Hello,
Thinking of getting either of them for a listening distance of ~ 2m. Room is rather large but oddly shaped. I'm mainly interested in how they perform in the "near" field. And most times I do not listen to music loudly.
Focal provides links to various reviews at https://www.focal.com/de/hifi-lautsprecher/sopra/sopra-ndeg1 and https://www.focal.com/de/hifi-lautsprecher/kanta/kanta-ndeg1 but would be great to get info from some of the knowledgeable folks on this forum!
Thanks!
Hi Ralph,
I haven't spend too much time with the Focal N1s but am currently running a pair of Focal N3s. I will say that the Focals can sound completely different depending on the equipment you use to drive them, it was night and day sound signature with different preamps, amps and dacs I have tried at my home, they likely need a decent space to shine too, this is definitely the case for the Sopra 3s so it is a good thing you have a large room.
Haven't tried them with Classe electronics but you should really home demo the speakers in your space with your choice of electronics if you can. A bad pairing and you might end up with brightness as some have noted here, truth be told I had listening fatigue with the Benchmark LA4 preamp which measures really well, it was super clear with loads of detail but it was a bit too bright for me, that preamp just did not pair well with the Focals for me.
Now that I switch to the Hegel P30 with Michi M8 class AB monos, I am glued to the system, details are there, timing, large soundstage, imaging is clear, zero brightness, its so engaging that I am glued to the system for hours on end. Moved from the Topping D90 dac to Aqua Formula v2 dac and the sound changed yet again, for the better, I am now getting a very full smooth yet fast and detailed sound signature from the system, with huge dynamics. I think you can expect a very detailed, fast, dynamic sound signature from the Sopra N1s, but you will need the right synergy with the right electronics, you might also want to consider getting a sub later down the track, the Sopras work really well with RELs.
All in all, pairing is essential with the Focal Sopras, Hegel electronics works really well to smooth out the sound if you are looking for matching gear, hope it pairs well with your Classe gear . Tube gear works wonders too with Focals (EL34s, 300bs) if you after a more mellow lush sound but I found that quite a bit of detail and speed was lost with tube gear I tried.
Sopra gives you more fuller sound, and punchier bass compared to Kantas, but the speed is matched from memory, haven't spend time with the Arias to comment. Hope that helps somewhat and that you will enjoy your new Sopras as much as I do