Focal Sopra No.2

[Dr Tone]

Well, tonight was my third audition of the Focal Sopra 2 via the Devialet 200.

Long story short, this speaker is off my list of possible speakers to replace my ProAc Response D30R speakers.  The Beryllium tweeter still sounds harsh to me and I really don't get what the whole hype or magic is all about.

Again, I got to compare them to the B&W 804d3 speakers and the B&W sounded sweeter, more coherent and a joy to listen to.  It's truly an amazing speaker for it's size that produces some really deep & powerful  bass (so does the Sopra 2) but the Diamond tweeter sounds better (to me) than the Beryllium tweeter.

Did you pay attention to the speaker cables they had on the Sopra 2?  It's just recently become quite apparent to me that the beryllium tweater needs transparent cables. The brand that is, they mellow that tweeter out nicely.

The dealer is using AudioQuest Rocket 44 speaker cables.

Now that I have my speakers on the long wall with first reflection points almost non existent, it dawned on me to reduce toe in more than my last room.  Well I'll be damned if everything didn't just come together.  Treble backed off and bass and mids just locked in.

I have to give props to the transparent cables i have on loan right now as well. They mellowed things out.

So what kind of toe in did the dealer have on the Sopras?  I've come to the conclusion you want almost no toe in with the beryllium tweeter, and the sound stage will still be there.

[samurai7595]

Did you pay attention to the speaker cables they had on the Sopra 2?  It's just recently become quite apparent to me that the beryllium tweater needs transparent cables. The brand that is, they mellow that tweeter out nicely.

The dealer is using AudioQuest Rocket 44 speaker cables.

Now that I have my speakers on the long wall with first reflection points almost non existent, it dawned on me to reduce toe in more than my last room.  Well I'll be damned if everything didn't just come together.  Treble backed off and bass and mids just locked in.

I have to give props to the transparent cables i have on loan right now as well. They mellowed things out.

So what kind of toe in did the dealer have on the Sopras?  I've come to the conclusion you want almost no toe in with the beryllium tweeter, and the sound stage will still be there.

On Friday evening, I went back to the dealer to audition the Sopra 2 speakers (yet again).

This time, we tried the Devialet 120, 200 and 250 plus we experimented with speaker placement & toe-in.  I was there for about 3 hours and no matter what we tried, the Beryllium tweeters always sounded a little harsh for my liking.  Unfortunately, for speaker cables, they only carry AudioQuest so we couldn't experiment with that aspect of the setup.

Then on Saturday morning, I was dropping off a buddy of mine at a different dealer to have his Leben integrated amp repaired.  While he was talking to the sales rep, I noticed a pair of Focal Sopra 2 speakers in one of the listening rooms.  They were in a walnut veneer finish which did not appeal to me (looks like fake wood).  I was looking at the speakers, when the owner walked in and asked me if I wanted to audition them.  I explained my experience of the Beryllium tweeter to him and he immediately told me that the Devialet integrated amps are a wrong match for the Sopra line.  He told me that the other Focal lines work great with the Devialet but not the Sopra line since they need a warmer / more laid back sound of which the Devialet are not.  So he paired it with the Luxman L-550AX Class A (20W) solid-state integrated amp, Analogue Audio entry-level CD player and a pair of Transparent Audio "The Wave" speaker cables.  To summarize, I was blown away.  The Focal Sopra 2 speakers sounded AMAZING with the Luxman integrated amp.  The Beryllium tweeter was no longer an issue and every type of music we played, sounded amazing.  Incredible deep, powerful, well-controlled bass, smooth midrange and highs with no harshness at all and a coherent sound with excellent driver integration.  Plus the soundstage was extremely wide with music going beyond the outer sides of the speakers.  This experiment has proved (to me) that the Focal Sopra 2 may not be the best match for the Devialet.  

Finally, on Saturday afternoon, I visited a third dealer who carries the Sonus Faber speakers and auditioned the Olympica II speakers with a Devialet 200 and with this combo, the Devialet magic was back!  The speaker cables in this system were the Crystal Cable Micro Diamond cables and we used an Aurender N100H digital streamer.

[Womaz]

A great thread this .....thoroughly enjoying it. System and room matching CRUCIAL as I have also found out lately

[Dr Tone]

The dealer is using AudioQuest Rocket 44 speaker cables.

Now that I have my speakers on the long wall with first reflection points almost non existent, it dawned on me to reduce toe in more than my last room.  Well I'll be damned if everything didn't just come together.  Treble backed off and bass and mids just locked in.

I have to give props to the transparent cables i have on loan right now as well. They mellowed things out.

So what kind of toe in did the dealer have on the Sopras?  I've come to the conclusion you want almost no toe in with the beryllium tweeter, and the sound stage will still be there.

On Friday evening, I went back to the dealer to audition the Sopra 2 speakers (yet again).

