Focal Sopra No. 2 Floorstanding Speakers

Oui, oui, mon ami, le fromage du poisson!

Pardon my French, but this set of speakers from Focal is amazing.

But then, I knew they would be. They’re the smaller brother of the speaker that I got to know quite well in the month leading up to last year’s Denver’s Rocky Mountain Audio Fest.

The Sopra is a speaker line that aims for the summit, while staying within reach of the wealthy. Hah, poor bunch, they. Too many amazing speakers to choose from at the $14,000 a pair range.

These do a lot of what the TAD Evolution One speakers do, but with their own character. Not surprising that listening to these flawless gloss black Sopra No. 2s reminds me of TAD. They both use beryllium in the tweeter, I believe.

My journey with the larger Sopra No. 3 was illuminating in the sense that I distinctly heard a brand new set of speakers undergo a significant initial break-in over the month preceding the audio show. We knew this needed to happen to get all of the mechanical parts loosened up for the demo weekend.

But I don’t think we expected to hear such a mellowing of the tweeter over that first weekend. There may be those out there who don’t believe in break-in of audio components, although maybe in this crowd they number in the few. But stick them in front of new beryllium tweeters for a weekend, and they might come around if they don’t press charges.

That’s one of the best things about buying flawless, gently-used gear from The Music Room. When this pair hits the listening room of its future owner, they’ll be squarely in their sweet spot and ready to sing. This for a better price than he’d buy new.

I looked and looked and looked for signs of wear or use, and couldn't find any. So I have to ask:

Why pay retail?