Focal sopra 2/Gryphon Diablo 300 not good match

I had a similar experience with some lesser Focals (profile 918) a few years ago. I picked them in a shop demo room over everything else I heard that day and I’d even taken my own amp and CD player in for the demo. Got the Focals home on loan for a week and just couldn’t get them to sound anything less than excruciating in my room. I ended up with Thiel CS1.6 so it wasn’t too much detail that was the problem. I‘ve head other Focals since at shows, mostly with Naim amps (which I use), including some large Utopia models and never found them enjoyable despite the merger/takeover which presumably means Naim amps will be among those used for voicing the recent models.

I have Focal Sopra 3's, and have never heard them sounding 'bright' except in an untreated room with reflective walls.

In my 13'10" x 19' room, which has a wool rug on a wood floor over a concrete slab, absorbtion at sidewall reflection points plus 88 sq ft of bass traps, they sound very well balanced across the frequency range, coherent and detailed without ever being bright or harsh.

Driving them with a Linn LK280 (recapped) amplifier, Linn Kairn preamp, Bryston bda-2 DAC.  Source is a Raspberry Pi 4 streamer running piCorePlayer, USB output to DAC.

@joannism

As I said, don’t look at the amp for causing your problem, if anything it’s a touch on the dark side of neutral. It is one of the best integrated’s you can get.
Start with the speakers then the source to find your problem.

Cheers George

Dear OP,

We have been giving your dilemma some thought and we think that there is a much simpler and less invasive solution than changing either the speakers or electronics which are both excellent. This solution would also offer additional tuning options and increased sound quality over what you are currently able to achieve with your server.

We recently did a shootout between your Aurrender N10 and the Innous Statement, and the Innous was definitely more liquid sounding and engaging, and simply swapping out the server will provide you with a huge upgrade in sound quality and give you a distinctly warmer sound. In addition most modern servers allow you to change the sampling rates and data from PCM to DSD and a lot of dacs will sound noticeably warmer when you are playing DSD files or higher bit rate PCM.

In fact we have found a new line of servers that are reported to be the best sounding server for the price, coming out of Europe. This server even has a special plugin that allows you to alter the pitch of the music which creates a more analog like and laid back presentation to a digital file. This impressive new line of servers is from a company called 432 EVO out of Belgium and is winning awards all over Europe. Check them out here:  https://432evo.be/

We were so enamored with everything we have read about these servers: their sound quality, advanced design technology and techniques, huge range of hard drive options, and completely upgradable platform, as well as their unique 432 plugin which is discussed in the video below:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jAv1e42RK0

Pricing for these units looks to be right on par with the other high end servers that we have been promoting and selling at our store for years. When we read on European forums how the 432 EVO vastly outperformed our existing line of servers and had all these unique features we knew that we had to pursue and demo their products for ourselves.

We are deeply committed to always seeking out and finding the most innovative and best sounding audio products from all over the world and the 432 EVO server checks off all the boxes for what we want to accomplish. We have ordered representative samples of the entire line, which after our thorough evaluation will be available to purchase in the US from our new company Audio Intellect. Read more about us here:  https://audiointellect.com/

In summary, the first thing you should try is a different server, which will actually shock you how much a digital server's sound quality will affect the sound of the overall system. The other thing we would recommend is possibly switching to an outboard dac vs the internal dac of the diablo. The last thing we would look at is possibly adding a power conditioner as well as different power cables, which should not be overlooked in terms of tuning the sound of the system.

Sincerely,

Dave and Troy