@@BRB499 I've had my sopra 3 for some time now... close to 2 years. I've powered mine with these amplifiers..Amplifiers... krel kav 2250. Very good amp for what I paid for it. I had the krell paired with a audio research ref 5 pre amp. Now that preamp was amazing. Sold krell to get arc front end. Ref75 tube amp was next. The krell with ref 5 preamp sounded better to my ears. Sold my arc gear and went with a musical fidelity m8 encore 500 integrated. It allowed me to go a simpler route and took care of soo much stuff. My cd collection...streaming etc. Started to get a itch to try something new and initially wanted to go back to tubes. At least in the preamp section. Was gonna go octave. Reached out to a dealer who had octave and told him I had focal sopra 3 and wanted to know which sounded best to him in his ship since he's a focal dealer and has all these amps he's paired it with. He has moon, mcintosh, octave, classe, naim... so many brands. He told me to just go get a naim nova integrated. I found a naim star for recent price. Model right below nova and allowed me to store my cds. And first time I turned it on I was just in disbelief. The focal came alive when connected to the Naim star. It absolutely smacked the MF encore at 500 watts per channel. So as crazy as it sounds. Naim is a match made in heaven for the sopras believe it or not.
@@lancekluemper3708 I belive u man i do... :) I love the sound of these speakers so much that i must have a pair... im just wondering about the sound of my Mac7200Integreted amp... need to hear them at home first...
@@BRB499 I've yet to get a mcintosh to try out but it's on my short list of things to eventually get and try. I had naim seperates... nap250,nac272 and ndx2 streamer... of course the sperates sounded better but the integrated can hold its own. That naim integrated will never be sold unless I find a nova cheaper. But the star sounds amazing with the newer Focal speakers
53patsfan so boring like your comment... what is boring and why? The music? What you are earing through your computer or mobile phone? We can’t tell if this speakers are good or not because We are not in front of them. However, you can tell that the middle range, bass etc seems to be... what ever you want but you can’t be sur at 100% bye Sir.
Holy shit! What a setup!.. Those Audio Research 610T's are $20K each, The McIntosh mc601 $10K each.. All those monoblocks together cost more than the cost of all my belongings in my house combined, including appliances lol
OMG this is the masterpiece. Nothing beats Focal's linearity. The resolution, the clarity, the details, the commitment. One of the few speakers that does not get bored, the music comes to you. With Focal, you can sit for hours and listen without getting tired. My Sopra no1 in combination with tube is outstanding.
sorry to be offtopic but does anyone know a method to log back into an instagram account? I somehow forgot my account password. I would love any tips you can give me
the monitor audio platinum Gen 2 is much better than the focal, the monitor audio platinum 500 Gen 2 is so much better than the $75,000 focal it's not even funny. and the platinum 500 is only $32,000 US.
@@chrisrichards2827 The PL Gen2 is the top of the range while the Sopra isnt. And you can forget about having the airiness the Focals have. Detail retrieval and transparency are not even close on the MA, not to mention soundstage width. The MA sounds hard edged af due to the 2-3khz peak off axis and sounds lifeless.
@@AbsoluteFidelity the pl2 is way better than the focal so a friend of mine has the pl2 500s and he put them up against 75,000 focal and he said that the pl2s were way better and then he put them up against $150,000 Focal and he said the focals may have been a little bit better but it was hard to tell. that MPD Tweeter is way more three-dimensional natural and open than any dome tweeter on the market and it's much faster as well obviously you haven't compared the two side by side, the driver technology that monitor audio has is way ahead of focal, so the comparison has been done and monitor audio is far superior than a $75,000 pair of focal and just as good as $150,000 pair, the MPD Tweeter is the best tweeter on the market right now better than any dome or ribbon out there. my system in my home is worth $70,000 and the reason I bought the monitor audio PL ll is that it is the most three-dimensional and enveloping soundstage that I've heard from very few speakers out there, Tidal is also very good but way overpriced.
