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Focal Sopra 1 amplification...

Could you not move house? Or build an audio annexe? (Extreme measures I know, but it sounds like you're in extreme territory.)

Dude, I've spent 26 years in this house and we still like it...If it weren't for the significant other I'd pull the speakers out and walk around them, hop over them, slide between them and so on, but you don't know HER.
 
I have had a few of the Lyngdorf amps, recently these combos - 2170, 2170+2400, 3400+2400 and then 3400 as the 2400 didn't add anything so I sold it. I'd describe the sound as Neutral/Clean. With box speakers they made me go from disliking B&W 804D2 in my new lounge to thinking they were actually OK, we all make mistakes, in the demo they sounded great, spoke to the dealer twice saying I wasn't happy with them in my room but got the usual - let them run in, needless to say never gone back there to buy anything else.

Same room the Lyngdorf made my Kef Ref 205 shine again like they did in the old dedicated AV room previous house had, nice thing with Lyngdorf is you can switch using the remote from no DSP to Focussed on seat in sweet spot to Global multi seat and really hear what is changing, dead easy to setup too and with the Voicing feature really tweakable.

The thing you might not like - everything is resampled up or down to 96kHz to make best use to the DSP engine horsepower. It's a PWM Equibit digital amp, I suspect once COVID is through they will revamp the amp with and use a Purifi module.

https://lyngdorf.steinwaylyngdorf.com/downloads/lyngdorf-tdai-3400-fact-sheet/
 
The thing you might not like - everything is resampled up or down to 96kHz to make best use to the DSP engine horsepower. It's a PWM Equibit digital amp, I suspect once COVID is through they will revamp the amp with and use a Purifi module.

https://lyngdorf.steinwaylyngdorf.com/downloads/lyngdorf-tdai-3400-fact-sheet/[/QUOTE]

Thanks. Yes, I heard about the Purifi module but hadn't seen anything forthcoming. Maybe they'll announce something one of these days. Thanks for your comments. Brgds.
 
The thing you might not like - everything is resampled up or down to 96kHz to make best use to the DSP engine horsepower. It's a PWM Equibit digital amp, I suspect once COVID is through they will revamp the amp with and use a Purifi module.

https://lyngdorf.steinwaylyngdorf.com/downloads/lyngdorf-tdai-3400-fact-sheet/

Thanks. Yes, I heard about the Purifi module but hadn't seen anything forthcoming. Maybe they'll announce something one of these days. Thanks for your comments. Brgds.
Been waiting 2 years for their new MXA Amp to go on sale, dunno if COVID, parts shortages or design bugs have delayed it
https://lyngdorf.steinwaylyngdorf.com/pre-launch-of-lyngdorf-mxa-8400-amplifier/
 
You've failed with 3 reflex ported speakers don't give up (you still have us).
Try closed boxes, like smaller atc's (19) or even smaller spendor 4/5, if you can live with its limitations.
I would first try and measure at what frequencies the bass loses it, easy to do and could possibly help.
 
There is always the option of a world class Headphone system ...

I use active IB standmounts from B&W. Bass is full but tight and fast. It took a little acclimatisation after years of ports, the sound of which, if done well, I quite like.
 
Well, you most assuredly wouldn't want them and I don't have 70cm to play with. I am poor and only have a 4mx8m living room to coexist with that lady who must be obeyed. Sometimes I wouldn't mind setting her on fire instead.
Ha! :D

Actually, I have a lot of time for Focal, and Sopras in particular, but I can well imagine they don’t work for everyone.

Your room is a good size, approx twice my (~4x4m) room. Not sure whether you measure the 40cm from front baffle or rear panel, I measure to front baffle, and I’m currently using Amphion Argon 7LS floorstanders which are probably cheaper than your Sopras. The rear panel is probably only around 45 cm from the wall and they work fine. As mentioned upthread, maybe move away from a ported design (the Amphions use ABRs in a sealed box).

In terms of amp synergy, I think Focal and Accuphase is a very happy combination.
 
having had the focal diablo which are a bit similar i can sympathise with you . focal would not let me demo a pair with my class D bel canto , it was several years before i was allowed and used belles class AB monoblocks which did work . ultimately they didnt stay long . Not too long ago i heard the sopra 3 with a naim supernait 2. it was stunning for the first 20 seconds , bit like hearing concorde taking off , it lifted the roof and sounded like a full blown rock concert ... but i couldnt stand it for long . Naim and focal only got together for business reasons , i dont think they sound that good together . Do hope you can find something that works better with them

Hi Phil,

This is a popular view BUT I have heard the two brands sounding superb. A friend has a 500 system into the Focal 1028be and it is one of the best systems I know.

He has stuck with the 1028s having auditioned at length the Focal 2 & 3. In his room he didn't think they were an holistic improvement.

