not really improve on the 272 DAC significantly,but the DAVE does.Whether it is worth the cost,not too sure,maybe Superlumina might be a better choice...or 555DR over XPSDR...or 300DR over 250DR.

From what I have read I think using the Dave as a pre is system dependent, I think you are wise to listen to it for a while and see whether it settles.

Mr Underhill posted:

From what I have read I think using the Dave as a pre is system dependent, I think you are wise to listen to it for a while and see whether it settles.

You are right MR U,I left it playing all night last night while I was at work,and today it is sounding really good straight into the amp.Could be the Anthem amp warming up,or my ears adjusting to the different presentation,not sure,but it sounds great.One thing I do know,a Dave is on my wish list,however I end up using it,there is really something special going on here...Sopra 1s are really nice too,and have found a new home I think.