I've only heard mackintosh in my life. I was on 6th grade and my best friend had the stereo and we would play the fm stations. I still remember that silver look back in the 80's
these things go right to the core of your body with the sweet mids, everyone is gushing over the kef reference 5s including myself, but jumping back and forth between videos, there is no comparison
@SoundSommelier volevo chiederti se eventualmente ti tornasse bene fare un paragone Focal Sopra 2 vs Sonus Faber Stradivari entrambi con Mcintosh. Il formatto 1 contro l’altro è molto piacevole. Gran bel canale. Grazie
@@chrisrichards2827 Hardly. The Focal Be tweeter's break up point is somewhere around 40,000 kHz. It's quite easy to overdrive a microphone, so how are you so sure that is not the case here?
OK this sounds even better than the video with the KHorns. This is life like. I'm listening on my Focal Solo 6 Be (same medium and twitter as these Sopra). They've never sounded so good !
@@charronjim9177 I have heard several DynAudios at various dealers. Sound is subjective. You term Focals bright, I say you didn't hear them with right electronics. In comparison DynAudios sound lifeless. Focals sound so 'alive'. Unfortunately, several dealers A/B them with the same electronics as other speakers. No wonder people think they are bright. Bright in comparison? Yes. Brighter than they should be? No.
@@chrisrichards2827 Of course there "may" be better out there. Did you not notice I said "among the best". You should have noticed. Besides, for the benefit for other visitors, I would like you to mention some that are better than these (according to you) at the same price point.
This really makes me regret not having kids, well mostly because I think I could sell 3 kids for the price of a pair of these bad boys. I'll stick to my ml 60xt for now.
@@leev2463 What amp are you running them with, and do you think amps sound the same given same watt etc? Just curious. I'm running cheap outlaw mono 200 watts but thining upgrading to the mc152, any thoughts? Thanks !
@@williammorales8204 I use the parasound halo A23+ amp and parasound P6 premamplifier. The 60xt are 4 Ohm and very efficient speakers but they need current to sound good, so that's why i went with these amps, which also can sound nearly as good as amps costing 10k. Yes, if you don't listen in a large room the amplifier won't need to work as hard, and the first few watts of the parasound amps run in class A.
Your setup seems too crowded to critically evaluate such great equipment. Feel free to send some of your excess to me. I will find a home for whatever lesser product you wish , in order to help with room acoustics. (Mike).. :-)
The monitor audio Platinum sound way better than the focal, they're much more three-dimensional and airy and spacious, don't get me wrong the focal sound great but the monitor audio Platinum are just that much better and they're in a different League.
@@pahmed4272 I've got the platinum 200 Gen 2 A friend of mine has the platinum 500 Gen 2 and he put it up against the $75,000 focal and he said that the platinum was much better and then he also put his platinum 500 up against the $150,000 focal and he said the focal may have been a little bit better but he couldn't really tell and then I asked him was there a 120,000 difference between the platinum and the focal and he said not even close, the only reason they're so cheap is because they're made in China if the platinum 500 was made in England still it would be $80,000 probably.
Hi, Great video showing some nice equipment as always. Is there any way you can send me a brochure in the video at about 40 seconds and seen throughout. Thanks.
I could only buy these if my wife passes away before me. As I am older than my wife and the statistics have proven that women live longer than men, the chances of that happening are not running in my favour.
Frankly Focal for the sound of medium/tweeter is just amazing if you love a stradivarius or the choral of any opera you will be amazed they have no limit but you will be very very carefull for the cables the place and any accessories (etc thoroughbred horse).. Bowers is amazing too but very expensive! It's cosmetic in fact!
Hi, Sommelier. Very nice video and song, indeed. I've been wondering why the sound of many of your videos (God bless them) seems to be "splitted" in two parts: the vocals and the instruments. I think the answer is simple: all of us know perfectly how a human voice sounds, hence the feeling of too much room interactions with it. Meanwhile, instruments' sound is not an everyday experience and, then, they tend to seem more "natural" (except for professional musicians, that is). In this particular case, the tender female voice seems as a real person singing into a "karaoke" with the instruments previously recorded apart. Don't get me wrong: taken both separated, they sound superb but in different spaces. Thank you so much for this peaceful moment. The Focals look terrific! (BTW: It seems to me you love McIntosh electronics. So I do: my main power amp is the Mc275 , not the "Anniversary" edition, but the regular one, controlled by a Luxman CL 360 tube preamp).