M
 
Hi Tom,

This is really frustrating for you. The Sopra 1s are well considered so if you have to sell you will hopefully not lose too much.

What is the house construction? Is the room straightforward, not lots of glass and L-shaped?

M
 
Hi Phil,

This is a popular view BUT I have heard the two brands sounding superb. A friend has a 500 system into the Focal 1028be and it is one of the best systems I know.

He has stuck with the 1028s having auditioned at length the Focal 2 & 3. In his room he didn't think they were an holistic improvement.

M

Listened briefly to a Unity Star and Focal Kanta No1's at a dealer last weekend. Sounded good.
 
You've failed with 3 reflex ported speakers don't give up (you still have us).
Try closed boxes, like smaller atc's (19) or even smaller spendor 4/5, if you can live with its limitations.
I would first try and measure at what frequencies the bass loses it, easy to do and could possibly help.

42hz and 64hz quite precisely. Closed boxes suck. That's why.
 
There is always the option of a world class Headphone system ...

I use active IB standmounts from B&W. Bass is full but tight and fast. It took a little acclimatisation after years of ports, the sound of which, if done well, I quite like.[/QUOTE
Hi Phil,

This is a popular view BUT I have heard the two brands sounding superb. A friend has a 500 system into the Focal 1028be and it is one of the best systems I know.

He has stuck with the 1028s having auditioned at length the Focal 2 & 3. In his room he didn't think they were an holistic improvement.

M

Sigh...Naim probably has 0.5% of the hifi market. The 500 series is probably owned by less than 0.1% of them. I do not have nor will I ever have any 500 series. Saying that those two work together is like saying "Moet Chandon tastes good in a Lamborghini".
It just doesn't apply to my use case.
 

Because they suffer from various structural acoustic problems which arise from trying to manage internal sound waves in a sealed cabinet and they require billions of watts and current to creat pressure in a room, which I like, but just the right dose. I have some respect for ATC and the ProAc tablettes but the sound signature and lack of relative efficiency don't sit well with me.
 
Because they suffer from various structural acoustic problems which arise from trying to manage internal sound waves in a sealed cabinet and they require billions of watts and current to creat pressure in a room, which I like, but just the right dose. I have some respect for ATC and the ProAc tablettes but the sound signature and lack of relative efficiency don't sit well with me.

How far are you prepared to go or are you?

Subwoofer/standmount? Selling your Naim and go active?
 
Hi Tom,

This is really frustrating for you. The Sopra 1s are well considered so if you have to sell you will hopefully not lose too much.

What is the house construction? Is the room straightforward, not lots of glass and L-shaped?

M

Hello,
Here in my third-world country there are gobs of these boat anchor substitutes for sale and nobody is buying them. The house is straight forward enough but like any room, there are bass frequency resonances and peaks to manage, my problems are at 42 and 64hz primarily.

I've heard the Sopra 1s at length and AT HOME on a demo Unison Research Unico 90 (hybrid design with 6 driver tubes in the preamp stage) and it did indeed sounded good, meaning satisfactory enough to where I'd shut my big mouth and get on with the music.
BUT...the SN2 with HiCapDR sounded fine also. I tortured the system with all kinds of tracks (Roon, Core library and Qobuz). Bass was strong, indeed quite present but not overwhelming. 2 days later all I hear is BASS, BASS and more BASS. Not sure how this came about as all system parameters have remained unchanged. I think I have offended the HiFi gods in another life or something.

If you know the Sopra 1s, Focal has provided foam bungs or plugs for the rear port. I called them in Saint Etienne and asked WTF?
They replied that the speaker's cabinet volume for the mid/bass driver will tolerate the bung's effects without altering the overall tonal balance of the speaker. Logically enough, they were intended for my very situation. Currently they are installed as I write and listen. They do function but my ears tell me they "thin out" the tonal balance ever so slightly. It all depends on the recording of course and the period during which the recording was made, intended for vinyl or cd, etc. 1nd whether the sound engineers were on drugs at the time.

Some of my favorite 80s music sounds like death through streaming services. This was much less evident when I was spinning discs.

Anyway, I'm trying to relativise the matter and be happy that I don't suffer from an advanced case of leprosy. That said music is damn important for me, as it is for most of us, so mucking about with a system that created more frustration than joy is a massive dilemma. Brgds.
 
How far are you prepared to go or are you?

Subwoofer/standmount? Selling your Naim and go active?

I prefer the imaging of standmounts as compared to floorstanders, plus if my room isn't miniscule, it is a living room where family congregates and so on. Need room to walk about you know...

As for actives, I'm so ridiculously old-school that I conceive of hifi as being a source, an amplifier and (passive) speakers. Moving to streaming (many years with Squeezebox products and DACs, now with NDX2) was already something modern. I also think the actives are quite expensive as well.

Anyway, still fiddling and thinking. Who knows where this will go, but hopefully not to an early grave.
 
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