This time, we tried the Devialet 120, 200 and 250 plus we experimented with speaker placement & toe-in.  I was there for about 3 hours and no matter what we tried, the Beryllium tweeters always sounded a little harsh for my liking.  Unfortunately, for speaker cables, they only carry AudioQuest so we couldn't experiment with that aspect of the setup.

Then on Saturday morning, I was dropping of a buddy of my at a different dealer to have his Leben integrated amp repaired.  While he was talking to the sales rep, I noticed a pair of Focal Sopra 2 speakers in one of the listening rooms.  They were in a walnut veneer finish which did not appeal to me (looks like fake wood).  I was looking at the speakers, when the owner walked in and asked me if I wanted to audition them.  I explained my experience of the Beryllium tweeter to him and he immediately told me that the Devialet integrated amps are a wrong match for the Sopra line.  He told me that the other Focal lines work great with the Devialet but not the Sopra line since they need a warmer / more laid back sound of which the Devialet are not.  So he paired it with the Luxman L-550AX Class A (20W) integrated amp, Analogue Audio entry-level CD player and a pair of Transparent Audio "The Wave" speaker cables.  To summarize, I was blown away.  The Focal Sopra 2 speakers sounded AMAZING with the Luxman integrated amp.  The Beryllium tweeter was no longer an issue and every type of music we played, sounded amazing.  Incredible deep, powerful, well-controlled bass, smooth midrange and highs with no harshness at all and a coherent sound with excellent driver integration.  Plus the soundstage was extremely wide with music going beyond the outer sides of the speakers.  This experiment has proved (to me) that the Focal Sopra 2 may not be the best match for the Devialet.  

Finally, on Saturday afternoon, I visited a third dealer who carries the Sonus Faber speakers and auditioned the Olympica II speakers with a Devialet 200 and with this combo, the Devialet magic was back!  The speaker cables in this system were the Crystal Cable Micro Diamond cables and we used an Aurender N100H digital streamer.

I'm starting to see a pattern.  The less efficient speakers sounding the best with the Devialet.  To bad you couldn't get the transparent cables in the devialet sopra audition,  I truelly believe they are playing a part in what you like with the luxman.

I have 804d3s coming for an audition Tuesday morning, it's going to be interesting.

[samurai7595]

I'm starting to see a pattern.  The less efficient speakers sounding the best with the Devialet.  To bad you couldn't get the transparent cables in the devialet sopra audition,  I truelly believe they are playing a part in what you like with the luxman.

I have 804d3s coming for an audition Tuesday morning, it's going to be interesting.

I'm going to see if I can borrow a pair of the Transparent Audio speaker cables & try them with the Devialet/Focal combo.

I really enjoyed my audition of the Devialet/B&W combo. The B&W 804d3 would be a great match for a small-to-medium size room and they work very well with SAM.

You should also audition the Sonus Faber Olympica II.

[k1282]

I just stumbled over this thread, as I also own Sopra 2 with D200 ( http://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?tid=2517&page=2 )

Long story short:
I am very happy with the combo.

The funniest thing though is the fact, that you don't like tweeter with the combo you heard initially, i.e. the audioquest rocket 44. My dealer here in Germany also used the Rocket 44 cables (what are the odds) and indeed I share your opinion very much. I then changed to slightly less expensive Supra Quadrax cables and the tweeter "dominance" was gone and became balanced.

[octaviars]

I just stumbled over this thread, as I also own Sopra 2 with D200 ( http://devialetchat.com/showthread.php?tid=2517&page=2 )

Long story short:
I am very happy with the combo.

The funniest thing though is the fact, that you don't like tweeter with the combo you heard initially, i.e. the audioquest rocket 44. My dealer here in Germany also used the Rocket 44 cables (what are the odds) and indeed I share your opinion very much. I then changed to slightly less expensive Supra Quadrax cables and the tweeter "dominance" was gone and became balanced.

What length and termination do you have on your Quadrax cables? I used to have Supra Rondo 4*2.5 wired as 2*5, changed to Chord but if I go for Sopra I will look for something else the Chords I find a bit bright and the combo Devialet Sopra seams to need a cable thats a little laidback.

[k1282]

3m 2*4 CombiCon with banana plugs: http://www.jenving.com/products/view/qua...1000100600

[octaviars]

3m 2*4 CombiCon with banana plugs: http://www.jenving.com/products/view/qua...1000100600

Ok, I need something like 2*6m so I think I will get it in bulk and do the termination by myself got the tools at work to crimp the CombiCons.

[Dr Tone]

804D3s got dropped off a couple hours ago. I went back to work, but will be listening all evening.

Quick impressions: Soundstage is positioned higher, center image is quite a bit fuller maybe not as detailed but I think that's something I'll have to work out with toe-in and placement tonight. Bottom end is there but it seems to be better controlled than the bigger sized Focals, I think the Focals overpowered the room a bit when going deep. The 804D3s are not as aggressive as the Focals that's for sure, more relaxed.

It will be a fun week or so...