ventura rodríguez vallejo Thank you Ventura for your always interesting arguments and comments. I think that in this case the song has been recorded exactly as you described, in two parts: a typical nearfield voice grab summed with a farfield recording of a jazz quartet. Saxophone and vibraphone in particular seems to be far in the club with all the pleasant reverberation you can hear 10 or 20 meters from the stage. Long live McIntosh 275!!! ;-)
imho sounds soo much better then the Klipschhorn, better then the monitor bronze and Sonus Faber Sonato but not as good as the Tannoy Legacy Eaton they where the best of the 5 in my book and they have a horn tweeter w/Good bass response. Real Dynamics...i so want a pair there on my bucket list..
sorry, but this is fake. when i get closer to the speakers with the kamara, the sound has to change. I don't know a micro that can compensate for that. it is a separate recording that runs on the side. no matter whether the watt display is moving. sorry, that must be. Greetings from Germany
the reason these don't sound bright is because they're playing through tube equipment, that's the only way these speakers will sound good, that beryllium tweeter is bright that's a characteristic of this tweeter.
As an owner of Focal Sopra No.2's it's an absolute delight to listen to live recordings through them!
Any chance u can tell what u power your´s with.. iv heard em with Naim setup.. and it sounded fantastic :)
Dont brag please
@@BRB499 I've had my sopra 3 for some time now... close to 2 years. I've powered mine with these amplifiers..Amplifiers... krel kav 2250. Very good amp for what I paid for it. I had the krell paired with a audio research ref 5 pre amp. Now that preamp was amazing. Sold krell to get arc front end. Ref75 tube amp was next. The krell with ref 5 preamp sounded better to my ears. Sold my arc gear and went with a musical fidelity m8 encore 500 integrated. It allowed me to go a simpler route and took care of soo much stuff. My cd collection...streaming etc.
Started to get a itch to try something new and initially wanted to go back to tubes. At least in the preamp section. Was gonna go octave. Reached out to a dealer who had octave and told him I had focal sopra 3 and wanted to know which sounded best to him in his ship since he's a focal dealer and has all these amps he's paired it with. He has moon, mcintosh, octave, classe, naim... so many brands. He told me to just go get a naim nova integrated. I found a naim star for recent price. Model right below nova and allowed me to store my cds. And first time I turned it on I was just in disbelief. The focal came alive when connected to the Naim star. It absolutely smacked the MF encore at 500 watts per channel. So as crazy as it sounds. Naim is a match made in heaven for the sopras believe it or not.
@@lancekluemper3708 I belive u man i do... :)
I love the sound of these speakers so much that i must have a pair... im just wondering about the sound of my Mac7200Integreted amp... need to hear them at home first...
@@BRB499 I've yet to get a mcintosh to try out but it's on my short list of things to eventually get and try. I had naim seperates... nap250,nac272 and ndx2 streamer... of course the sperates sounded better but the integrated can hold its own. That naim integrated will never be sold unless I find a nova cheaper. But the star sounds amazing with the newer Focal speakers
The sound is so right, so under control, so beautiful. Thank you.
so boring
53patsfan so boring like your comment... what is boring and why? The music? What you are earing through your computer or mobile phone? We can’t tell if this speakers are good or not because We are not in front of them. However, you can tell that the middle range, bass etc seems to be... what ever you want but you can’t be sur at 100% bye Sir.
@@53patsfan you would think
how do you know?P
@@53patsfan so buy BOSE 😉
I've seen a lot of your demos aint nothing that sounds like a Focal absolutely sublime thank your for your channel
I'm positively drooling over that rig. WOW!
Magnifiques!!!
Vraiment un look et un son...Waoh!
Very nice sound! Thanks mate!
Taking delivery on my Sopra 2 with Accuphase E-800 and Esoteric N01XD next week, can't wait.
Should sound awesome
Such sublime realism.
Holy shit! What a setup!.. Those Audio Research 610T's are $20K each, The McIntosh mc601 $10K each.. All those monoblocks together cost more than the cost of all my belongings in my house combined, including appliances lol
OMG this is the masterpiece. Nothing beats Focal's linearity. The resolution, the clarity, the details, the commitment. One of the few speakers that does not get bored, the music comes to you. With Focal, you can sit for hours and listen without getting tired. My Sopra no1 in combination with tube is outstanding.
sorry to be offtopic but does anyone know a method to log back into an instagram account?
