How broken in were the Sopra speakers you heard? I ask because I put some Utopia component speakers in my car a few months ago. Although they sounded good out of the box it definitely took some hours on them to balance out and lose a slight harshness at high volumes. They sound awesome now.
Also owned some Aria 906 for a while and they were pretty great speakers for the price. I like my Focal 836w better by quite a bit. There is a good YouTube video comparing the Aria 936 to the 826W. Although it’s a YouTube video I think it does a good job of showing the general character of the speakers. I strongly prefer the Chorus 826w but the Arias are clearly more relaxed at the expense of detail and dynamics relatively.
Never heard a Focal I didn’t like and my next upgrade will likely be some Sopra or Utopias of some sort if I runs across a deal.