2. speakers
  3. 130115-91216

Sopra 2 soundstage height

Can the Sopra 2's give sufficient height to the soundstage?  Listened at a dealer and they were having problems.  Raked all the way back and vocals still sounded like they were coming from 4 feet high.  I wondered if that tilted mid driver was causing this.

Could Sopra 2 owners chime in on this?
emcdade
emcdade OP
58 posts
 
I was listening to Destroyer when I posted, haha.

The track we were playing that really accentuated this was Nine Inch Nails - Into the Void.  It has some crazy/phasey effects in it that are great to test soundstage depth and width and specificity.  Problem was Reznor sounded 3 feet tall.
toneranger58
57 posts
 

Listened to NIN Into the Void, cranked it up to about 85db. Big powerful sound, filled the room, lots of information to dissect (the Sim and Sopra's were easily up to the task). With all the soundstaging in the mix, IMHO the main vocals are purposely more focused as opposed to swimming around, they sound centered, big and forceful coming in at 1:23 at 2:27 they get even bigger in the mix. The drums at 47 seconds are chest pounding. I am about 15 feet from the speakers and the main vocals are very big. Love the pull dynamics/back at 3:23, I was not familiar with this track, it is very good for demo purposes. The last minute is when the Sopra's really start to flex their muscles, the bottom is killer, the main vocals are blending with the backups and everything keeps getting bigger. The last "Tired to save my self..." Vocals only is huge.Very cool.

Not sure what was the issue with your demo, this is a wow song for demo and it wowed me. Perhaps it was your front end. I can only comment on the Sopra's with my integrateds, Simaudio and Hegel love the Sopras.

Hope this helps.

kosst_amojan
2,095 posts
 
That's more like what I'd expect to hear about them! 
The "well damped" room my be the problem. I tried seriously damping the wall behind my 936's, then damping the wall behind my seat. Night and day difference. The only thing I've got on the wall behind the Focals now are a couple of small carpets behind a thin satin curtain and that's plenty. Over damping the wall behind them severely reduced depth, height, and width and made the physical location of the speakers more vivid. 
emcdade OP
58 posts
 
Thanks for easing my concerns, they're ordered.  I don't think they liked the damped room and being so far from front wall.  They did not sound good with my electronics (NAD M12/M22) or the Moon 340i. They did sound pretty good with an AVM integrated.  I've got a budget solution to try out first while I get my gear sold (Vincent 236 MK).  Seems like it'll be a good match and soften the treble a bit which I prefer.  The moor expensive Sim gear and Accuphase are on my radar.
toneranger58
57 posts
 
Congrats, I am sure you will be very pleased, remember they do take time to break in. Be patient. Also I have run my Sopra's with a SA 600i, sounds really nice.
More to discover