I somehow forgot my account password. I would love any tips you can give me
@Quinton Alberto instablaster =)
the monitor audio platinum Gen 2 is much better than the focal, the monitor audio platinum 500 Gen 2 is so much better than the $75,000 focal it's not even funny. and the platinum 500 is only $32,000 US.
@@chrisrichards2827 The PL Gen2 is the top of the range while the Sopra isnt. And you can forget about having the airiness the Focals have. Detail retrieval and transparency are not even close on the MA, not to mention soundstage width. The MA sounds hard edged af due to the 2-3khz peak off axis and sounds lifeless.
@@AbsoluteFidelity the pl2 is way better than the focal so a friend of mine has the pl2 500s and he put them up against 75,000 focal and he said that the pl2s were way better and then he put them up against $150,000 Focal and he said the focals may have been a little bit better but it was hard to tell. that MPD Tweeter is way more three-dimensional natural and open than any dome tweeter on the market and it's much faster as well obviously you haven't compared the two side by side, the driver technology that monitor audio has is way ahead of focal, so the comparison has been done and monitor audio is far superior than a $75,000 pair of focal and just as good as $150,000 pair, the MPD Tweeter is the best tweeter on the market right now better than any dome or ribbon out there. my system in my home is worth $70,000 and the reason I bought the monitor audio PL ll is that it is the most three-dimensional and enveloping soundstage that I've heard from very few speakers out there, Tidal is also very good but way overpriced.
che soddisfazione vedere i tuoi video ogni fine settimana
come sempre merce di alto livello
grazie sommelier
focal sopra box is my new year's resolution to have😁
I've only heard mackintosh in my life. I was on 6th grade and my best friend had the stereo and we would play the fm stations. I still remember that silver look back in the 80's
these things go right to the core of your body with the sweet mids, everyone is gushing over the kef reference 5s including myself, but jumping back and forth between videos, there is no comparison
I am watching this while playing on my Focal speakers. :)
Probably the best I’ve heard from a Focal speaker. They’ve made some nice changes to their latest models.
That sounds very special - even via TH-cam 🎼🎵👍
Exceptionally good sound ( even on TH-cam and that too when listening on low resolution ).
my guy is living in heaven
Fantastic !!!
Sounds incredible. You have them dialed in so well despite the cramped space. Surprising. What are the huge black speakers on the left.
very natural, no compromise
Wonderful! ....
Very nice indeed.
Didn’t even see the sopras amongst all the eye candy on the floor. Literally the best of the best gear on the planet!
the focals are not the best of the best in the world sorry
@@chrisrichards2827 I’m sorry your reading comprehension is so terrible, try reading it again.
@@robk5745 sorry Rob not the best gear on the planet I think your knowledge is very limited LOL
@@chrisrichards2827 at least I can read, cocksucker
@@robk5745 I'm glad, notice that I'm not swearing at you, shows your maturity level LOL
Vovox Textura Fortis is still a strong performer?
So beautiful speakers!
Just amazing!
Forget the speakers look at that set up... WOW
Everything sounds good with slow music, i want to see something busy
This
@SoundSommelier volevo chiederti se eventualmente ti tornasse bene fare un paragone Focal Sopra 2 vs Sonus Faber Stradivari entrambi con Mcintosh. Il formatto 1 contro l’altro è molto piacevole. Gran bel canale. Grazie
Sounds great, the only problem is that this system is more expensive than my car.
Just sell your car than !
@@paulb.3227 😂
sarcasm
Sell the car, buy a stereo. You will get more life and enjoyment out of it.
@@mikep9234 you can buy second hand car maybe 700 dollar
Name of the song and singer?
Searching to buy a pair and debating between Kef Ref 3 , Monitor Audio PL200 and Sopra 2
👏👏👏 Marvellous!
Smooth like silk💯💯👍💯✌️.
All the top end focals are beautiful but that top end usually causes me to change rooms after one song.
exactly I find them bright and edgy as well
Never ear the sopra 2 like this fantastic sound but also and because of the great McIntosh gears:) Merci.
Sweet No. 2 performance. Don't pass up hearing the big Kanta No. 3 for a major step up.
Correction: Meant Sopra 3 and not Kanta.
German magazine Stereoplay rates the Sopra 2 (score 89) over the Sopra 3 (score 88).
