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Focal Sopra 2's vs Titron GoldenEar Reference speakers

Hello there, After a long and drawn out process, I’m finally down to a couple of choices for my New Speakers. The two speakers are the Focal Sopra 2 and the Golden ear Triton Reference Speakers/ I’ll either buy the golden ears new or buy second hand sopra’s 2’s only used for 2 months. The price is the same either way. I have heard both speakers in perfectly attuned rooms that were tweaked out. The last set of speakers I purchased sounded very different in my NON dedicated listening room than they did in the store. After this speaker purchase " which is a big one for me at these prices" I don’t want to even think of buying new loud speakers for years. I’m not one to change his gear often. Though I do change my underwear everyday. That was a very poor attempt at humor. If any of you reading this have heard both of these speakers, I would love to hear your thoughts on them good, bad or indifferent. My non dedicated listening room DIMENSIONS are 8 FEET HIGH,20 FEET LONG and 14 FEET WIDE. I will be using Mcintosh solid state preamp and power amp for the new speakers. After the speaker purchase, future purchases and time spent reading about hi-fi will be dedicated to room improvements. I like to listen to music loud, very rarely do I listen at low volumes. I’m 50 percent split on the music of my youth, Metal and punk. The other 50 percent Diana Krall, Duke Ellington
and more audiophile like music. It seems to me at the 11 Canadian price point it’s hard to find a speaker that does it all well. I have to admit I’m a huge mark for the look of the sopra 2 loudspeaker. Of course the Golden ear reference come with built in woofers which is a plus. I’m not a big bass head though. If any of you fine people could offer me your opinions or some insight to either speaker, It would be greatly appreciated. I;m a bit antsy as this is a big purchases for me and I don’t want to mess it up. A huge thank you for taking the time to read this long winded post. Would love to hear some strong opinions. Enjoy the music.

Mikey

riverboat
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,590 posts
 
Erik, hard to believe that is what you heard, most Heil AMT drivers are distinctly less bright then metal dome tweeters, 

A Heil AMT is a folded piece of mylar and such the resonant frequency  and break up modes are way lower then a metal dome or ribbon driver.

Most Heil Drivers sound distinctly less bright. 

We heard the Triton 1's the older version as a couple of stores usually they sounded boomy on one demo they sounded bright. 

The new Reference versions are wonderully smooth. The Focal's tend to be a bit more resolute in the treble. 

We heard the Sopra II at Axpona and they were not sounding that good, the much less expensive Triton 1R smooked them at Axpona.

We have heard the Sopras before and thought they were very good hence our recommendation. 

Dave and Troy 
Audio Doctor NJ Golden Ear dealers
dep14
333 posts
 
I find Focal to be bright, and the Tweeter (for better or worse) to be the star of the show.  I just don’t find them to be overly coherent either because I’m so focused on the Tweeter.  The McIntosh Electronics (depending on vintage) may be able to tame things a bit for you.

The GE’s... they do what they do.  I’ve never found them to be offensive as they are generally smooth.  They image pretty well and throw a big soundstage. I do like bass.. and they do that in spades!

I listen to a lot of metal/hard rock still and both of those categories would point me toward the GE’s assuming you are truly down to those 2 speakers.  

In your shoes... I would lean GE.  But then again, I don’t care for the Focals.  I find them sort of bright and a bit lean in the bass.
riverboat OP
24 posts
 
I thank you all for the great information and opinions, Lot's to think about.
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,858 posts
 
One thing is certain ,the Xover parts and drivers In the Sopra are quality custom built in their factory, and Xover has name brand  parts the Tritons are all made in China. The Sopra is more fleshed out and refined . Parts quality does count. 
Also the cabinets are much nicer .
gregdude
222 posts
 
Judas priest and tool as well as many others sound excellent on my GE triton 2's. I've used them with tube, solid state, and digital amplifiers and never heard any harshness. 
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