Simply awesome.😊👏🏾
complimenti per i video sono tutti fantastici, che pezzi stupendi che metti. come si chiama questo? grazie in anticipo sommelier ;)
Nicola D'agostino Grazie! Dave’s true story - Still i adore you
Those 2 Mc mono blocks are?! I can't find the words!?
mc 601, arround 10K each
My JM Labs Spectral 913’s have been killing it for 15+ years, love these speakers!
I would like the name of the song to get an opinion on my own machines
Beauty
Gorgeous sound, although it sounds like a few of her dynamic peaks over drove the microphone a bit.
no that's the speakers being bright and edgy because of that beryllium tweeter.
@@chrisrichards2827 Hardly. The Focal Be tweeter's break up point is somewhere around 40,000 kHz. It's quite easy to overdrive a microphone, so how are you so sure that is not the case here?
Crystal clear sound 👍👍
Gorgeous speaker!
IMPRESIONANTE !!
You guys should bring in a couple different kinds of speakers in the room so you an do some A-B comparisons...sheesh.
just a couple? lol
How do they sound compared to Kef reference 3? thanks
Much better, no comparison…
It has to get very hot in a room like this? Maybe person lives in Canada?
If he does, he better not say because so do I and I'll be right on over!
Sopra nice!
You pussycat. You again....
wow!
I wonder how much the whole room is.
OK this sounds even better than the video with the KHorns. This is life like.
I'm listening on my Focal Solo 6 Be (same medium and twitter as these Sopra). They've never sounded so good !
the absolute sound
These Focals are among the best that a dynamic transducer box design can ever be.
really, have you heard Dynaudio, better midrange, focals sound bright in comparison, and they have a dip in the lower mids.
Dynaudio rules, sorry IHO.
@@charronjim9177 I have heard several DynAudios at various dealers. Sound is subjective. You term Focals bright, I say you didn't hear them with right electronics. In comparison DynAudios sound lifeless. Focals sound so 'alive'. Unfortunately, several dealers A/B them with the same electronics as other speakers. No wonder people think they are bright.
Bright in comparison? Yes.
Brighter than they should be? No.
sorry there's much better out there
@@chrisrichards2827 Of course there "may" be better out there. Did you not notice I said "among the best". You should have noticed.
Besides, for the benefit for other visitors, I would like you to mention some that are better than these (according to you) at the same price point.
@@happysoul941 I don't even think the Focals are amongst the best sorry,
Amazing set up!
🤩
Sounds better than the wharfedale evo 4.4
Nice
This really makes me regret not having kids, well mostly because I think I could sell 3 kids for the price of a pair of these bad boys. I'll stick to my ml 60xt for now.
the 60xt are awesome speakers, i have them and heard many other speakers 3X the price and they easily compete with them
@@leev2463 What amp are you running them with, and do you think amps sound the same given same watt etc? Just curious. I'm running cheap outlaw mono 200 watts but thining upgrading to the mc152, any thoughts? Thanks !
@@williammorales8204 I use the parasound halo A23+ amp and parasound P6 premamplifier. The 60xt are 4 Ohm and very efficient speakers but they need current to sound good, so that's why i went with these amps, which also can sound nearly as good as amps costing 10k. Yes, if you don't listen in a large room the amplifier won't need to work as hard, and the first few watts of the parasound amps run in class A.
😆
These make my $60 speakers(Microlab B-77) sound amazing
Your setup seems too crowded to critically evaluate such great equipment. Feel free to send some of your excess to me. I will find a home for whatever lesser product you wish , in order to help with room acoustics. (Mike).. :-)
Michael Hastie man what a helpful guy you are:)
Any time, David !
how much would you pay for a 3 year old gently used set???? $8k???
The monitor audio Platinum sound way better than the focal, they're much more three-dimensional and airy and spacious, don't get me wrong the focal sound great but the monitor audio Platinum are just that much better and they're in a different League.
u got platininum 300 or 500 ?
@@pahmed4272 I've got the platinum 200 Gen 2 A friend of mine has the platinum 500 Gen 2 and he put it up against the $75,000 focal and he said that the platinum was much better and then he also put his platinum 500 up against the $150,000 focal and he said the focal may have been a little bit better but he couldn't really tell and then I asked him was there a 120,000 difference between the platinum and the focal and he said not even close, the only reason they're so cheap is because they're made in China if the platinum 500 was made in England still it would be $80,000 probably.
Hi, Great video showing some nice equipment as always. Is there any way you can send me a brochure in the video at about 40 seconds and seen throughout. Thanks.
Even "sssssss" sounds controlled natural and good.... good good....
I wonder how the Sopra No.2 and the new Hegel 590 play together? What do you say Mr. Sound Sommelier? 😜
L.F. F. If i would have the oportunity, i’ll partner them! Let’s see if a new love will born ;-)
I could only buy these if my wife passes away before me. As I am older than my wife and the statistics have proven that women live longer than men, the chances of that happening are not running in my favour.
I wonder what that setup would cost per pound? Sounds amazing!
Bowers&Wilkins or Focal ?
Frankly Focal for the sound of medium/tweeter is just amazing if you love a stradivarius or the choral of any opera you will be amazed they have no limit but you will be very very carefull for the cables the place and any accessories (etc thoroughbred horse).. Bowers is amazing too but very expensive! It's cosmetic in fact!
Kef reference 5 hiding in the background. No big deal lol
I hope it's not your living room. If it is your living room, I will hate you!
Even from TH-cam i can hear how 'exactly' is the sound. Friend you have killers there
Or lovers of the sounds
Which speakers are playing? hehehehe
Too much gear in the room, claustrophobic conditions.
Omg
😍😍
Top!
Hi, Sommelier.
Very nice video and song, indeed.
I've been wondering why the sound of many of your videos (God bless them) seems to be "splitted" in two parts: the vocals and the instruments.
I think the answer is simple: all of us know perfectly how a human voice sounds, hence the feeling of too much room interactions with it. Meanwhile, instruments' sound is not an everyday experience and, then, they tend to seem more "natural" (except for professional musicians, that is). In this particular case, the tender female voice seems as a real person singing into a "karaoke" with the instruments previously recorded apart. Don't get me wrong: taken both separated, they sound superb but in different spaces.
Thank you so much for this peaceful moment. The Focals look terrific!
(BTW: It seems to me you love McIntosh electronics. So I do: my main power amp is the Mc275 , not the "Anniversary" edition, but the regular one, controlled by a Luxman CL 360 tube preamp).
ventura rodríguez vallejo Thank you Ventura for your always interesting arguments and comments. I think that in this case the song has been recorded exactly as you described, in two parts: a typical nearfield voice grab summed with a farfield recording of a jazz quartet. Saxophone and vibraphone in particular seems to be far in the club with all the pleasant reverberation you can hear 10 or 20 meters from the stage. Long live McIntosh 275!!! ;-)
imho sounds soo much better then the Klipschhorn, better then the monitor bronze and Sonus Faber Sonato but not as good as the Tannoy Legacy Eaton they where the best of the 5 in my book and they have a horn tweeter w/Good bass response. Real Dynamics...i so want a pair there on my bucket list..
toujours ces petites sifflantes typées focal
sorry, but this is fake. when i get closer to the speakers with the kamara, the sound has to change. I don't know a micro that can compensate for that. it is a separate recording that runs on the side. no matter whether the watt display is moving. sorry, that must be. Greetings from Germany
I adore human fantasy.
But you are wrong.
Sound is directly captured by XY microphones without any filter or whatsoever manipulation. Kind regards
Too much mids... Focals always sound so shouty, mid driver is simply too big.
You can always go with Aria 936, 948 or Kanta no3 or Sopra no 3.
Eternal
If I could afford them, they would sound better... Just kidding... 😊
I have heard the Kanta 2 at an acquaintance home and they were great.
Фокал плохо не звучит
So Nice
B
the reason these don't sound bright is because they're playing through tube equipment, that's the only way these speakers will sound good, that beryllium tweeter is bright that's a characteristic of this tweeter.
Sounds flat to me with little depth and width in sound stage. Somewhat tinny.
Классные колонки, но звук утомительный...
И какая-то перегрузка на вокале...
Cool speakers, but the sound is tiresome ...
And some vocal overload ...
the worlds is ridiculously overpriced...
why play this lame vocal jazz music...this type of music sounds good on the £100 speakers.